spwolf

what, you would sit at back while your woman drives you? sounds good :-).

RNM GS3

The new LS is nice overall, but definitely nothing spectacular. The exterior is not ugly but its not stylish at all.

Some more pics.........

lexusls430

I think its beautiful but those rims are bleh.

agent 409

this car is a HUGE step in the right direction..i feel what your saying..but you can't beat the quality that this car brings in comparison to other cars of its class..

spwolf

p.s. just did some quick check of competition - S500 and 750i both have 20 mpg combined average fuel economy - S class is brand new, improved, and 750i's engine is brand new too, so for LS to get mid 20's, it is simply too crazy. It has to be some major breakthrough in technology that let them do it Maybe some kind of displacement on demand, etc? So many things that we might not know yet...

encore888

I really feel with a luxury sedan of this stature, to be 'perfect' you can't take too many risks, otherwise you get controversial. And controversy is best left to the coupes, and different tier products. The S-class and 7-series are examples of styling gone too far.

The New LS epitomizes beauty in a somewhat understated package, but that is the way I and other less radically inclined luxury car customers would like to see it. I find it elegantly stylish and smoothly put together.

foofighter

as mentioned previously by sick...there are going to be some feelings hurt with this car's introduction.

As for the statement of it being boring...it's a flagship car...in a way i like that because too much trendy styling and it will get outdated quickly...look at the recent makeover of the 7 series.

Hats off to Lexus on this one...man. Now if they would only put manual transmission on their "sport sedans" i'd be a happy camper.

marshmallo

Agreed. Similar to the GS300 stock 17'' rims. I had to swap mine out because
they were so bleh.

Gojirra99

Those wheels on pics of the the lighter(LWB) car looks better, but let's see if Lexus will offer more wheel options other than those shown above.

mmarshall

OK guys.....I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately to this long thread but I'll toss in my two cents now.

Just judging by the posted pictures, it is a nice car indeed but not earth-shattering or spectacular. I'm not normally a fan of grays and silvers but I agree it looks good in that smoke-gray. The two-tone cream-color interior IMO is far better looking then the gray one, but I personally like a more matte-grain to the wood-trim ( like in the new Infiniti M35 / 45 )....I am not a big fan of the shiny, polished wood look.


I have only two criticisms as to its design.

One, there should be an AWD version. Let's hope one is forthcoming.

Two, 8 speeds in a conventional automatic IMO is just plain overkill. It is obviously just an marketing ploy to one-up the Mercedes 7-speed automatics, at least on paper. That would be fine if there was a real need for 8 gears.....but you already have an engine with plenty of torque. If you are going to have THAT many gears, heck, you might as well put in a CVT and just have an infinite number of them. CVT drive belts are getting more durable now and better-suited to higher-output engines.

Other that that, it appears to be quite a nice job. I will look at the car more closely at the Washington, D.C. Auto Show on Jan. 24 and then may have more comments.

lexusls430

You are right, 8 speeds might sound like a joke, but it improves gas mileage, and provides more quietness at high cruising speeds (lower rpms). Lets see what this beautiful machine will do to the competition.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

8 speeds should make shifts hard to detect at all which is not just a marketing ploy, but will also up the refinement. Don't want to spill the martini in the back seat while shifting gears.

A CVT couldn't work (yet) because of the big power of the V8.

spwolf

how can it be pointless when it gets 5 mpg more than competion? And CVT is definetly not suitable to high output engines, in fact opposite is true. It sounds and feels worse than normal auto during drive, completly opposite than what luxury is all about. And I am sure hybrid will be CVT-like anyway...

Gojirra99

I don't mind the matte finish, but those on the M35/45 looks very plain & boring, for that car, I prefer the aluminium trim.
I like the matte finish wood trim on the CLS though. Shiny wood is fine with me, it's the wood pattern that's more important to me than the finish.

mmarshall

I would not be surprised, however, to see a CVT in this car within a few years as they become even more suited to big engines.

As far as MPG goes, as you say, we'll probably see a hybrid version within a couple years.....and a CVT would give even better mileage than the 8 speeds.

Also I was basing part of my opinion on American driving conditions, but I can see where the 8th speed might come in handy on the Autobahn at triple-digit speeds.

Although Lexus can build a transmission as durable as anyone, the issue of wear on the transmission clutch packs might come up with the tranny shifting up-and-down so many times through so many gears.