5 Things You Didn't Know About Lexus
 

5 Things You Didn't Know About Lexus

We know you guys know a ton about Lexus and all the things that the brand has brought forth throughout the years. However, did you know about these tidbits of information?

By Tommy Mabson

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...cab02471d0.jpg

"Lexus offered standardized satellite navigation in the LS400 way back in 1999. The system looks old and muddled by today's standards but back then it was cutting edge"

And I bet it was just as difficult to use and was as outdated as it is now. C'mon Lexus!! Get with it!

The navigation actually came out in 1998, it was not standard, it was an option that was not combinable with the Nakamichi upgraded audio system.

Most LS400s do not have the navigation option.

imho any fan should know the 4 goals that they had in launching a new brand back in the 80's. It's extremely impressive, and yes, they achieved all four.

hint: What's the top speed of a 1990 LS400? I just gave away 1/4, but the other 3 tie into this....

IMO, that is a moot point. How often are vehicles actually driven at top speed...especially here in American driving conditions, where there is almost no place it can be done legally? Even the notorious German Autobahns, for a number of reasons, have fewer and fewer unlimited-speed sections left in them.

The top speed is 149 MPH.

I remember 160 mph, but google says 155. The reason it's significant, imho, is it was one of the core goals at Toyota Motor, when the F1 project started late '83. I have the original LS400 brochure, maybe it states top speed...

edit: another source says 150 mph....very curious what the brochure states as for some reason 160 is what I had thought it was...

another hint is 58db was quieter at 100 km/h than the competition...

yet another source shows 149 every year, right through 2001, so maybe that is the winner! The only thing is, I don't think that beats the competition, which Toyota did...yet that number conveniently works for tire speed ratings...

edit 2: someone on this forum stated he took a LS400 up to an indicated 160 and apparently the speedo was pinned, and with a passenger 158, and that the cars were not governed but drag limited....

The cars in the US were limited to 149 MPH. The LS430 is limited to 133.

You think its 160 because thats what the speedometer goes up to.

I've never seen a LS400 speedo, let alone would I have ever ridden in one, nor have I ever ridden in one or seen one. On this forum, I found a thread where a person said stop trying to guess unless you've done it, and he states he did an indicated 158 mph with a passenger, and the speedo ran out by himself. That's rather simplistic, assuming a car goes as fast as whatever the speedometer tops out at. LS430, which I own, but have never topped out, I believe is 130 mph controlled electronically, again, due to tire ratings. 133 would be a bit odd.

If you have the original brochure and have ever flipped through it you've seen the LS400 speedo. You've really never seen an LS400? :uh:

LS gauge clusters are all basically the same...

Gen 1 gauges:

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e0c226bee6.jpg

Gen 2 gauges:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...8fdd4c2665.jpg

Gen 3 gauges:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...53fec6fd18.jpg

Gen 4 gauges:

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...a2bc7de7ec.jpg

I'm a firm believer that if something works well, don't mess with it. ;)

Yeah I quite like the simple optitron gauges. That's one thing I really don't like about the LS500, the LFA type single gauge deal.

If my memory is right, Lexus, with the LS400, was the first company to put white electroluminescent, back-lit gauges into a production car. Twenty years earlier, though, in the late 60s/early70s,, the big full-size Chryslers also had an interesting pattern on the instrument panel where the whole panel, not just specific gauges/controls, was flooded by an external light, not bulbs behind the dash. My uncle in Ohio had a big Town and Country station wagon with this feature. It was considered a gimmick at the time by the rest of the industry, but I liked it and thought it worked well.

http://moparblog.com/wp-content/uplo...ugham-dash.jpg

Those old cars that had 120 mph speedos, how fast could they realistically go, 80? Just curious....

I find the LS430 controls on the wheel to be poorly placed (maybe they designed it for 10 and 2 drivers, which should have stopped around 1993 and my car is a 2006). The real oddity is display 2? I'm not one to read the manual, so all I can see is it turns the temp display off, and on? But I do think it was slick engineering for the car to automatically keep the tank mpgs, that is really handy. It makes it no issue if you want to reset the avg mpgs to shoplift the highway mpgs (as opposed to all cars having instantaneous), when you do so, you haven't erased the historical for the tank. Like a diabetic watching his diet for a week and then going in for the test, doesn't fool the lab as there's the A1C...

Cannot find anything to substantiate a 160 mph top speed of the LS400 except this forum. Lexus did have a commercial that I found where they took the car up to 145 mph on a dyno and put glasses on the hood....

Everything I've ever read has said the LS400 was limited to 149 MPH.

Our 98 LS400 was limited to 149 MPH for sure. Don't ask me how I know lol