On The Way To A Round Of Eighteen In A Lexus LS460

By Christopher P. Davis

THE fine workers of Tahara-Aichi have done it yet again – they’ve produced a full size luxury sedan that gives its Teutonic colleagues a run for their money (In fact a run for less money – MSRP starts around $60,000).

As I embarked upon my usual Wednesday golf game this week, one my friends had just taken delivery of his new Lexus LS460. He offered to pick me up, and with gas prices the way they are; I jumped at the chance (It also gave me the basis with which to write this article).

He had already picked someone else up, so I was relegated to the rear bench seat. With three sets of full size golf clubs, what would seem like an exorbitant amount of shoes, and a surprising amount of junk (my friend hangs onto things) there was still a great deal of room in the trunk.

So, I climbed into the cavernous back seat (Although this was not the extended wheelbase “L” version it was still quite big) and buckled up. I had oodles of legroom. Even with a 6-foot tall comrade in front of me.

Size wise, the car felt somewhere between a Mercedes E-Class and S-Class, though technically it’s grosser like the latter. At 116.9 inches, the short wheelbase model is within an inch of an Audi A8 SWB in length.

The leather was soft and supple. The seats were some of the most comfortable I’ve sat in. Even for rear seats, they seemed to embrace you.

Two courtesy mirrors are installed on the headliner in the rear – a nice feature, fun to play with and occasionally useful. A large, leather and wood armrest folds down from between the rear seats. Two cup holders pop out from the front. When it is opened, a storage compartment is revealed, and also two knobs, and a button.

The two knobs control the heating level of the rear-heated seats. The button in the center raises and lowers the rear sunscreen. For warmer days, like this past Wednesday, the LS460 has four rear air conditioning vents (two in the center console and one on each of the B-pillars), to keep you cool.

For those sitting upfront, Lexus’ best is equipped with heated and cooled front seats – something that is quite nice after hitting the links.

Asia is a center for technology and the LS460 succeeds at fitting in. The user interface is intuitive and useful (Read: No iDrive here). Although I didn’t play with it, I was impressed with the ease that my tech-challenged friend, changed the radio station (LS 460 has AM/FM & XM), punched things in the Navigation system, and used the integrated Bluetooth speakerphone all while driving.

Everything was broadcast throughout the passenger cabin with a superb Mark Levinson 19-Speaker sound system – Bloomberg never sounded so good!

I have to say that the Bluetooth speaker system is the best I have ever been party to. People on both ends have no issues hearing one another. In the car you don’t have to shout to be heard on the other end either. And the Air Conditioning – even with a high fan speed had little, if any affect on the call quality.

The Lexus LS460 is one of those automobiles that lies about its rate of progress. Sixty feels like nothing, 100 feels like 50. Three hundred eighty horses under the reins of an eight-speed auto never felt so tame. From the backseat, at least.

It’s a quiet car on so many levels.

Aside from the vocally absent V8, the sedan is a sleeper. It’s elegant, it’s luxurious, and it’s so understated. There’s nothing flashy about he car, the rear is subtle, the sides are subtle, and the grill is subtle.

It’s a luxury car for the 21^st century.

No longer is it “Politically Correct” or “Social Responsible” to have overt flash, and unless you’re a rapper – Bling is out. What’s in, is quiet luxury, subtle wealth, and by proxy the Lexus LS460.

[Linked: ThePassionatePursuit]