integr8d

I agree with the first point. The design language of the 4th-Gen LS does not mesh very well with current theme. IMO, the spindle grill, at least on the 2013+ LS, looks like a design cue that is trying to pull from 70's Detroit (and not in a good way). Personally, I don't think it'll age well. OTOH, I think they nailed it with the 2010 facelift, much in the same way that they did with the SC300/400 facelift... I >do< like what they did with the 2013+ tail lights. But on a different car. And where I can see a spindle'd LS working is in the concept drawings. They've designed the car around that language. And it pulls together nicely. It's not shoehorned in.

I disagree with the 2nd point. Those touchscreens pick up fingerprints like crazy. And until they go with capacitive models, as opposed to resistive models, there would still be that horrible contrast ratio with the displays. But they went around the whole thing and put in the mouse. And I like it. I think the haptic feedback portion is genius. It keeps fingers off screens and still lets you navigate the menus with certainty. The button portion; I think they could've gone with different functions (or made them user-assignable). But until they develop hyper-accurate eye-tracking, I think it works. And it's definitely much better than the trackpad that they're putting in the upscaled RAV4.

As for when the 5th-Gen is going to arrive, I think that a lot of these companies are trying to figure out where the economy is headed. And I think there's a lot of uncertainty.

SW17LS

Tastes are subjective. Personally I think the 13+ car is the best looking 460 (no surprise) and the 07-09 car I find much more fluid than the 10-12 which is my least favorite iteration of the 460.

integr8d

By definition, tastes are subjective...

One thing that I'm noticing is that these cars are somewhat sensitive to how they're photographed.



I'm into this. Matter of fact, I think I actually do prefer these tail lights the most.



Clean lines. Slipstream.



Back alley brawler.



When did Kirby stop designing vacuums?




Hello, late-80's concept art.



Just no.

Very sensitive to the lens...

By far, the cars that I've owned the most are the Z32 Nissan 300ZXs. Loved them since before I could drive. Loooove them. Have never cared for the back end. It's like Nissan ran out of money or patience or saki. "Why did all of the coolness stop there?," I continue to ask myself. Oh well.

Rhambler

There's another wild-speculating article that indicates the test mule had a turbo based on the engine sound.

Kind of a subjective guess, but based on known engines in the family, what could it be if true? I thought the only forced-induction engine in production is the 4 cylinder turbo?

Doubt they'll put that engine in this car, more likely a V6 turbo. Can't even see a V8 turbo as the 5 liter is a great engine in the HP department, unless they do a V8 turbo mainly for fuel economy. It has to be all new, assuming that wild guess is even true.

I don't really feel comfortable with turbos, at least not in regards to driving it 150k miles without worrying, unlike most Toyota engines. Guess we'll see.

SW17LS

In my experience all Lexus cars are better looking in person than in pictures. IMHO my LS doesn't have a bad angle in person, which is not something I can say for every Lexus vehicle I've owned.

integr8d

That's because you have depth perception, with stereoscopic vision. In the photography/motion picture world, they have to figure out which angles, lighting, focal lengths, colors work the best. Days worth of tests are done, long before anything official has been shot.

If you look at the image of the 430, it was made with a very flat perspective. If a picture was taken with the same perspective, a telephoto lens would have to have been used. It clearly doesn't do the car any favors. And we also know that the car doesn't look that way in person.

One thing that helps the photographers and cinematographers determine these things is actually being used in the print ads and commercials themselves. I haven't seen it in any national spots. But if you look at your local spots, where they give you the 'attractive lease offers', the silver pick-whichever-model Lexus, spinning in the background, is computer generated.

dlbuckls10

I think most vehicles look better in pictures and brochures plus size and space can be deceptive.

SW17LS

I can think of plenty of cars that look great in pictures and in person, and cars that tend to look better in pictures than in person (Mercedes cars are that way IMHO, love the pictures underwhelmed in person)

coolsaber

Knowing that they dipped their feet with the forced 4, i can easily see them offer a twin scroll turbo V6. The V8s a different story. They have to maintain a V8 in some form on their flagship. Considering most V8 flagships have gone Turbo, and NA V8s seems to produce less power then a boosted 6, it would have to be

LS400 Boosted 6
LS500 Either NA V8 from the RCF or Boosted V8

Who knows

Luxofreak

I'm still waiting for the new LS....

Sold my 2007 and so far I'm having tons of fun with this 392 V8 (6.4L) 6 speed manual.

When the new LS pops out of the oven I'll be in line to check it out

Rhambler

Yeah, a V6 turbo could definitely be an option and sounds reasonable. BMW offers a blown I-6 in their 7 series. Actually, a Toyota blown I-6 would be even better! I'm sure they can dig one up from their historic engine warehouse, modernize and wala! Considering they had a BMW 7 series in tow during the test mule photo shoot could be telling in that regards (or not).

I'm not sure if they would build a new V8 turbo considering the 5 liter is so pronounced within the family right now and produces more HP than the MB S550 and BMW 750i without turbos! Pretty amazing engine from what I've researched. It doesn't have that "turbo" cachet, but who cares. I know the 4.6 liter in our car was shared with other models in the lineup, albeit those were rare (GS 460).

MB S550: 449 HP (4.7 liter bi-turbo manufacturer claimed 0-60 @ 4.7s)
BMW 750i: 445 HP (4.4 liter bi-turbo manufacturer claimed 0-60 @ 4.3s )
Lexus LS500: 467 HP (5.0 liter NA 0-60 @ ??? I'll guess 4.4-4.7s) assuming they tune it the same for the LS

Pretty amazing engine and something I covet lol. I can definitely seeing myself upgrading in December 2018 just for the engine alone. I would prefer to wait until 2019/2020 for a third model year cycle, but who knows.

roadfrog

Since HKS already has a proven supercharger kit for the LS460, it'd be nice if they hooked up with Lexus in a partnership. I'm not a fan of turbos......too many oil issues and reliability concerns.

yardie876

Considering the RC-F/GS-F siblings are hitting 60 in ~4.3-4.6 seconds, I'd imagine the LS will be closer to 5 seconds with the 5 liter, unless Lexus has some trick diet plan up their sleeves for the LS.

coolsaber

HP #s only tell you half the story. Its more about useable power nowdays. Everyone and their brother in the journo business lovs to talk about useable power rev band, and those bi turbos are at the front of laundry list of raved cars since full power is available from 1500 RPM on some of those motors versus the 4.6 needing alot more.

Rhambler

I think 4.4-4.7 is reasonable. At least in the scope of manufacturer-claimed times. Claimed times on the current model is 5.4s with a 386 HP engine.

The RCF is heavy. The LS, base model at least, might only be a 200-300 lbs heavier, which isn't enough to slow it down that much. Look how heavy the S550 and 750i are. Relatively the same with less HP at the listed claimed times.

No idea why the RCF isn't quicker. That is one knock, imo, on that car is the weight. Audi's S7 has less HP, not sure about the M5, but there are a lot of ponies under that hood. Amazing engine imo. Especially considering the naturally-aspirated nature of the HP output. In fact it's on par HP/L of comparable turbo engines, which is pretty amazing.