Link:
http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...son/index.html

 

This we already knew. Goes to show that the Lexus LS600hl is all hype.

My S550 gets better gas mileage and is much faster too. What a POS from Lexus.

 

This is making me want to test drive the newest LS model to see for myself how insufficient it is. Is it really that bad??

 

Yes it the LS600 is totally insufficient... I once thought it was at least an innovative challenge to a traditional V12 saloon... but having now closely inspected and driven one my opinion has changed drastically...

...on first glance it does not look bad on the surface... it looks like a luxury sedan inside... on closer inspection there are are some cheap materials such as plastic looking metal trim around the navigation screen and plastic door panel segments.. the controls/buttons are all over the place... design wise I find the LS an ergonomic nightmare... the interior has none of the design elegance of the S-Class... that deep sense of the smallest component being carefully designed and considered...

...but what really struck me is its sheer cynicism... it is promoted as environmentally friendly... it has tacky "eco" cues in the gague cluster etc... yet it is a big thirsty V8 weighing over 5000 pounds! I was hoping the electric motor would provide some noticeable torque... but you can hardly detect it... performance-wise it felt like driving a washing machine with about as much character... another big surprise... it was a lot noisier inside over a rough stretch of freeway than my S600 and fell flat on the luxury ride side of things... Also the small size of the LS600 trunk is quite a shock.... (They have to put the batteries somewhere)

I have a copy of the brochure that Lexus briefs their salespersons.. it has pages about how the LS600 is superior to the three German V12's... and particularly the S600... it's all marketing spin... It is not remotely in the same league as any of them...

After I got out of the LS600 I drove away in my S600... it felt like getting out of a Mercury space capsule and into the Starship Enterprise... the contrast was that great...

Yes, I don't like it!... And it's not because I am a Lexus basher... My wife has an RX350 which we both like a lot, and we have owned several other Lexus models previously... Lexus makes fine cars when they stay true to their core character and identity... One can argue the merits/demerits of the new IS-F against an M3 or C63, but at least it has integrity... it does not lie...

What is so wrong about the LS600 is its sheer hypocrisy... it is a standard LS460 into which Lexus has shoehorned a hybrid powertrain and is passing off as environmentally "responsible"... while at the same time pretending to be a competitor to an S600... it was never designed as such and the result is totally compromised...

Chris

 

Great review Chris. Thanks.

 

It really is that bad. I drove the LS600 at Taste of Lexus a few months ago. I also have driven the LS460 and the S550 and S600 before. There is no comparison. The LS600 is a BOAT. The car was really not enjoyable to drive at all.

 

But those headlights on the LS600h are so cool...

 

This is a very interesting discussion, I sat in the new LS at the IAA and I´m not attracted to it at all but I found the hybrid powertrain very interesting. I was also supprised that the German car makers completely missed this "train" some ten years ago. Also, I talked to a former engineer at Bosch and he said that for the last 25 years Bosch has shown hybrid solutions to all the German automotive companies but they didn´t show any interest.

Well, anyway. I guess that some of you read the comparison test in German AMS between LS and BMW 745d and MB S-class diesel. The "Germans" even had better fuel economy except for in the cities...

Anyway, the most exiting thing will be the S-class Bluetec mild hybrid. I think...

 

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