By Frank S. Washington
DETROIT, MI – I spent an all too short an afternoon test driving the 2013 Lexus LS. Toyota’s luxury nameplate has grown into such an icon that it is easy to forget that the brand that has come to symbolize customer satisfaction started in this country with the LS 400 that went on sale in September 1989 as a 1990 model.
Lexus has redesigned its flagship; the 2013 LS 460. This is the fifth generation of the full-size luxury sedan. The lineup is comprised of the LS 460, the LS 460L (long wheelbase), the LS 460L Hybrid and the first ever LS 460 F Sport. There is also an all-wheel-drive version of the rear-wheel-drive sedan, for both the short- and long wheel-base models.
The exterior design of the new LS is evolutionary. The car was instantly recognizable as the Lexus LS. The LS now sports Lexus’ new spindle grille that is being introduced across all of its nameplates. The spindle grille is now housed on all of its models except, I think, the Lexus IS.
In Lexus’ lexicon, the interior instrument layout is now linear. What that means is the LS, like other Lexus passenger car instruments, had been switched to a horizontal layout. The display zone like the navigation screen was high while the operational zone, that was the few dials and buttons there were, was beneath.
The interior of my LS 460 F Sport seemed wider. It was more spacious than Lexus interiors of the past which had evolved into blizzards of buttons and huge center stacks. Fit and finish, a Lexus hallmark, were superb. Silence, something that the Lexus LS were ridiculed for in its early days, has now become a characteristic of Lexus and it was evident in my LS 460 F Sport.
There are four different wood trims to choose from, plus a synthetic wood and the aluminum trim reserved for my F Sport. But before I get into other features, let’s talk about the powertrain.
Sometimes carryover works really real. That’s the case with the 2013 Lexus LS 460’s powertrain. Under the hood of my test car was a 4.6-liter V8 that made 386 horsepower, 359 for the all-wheel-drive version, and 367 foot-pounds of torque. It was mated to an eight-speed transmission.
This powertrain could move the LS 460 from zero to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds, according to Lexus. The 2013 LS could get from a standstill to a quarter of a mile in 13.8 seconds and it had an electronically limited top speed of 130.2 mph.
But never mind speed, Lexus has recalibrated the brake pedal of the LS. It is far more responsive. On my brief test drive, if I had not been warned by my driving partner, I would have stopped short every time I needed to come to a halt. Great braking is not a bad thing in any motor vehicle, especially one that oozes power.
What makes a Lexus a Lexus is not only the craftsmanship but the features. For 2013, the Lexus LS has a GPS based clock. In other words, the clock will automatically adjust when you drive into another time zone.
The car’s heated and cooled seats as well as heated steering wheel can be set on climate control. It’s called climate concierge and I’ll explain it when I get the new LS for a week-long test drive.
One more feature, the 2013 Lexus LS 460 has a Blu-Ray DVD system in the executive class. Stuff like that raises the creature comfort bar. Prices start at $71,990.
Frank S. Washington is editor of AboutThatCar.com
This was printed in the December 30, 2012 – January 12, 2013 Edition
