mmarshall

So what? For years, the Lexus LS400/430 copied Mercedes styling. Then, the new LS460 copied the BMW 7-Series rear end.

Everyone, with few exceptions, copies someone else to some extent. There are just too many vehicles in the marketplace for each of them to have unique styling/design.

mmarshall

Gojirra99

Strongly disagree, you need to check your eyes on this one J/K
Just looking at the ugly trunk lid of the 7-series, their rear ends look nothing alike, the difference is very apparent.
However, I do agree it's side profile is very similar to the 7-series.

I agree, except that when the Japanese and Korean manufacturers copy from others, everybody complains, but when the European manufacturers copy, few people do.
Example, S-class dash is a blatant rip-off of the 7-series, yet none of the automotive press mentions it, it's all hush-hush, as if just because it's Mercedes, they have too much history to copy anything from others, which of course is nonsense. The new 7-series tail pipe cover is another example ...

Epik151

Looks good.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

nop, i still won't (at this point). but it's a completely different thing from giving respect though. having respect for something doesn't mean i will need to own it

-J-P-L-

Very nice but after looking at all those pics above, it's hard to look past at how derivative the interior is of the LS460. Hyundai is at a point where they don't need to be taking so many cues from other automakers. They have the talent now.

dunnojack

looking at all those interior pics pisses me off and makes me laugh. I've never seen so many people get so excited about an imitation.

It has a 200% poser quality to it.

It's like when you buy the generic alternative of a name brand....... something just doesn't feel or taste right.

The Eqqus lacks the elegance and visual quality of the LS it tries to imitate.
And there's something embarrassing about driving this Equees.

they took the overall shape of the LS460 dashboard, and modified it a little.
They pretty much copied the gauges 100%.

they took the recliner, and modified it a little.

I'm gonna just call the Eqquss a korean-made Chinese non-exact counterfeit Lexus.
You know how the Chinese get one letter wrong when they fail at faking....
You immediately notice something is not quite right.

Lexus is Nike.
Hyundai is Hike.


Oh snap! someone knocked the L loose. Now it's an Equees VS460


I'll take the LS for $5000 more. thank you.

LexFather

Lexus wasn't exactly 100% original with the LS 400 in 1989. Its near impossible to come with an original design and many times when you do, it comes out bad (even if people buy them).

To me what really matters is they got the basics right. Real wood, 6 speed auto, RWD, V-8, seemingly solid leather, tech....

Lets look at the last gen Acura RL, which clearly copied the LS 400 at the time and this was stated in multiple mags. Thing is it had a V-6 and was FWD. Hyundai has the proper and more expensive set up, even if it targets the LS.

An 8 speed an 5.0 V-8 is coming as well.

Not to mention in reviews the new 7 series has been said to take LS cues (which I agree with).

Whats scary it this is a FIRST effort. The 2nd gen Genesis and Equus will only get better.

Will I buy either? No. Are they solid competitors. Indeed. Am I trying to convince you are anyone its not some sort of knock-off? No

This is Hyundai, not exactly a brand known for innovation, so what did you expect. The Genesis coupe clearly took G35/37 cues. What is amazing is this is Hyundai and they have created a car superior to any sedan and outside the NSX, CAR Volvo, Saab, Infinit, Acura has ever made.

dunnojack

but when hyundai cars are on the drawing board, they don't look so bad.

so that tells me they CAN come up with some original designs. But it seems they chose to reverse engineer the LS, and steal 90% of its hardware.

the new bmw 7 butt sorta reminds you of the LS butt.
but that's where it ends. that's like 10% max.
The interior, front, sides, are ALL bmw.

There's a big difference between borrowing a few cues, vs stealing 90% of your car from another maker. This is like a big "ha ha, (flips the bird) fck you" to all the other lux makers.

somewhere in this thread, i even superimposed the equus side profile over an LS profile. They are god damn identical in shape.

The Equus is like replica body kits.
The lexus is the real deal.

how do you feel about knock off body kits that are merely 20% cheaper?

speedflex

Actually, I believe the Equus has been around for at least a generation before this. This is only the the first time they are making the car available in markets outside Asia. Additionally this one appears to incorporate pure Hyundai design and engineering resources. It is impressive no matter how you look at it. I think the Hyundai exec put it best in that the car is a capabilities statement for the company and in that regard it's a major wow.

speedflex

Dude, I don't mean to jump down your throat but this is 100% subjective tripe.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

the equus still has some awkwardness/cheapness about some of it.

and i LOATHE the aluminum looking plastic that both hyundai and lexus use.

