Put the key into the ignition and the steering wheel automatically slides
down into position. As you look around, the car seems like something special.
Unlike so many new cars, it feels instantly comfortable and familiar. The
LS 400's controls and instruments are about as easy to see and use as any
car on the road.
The big tachometer and speedometer are flanked by two smaller, but still
good-sized temperature and fuel gauges. In one of the LS 400's neatest
effects, the lighted pure white needles seem to float over the background
numbers. Very modern, and much imitated.
Most of the driving controls are on three stalks. The one on the left
controls the lights, the long one on the right the wipers and the short
one just below it the cruise control. Though not quite as convenient as
cruise control buttons on the wheel, the button and lever on the LS 400
can be easily reached without taking your hand off the wheel, and are the
next best thing.
The first thing you notice in the center console is its simplicity:
just a clock, a digital thermometer, and the temperature controls. No buttons
and displays to calculate instant gas mileage and date of the next oil
change. We didn't miss them. Some luxury cars have perhaps made themselves
seem complicated and imposing with all those high-tech toys.
The LS 400 does use buttons, instead of the usually easier dials, for
the heating and cooling controls, but they're huge and obvious enough to
not be a problem. Besides, the driver and front seat passenger each have
an automatic climate control. Punch in the desired temperature and the
car works the controls for you.
Below the climate controls is the seven-speaker, 195-watt AM/FM/cassette
sound system. The various knobs for volume and sound tuning are bigger
than you generally find, and easy to use. The six-disc CD changer (a $1050
option) is in front of the passenger seat, cleverly hidden behind a door
that looks like the glove box. The actual glove box, and it's a big one,
is just below that.
In the center armrest are two levels of storage bins. In front of them
are two cupholders that pop up at the touch of the finger. Actually, they
glide up at the touch of a finger, at the same elegant, controlled pace
as all the LS 400's gadgets. Even the coat hooks over the back doors deploy
with a calculated elegance that helps set the car's tone. So do the handsome
wood inserts on dash and doors.
Along the same line, the car gives a little beep instead of honking
when you use remote entry to lock and unlock the doors. One minor annoyance:
we thought the beep was too quiet, in fact, and found ourselves straining
to hear if the doors had locked.
All of the safety equipment you'd expect is here. Dual airbags, and
antilock brakes are standard, and this year side airbags are too. A sophisticated
traction control system is available ($2020) to help keep this powerful
rear-wheel-drive sedan steady on ice and snow.
We had no problem getting comfortable in the front seats of this car.
Two electronic levers will position the seats just about any way you want.
The seats are a wonderful blend of the cushy, recliner-like seats found
in American luxury cars and the firmer, heavily bolstered seats in European
sport-luxury cars. An unusal square button on the steering column will
tilt and telescope the wheel to any driving position you would like.
Riding in the back is a little iffier. Two adults will find the seats
more than comfortable, and there's plenty of knee and hip room. But anyone
over six feet tall will brush his head on the roof unless he slouches down.
Three adults is not a real option, because of the hump down the middle
of the floor for the driveshaft.
The LS 400 offers as satisfying and sophisticated a blend of performance
and comfort as any car in the world. It won't outdo the Mercedes E-Class
or BMW 5-Series cars on a winding Alpine road, but the LS 400 is still
quite capable.
What the Lexus does superbly, though, is most evident in everyday driving.
First, the LS 400 is supremely quiet. Likening the silence inside the
LS 400 to a cathedral is the most overworked metaphor in car reviews, and
this car is the source of the metaphor. Wind and road noise are virtually
nonexistent, even at high freeway speeds.
It has rear-wheel drive, just as you'll find on the German sports sedans.
When it comes to absolute handling on dry pavement, rear-wheel-drive is
still the best. And its four-wheel independent suspension is as sophisticated
as anyone's. It's even more sophisticated with the optional ($1850) air
suspension system, which automatically adjusts ride firmness to driving
conditions. But our test car's more conventional steel spring setup served
very well indeed.
This car doesn't bounce on washboard roads or wallow through sharp corners,
and turns the worst of surfaces into a few minor bumps. We found ourselves
on a winter-battered highway, a semi-truck on either side of us and a pothole
the size of New Jersey right ahead. We clenched our teeth. The LS 400 flew
over the crater with barely a thump.
The 4.0-liter 32-valve aluminum V8 develops 265 horsepower, plenty to
get the LS 400 moving away from stoplights, going from 0-to-60 mph in a
very respectable 7.1 seconds. Its top speed is 149 mph.
The four-speed automatic transmission changes gears without the slightest
hesitation or jerk. It's a coddling performance that leaves you in awe
of Toyota's enginering prowess.