The LS is governed at 132 or something. There are Civics (ala Fast & Furious) that can go well beyond 130 mph and really... a car that's half the weight of the LS should be easily MOD' and go REAL FAST, not LS fast... ha ha.

 

An Ls400 can do at-least 138 MPH...but I don't know where/if it's governed.

I wouldn't be surprised if it could reach the max speedometer reading of 160MPH.

 

Fast or not, LS430 power/torque is pretty good that I don't felt the struggle when punch it especially going up hill.............. to OP, when you got the feeling then just .

 

I raced a few times in my LS. 2004 maxima didn't stand a chance. Infiniti m35x was beat by a car length by 70 and I kept pulling. Couple of my friends wanted a piece of my ls, 1998 maxima ate alot of my dust and 1994 integra with a fartcan lost by bus lengths miserably, late 90's Acura 3.5RL lost big time. Those were all on empty city streets. Once I raced mid 90's mustang gt on the highway, first he kept up but then fell behind and stopped racing me.
LS is governed @ 131 mph but someone on this forum driven an LS at 164mph on the autobahn in Germany.

 

I think what the LS gives you is the confidence. Yes, many cars can go 100, 110.....slowly... with a lot of effort. And by that speed, the car started to feel unstable and you don't feel "safe".

I guess the solid build on LS overcomes that aspect. You still feel you have good control, the car is stable and you "trusted" the LS

 

Hey Yuri... you're faster than the average bear...

Intermec - yes, the LS is all about confidence in speed. The .25-.27 drag coeff. surely helps with the stability, and fuel efficiency.

 

I think this the few posts above highlighted the key point.

The Ls is a very refined automobile. It inspires confidence in the driver.

It's drive-train is so refined that a driver will feel so confident doing much in excess of 80 MPH. Don't ask how I know.

While it may not be the fastest car off the line it is arguably on of the most stable luxury vehicles to ever hit the market. Stable in the sense that you feel VERY confident behind the wheel at high speeds.

A car might whisk to 60 in 6 seconds. How will it perform from 60 to 85? For me that is more important. This is where the Germans (Mercedes and BMW) and the Japanese(Lexus) do with such elegance.

Straight off the line speed isn't the most important though being a slouch is not good either.

The LS is a refined mix. Great off the line performance and supreme highway manners.

 

Oh, I almost forgot about one important race with ....... An Ls460 wich I had won by mere inches. How? I don't know myself.
Last month I drove on the highway with a friend and we decided to clock passing performance of my LS. A/C was on and no power mode or sport mode: 50-80mph - 5 sec. 60-100mph - 15 sec.

 

Maybe on a 0-60 clock the Camry will hang with the LS430 but I know for a fact it doesn't have the powerful feel my LS has. As long as that damn traction control doesn't bog you down you feel a very strong pull when you give her the juice. Torque is a very nice thing.

 

HKS makes a module called "The Speed Limiter Defenser" for the 3UZ-fe... It's 156 bucks and worth it.

 

exactly... 0-60 everything from Buicks to Hyundais are at the 6s neighborhood now. It's nothing to be able to do 6 range now. It's the 60-80 needed acceleration where the V8 rule and the V6 lag behind.

Yuri's time of 50-80 mph in 5s... Camry isn't doing 50-80 in 5s, 7s perhaps.

 

12 years ago I owned an 90 Audi V8 and I remember getting passed climbing a hill by an Integra. There was no way a stock integra could out climb an Audi V8. Then I heard the hissing and popping sounds when he shifted and knew it was not your run of the mill integra.
Those little Honda engines can make absurd horse power when massaged properly. This was Pre Evo and WRX days.

 

On a pull passed 80mph, you might take a Camry for a walk, but how often do you take the LS over 100mph to matter? I can find myself at 100 occasionally on a 3 lane highway, but not sure why you'd need to go faster.

 

Unless it's some crazy off-hour were there are few to zero cars on the freeway, no speed above 80 mph is safe. I've only gone 90+ in my LS twice, and both were on straight stretches with zeros cars around and I only went possibly 1/2 mile, if even.

Other than that, I have my cruise set at 70 mph and let the car do the driving. Hopefully I don't fall sleep one day with the laser cruise on....

 

Well, I'm not weaving in and out of traffic when I'm doing it, I'll leave that to the Civics. You have to monitor your speed in the LS... if you don't watch it, you are at 100 easy. I typically do 80-85 on the highway depending on the traffic.