It's not so much the handling that I'm concerned about. My LS handles fine. It's the power. I can't imagine any real noticeable difference in power with the sport version.

Anyway.. Does anyone else think we're going to see a new LS looking pretty much like this?

 

The Sport has the same 380 HP engine but in addition, includes the shift paddles. I wish they could tweak the engine chip to get another 20-30 HP. The performance chips were quite the deal a few years ago. A friend had one in a twin turbo Porsche and got over 50 additional horses on the dyno.

I saw the 2013 GS this morning but it wasn't a F Sport. The front end is pretty busy . It's quite possible the new LS will have a similar one, especially if the designers were looking at the Audi. I wonder if they will keep the V8 on the LS?

 

i hope they dont make the ls look the same as the gs and now the rx cant have all the lexus cars looking alike it is bad enough the es looks like the ls from a distance..

 

I hope the LS stands apart from the smaller sedans and stays clear of what BMW did with small,
Medium and large sedan versions of the same car (exterior wise)

 

One of the first three grills (IS,ES, LS) out of the 6 is the refreshed LS front spindle grill.



The last three is RX-F Sport, GS and LX, I love the new look of Lexus.

 

out of all six of those cars, The RX looks the most aggressive. I like it.

 

Lexus never did good looking cat, so I do not expect any change soon. But I hope new LS will have more contemporary interior.

 

Lexus has to pay atleast some attention to HP. I mean America is obsessed with it by the looks of it. It just doesnt look good on paper compared to the 5.0 genesis and equus. Even though everyone knows they dont compare to the LS

 

The next Equus is going to be a closer rival to the LS so Lexus better stop falling asleep. I don't need to get my *** handed to me by a Hyundai Equus when I turn on my signal to get over and Mr. Hyundai decides to hit the gas so I have to go behind him...

 

Save some gas, just let him pass... Hey that rhymes

 

The manager of my local Lexus dealership told me that he'd been informed by corporate that the next LS would arrive in January 2013 and that it will be a refreshed model. He didn't have any information beyond that, although he speculated that it might incorporate some of the cues seen on the new GS. No word on whether it will have a more powerful engine. I hope it does because, like Sal Collaziano, I don't want to have some upstart in a 2012 Equus who paid $15,000 less for his car kick my butt off the line. As is it, the 2012 Infiniti M35h and M56 smokes the LS460 every time, and those are $54k and $60 respectively.

BTW, I test drove a 2012 LS460 with the Mark Levinson sound system and I am completely sold! If the new 2013 is as good as the 2012, I hope to be one of the first to commit to a purchase in my area. I'm waiting to see if the 2013 model incorporates some of the tech I've seen in Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Infiniti, Tesla, and Ford, including blind spot warning, head's-up display, around-view monitor, valet mode, and night vision/pedestrian detection.

 

Honestly, I have liked all the LS iterations. I own a low mileage 2004 Modern Luxury version with chrome wheels and nearly flawless paint. It just exudes elegance and is great for driving to a fine restaurant or the opera, but allows me to blast down the highway after a long day at work and to pass most drivers without any difficulty when I need to do so. (I have no interest in racing a Hyundai and look at the trendy Dallas Infiniti drivers as upstarts.). I do like the older style V8, too - it does have a fair amount of lower end grunt for a more than 10 year old engine. It can really move when you get aggressive with it.

My only real complaint is with the transmission and stability control. I have to work to get the car to let me drive it hard. It sometimes balks when I hit the throttle after I have been coasting.

I probably will replace the LS430 in about 4 or 5 years (having only 58k miles now), so I'm watching this with interest. One key area for improvement in the new model would be to give us a true sport mode with aggressive transmission programming. Improving efficiency in the drivetrain could help to give our beloved LS models that "snap" that we know they should have. Power at the crankshaft by itself is not going to solve the problem.

I am crossing my fingers. Until then, I will continue to love driving my LS every day.

 

In my opinion my 2001 LS 430 had a much better drivetrain than the LS 460. Sure, the 460 has more power and you can feel it but the 430 was much smoother overall that the 460. I have had two 460's now and both have had problem transmissions. Perhaps I was just unlucky or maybe it was because they were both AWD but I do not like the 8 speed. I think it is revealing that Lexus chose not to put it in the new GS.

As to body styling I do think the 460 is much nicer than the 430 - found it much too box like. I especially hated the guppy like headlights.

 

I love the way my LS looks, especially with 22" wheels on the car. Its a handsome car but not flashy.

 

yeah the looks are night and day compared to the 430... it doesn't look like anything else on the road beside the es from a distance...