By Steven Hicks
Built on the platform of the striking, high-performance LC coupe, the new Lexus LS500 sedan features Lexus’ first-ever twin-turbocharged engine, the new Lexus Safety System+ A, offering their most advanced safety technology yet, and, as Lexus of Melbourne’s Owner/General Manager T.R. Page says, “Meticulous craftsmanship including premium wood trim designs so unique they can take up to four months and 32 steps to complete.” According to MotorTrend magazine, the LS500, “once conservative,” is now unmistakably a modern Lexus. “The new seating gallery caught our eye with visually stimulating curves, layers, and use of materials. Likewise, we found the stitched leather surrounding the individual gauges a fresh and appealing touch and the semi-hidden vents integrated into the horizontal trim a neat execution.”
In addition to the standard LS500, Lexus offers the LS500 F SPORT with a design as exhilarating as its performance. The F SPORT ticks boxes featuring a unique front fascia and mesh grille, LFA-inspired gauges, bolstered sport seats, aluminum pedals, and their most advanced vehicle dynamic control system. With a low center of gravity and a next-generation adaptive variable suspension, the 2018 LS500 F SPORT pushes luxury and performance to unprecedented heights.
Lexus also offers drivers the LS500h, which pairs a potent engine with two powerful electric motors and a self-charging lightweight lithium-ion battery. This is the highest performance LS hybrid yet. Delivering instant torque and the direct, instinctive feel of a 10-speed automatic transmission, it is efficiency at the peak of luxury.
Page adds, “The LS exemplifies sophistication, soaring to new heights with exclusive features like rear-seat butterfly headrests, seven seat massage settings and much more.” Even the striking LED headlamps and tail lamps embody the ideal balance of sophistication and safety.
Lexus commissioned independent research firm AMCI Testing to compare the 2018 Lexus LS500 F Sport to the 2018 Mercedes-Benz S560 AMG Line. The LS excelled with:
- Better handling and braking performance.
- Better handling performance on wet or dry pavement.
- Better cornering performance on wet or dry pavement.
- Better slalom performance on wet or dry pavement.
- Better evasive action/emergency double lane change performance.
- Better braking performance.
Autotrader reviewed the amazing electronic tour-de-force that the LS500 represents, writing, “It is almost as though Lexus is offering the LS as proof that today’s vehicles are really just computers with wheels. Pedestrian alert, for instance, not only recognizes the presence of a pedestrian, but, if the pedestrian is moving, it also determines exactly where the pedestrian will be when the LS reaches them. If the driver doesn’t react quickly enough to audible and visual warnings, and automatic braking alone won’t avoid colliding with the pedestrian, the LS active steering plots a safe course around the person. Then there is its front cross-traffic alert and lane trace assist features that help the driver follow the line of the vehicle ahead by tracing its path.”
Page and his staff at Lexus of Melbourne will eagerly show you this technology in action at their location in Viera near The Avenue.
