LexFather

Yes, thank you for stating what he have discussed in what I think is an 8 page thread elsewhere.

This review is NOT an overall review of the car but the TECHNOLOGY.

As for sales, it came in FIRST last month, the other 2 were not even close.

Gojirra99

That's a preproduction LS460 C&D tested & you can conclude it's a more realistic review ?
Some of the things(especially in subjective categories) they view as negatives & score low for the LS may be positives to others due to different preferences/priorities. Add to the fact that long term reliability is always not a factor that these comparos can take into consideration . . .

BTW, that comparo was posted here & what you said about where the LS460 scored better is not accurate at all, the LS did better in more areas than what you quoted, in features/equipment for example, look it up & read it again.

XeroK00L

Ever since this C&D comparison test was released, the issue of the LS460L's braking distance has been constantly and conveniently brought up in so many LS460-related posts by the naysayers, it's becoming very old and tiring. I want to address once and for all, the real problem behind the apparantly dismal showing of the LS460L's braking distance, so that the anti-Lexus people can move on to other more meaningful subjects.

As you may or may not already know, the braking distance of ANY modern car is NOT about the capability of the brakes. Instead, it is ONLY about the grip of the tires, as the tires always run out of grip far before the brakes do, even in the most bargain-priced cars. The only other differing factor is that, in cars without ABS, the wheels would lock under full braking, while in cars equipped with ABS, braking would be properly throttled by the ABS to the adhesion limit of the tires.

This simple fact brings us to the subject--the braking distance of the Lexus LS460L. As we can see in the table on page #6 of the Car and Driver's review, the 70-0ft braking distance is led by Jaguar (164), followed by Audi (171), then BMW (176), then Mercedes (182), and finally Lexus (207). With the knowledge of the above paragraph in mind, let's look at what tires were equipped on each car for the test. Big surprise (NOT)! The Jaguar, Audi and BMW are equipped with what tirerack.com categorizes as the Max Performance Summer tires, the Pirelli P Zero Asimmetrico, the Pirelli P Zero Rossa, and the Michelin Pilot Primacy, respectively. These tires are the best possible gripping tires of all on dry pavements, with the P Zero Rossa being rated higher than the Pilot Primacy on tirerack.com, while the P Zero Asimmetrico (not listed on tirerack.com) is Pirelli's latest, more advanced version of the P Zero Rossa. So there you have the top three braking cars in exactly the same order as their tire ratings. Next, the Mercedes has the Continental ContiTouringContact CH95, categorized as Grand Touring All-Season tires, whose dry grip can't be compared to summer tires but still better than the normal standard touring all-season tires. Now guess what the Lexus has, the Bridgestone Turanza EL42--Standard Touring All-Season tires, and very lowly rated ones at that at tirerack.com. It all becomes clear now, doesn't it? The braking distance test is not a test of a car's braking capability, but of rather the grip of the tires so equipped. Lexus happened to submit an early PREPRODUCTION of theirs to the test (the Car and Driver's review clearly says it's a preproduction car), equipped with the inferior Standard Touring All-Season tires, and hence the poor braking distance result.

In production, however, LS460/LS460L owners such as Dlau are reporting that their cars come factory-equipped with the Dunlop SP Sport Maxx A1 A/S--Ultra High Performance All-Season tires--and they can't be happier with the strong braking performance.

So there you have it. The tires decides everything about braking. Simple isn't it? Now can we move on to talk about something else?

Cornellian

Did I mention that C&D writers are morons and idiots? Correct me if I am wrong but, they were the ones to say that the LS is "too classy, not good of a sporty feel, blah, blah, blah". Now, what these morons do not realize is that the LS is NOT, I repeat NOT a sports car!!!! IT IS A DAMN LUXURY CAR!!! No one is going to spend a $90k with reclining seats in the back and casually take it out to the track to do some burning. To be honest, if one of those morons from C&D come near me, I would personally burn their behinds...and teach them to tell the difference between a "sport" car and a "luxury" car!

encore888

OK, point made but not to get too far off topic...

I wonder about the technological features of the new LS, maybe they will trickle down to the rest of the lineup, hopefully soon? I would like to see NavTraffic implementation expand, for sure.

Maximus91

Our LS460L came with Dunlop Sport Maxx. Just wanted to chime in since tires wear mentioned. Does anyone know if these are good tires?

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Well you can't really blame them. After all, they are Car and Driver. Of course they're going to evaluate the cars by how sporty they are, despite the opposition of the LS460's intended purpose.

I've come to the point where I dont really care about reviews anymore. The only review that matters is the one that you review yourself.

encore888

As is typical, CNET has gotten a few misers who have likely linked from Auto_ies and put in their own silly user comments. Among them "I never read the review" and "I never drove the car" Next to the 10.0 CNET editor's score they have concluded a mid 5's score. I added my own review to balance it out...could've given a 8-9, but in the end decided on a top score to balance out the haters. Now the score is 6.2 Good

http://reviews.cnet.com/2007_Lexus_L...5.html?tag=txt

will33184

theyre very good

blessed

If you like the LS 460 who cares what someone writes about it. The trend I have seen on every car forum is that when someone writes a good review everyone loves it and when there is a bad review we hear about how horrible this mag is, and I will never buy this mag again. I like the S550 and I like the LS 460 allot. I lean towards the S550 because for one you can use the Navi and drive and because the S550 pays more attention to the driver. I like the fact that I can get a massage and drive. I don't like the fact that only the rear seat passenger gets to get a massage in the LS 460. If I am driving 10 hours I should get the massage not the person asleep in the back. Like I said if you like the car don't worry about what some mag says about it who cares what they think. The LS 460 is a great car no matter what they write about it.

Luxofreak

I have a couple of friends that DO NOT own LS-460s and NEVER driven in one and they said this in regards to the cnet 10.0 revew: "Do you still fall for that? That was a favorable review paid by Lexus"

That's the mentality of those who don't know what luxury is.

blessed

That is a perfect example of what I am saying. Just because the review for the LS 460 was good it had to be paid for by Lexus. Like I said if I choose a car it would be the MB S600, but I think that the Lexus is a fine automobile. They must have a formula that works because they sell allot of cars.

Bottom line what I am saying is that if you like a car buy the car and don't worry about what people write or think. I will be buying a S600 for myself and a GL 450 for my wife and I don't care what anybody thinks or writes about them.

XeroK00L

The VIDEO review of the LS460L is now up. Doesn't show much though.

encore888

It's a nice video, but I was hoping for more...details and commentary reflecting their written review. Still it was nice, and I too would be caught relaxing in that car...but NOT eating! No eating in my Lexus.

Lexwang07

Lexus LS460 L scores perfect 10 from CNET review! High tech furure in the LS460 L is the best luxury car in the world.