I see Mercedes and Audi, at least, to be sticking with V8's for at least the next generation. Mercedes is clearly not investing as much in V8's though. There will be no more separate V8 architectures as AMG's and mainstream MB's alike will be using several different iterations of the 4.0L V8 design. There's also a new V12 on the horizon, which makes me happy. And VW group just dropped a fresh W12 in the Bentayga, so that'll be around for some time.

 

Congratulations on your decision. I suppose this would be CL's first conquest buyer of the LS.

The LS may be an inch shorter in overall height but they did supplement that by removing the moonroof for panoramic glass that extends out of the car. The 5LS also has the longest wheelbase and legroom of any previous LS so any claims by any poster saying that the man in the video is uncomfortable in the seats, well they would be uncomfortable in many seats in this class.

 

A8 L (no short wheelbase available Stateside anymore) comes in 3.0 TFSI ($82,500) and 4.0 TFSI ($91,500). Pretty much on par with 740i and 750i.

 

I wasn't inferring that based on any of the buttons on the steering wheel. If you look at that pic, I mentioned that due to the error message on the speedo, but I just remembered that Lexus refers to the parking sensor system as "parking assist"

 

Audi also has the S8 with 605HP.

 

No, if you actually look at the digital instrument cluster, it says "parking assist unavailable"

 

Thanks, I saw yardie's response earlier. On the 2017 RX in order for ICS to function, PA must be turned on as it utilizes PA and RCTA sensors to detect and auto brake for you.

 

ah the HUD, thanks for clarifying

i wouldn't write off problem on rear headroom just yet. i had the ls460 and i had the s550, the ls460 clearly has much tighter rear head room and i expected it to be more roomy. my s550 had tons of space in the back. with the new LS going more of a XJ approach, i would really want to find out how the rear room is. it has to compromise in some way. that's also big part of the reason why i wish the LS stays in the boxy design just like the s and 7.

 

^^ yes it is important to check out the vehicle for ones own experience. Even though I am 6 ft tall, I have much longer legs and a shorter torso in relation to some of the reviewers out there. As such, I have no problem sitting in coupe like sedans and usually have plenty of headroom.

 

Yes! Kudo to them to offer S8 plus for the final production year. And the new one won't have lower Hp than current offering.

 

Look at this beauty, must've been a tricky angle to make the wheels look dark finish, but it looks so good here from R&T

 

I was listening to the Autoweek podcast tonight, the new LS was getting some sensational reactions. Sounded like they were not the biggest fan of the LS460, but this one they commenting that this new LS is a true flagship or something along those lines. John Davis has never endorsed the Lexus front end, but he loves this one.

 

I posted earlier about the interior growing on me...a lot. I'm SLOWLY warming a bit to the exterior now. Like I said, it sure ain't boring.

No V8 is still unforgivable and always will be, though.

 

Actually touchpad is a lot better device than the **** like iDrive or MMI so Lexus was right when they picked the touchpad. What they didn't to is to optimize it for driver's usage when car is in motion. They have completely failed at ratio between touchpad sensitivity and layers of user interface.

In other words sensitivity of the touchpad cannot be the same when car is still and when car is moving on the road, especially when road gets bumpy. Lexus needs to employ adjustable sensitivity and when the harsh ride is detected sensitivity lower and requires more crude input. Besides that Lexus needs to revamp its user interface because with the touchpad you cant cram as many function as they have right now on the single screen, it just doesn't work like that unfortunately. Having five or six functions (icons) next to each other on the bottom of the screen and then as many icons on the right side of the screen as shortcuts can't work with the touchpad. They have to have layers of screen in order to access those function or have hardware keys for most basic functions such as AC, Mediia, Nav, etc. Let thos be physical like on MMI and then you touchpad around it.

But its not only that what's wrong with Lexus touchpad implementation. They are using touchpad solely as navigation device while the touchpad is made for gestures and advanced inputs as well, think of it as shortcuts. Ok lets go from the basic stuff, can you scroll the audio playlist with two fingers instead of hunting down the arrow button in order to scroll? And what about double finger tap or hold to access shortcuts or adjust favorite functions, for example instead of navigating to AC icon and taping on it to get in AC dedicated screen how about two finger tap and hold on AC icon and with up and down movement adjust fan speed while with left to right movement you could adjust vents (or up and down for seat heating and left to right for seat cooling, consider it as user adjustable). Advantage of such thing is that you didn't leave the screen such as Navigation for AC screen but yet you adjusted what you needed and you don't need to press Back button so you have one less action. How about universal gestures: three finger flick down mutes Audio on any screen, three finger slow scroll up or down adjusts the volume, three finger left or right flick skips the song while gentle side scroll rewinds it or fast forwards it. All of that on any screen you want.

One of the things Lexus really needs to consider with the touchpad is for driver not to be focused on the main display as he or she hunts the desired icon. Instead when you operate the touchpad whenever you hit some icon display between the gauges will show you where you are on the big display. Let's say you are on the HOME/main screen on the big display and your standard options are Destination, Info, Setup, Radio, Media, Climate, Phone (btw I still believe these should have been hardware buttons) as you scroll with your touchpad you don't need to look at the big display to see where you at with your finger movement, instead display in-between gauges will show you the icon and the motion how you got there. If you are on Destination and you move your finger to the right Destination icon between the gauges moves to the left and from right comes Info icon. See no need to look at the big display, you only have to glance at it when you get on a new screen.

There is some free consulting for Toyota right there.

 

It has been 5 days since this debuted. It is clear that this new LS has created a lot of buzz, both (mostly) good and bad. I like that they are looking to change things up and target a different demographic (younger) than previous owners like me. It also makes sense that they not continue to target the Germans with clones and design with a more Asian look. Here are some further thoughts, need to reserve further judgment when I see/drive the actual production car, available engines and PRICING.

1. Exterior - more Japanese and Korean, less German clone. I like it, a lot of the Infiniti M37 in it, which I owned previously. Also a little Altima and Tesla, looks a lot more sporty/younger. Need to see a full production version to confirm (wheel style/size and ride height)

2. Interior - I like it a lot, personal style. Need to test a production version to see quality of materials, smell (if you've owned an S class an LS, you will know what I mean) and GUI functionality.

3. Engine - no problem with the TTV6, I have a gut feeling there will be optional engines. Need a test drive to gauge power, speed, quietness). Longer term would need to know fuel economy (but not that important) and reliability

4. Price - this is the all important piece to me. If it is priced too high, there are better choices and prestige matters. If the price is lowered to have a TTV6 SWB priced between the current GS and current LS, it would be compelling. However, starting at $90,000, you have to then consider if the 3 items above (exterior, interior, engine) fit the price.

We will need real world tests, the car mags can't be believed. Also, if does check all the boxes, the fans should vote with their wallets, NEW (I will). Otherwise, we are stuck with no Sedan development and only Crossovers (see Acura)

I am rooting for Japanese/Korean alternatives (Infiniti has been asleep for awhile in the large sedan space IMO).