Let’s face it, when it comes to performance cars Lexus is not exactly a marque that readily pops into mind. Or is it? With the launch of the “F” division through the potent IS F performance sedan, and with the ultra-exotic LFA locked and loaded in the chamber of production (not to mention completely sold out through presale), there’s now substantive reason to believe that this once acquiescent, luxury-only brand is poised to ruffle up some of the most serious players in the business.

So I guess it shouldn’t have come as a huge surprise to see Lexus expand this newfound vigor to a segment it has done relatively well in, even without the pretense of athleticism. The LS 460 may not have been built as a performance-driven machine from the ground up, but with the newly available Sport Package, there’s new life and an inner sporting spirit to be explored from behind the wheel of this Lexus.

To gauge just how far the LS 460 has come, we couldn’t think of a better target than its former antithesis, the all-new twin-turbocharged BMW 750i. Beautifully engineered and faster than ever, the new 750i is the best 7 Series we’ve seen to date and is intent to remain the segment’s dynamic leader and definitive driver’s car.

Exactly how good is it though, and is the big 750i sedan really worth that gaping price margin (nearly $20,000) over its more attractively priced Lexus competition? International Editor Sam Mitani and I headed down the long road through the Anza-Borrego Desert to find some answers, pitting long-distance comfort of both cars against our discriminating backsides while seizing every opportunity to hammer down a few of the incredibly straight or sublimely curvaceous roads that California’s beautiful low desert has to offer—and we emerged with some interesting revelations.

2nd - 2010 Lexus LS 460 Sport
Points: 371.7

I can vaguely recall the first time I belted in to drive an early version of the new Lexus LS 460. Not that it lacked quality, comfort or power, but it was just another fluffy, automatic-gearbox luxury boat that was quick to be forgotten once you cranked its steering wheel. This weakness could be blamed solely on a suspension that was about as firm as a bowl of soft-serve ice cream on a sunny day, riding on all-season tires that vehemently gave protest when pushed hard. There was an obvious untapped reserve of performance, and thus entertainment, to be had given the stout 4.6-liter V-8 and rear-drive architecture. Come on, Lexus!

Enter the Sport Package, packed with enough performance and aesthetic enhancements to not only put the LS 460 back on our radar, but persuade us to take it out hunting for some big sport-luxury bogies.

For your dollars—$6185 of them to be exact—the Sport Package includes a cool smoked-out sport grille embedded in the front fascia that’s complemented by a low-slung splitter and body-thickening rocker panel extensions. The forged 19-in. wheels are fitted with dedicated summer perform*ance tires that increase grip as well as they fill out the wheel wells. Brembo brakes peer out from behind split spokes in a visually impressive display of stopping potential.

On the interior front, you gain Sport-specific black and saddle tan leather that’s trimmed with matte dark brown accents, colors that befit the look and demeanor of the LS’s new character. If it’s not to your liking, you’re out of luck because it’s the only interior configuration Lexus offers. The new front sport seats gain a palpable amount of lateral support, though still not quite to the rib-hugging degree we like. On another positive note, the leather-trimmed sport steering wheel has sprouted a pair of inconspicuous paddle shifters, which help the driver manipulate the aggressively recalibrated 8-speed transmission.

These are all fantastic additions that would be enough to validate the LS 460 Sport’s presence on these pages, but the most remarkable upgrade is the new suspension that ensures the driving experience is not forgettable. The LS chassis receives a sport-tuned air suspension offering three modes of damping—Comfort, Normal and Sport—that can be changed on the fly with a rocker switch next to the one that varies the response of the electronic throttle (ECT). With this, you can now customize the character of the LS, from docile city coach to atypical canyon carver!

Upon reaching the aforementioned fun zone known as Highway S22, the LS Sport was able to rewrite our history altogether with a single pass down the canyon grade. The brakes held up phenomenally well under repeated late-braking maneuvers (did we really leave our photographer in the dust that easily?) while testing the transmission’s new rev-matching downshift function—à la IS F. The shifts are lightning quick but don’t engage with quite the kick of an “F” car, and that’s perfectly appropriate. Slap the drive selector over to manual mode and it’ll even let you hold a gear at the engine’s soft limiter, which is something the BMW’s 6-speed automatic (or any current Audi auto) won’t let you get away with.

