2018 Lexus LS 500

[MUSIC PLAYING] MARK TAKAHASHI: I'm standing next to the all new Lexus LS 500. This is the fifth generation LS. Now, this all started in 1989 when Lexus set the automotive world on its head with the first LS. It was groundbreaking. No one really had the audacity to think that a Japanese company could, number one, create a luxury brand. And number two, create something that was so good. Now, this one isn't nearly as groundbreaking. It's more an evolution. But there are some really good bits about this. And there's a few that I could do without as well. So let's go take a look. To be perfectly honest, I haven't been a big fan of the Lexus spindle grill. However, on this new LS, it does seem to work much better. I like the sculpting. I like all the bevelling. It's aggressive. It's slightly sporty. It's not trying too hard in some ways. Maybe the grill is a little too horsey still. But there is a lot of detail there. And there's a certain elegance to it as well. Like a lot of luxury vehicles out there, you have a power trunk lid. And it's hands free, as long as you have the key in your pocket. Now, the trunk, it's not as big as some of the luxury flagship sedans I've seen out there. But it will certainly hold all your stuff. There are some nice cutouts behind the wheel arches that will definitely get two full sized golf bags in. Now, you also have the button up here, like you normally do with all power trunk lifts to close it. But it's the same operation. That's convenient. So the interior of the LS 500 is really well done. The design has a lot of organic flowing shapes. But it's not overly done. Materials' quality throughout is really quite good as well. So as you'd expect from a flagship luxury sedan, the ride quality is really nice and compliant and smooth. It's fairly quiet. I do hear some road noise. But it's not that big of a problem. And you have the selector up here for the different normal sport modes and custom modes, rather than down here. So you could just kind of adjust it on the fly, rather than having to look down and get distracted that way. The one bummer though is they're still using this trace pad. Now, they're using the latest version of the trace pad, that they have in the LC 500, but even that, it's probably one of the worst systems, quite honestly, to use for infotainment. It's fine if you're parked. But when you're moving, it just takes a lot of effort to make sure you're on the right hotspot here and they're just kind of bouncing all over the place. Really, truly I wish they would just go to a regular touch screen, or even the knob that all the Germans are using. As far as seat comfort is concerned, they're pretty firmly padded. They're not too cushiony and pillowy. So it feels a little bit like an Audi in that way. There's not a lot of side bolstering. But one cool thing about the side bolstering is, when you put it in park, it sort of dips down, so you don't have to climb over it. So I'm on this curving valley road here. I can feel a little bit of body roll, but it's kind of what you'd expect from any luxury sedan. Throw it in sport plus mode and it dials way way back. But then, it also starts stiffening up the ride. And the steering also wakes up in the sport modes. You have manual control over the transmission, if you need it. But as I was driving this tight, twisty road in, I was surprised, and impressed, by how smartly it was downshifting as I was hitting the brakes and going into a turn. I had the opportunity open a few times and kind of carve through a few fun turns. And I can say, yes, this is actually kind of fun to drive. I'm not a fan of the engine noise. My guess is that it's being piped in through the speakers. I'll have to verify that. But it's a little too loud for my taste, especially for such a big luxury sedan. Earlier, I drove the hybrid LS 500H. and I was actually quite impressed by it. It was responsive and it had plenty of passing power. The brakes also felt like a typical car, not so much a hybrid, where you get a little softness and a little lack of feel and response. It was just fine. So because of that, I wouldn't be too surprised to see the hybrid lead for sales. In front of me, I have a really, really big head up display. I've got navigation. I've got some of the safety features, as well as the driver assistance in the middle. It's tack sharp. And visually, it looks like it's half a foot in from of the nose of the car. So focus wise, it's really easy to read and the alerts will pop up right in your vision. Easily one of the better head up displays. So here I am in the backseat of the LS 500. And this one is optioned with the executive rear seat, so a lot more comfort to be had back here. However, much like the infotainment system up front, the one back here is about as easy to use, which is not quite a good thing. In any case, just demonstrate for you right now, that you can fold the front seat all the way forward, the headrest tucks in, and it all starts moving forward like that. And you just have a ton of leg room. You have this ottoman that will come out, nice little leg rest. So really and truly, you have a level of luxury back here that would be akin to, let's say, business class before they went to the fold flat sleeper beds. Now, you can still recline quite a bit. It'd be pretty easy to doze off back here like this. So you do have all the climate control stuff back here, ventilated seats, heated seats, a full body massage, full body refresh. Now, it's not like an aggressive shiatsu massage or anything. It's a nice rolling action. And you have the same functions in the front seats. There's the rear sunshade. There's my sunshade. Under here, two USB ports. That's pretty good. Decent size cup holders. And materials' quality, it's just like the front, impeccable. So with Mark Levinson surround sound system option, you even have some speakers up in the headliner. And these speakers are just kind of everywhere. It's an all enveloping system. And it sounds amazing. If you're an audiofile, in my opinion, this is one of the better ones. So those are my initial impressions of the all new Lexus LS 500. In terms of price, it sits just above the new offerings from Genesis, especially the G90. However, it's quite a bit less than the typical German flagships, like the Audi A8, Mercedes S-Class, and BMW 7 series. It is a marked improvement when it does come to performance. This thing is actually quite fun to drive. My recommendation is the hybrid. You get better fuel economy, obviously, and very little sacrifice as a result. For more information on the Lexus LS 500, as well as all of its competition, head on over to edmunds.com. 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