KA8

iTrader: (1)

Looks great! But they should leave out VS badge and leave it as Equus.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

I agree with both Mike and DJ even though you two don't necessarily agree with eachother...

It's important that they got the essentials right, and they did. Looking at the specs this looks like a good car. My problem is that the entire design is either completely generic or a total knockoff.

It's almost laughable how directly they copied the design of the rear seat executive package of the LS, right down to the shape of the center console and the two doors above it. The dashboard just looks very generic cookie cutter- elements of Lexus, Nissan, Toyota, and several other brands are present. While you can make the case that it's hard to come up with something completely original this day in age, I think that premium sedans at this level demand some amount of ingenuity. To me, it looks like they said, "Hmm...this thing needs to have a lot of wood and leather, so lets just put some across the dash, on the doors, and around the gauges and then it will look like a luxury car." It doesn't seem like there was passion or any kind of identity built into the car.

It's not so much having wood and leather in the interior, but it's how you design and incorporate it and the character that it gives off. Hyundai really could have done more to make the interior unique or at least memorable because as is...I'm just not impressed.

The exterior takes cues from both Lexus and Mercedes, as does the Genesis, but overall it is decent looking. At the end of the day I still have to admit that it's an impressive effort and remember that this thing will cost thousands than the S, 7, and LS. However, when Hyundai want's to directly compare their car to the best in class/world then they have to be able to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

Och

iTrader: (3)

No. Just no. I've posted this before and I will have to post it again.

Lexus has never copied Mercedes. When the first LS400 rolled out,in 1989, the S class at that time was still the W126 model, which is essentially a 1970ies car.

Just look at these photos.









And compare them to the LS400 photos.









Sorry, but there are basically no similarities. The only thing that are similar are the two tone paint, which was common for pretty much all vehicles at that time, and they yellow fogs, which were common on many cars at that time as well.

Other than that the design of the LS400 is absolutely different, and way more modern. Just look at the exterior, notice how everything flows together. The integrated bumpers, the flush door handles, the headlights and tail lights that follow the shape of the body. Look at all the curves and tigh panel gaps. The car just looks like its crafted out of one solid piece, while the Merc looks like its been slapped together out of a million pieces. While the merc had aerodynamics of a brick, LS400 had drag coefficient of 0.27, which resulted in way better fuel mileage and quieter cabin than the S class.

In fact, the LS400 body shape was probably one of the most modern shapes for its time. The only other car that I can think of, that had the exterior design where all exterior parts were flush and followed the shape of the body is... yep, the Ford Taurus.

Things got even more interesting under the bonnet. Correct me if I am wrong, I believe the Merc did have a ridiculously expensive V12 option which was more powerful than the 1UZ in the LS400, but the rest of Mercs engines were 60ies design, converted to FI from carb, two valve per cylinder. The 1UZ in the LS400 was a state of the art all aluminum DOHC V8 with fuel injection, and was in fact so efficient that there was no gas guzzler tax on the LS400.

Things got even more interesting under the car. LS400 had fully independant rear suspension and rack and pinion steering, while the S class had recirculating ball steering and semi independant rear suspension.

And on the interior, there was just no comparison. The seats in the S class look like a 1940's couch, the gauges look like a 1920's radio, the switches and wood trim came from right from a 1940's TV set. It just looks old and antiquated. LS400 was far more modern with awesome (yet prone to fail) luminescent gauges, modern switched and hardware, and just overall better flowing, modern shape.

In fact, I could go as far as saying that MB copied many styling cues from the LS400 when the W140 S class rolled out in 1992. While I love the looks of the W140, and in top S600 trims it had many options that LS400 didnt have (auto folding mirrors, adjustable massaging rear seat, etc), it was also when MB's build quality went down the drain. It was obviously a rushed effort by MB to respond to LS400 and it showed. And the base trim 300 and 420 models of the W140, that were price comparable to the LS400, still had cheap looking and cheap feeling interiors, while the LS400 was generously loaded.



Well you could say that LS460 copied the spoiler looking thingy from the 7 seies trunk, but it didn't copy the fugly hump on the trunk of the 7 series. With that being said, the new 7 series copied LS460's rear way more than LS460 copied the old 7 series rear, so they are even.

The Hundui however is a shameless rip off that deserves no respect.