We took a 250 mile round trip to Ohio (the land of 65 MPH speed limits) today to visit my in-laws for Easter. The car operated flawlessly and the display for tank MPG (about 20 miles of running around town plus today's trip) read 25.1 MPG. A few other observations:

- Seat and ride comfort were great. I felt great and my wife fell asleep both ways.

- Trunk volume met our needs. It swallowed a travel wheelchair, a cooler, and a duffel bag with enough space to load / unload each without unloading the others.

- My wife is disappointed about one thing, though. The car seems to have the same country & western music that was in my Lincoln.

 

Yeeah one thing about the LS is whenever i go on road trips everybody falls assleep except for me lol. Enjoy the ride

 

I agree that seat and ride comfort is impressive even for hours on end. Hwy travel can lull passengers to sleep, especially when they use the seat warmer and a blanket LOL.

Hmm quite the coincidence about the music, old favourites never die do they?

One other thing I like about the LS on hwy trips is what I will call "road respect". People seem to move over to offer the left lane, tailgate less and generally respect the presence of the car more than other cars I've owned. Do you find this at all? Or am I perceptively challenged?

 

LS surely is a great road car. I drove from Norfolk/Va Beach,VA to New York City, there and back several times and it was a breeze. Hey SteveM, maybe its them respecting the car, could be! Its not that your perceptively challenged.HAHAHAHAHA!!!! L.G.N.M

 

I absolutely love taking long trips in the LS, even lowered with the kit the ride is still awesome! Also if you take pretty long trips (I constantly visit friends in LA and every once in a while go to the car meets in San Francisco) You can get up to 500 miles a tank! its awesome! Just because we have big tanks doesn't mean we dont get good MPG !!

 

No, I have never felt respect or disrespect from other drivers due to whatever brand of car I happen to be driving. In fact, I have never really interpreted other driver's actions as respectful or disrespectful. I see it as more of an intelligence and skill issue.
I have also never felt respect or disrespect for other drivers based on what brand of car they were driving. I think to do so would be both dangerous and foolish.

 

I don't know about "road respect", but I like the effortless power when some bozo is hanging over my left shoulder instead of passing as I'm coming up on slower traffic. 75 to 85 MPH is just a tap away.

 

I just returned from my longest trip yet in the LS - a 4,010 mile trip from Jersey to Kansas, OK City, Dallas, NOLA, DC, and then back home. I'm not a fan of long drives, but I have to say it was almost a pleasure, and got 25-26 mpg most of the way. (It would have been a total pleasure if my Sirius didn't have so many drop-outs, but, I digress.)

These are absolutely great cars.

Walt

 

I was talking more about the class of car and the age demographic most people assume to be driving it rather than the brand. Perhaps it depends upon what you've recently driven to know what I'm talking about.

When I'm in my Prelude it feels like many drivers assume that the tinted small Honda is being driven by an inexperienced teenager (a member of society least likely to assert their rights and least likely to report road rage, dangerous driving etc) so I see more tailgating, more dangerous passes around me and less overall "respect" for a fellow motorist. It's also a less expensive vehicle for someone's insurance to cover getting repaired.

In the ES300 things improve in that it's no longer assumed to be a teenager's car. It's still not expensive but the age demographic that drives them is generally older than small Honda's and I've seen less of the stuff mentioned above.

In the LS most drivers assume I'm twice my age, a professional contributing member of society, have 10 times the assets I have and would report dangerous driving without inhibition. Drivers take it easier on me when I drive slowly thinking that I could be a senior. It's the demographic that makes the difference. This would be true for any large cruiser car. I find the driving around me is often markedly different than in Prelude.

Just my experience. Sorry I brought it up.

Glad the trip went well, with no overbearing crosswinds
Passing power in this car is a pleasure and feels more seemless than the downshifting in some cars I've driven.

 

Caddy,
Glad to hear the trip went well. You need to drop a little Pat Green in the CD and just forget about the rest. My wife HATES when I put Pat Green on because it means about three hours of no repeat great country music!
Good Travels,
Keith

 

HAPPY EASTER Greg! Glad you're finally enjoying what you've been writing about for some time now.

I just got back from a 2.5hr drive from North Jersey (Boonton, incase you're wondering Walt) with the extended family (aunt/uncles/cousins).

Aside from HORRIBLE potholes/expansion joints on i-295, my parents were sound alseep in the back. My girlfriend and I were up front.

Isn't it great how RARE our cars are also? I saw one 430 (01-03?) the whole time. I specifically LOOK for other LS's (because I then wave to them). There's a thread on that though...lol.

 

You are fortune telling. I suspect most driver's aren't thinking about you or even what they are doing. Most are on the phone or thinking about anything other than what they should be. I also don't believe most people cannot tell one kind of car from another.

 

I have yet to see another LS430 on the road in months of looking here in the midwest. I don't know if it is because they are so rare or just don't stand out.

 

Glad you still like your LS Caddy... irrespective of the available radio stations...

I took a drive from NJ to FL back when my LS was only 2 months old (to me) and it took me only 18 hours to go 1012 miles to Disney and that was with 2 meal breaks, and one potty/fuel break with 2 children.

The NJ to Virginia leg I was doing about 90 mph following a group of about 4 other cars, so that made the trip much faster. I'll take 3 hours as opposed to a "normal" 5 hours any day.

 

The LS is a beast on open road, I just love how comforable the ride is and she is a coasting dream!