I have a 2007 LS 460 base model with 105k miles on the clock. The control arms were replaced under warranty by the previous owner at about 75k and an inspection at 100k showed the bushings to be in pretty good condition. The tires have less than 10k on them and don't show uneven wear.

Driving on highways at 50-80 mph I find the steering to be surprisingly imprecise. I have to make many small corrections to keep the car running straight or tracking a curve accurately. The steering on my old 2006 Sienna with 195k is noticeably more precise.

This is the only LS460 I've ever driven, so I have no basis for comparison. I think I've seen references in this forum to poor "on center feel" or something like that.

Is this normal and something I just have to live with? If not, is there something specific I should request when I take it in to the shop?

Thanks in advance!

Mike in Portland, OR USA

 

Have you had a front end alignment? Also, even when tires are rotated and balanced, techs can get it wrong. I've had to go back and get my tires redone after one day.

 

I have the same impression, LS600h at 76k miles, and I've had a wheel alignment performed by a Lexus garage recently. The steering is indeed surprisingly vague in comparison to, say, the Volkswagen Phaeton I had for two weeks, despite both being similar heavy full-size luxury cars.

Furthermore, it seems quite sensitive to road imperfections such as tramlines. Occasionally, I can feel it pulling slightly to either side, but upon re-positioning myself on the lane, it stops doing that.

 

Tires in my case.

 

Cashflashbob, what was wrong with your tires? Were they just worn out, defective, or a bad match for your LS? And what did you replace them with that worked better?

Thanks,

Mike near Portland

 

Michelin’s drove straighter, rode better and were quieter

 

Steering on the LS is blah on the normal setting... You do notice steering become nimble and stiffen when you switch on sport mode. Personally for me, I choose to mostly driving on normal setting.

 

Thanks Mikerx80! I never thought about trying sport mode.

 

OK, I had a chance to try that out on a 4-day road trip. First let me say that my 2007 base model doesn't actually have "sport" mode. My choices are Power, ECT and Snow. I was hoping that Power was similar to Sport.

I must have switched back and forth from the normal ECT setting to Power setting a hundred times under varying conditions. I realized right away that if there was a difference in steering feel and precision, it was slight, well within the range where my psychological bias would effect my testing. I really wanted it to work!

Sadly, I finally decided that switching modes did not have any effect on my 2007 base model LS 460.

Mike near Portland, OR

 

Correct, the PWR mode only changes throttle mapping.

 

Caflashbob's comment about tires being the issue made me think about mine. They are almost new Toyo V rated premium touring tires put on by the previous owner shortly before I bought it back in March. At the time, I decided to set the cold pressure at 35-36 PSI instead of the recommended 33 just on general principal. I didn't think much about the steering during the Summer, but when the temperature started to drop, so did the pressure. While I was on a road trip to Central Oregon last week, the cold pressure got down to 31 psi one chilly morning according to the TPMS and after driving a while it was reporting 35 psi all around. I was definitely noticing vague steering on that trip.

Yesterday, I finally got around to adding some air and set all 4 at 36 PSI cold. It made a very noticeable difference - sharpened up the handling and the on-center feel nicely. I had some fun on circular freeway on ramps.

Lesson learned: My 2007 LS 460 is unusually sensitive to tire pressures! One of these days I'm going to experiment and run the pressure up to about 38-39 psi cold then take it out for a careful test drive.

 

Don't go to high . To minimize tread wear.