The LS’s powerful 4.6-liter V-8 utilizes a combination of port (for a quieter idle) and direct fuel injection (for perform*ance) and cranks out 380 bhp and 367 lb.-ft. of torque. This makes getting up to traffic speeds a mindless affair (the car hits 60 mph in 5.6 seconds), and doesn’t leave you at all disappointed when you’re wanting to relish a good road or simply lay down two lengthy strips of rubber.

Having yet to drive the BMW, I’m already convinced that the Lexus LS 460 Sport is all the performance I’m ever going to need in a car this size and this comfortable. But I can’t jump to any conclusions yet—there’s a Bavarian starship that eagerly awaits my time at its helm. Continued...

Stepping out of the Lexus and into the BMW, I sense an immediate and clear difference between their schools of thought, even before the ignition is keyed. Where the Lexus’ lines swoop and carve designs into the dash and door-panel profiles with sharp color contrast, the BMW responds with relatively straight and modest edges and a more organic color palette. For some, the BMW’s interior styling could come off as boring. But for those who prefer subtlety over flair, there’s comfort in German simplicity, especially since you’ll have to conserve every ounce of sense you’ve got left for what this car is capable of showing you dynamically.

Up to this point, I was quite certain we had a fair match on our hands. The LS easily ranks among the sportiest Lexuses I’ve ever driven, and I’m confident it could give a fair number of canyon brats a run for their egos. Then I swapped over to the BMW for a shot up a particularly decent stretch of mountain highway. What I learned was this: The 750i will take what you know about large luxury sedans, suck it up its intakes, shred it with its twin turbos, incinerate it with a precise injection of petrol and then spit it out at the first apex you attack. This car has a blatant disrespect for the laws of physics. Acceleration from 0 to 60 mph comes up in a mere 4.9 sec. with the quarter mile following at 13.3 sec. at 108 mph, the result of having 400 bhp at your disposal and a 450 lb.-ft. mesa of torque from 1750 to 4500 rpm. And the defiance doesn’t stop there.

We could say the 750i handles better than many cars half its size and you’ll know it’s not just hyperbole. It pulls an average of 0.89g around our skidpad and weaves through the slalom at a swift 68.2 mph average. Considering that the 750i weighs in at a portly 4600 lb. with no one on board, it takes some clever engineering to make this big sedan work so well, given all that weight being thrown around.

BMW, as it turns out, does Sport Packages too, this one adding $6500 to the $82,000 base price. This adds 19-in. V-spoke wheels, and wraps them with Goodyear’s performance rubber that is a notch or two stickier than the LS’s Dunlops. The front and rear bumper caps are replaced with more aggressive wind tunnel-sculpted pieces and the window trim is darkened for a stealthy effect. The interior also gets treated to an Anthracite-colored Alcantara headliner and a nice thick-rimmed leather M steering wheel, which we would’ve really liked to have been wrapped in Alcantara too. All aesthetic upgrades aside, what the Sport Package gains you in dynamics is the Active Roll Stabilization (ARS). This system works to resist lateral body movement with a counter force applied by the electronically controlled anti-roll bars that create exceptionally flat cornering without over-stiffening the ride. When coupled with the extremely intelligent Dynamic Driving Control stability system and its comprehensive array of response settings (Comfort, Normal, Sport and Sport +), you end up with a 7 Series that is nearly unflappable. You can intentionally be irresponsible with your inputs (not that you ever would be), or be overconfident with corner-entry speeds and the 750i simply collects itself and continues on with little drama.

In everyday, normal driving, we favored the Lexus over the BMW by a thin margin mainly due to a slightly quieter cabin, lighter-effort steering and a trace more suspension compliance. The 8-speed transmission helps the LS have a small fuel economy advantage (16/24 versus 15/22, city/highway, respectively), which averaged out to about 1 mpg better overall during our drive.

As far as dynamics go, however, we will let the numbers speak for themselves. The supreme communication between the BMW and its driver—be it in the car’s superb steering or its innate ability to do what it’s asked—is what sets the 750i apart from the rest of luxury sedan crowd and makes this big Bimmer one truly ultimate machine to drive.