AWD vs RWD?
 

Thinking of trading in the 2007 RWD LS460 for a 2013 or 2014. There's a nice looking AWD close by with 13,000 miles on the clock for $54000, which seems a smidge high but within the KBB range. My question is, I love the quietness, smoothness and reliability of the RWD LS460. Are there any sacrifices in any of these qualities (eg noise) with the AWD system?

Thanks in advance,

None. I've driven it both in RWD and AWD, the RWD feels a little peppier, but from a ride/smoothness/quietness standpoint theres no difference. Reliability, don't see any issues here with AWD systems, and the oldest ones are 7 years old now...

Thanks Steve. Interestingly, I find performance of the RWD LS460 to be quite lacking for a 380hp car. I guess I'll have to drive the AWD and check it out. My next door neighbor has a 1969 Camaro which dyno'd out recently at 340HP and which blows the LS out of the water!

Here's the thing, if you put that Camaro and the LS460 at a 0-60 drag race, what would win? My money would be on the Lexus even though the Camaro feels faster. Remember too that Camaro is dyno'ing 340HP at the rear wheels, the LS is 380HP at the crank, what does one put down at the rear wheels? I don't know that anyone has ever dyno'ed one to find out. Remember too that the AWD LS doesn't put out 380HP like the RWD, I think its 360 something.

Issue is that modern transmission gearing has taken a lot of the pep out of cars in the name of getting better fuel economy. For instance I don't think my LS460 feels as peppy as my LS430 or LS400 did, despite being nearly 100 more HP.

But, even with that gearing when you throttle flat out its going to get there in a quicker time.

AWD would be very beneficial where heavy ice and snow is common. RWD 460 handles well in ice, snow and rain with its active safety features.

Yes, AWD would be nice for those rare occasions when we have snow and ice, or when I take a roadtrip up north to visit the kids. But not if it involves compromises in quietness, smoothness and reliability (and up to a point, performance).

We have both. Driving them back-to-back, the AWD's shorter final drive ratio actually makes it feel punchier around town. The RWD will pull away from it above 40MPH and in highway passing maneuvers. Once any vibration issues are ironed out, the AWD is just as smooth as the RWD. When the weather gets crappy, the AWD rules. There's about a 2-4MPG penalty with the AWD on the freeway.

No difference in NVH. The AWD does sound a bit meaner at WOT, probably due to the different front exhaust setup to clear the AWD hardware (which is also the reason for the lower power rating).

I'd put my $$$$ on the old Camaro to win the drag race from a dead stop. Both cars are putting out similar hp, the Lexus weighs around 4200lbs, the Camaro 3200lbs. Now granted once you get past 80mph or so I think the Lexus would start making up ground. Both cars punching it at 80mph though, the Lexus would keep up and then probably pull away due to the better aerodynamics and the Camaro running out of gears and RPM past 100mph

That's 340 wheel horse power, not crank

Most of the power loss comes from the tranny in the LS, its designed to be super smooth and soft, it causes a lot of parasitic loss of power that way.

Really surprised to hear that, with me , I went from driving my 430 in the morning and picked up the 460 in the afternoon so the memory was very fresh, the 100 hp was very real and noticeable in my case

I think to me it comes from the transmission not being as responsive.

In Canada snowy weather in the winter, RWD LS with regular tire is not driveable. My LS RWD went to the snow bank without triggering the beeping.

On snow tires it would do fine, but overall I agree. Having had the RWD LS400 and LS430, I wouldn't want to drive a RWD LS460 in the snow on all season tires.

This is what worries me. My local dealer is pretty incompetent when it comes to "ironing out" problems. I think I'll pass on the AWD.

Vibration issues were only a problem on very early AWD cars. I wouldn't worry about it on a 13 or 14 at all.

Our 2012 AWD had very noticeable vibration issues, requiring a lot of effort by the dealer to sort out. Luckily the local dealer is excellent, and all work was covered under both the powertrain and CPO warranties.