peteharvey

No, I never said that Lexus was ditching luxury entirely, however I am surprized at how firmly sprung & less comfortable some of their recent models have been.

Mercedes don't spring their cars like this; at least not their regular models anyway.

SW17LS

The problem is that what makes Lexus cars “bring” happens to be what Pete and I like about them.

Johnhav430

I also notice from the video that the battery is in the trunk--it's little things like these that are true signs of evolution.....(the 3rd and 4th gen batteries are in the exact same place)

Seriously I had a 1970 Pontiac given to me in the 90's, and it had that pivot arm--I never even thought of that until I got the LS430. Then, I was a bit annoyed that the wiper arm did not seem parallel to the a pillar as it went up, so I began adjusting it. Now I saw why it was where it was originally--if I adjusted it so that it was parallel to the A pillar as seen by the driver, it slapped when it came back down...I fine tuned it and I really ended up being where I had started. I kind of like the way MBs have their wipers on cams....maybe overengineered, but cool nonetheless...

SW17LS

The wiper is parallel on the 460, it was a little off on the 400 and 430.

No no idea why but that wiper is one of my favorite features.

Johnhav430

Maybe you just like that it's unique?

I like when trunks have struts with hinges, and no arms. I don't think new cars have that anymore. To me, it seems to add some room or usable space where the arms would be, but it makes it difficult to shut the trunk lightly. Took my wife some time to get the hang of it on the LS430, as it has the soft close (as a kid, I always wanted that).

So I would be sad to get a car with arms attached to the trunk lid. I was watching a guy recently opening and shutting his S550 (new), and it seemed like the trunk was acting up....

Sulu

If I understand what you are discussing about the wiper arm (and having looked at the eBay images), I will try to explain what that special pivot does.

That double-jointed pivot first showed up on Mercedes-Benz cars that only had one single front wiper. It allowed the wiper to sweep in an eccentric arc, not just the expected semi-circle, allowing the wiper to extend itself in the top corners of the windshield, covering more of the windshield.

The YouTube video gives a good demonstration:
Notice how the sweep of the wiper is almost rectangular rather than semi-circular.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

so getting rid of the pivot is just a cost savings thing...

Sulu

With the usual 2-arm wiper, where there is a wiper directly in front of the driver sweeping up to the upper corner parallel to the A-pillar, the eccentric arc sweep is not needed; it becomes a nice-to-have, so yes, it becomes an easy cost to cut.

Johnhav430

I remember a friend buying a 190E, and I was looking forward to showing him his wiper, and his didn't have it. As I recall, he picked up a 1984, whereas that was introduced in 1985....but that's not what the LS has. The LS has a driver side arm that has a pivot like a RV or bus does, it's antiquated....but I agree, I would rather have the fancier way that MB does it. The name of the game is to sweep the maximum area, but as we know, Germans often have features where the marginal cost is higher than the marginal benefit. That's what makes the features absent in competitor's cars. Like my 335i has heat for over 30 min after the motor has been shut off. I've used it 2X in 11 years, but it is cool....

Johnhav430

Here you go, the driver side wiper arm of a LS, at least 3rd and 4th gen, has what you see here....

http://theabstractions.blogspot.com/...aomis-arc.html

SW17LS

Here's a video I took right after I got my 2015. Yep, like it enough to take a video

And the Gen 1, 2, 3 & 4 LS have this type of wiper. 5LS is the first without it.

Johnhav430

haha now I'm starting to like mine more, peer pressure! But I was really surprised when I first saw it. Mine is not lined up nicely like yours, it came that way. It would look like the top edge is further from the a pillar, and the bottom is closer--it annoyed me at first, so I started to adjust it. When I got it to where it was perfect (the extreme of the adjustment range), it slapped the bottom...also, others on the 3rd gen forum showed theirs, and it was exactly like mine was. So I adjusted it back where it was, which I believe is correct....

SW17LS

Yeah my 430 and 400 were as you describe. Windshields were taller and more upright, maybe that was why.

No joke, little things like this added to my decision to get a 2017 instead of waiting for the 2018.

Toys4RJill

Pricing was released today. $75,995 is the start.

SW17LS

Cool, just as we expected.