Test drive Lexus LS 2006 - 2009 sedan
Appassionate
Passion itself is not very beautiful. She must find a form. The form of music. Or the shape of a car such as Lexus LS 460. Winter evening in Nice
The Japanese-translator played the appassionate. Her face flickered over the black ice ice of the piano, beautiful brutal Asian beauty, wild and piercing, like a wave of a samurai sword, or, if you want, the brush of a calligrapher. The game concentratedly listened to her chef, who had thrown off his jacket and tie on the occasion of the officially proclaimed unofficial situation. At the neighboring tables in the twilight of the hotel hall, the figures of his subordinates devoted devotedly. A little further in the yellow halo of candles are journalists from France, Holland, Norway, Russia, muttered about something, warming in their hands multi-colored glasses. Jumping shadows gave them some fantastic shade.
Vodka! He did not report that, or offered the Japanese chief, stopping a gesture raising a cup of transparent poison. Thank you, but in the morning behind the wheel, just in case, I refused, retreating into the darkness, at the far table. I came to listen to music.
It seems that the brutally beautiful Japanese woman was once seriously engaged in piano, and although now some passages were given to her with difficulty, all this was compensated by the unusually emotional manner of performance. I was not surprised that the girl's upbringing skills took up the appassionate, the work is more merciless to uncertain fingers than the piano cover. After all, it is it that best reveals the main national line of the Japanese: internal passion. The European is initially cold, although it is ready to flare up to the appassionate. The Japanese is always hot (and that is precisely why it is emphasized). His internal imperative is passion. This applies to any business: rest, work, drinking, playing music or creating a car. Especially such as LS 460. Breakthrough
LS 460 New flagship of the premium brand Toyota, the fourth generation of comfortable Lexus representative class. The Japanese call this model a creative deviation from norms, a breakthrough in development. Everything is new in it: platform, body, chassis, transmission, engine. But, it seems, the Japanese want to say a word not only that this car was developed from scratch, becoming the most expensive project in Lexus history.
The models of past years of this company were often criticized for an average, or more simply, faceless design. These were just cars, albeit the best in their class. This was partly due to the historically determined lack of corporate language, which Lexus designers could express their passions. The passions themselves are not very beautiful. Passion overcoming restraint and through this struggle gaining language and form. This is the essence of music. This is the essence of LS 460. Especially with regard to appearance.
Passion and restraint are the new corporate language of Lexus, the so-called L-Finese style, expressed by a series of brilliant concepts: moving passion for perfection (the official slogan Lexus, elaborate an advertising, but deeply national) car violently overcomes the resistance of air that breaks off all excessively . In LS 460, this style is manifested in the original combination of proportions and body contours, natural and at the same time almost extravagant, expressive and at the same time strict. The discouraging sophistication of simplicity is also found in the design of the salon. For example, there are only 28 buttons on the central console, which is much less than that of competitors. In this case, any operation requires no more than three presses or touching the sensory display, and the shape of each button is thought out so that they can be distinguished by the touch. There are no trifles here. The murmur of servo drives of the steering wheel, seats, mirrors, a hatch in the roof, a CD player, even the door of the doors were subjected to special setting up to impress a pleasant and high-tech impression. By the way, you can slam doors only for the sake of acoustic pleasure, they have closers. If such attention is paid to trifles, then the main elements of the decoration are generally impeccable: a tree from protected plots in Canada, delicate skin, heated steering wheel, ventilation seats, four-zone climate control with air ducts that can instantly cool the hottest head or warm the coldest one Heart, system management using voice commands, electronic key in the form of a credit card with a thickness of 3.3 mm and much more. LS 460 collects everything that can be invented for a modern representative of a representative class.
Passion technology As always, technology is behind beauty and comfort. For example, in order to raise a spectacular LS-shaped wave coming from the front racks along the hood edge, I had to develop a new stamping method of up to 460 mm deep instead of a previous limit of 300 mm. And the greater pressure of the press made it possible to obtain a surface with an unattainable smooth smoothness.
Beauty is also of practical significance: the streamlined silhouette, a decrease in the gaps between the panels, the minimum number of protruding details, fastening the mirrors to the doors, the flat bottom all these measures not only reduced to a minimum noise, but also allowed to achieve the smallest in their segment of the frontal resistance coefficient of 0.26 .
It is the technology that underlies all the advantages of this machine: many new items are marked with the word the first. For example, the world's first 8-band automatic gearbox with aluminum gears is twice as light as steel. The time of its operation almost doubled compared to the previous 6-band to 350 ms. The engine is equipped with the world's first system of constant change in gas distribution phases with VVT-E electric drive. Unlike hydraulic, it is operational at the time of starting a cold engine and at revolutions below 1000 rpm.
New V8 subject of special pride. The D-4S system involves the presence of two fuel injections per cylinder, which allows you to reduce fuel consumption and simultaneously increase the thrust by 7.5%. After assembly, experienced masters listen to each motor with a stethoscope to make sure that there are no extraneous noise and vibrations. This car is set like a musical instrument. A new multi -leaf suspension with the best turning radius of 5.4 m in the class. Adaptive pneumatic traps with 20% increased pressure automatically, according to many sensors, change their characteristics depending on the speed, nature of maneuvers and quality of the road. All this allows you to combine comfort with small rolls in turns and the complete absence of longitudinal buildup. The steering system is equipped with an electric power, changing sharpness depending on speed. At low speed from the stop to the stop 2.5 turns. On a large 3.6.
