This would be my assessment as well lol

 

Well said. I didn't buy the LS for handling or even all out power. It's a luxury boat period.
People often get their priorities mixed up in one car and then go by the numbers that are meaningless.
I obviously don't want the car to be slow but it doesn't have to be dragster or a street racer which is super lame. Anyone that decides to take their LS to the dragstrip for a laugh is fine but if they take it seriously they are an idiot.
I would trade power and handling for a focused luxury car. Whats even more super lame is a person who owns an LS knowing full well there are much better handling cars out there for what they want but decides to buy the wrong car. It's the ultimate contradiction to thyself.

 

Case in point, superdesno poo-poo'ed my comment about the Lincoln Town Car. My mother in law is in town, she and my wife are out doing some shopping while I watch the twins (i.e. they're running amok and I'm posting on CL). Her mom had a Lincoln Town Car in the 90s, and LOVES the Town Car, to her its the epitome of what a car should be. Since we had the twins we don't travel in my car, we take the Sedona so she hasn't seen the LS. I told my wife to take it when they go out. She texted me to tell me how much her mom loves the car.

It really kind of is a "modern Lincoln Town Car". Its certainly better built. more solid, and handles better than a Town Car, but the ride is pretty similar. Town Cars in their day were very solid, ladder framed, very reliable old V8 engines. Thats why limo services chose them, and why police and taxi services chose Crown Victorias. Both of those industries are still looking for replacements for those cars.

 

Sometimes a troll is just a troll. Despite the preponderance of evidence it's always ignored and the conversation gets misdirected for only one purpose of being condescending to get a reaction.
What gets under their skin is being ignored. Car forum trolls often have a screen name that gives you a clue almost like an inside joke to themselves.

 

Ignoring them makes them go away, but replying back to them in a consistent, calm and factual way exposing their lack of knowledge and specifically NOT giving them the reaction they want truly gets under their skin

Its also a lot of fun!

 

I wouldn't respond to that guy except that people can rely on forum posts for many years and he gives so much advice that could be actively destructive, particularly all the Royal Purple stuff. That brand does not have a good track record.

 

I think the aforementioned knows about RPs track record and uses it to stir the pot.
I agree, I worry about bad advice going unchallenged.

 

A 1999 s420 is tight in the corners and has amazing bump absorbtion. So that whole cornering and ride quality can be done.

Cornering equates to accident avoidance and at 70 mph sudden movements in an LS can be interesting. But hey the Camry handles exactly the same.

I won't say the wind noise in the LS Is pleasant. I compare the LS to an 04 Merc everyday and it's slightly out of the S-class category imho. It picks up bonus points in reliability but gives them back in handling and wind intrusion.

 

Could you please be more specific ?

 

That generation S Class is no tighter in the corners than the LS.

Newer technologies help with this though. The aromatic suspension in the new S Class is a good example of this.

Not really. The LS is very sure footed and safe in all scenarios, its just when it comes to "corner carving" the car isn't light or nimble. Corners in the LS are safe, they just aren't fun.

The Camry handles completely differently than the LS. Its not as softly sprung as the LS, its FWD not RWD, and its much lighter. The Camry doesn't feel as heavy. I've never owned a Camry, but I have had two ES sedans which essentially are Camrys as well os obviously three LS sedans.

What year is your LS? Mine has no wind noise intrusion at all. I have not driven a new S Class (thats intentional lol) but I have driven several W221 S Classes as well as the W220 and the W140. Compared to the W221 my LS is just as quiet, the S Class is a little sharper than the LS, but the LS rides a little better. Overall refinement is about the same.

Its a heavy, ride biased car and it feels it, like the Town Car does. The LS is just more sophisticated, and a good bit smaller (Town Cars are about 15" longer than a SWB LS and about 10" longer than a LWB LS)

 

I sure hope the relentless pursuit is not about building a reliable Town Car. Town car sales are down 100% since 1996 and Lexus LS sales did not increase by 10% of that in the same timeframe.

Kalotek welcome to the forum. Thanks for both reading and posting.

 

I would hope Town Car sales are down, they haven't made them since 2011 LOL.

The Town Car is clearly not a competitor to the LS, nor has it ever been, its just another example of a ride oriented car which the LS is and always has been. The reason I brought it up was because of the comment about the LS not handling as well as other cars when the LS as a concept is not about handling.

I'm sure the next LS will be more dynamic than the current LS, thats the direction Lexus is going. I just hope they keep a focus on refinement, smooth and quiet ride for the LS as well.

 

A buddy of mine has an s420 and shuttles me to the airport. It is light years beyond the LS ability to corner and maintains bump absorbtion. I put 20k on my car last year, I know what it can and can't do. It corners Camry-esque. I will concede, it corners like an overweight Camry. It's better than a loaner c300 I got stuck with, but 99 s-class is another league. Let's not start talking sbc, ebc, and vsc. The body control and brakes of the 03 and on S are again in a different dimension, but prone to failure and cost a fortune to replace or inspect. As for the LS, better shocks and tires would change the safety margin during abrupt maneuvers at speed.

 

Have you driven it? I don't see how you can assess handling from the passenger seat. Its been many years since I've driven one, but as I recall it was a total barge, and the significantly smaller LS400 felt nimble by comparison.

That doesn't surprise me since you fail to understand the differences in handling between a FWD car and a RWD car, but that doesn't mean those differences don't exist. The Camry and LS feel completely different in corners, the Camry is FWD and front heavy and has a ton of understeer while an LS is RWD and much more weight neutral and can actually be a little tail happy. In a corner if you give an LS some gas with the VSC off, the tail will come out. Thats impossible with a Camry.

Like I said, I owned two essentially Camrys, put 175,000 miles on one after having had twoRWD LS sedans and 45,000 miles on the other before switching to rear biased AWD Lexus sedans.

The LS handles and feels nothing like a Camry.

LOL A C300 runs CIRCLES around an LS and an S550. A much smaller, more nimble car with much tauter suspension. Thats absurd.

I've always been underwhelmed by the S Class. Every time I go to drive one and think about buying it, I come away dissatisfied, as I do with all MB Products. Now, I haven't driven the latest S550, and outwardly I have said many times its superior to the LS. Honestly though, if you offered me a 2013 S550 (last year of the W221) or a 2013 LS460 and a lifetime warranty on each (meaning I would never have to pay for repairs), I honestly would take the LS. Now if it were a 2014 S550, I'd take the S550.

The LS is very safe to drive and make emergency maneuvers with at highway speeds.

 

Check out the 0-60 and slalom. You fellas refute every word I post like they're lies. Meanwhile you should bash the LS performances. The fact that you bought a car that feels good over bumps and can't corner means you owns a Lexus. And with computers and better parts that is unnessary. Delayed Shifting, rattling at start up, fuel leak recalls, valve springs, interior upholstery failures, clicking brake pumps, brakes prone to glazing...what are they pursuing again? Oh yeah Town Car. The 460 occasionally tests better than 430.
http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/t...50i-sport.html