Just completed my Launch tour at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and this car is PHENOMENAL. We compared side by side as well as drove the MB S-Class, BMW 7-Series, Audi A8, and Tesla. The Lexus LS500 blows all of these vehicles away. The interior & exterior fit/finish is absolutely stunning. The wood, floating door handles, safety features (Lexus Safety System Plus - A), the beautiful grill are all AMAZING. Seating is incredibly comfortable in all packages. I prefer the non FSport as far as looks go. The front grill draws you in. This 5th generation LS is AWESOME!!

 

How do you find interior noise levels compared to the 460? I believe they are using active noise cancellation in the 500, so it may be quieter.

 

Hi INLexusRep, thank you very much for posting photos and sharing the latest on the LS500. I hope you get some business thru CL. I appreciate your contributions.

I have four "burning" questions that have not been addressed by any of the reviews I have seen or read so far

1) Does the HUD come in only one standard size? Can you please post a nice close up photo of the display from the driver's seat in a nighttime view?

2) Does the passive (ambient) display on the dashboard in front of the passenger actually light up? Is it an LCD display? A closeup photo would be appreciated! If it is an actual display, maybe someone will figure out a way to display something else...

3) Can you post a photo of the ambient lighting in the cabin? Did Lexus try to match the interior lighting options in the S550, 750iL, and the G90?

4) I am really intrigued by the rear window glass guide (circled region). It looks like there is no piece on the outside to guide this glass up and down, almost like the frameless windows of the past, but it is supported from the inside. Can you please take a closeup of this section with the window half rolled down to see how the glass and guide fit together? If this is not designed well, wind and road noise will get worse with age.


Thanks a lot! Look forward to your posts!

 

its a quiet ride, hard to tell if it is anymore quiet. I was on the track majority of the time which is a very smooth surface. I was not able to drive it out in town. I will say it feels nothing like the 460 inside. It drives very much like the LC and dies not feel like a large sedan.

 

1 standard size for the HUD, but is fully customizable. I did not get very much time to “play” with the features as I was only there for 4 hours and was driving 6 different vehicles and listening to brief overviews of all of them....

passenger ambient lighting does light up but did not look like an LCD display that can be changed.

The other questions I will have to address once I get more time with the vehicle in February. I’ll be able to take in depth pics as well when I can spend time with it at the dealership.

 

Thanks, INLexusRep. Appreciate the info. I thought these vehicles were just for your dealership. I look forward to your updates and more info about the car in the coming weeks.

 

Comotiger: I'm sure the new HUD for the LS500 will be state-of-the-art, and having used the one in my 2017 G90 for the past few months, I can definitely attest to the advantages of the HUD. My G90 HUD can't be resized, but can be moved up and down and rotated left and right--not sure if there's a problem with changing the size of the actual display or if that's just a shortfall in the G90, but I haven't really had a desire to make the display bigger. For the G90, the HUD is user-configurable, with speed, speed limit signs, Lane Keep Assist verification, turn-by-turn directions, and blind-spot monitoring all able to be displayed simultaneously.

Once you've lived with this capability for a while, it becomes second nature to use, and I do really appreciate it. Glad to see it's included in the new LS500 (and will likely be a better system than the G90's).

 

Hello!
I found a Youtube video (shots @ 11:37) showing the side profile of the car with the front & rear windows down. The rear window backs against wider vertical rubber strips on each sides. Hope this helps.


Cheers,
Felix

 

Thanks, Felix. The video helps. It looks like the glass will not have any supporting groove when it rolls up and down. It must be kept pressed hard against that vertical rubber strip behind it. Makes me wonder how well this glass will behave at highway speeds as there will be a tendency for it to bow outward increasing wind noise. This is an issue for any car with frameless windows such as the Porsches, so maybe not such a big deal.

 

A recent video test of the ls500 noted the noise when stepping into the twin turbo. The typical noise of a 6 cyl toyota
Thought they would have done a v8 w/ cyl deactivation.
Granted it's early, but I expected more advances - especially after so many years. And I think the styling is not what people in this segment are looking for - s550 better inside and out

 

A recent video test of the ls500 noted the noise when stepping into the twin turbo. The typical noise of a 6 cyl toyota
Thought they would have done a v8 w/ cyl deactivation.
Granted it's early, but I expected more advances - especially after so many years. And I think the styling is not what people in this segment are looking for - s550 better inside and out

 

In the Motortrend article, it says the 2018 LS front legroom is 41 inches, down from 43.7 in the older generation. This seems like a downgrade and a potential problem for taller folks. Maybe the seating position is higher, but it seems stingy, especially in comparison to the G90 or the S-Class. Even the Infiniti Q70 has 44.4 inches.

 

Wow. I actually looked it up, and the press release from Lexus lists it as 41 as well. Just for the record, the 2018 Camry has 42.1. The 2007 LS460 had 44. Odd that they would make it that much smaller in a bigger car. I heard another reviewer complain about this as well. ****2018 S Class is 41.4

 

Seating position is actually lower. Going to have to face facts that this is a car built for style and dynamics, not for sheer space and comfort. Think more Panamara than S Class.

 

from the pictures posted above, the wheel to fender gap is definitely Lexus!