mmarshall

An interesting old Top Gear video (minus Jeremy Clarkson) comparing the original 1990 LS400 to its European rivals. Partway through the video, he imitates some of the old Lexus commercials by placing a glass of water on the engine, showing how well the engineers had addressed NVH.

Stroock639

#LS400forlife

there's another segment from 97 where quentin wilson reviewed the (then) new 98 LS and GS. i just tried to find that but it's been blocked due to a copyright claim from "BBCW_claiming"

effin limeys

Big Andy

I remember that edition of Top Gear (it was a poor programme before being re-vamped by Clarkson) and my dad ordered a LS400 shortly afterwards.

FrankReynoldsCPA

I watched that video shortly after I bought my LS400. Indeed, that engine was remarkably smooth. It was one hell of a comfortable car to cruise in too.

Aron9000

That's crazy that the Germans, even back then, didn't have a/c and cruise control standard on their top of the line models.

Mr Bond

The police car challange !

Toys4RJill

It's a cool video and I found out some interesting things such as no air suspension and some the competition had no AC or power seats.

My only thing with this video is that they compare V8 Lexus with a V8 MB, and two six cylinder BMW/Jaguar. Its nice that the Lexus is ultra smooth, but it only applies to the V8 MB. It wouldn't be fair to say the LS400 is not as smooth a V12 BMW, Jag, or MB which were all available at the time of the video.

geko29

I'm not sure what type of 6-cylinder was in the Jaguars at the time, but the BMW would be a straight 6. And saying a V8 is smooth in comparison to an I-6 is QUITE a compliment.

Generally speaking, the only thing smoother than a straight 6 is a V12--because the latter is simply two I-6s sharing a common crankshaft. This is because the design is inherently balanced. At any given time, there are two pistons the same distance from (or at) TDC, traveling in the opposite direction, two the same distance from (or at) BDC, traveling in the opposite direction, and two the same distance from the middle of the stroke, traveling in opposite directions. Every inertial moment is cancelled out exactly.

This is not the case in an I-4 or a V8, and controlling the collective inertia of those 8 pistons so they approximate or exceed the smoothness and balance of an I-6 is a big accomplishment.

Mr Bond

To be honest , this kind of balance test doesn´t say much at all. Here you have two kind of engines that does the same test, one is a V12 and the other an old I6 cyl mercedes diesel. Ok, they are not revving the diesel, but this diesel is not considererd "smooth" even if it has 6 cyl. The V12 on the other hand shows its smootness when it shuts down and starts without the coin falling.

Och

iTrader: (3)

I respectfully disagree. Most modern 90 degree V8's are going to be smoother than comparable i6. My GS430 was a lot smother than my GS300, through the whole RPM band. These V8's are even better balanced than I6. These I6 engines are great when compared to V6, but nowadays even the V6 engines are good.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features...angles-feature