dsc07

AJT123

It's about as well known as the fact that the earth is flat that Lexus the vast majority of the time are very liberal with their acceleration times. The LC is about a half a second slower in legit car magazine tesst. My 2004 LS430 was rated by Lexus at 5.9, in all my years on the internet reading about cars (and that's A LOT of time) I never saw anything from an LS430 better than 6.3 seconds from any legit source, even with the 6spd update for 2004.

I said from the start and I'll say it until the LS dies or they bring back the V8, it was a mistake to drop it. The ttV6 is not significantly faster than the outgoing 4.6, not as smooth or refined, and sure won't sound as good.

dsc07

Well as someone who drove more than 400,000 miles over 10 years in an LS 460 & 460L, and has driven 11,000 miles over the last 4 4/12 months in the LS 500, I say you're dead-wrong. The LS 500 is noticeably faster than the 460, both from a dead-stop and at speed. Any body who's actually driven both can see that right off the bat. The V6 tt in the 500 is every bit as smooth as the V8 in the 460, if not smoother. I can't speak to the F-Sport, as I haven't driven both models, I'm talking about the standard 460/460L vs. standard 500.

The problem isn't the engine, it's the transmission. The 10-speed is jacked. Too many gears, in my opinion, and they don't have the lower gears set right. That's why the 500 can seem sluggish or "laboring" at times. It ain't the engine, folks. (I'd really like to know what Lexus thought they were improving over the 8-speed in the 460. That was a great transmission.) I spent 90 minutes driving a master tech around demonstrating the issue in the 500 while hooked up to monitoring devices for both the engine and transmission. I was told they were well aware of this issue and are working on a firmware solution that should be available to all when the 2019's come out. It appears that the problem is tied in to the "learning" feature of the transmission. I didn't notice it when I first took delivery, but over time it became more and more pronounced. So 2 weeks ago when I was in for my 10,000 service, we decided to disconnect the battery and reset the tranny. It worked fine for about 10 days, but I'm noticing the old hesitation and shifting indecision is slowly creeping back in.

The one thing I will agree with you on is the engine sound. The V6 sounds hokey in sport mode, with the simulated engine noise. I mean, what's the point? It reminds me of putting playing cards in the spokes of my bicycle when I was 4. I sure wish there was a setting that let you turn it off.

AJT123

2015 LS460 per Motor Trend:
0-60 in 5.6, 1/4 14.5 @101.5

2018 LS500 per Motor Trend.
0-60 in 5.3, 1/4 is 13.7 @103.

You own the car, so I'm not going to say you're wrong. However a .3 second faster 0-60 time is not significant. The 1/4 time is on the new one but the trap speed of only 1.5mph faster is not a significant difference (or upgrade). In that same article MT says the motor "struggles" to move the car on part throttle applications. I'm glad you like your car, and I'm as much of an LS enthusiast as anyone on here, trust me. But I hate that they dropped the V8.

Speaking of, I'm not even a die hard fan of the 460 UR engine and 8spd, either. Too many gears and the motor is noticeably less smooth and quiet than the previous 4.3. The old UZ was the best you could get from Lexus, ever. It may be underpowered today but a big reason I will never get rid of my 430 is because the drivetrain was/is, literally, world class.

And maybe you're right, I should take one on a test drive and see for myself. I have sat in one many times but haven't driven one yet. But I would bet my house that I, me personally, will still prefer the V8.

dsc07

Finally, something we can agree on. The 430 V8 was easily the smoothest, most refined engine of any Lexus offering that I've driven.

By all means, take one for a drive. Personally, I never put much stock in reviews from automotive publications. Drive the car for a few weeks, instead of a few hours, and then tell me about it. And if 5.3 is the best Motor Trend can do, maybe they should think about getting some professional drivers to do their benchmark tests. While I won't quibble over the exact times, I'll bet money that I can definitely get more than .3 seconds better on my 500 vs. my 460L. No question about that in my mind. Then again, I don't drive like a maniac, so what feels like plenty of power and speed to me, may not be for someone else. All I can talk about is my experience in my 500 vs. my 460 & 460L.

Yes, I am enjoying the car, but it does have its shortcomings. As I said, the 10-speed isn't really ready for prime-time yet, but no doubt Lexus will figure it out and supply a fix. The question is when. And some of the downright boneheaded design decisions they made on the drive/nav/electronics features just baffle me. As a long-time Lexus customer, I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt at this point, and chalking them up to typical 1st model year blues that they will correct in subsequent years, but they better fix a boatload of them by the time the 2019's come out, I may start looking elsewhere.

