This
review first appeared in the September 2018 edition of the Northern & Central
California Cruisin’ News published
out of Folsom, California – mg
Sacramento, California – Back in the day, I remember thinking
that the Lexus LS was all you needed in a daily driver sedan, no matter how
much money you had.
It was luxurious, attractive and peppy. The asking price was not too bad either,
given the luxo segment it occupied.
Over the years, the regal-looking LS has
evolved into something else, something else you might expect from, say, a
Mercedes-Benz with AMG tuning. My recent
week in the 2018 Lexus LS 500 F-Sport AWD sedan hammered home this point with
authority.
Lexus restyled its signature, top-line sedan
for the 2018 model year. With its wide
stance and refined cuts and angles in the chassis, it all but shouts the news
that it's a high-performance machine.
The look is backed up with a 3.5-liter,
twin-turbo V-6 putting out 416 horsepower and 442 foot-pounds of torque. Lexus touts the "Formula One
technology" within the power plant.
I believe it.
Mashing the gas dishes up serious,
press-me-to-the-seat power, yet it is a smooth and comparatively quiet run up
to green-flag speed.
The tester's exquisitely engineered
suspension was rock-steady even as I was laying on hard acceleration in sharp
turns and up steel hills. Very impressive.
Gone are the days when fellow motorists
might glance at the LS and think, "Lucky stiff, must be nice to be making
that kind of money." Now, the
thinking is probably more along the lines of, "I can't believe that Lexus
LS just blew past me like I was glued to the road."
Yes, evolution has its joys.
Inside, the Lexus LS 500 is packed with
top-notch luxury features and state-of-the-art technology that you fully expect
in this long-running model. My ride included beyond-the-norm goodies such as
intuitive park assist and auto door closer.
There's a power rear sunshade as well, a feature that passengers love
when you suddenly trigger it from the cockpit.
Lexus contends that the LS sedan embodies
the marque's history and image more than any model it makes, and I completely
agree with that. The flagship has
evolved remarkably over a generation, and for my money, it has gotten better
with each reworking. I'll admit that I
tend to favor periodic increases in horsepower, so shoot me.
I remember when the LS could be had for a
payout in the 50K range. My, how times
have changed.
The bottom line on my tester was just a few
bucks short of $83,000. In this segment,
given the assortment of competitors priced in the six-figure ballpark, that's
still not too bad ... relatively speaking.
In the end, my week in the LS reaffirmed one
of the positives of automotive life: The Lexus flagship sedan just keeps getting better
with age.
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