Htony

As far as I know German cars still use 7 or 8 speed tranny and some DCG 7 speed. In the case of MB biturbo V8 SUV my family owns it's 7 speed is silky smooth. I can put this SUV in to tranny learn mode
with a known procedure in about 15 mins. No need to disconnect battery. Fast upshifting, quick down shift when punched. Rarely I go over 2K rpm in any driving condition. I ran BMW X5 with I6 turbo I usally ran it at rpm around 1500. Power band showed turbo kicks in at 1300 rpm. No issues with 8 speed gear box. I used to drive Acura MDX, when their new gen out of Alabama plant came out I traded my old MDX. I felt the new tranny was a nightmare making me feel unsafe. Redesigned SH-AWD system was not as good as older one. End of Acura in the house. IMO, they still have to refine TCU/ECU software to make them run right.

gs400jon

The LS500 definitely accelerates faster then 2007 and 2012 LS460's I've had previously. It has more power moving the car from any speed. There are a few shortcuts to the nightmare accessing some of the cars features. I hope something is done about the soft clunk when the transmission shifts into 1st gear when nearly stopped. I'm wondering how the LS500 engine would do in the RC F I had previously. In the RC F at around 1,000 pounds lighter and having more torque might be an interesting comparison. I do admit to red lining the engine through 4th gear every time I take the LS500 out. The only time there's any difference in the smoothness of the engine is the TTV6 is just a tiny bit rough right after a cold start. It's very smooth when warmed up.

AJT123

10 gears is ridiculous for an automatic. IMHO a well ratiod 5 speed automatic is all anyone would ever need. I remember when 4 speeds were all there were, then 5 which was kind of a big deal, "to have the same gears as if it were a stickshift" etc, and performance did improve. Now it's all about complexity to boost MPGs. 4 speeds isn't enough, my '03 Yukon has a 4spd and you can tell the truck would be much quicker with another gear or two once you get up to speed. 5 and 6 are perfect for my tastes. Anything beyond that is way too much. Sometimes my 6spd in my LS hunts down a gear too much, but it's only one gear (why I say ideally a 5spd is best for me). I couldn't imagine having these new transmissions shuffling 10 gears around, just a lot going on there, too much for my tastes. Like I said I thought the LS460 with 8 gears hunted way too much, though at least there's still a V8 under the hood. When I say the UZ engine is smoother and more refined that doesn't mean the UR wasn't both of those things, just not to the absolute ridiculousness, perfection the old old ones were.

1BlinkGone

I was talking to our Lexus salesman two days ago, and he was telling me about the decision from Corporate to drop the V8 and go with the TTV6...according to him it had nothing to do with CAFE standards, amazingly enough...the simple fact is that too many millennials griped & whined about the LS460's gas mileage (or lack of it) and so to capture a younger slice of the market segment, it was decided to retire that wonderful V8 from the LS lineup. And of course, yet another piece of the puzzle is the new 10-spd transmission. Both were spec'd for the sake of increasing the LS500's gas mileage. Therefore, Marketability.

angrypengu

I appreciate you sharing this even though it has me going ???

I'm a millennial, and I certainly give two ****** about fuel economy. Very few people in my age range are happy to drop 6 figures on a car, but to be fair I don't know of anyone else in my age range who can afford this sort of purchase.

I am still mad at Lexus about their decision making process behind the LS.

1BlinkGone

Simple- my sharing this was in light of the posts/comments here regarding the V8 vs V6 decision, as well as the new 10 spd trans, and WHY they chose what they did as per our Lexus salesman.

But I guess you missed that.

Now, which LS500 did you purchase, as you also answered me in the "owners thread"...

AJT123

If what he is saying is correct, I really am almost shocked that Lexus went after a demographic that can hardly afford this car. Anyone in their 20s about to spend 100k on a car, unless they make 8 figures or are independently wealthy, it makes zero sense--at least if that person cares about a retirement.

I drive two V8 vehicles, one is a 12mpg truck, and I never even think about my gas bill. I'm 36 FWIW.

Htony

Don't be mad. It is a trend now for small turbo engines every where. Always marketing decision overrides engineers. I worked for a big corporation(not in automotive) for ~40 years, it was same there. I happen to own small biturbo V8 SUV. First we need little change in driving habit wit turbo engines. When I had BMW X5 with 3.0 I6 turbo I always tried to stay above rpm 1300 where turbo kicks in. This way MPG figure
was like ~10 liter for 100Km. Now V8 has different power band I had to maintain 1800 rpm to stay engaged in turbo mode. MPG is ~15 liter for 100Km. Not bad at all. I can cruise on freeway at 120KPH below rpm 2000.

dsc07

Rule number One: Never believe anything a salesman tells you! They are using V6's to meet ever tougher MPG requirements. This isn't a choice, all the car manufacturers are being forced into it, both by the new EPA standards and by the changing market. More SUVs and fewer small sedans with 4-cylinder engines.

Rockville