And how many innovations in the field of security! Here is a system for preventing a collision with a millimeter radar and a stereo -switch behind the windshield. A separate radar protects from attacks from the rear hemisphere. The sensor installed at the wheel is monitors the direction of the driver's gaze. The Lane-Keeping Assist can be kept in its lane is capable of 75180 km/h to the car along the markup on autopilot. The automatic parking system independently squeezes Lexus into a less or less suitable gap.
Pros and cons It is only a pity that my compatriots will not have to use these miracles of security in the near future. The problem is in Russian legislation that limits the use of radars. Especially an annoying situation has developed with a rear view camera. When the rear door is turned on, the image from it is fed on the screen with the inscription in English: Look for safety! And according to the law on the protection of consumer rights, all inscriptions related to security should be in Russian. As a result, I had to remove the camera. Protected the consumer! Well, at least that in early 2007, the emergence of permits for the navigation system is expected. The satellite guide to Moscow and St. Petersburg is ready. Other cities and weights are next in line.
However, the absence of the above systems is not the only feature of the LS 460 intended for Russia. The standard car provided at the European presentation will not be the main one for us. Officially, sales in Moscow began on December 4, 2006, and 70% of the already ordered LS falls on the long -drawn version, which will not be offered in Western Europe. Long -drawn LS 460L is 12 cm longer. And all these centimeters are given to the rear passenger legs space, which gives the fundamental difference in the ideology of these versions. Long -border LS is designed for important people traveling with a personal driver. He has more rear doors. The installation of OTTOMAN seats is provided with 45 support adjustment and leg support, as in a business class plane. The degree of transformation is such that you can travel lying down. The price of LS 460 from 112700 to 130700 dollars, LS 460L from 120300 to 150100.
Long -drawn LS is a limousine. The standard version for those owners who themselves are not averse to sitting behind the wheel. At least sometimes to warm up and enjoy. The only question is, is it possible to enjoy driving a 2-ton limousine? Of course, an engine with a capacity of 380 hp. And acceleration to hundreds for 5.7 C means something. But is it possible on LS 460, as they write in notes, play Appassionato, that is, passionately, with enthusiasm. East and West
In Moscow, dirt and slush, and here is the blue sky, the blue sea and the greens of palm trees along the clean streets. And, imagine, all this ... annoying. All these millennial French villages, hopelessly the same in terms of grooming. All these romantic landscapes, tiring, like a long day in a picture gallery. Even the ruins here seem decorative. There is no comparison with Russia, where the degrees are destroyed by the numbers, but where is real life, and not pictures from the exhibition.
I thought about all this, sitting behind the wheel of LS 460. Not too suitable thoughts for such a car? So boring! It is painfully smooth, smoothly and silently, it moves. Without a bitch, but also without a bitch. Just some kind of member. Swaying on the soft waves of the air suspension, I already came to the conclusion that the requirements of comfort in this model were obscured by everything. The power of the engine is only in order to ensure the evenness of the move with a margin. As a result, even the largest speeds were given without visible, audible and tangible efforts. No pickups and accelerations in the back. The unique machine was almost imperceptibly switched around 4000 rpm, where the traction characteristics of the motor are optimal. The engine was like a savage in a livery: a combination of congenital power and a well -made lackey.
The only entertainment of the brake pedal, which turned out to be quite heavy, despite the status of the first in the segment of an electro -hydraulic device of this type. I even began to suspect that I have to produce electricity for him. Otherwise, directly lulling tenderness. Comfort? Oh yeah! Inspiration? Probably not. However, what else did I expect from the limousine? But then my sleepy look fell on the button with a shock absorber drawn on it and the inscription Sport. Pressing on it led to more aggravated and clear reactions of the steering wheel and suspension. The use of a manual gear mode allowed to drive the tachometer arrow closer to the red mark for 7000 rpm. And Livrey began to crack at the seams. Things went more fun, but the evening came close to which this story began. Twilight, fatigue after a flight and narrow mountain roads made him be careful, although the answer to the question of the day already sounded more positively. Nevertheless, my attitude to LS 460 has changed the next day. And not at all because of the appassionate listened to the evening.
Better late
The fact is that my colleague and I got a little lost on the way back to the airport. Having trusted the navigator, we found too late that a long route was introduced into it, designed for those who have a flight in the evening. And our plane flew at noon. While figuring out the situation, time remained in a cut. It was no longer a reasonable caution. I drove as I could. I attacked the abysses on mountain serpentines, licked the bumps,
he waved from the oncoming transport, as if from insects, flashed along the forest roads so that the leaves showered, played with other participants in the movement in the checkers, trying to get into the ladies faster and end up at the airport. This regime required marginal concentration, making it quickly forget about where I am and what I am on. And suddenly, in one of the unreasonably cautious turn, I woke up: let me do what I am doing, because I am a limousine driver! However, the limousine rode! And he rode the way I should, sitting at the wheel, and not only the one who hypothetically pushed in the back seat. Perhaps you yourself are driving and not a barbid business. But, honestly, it will be a little sorry for such lying owners. After all, the best in their own acquisition, they will not feel his inner passion. If you calculate the Mercedes-Benz S-Class model of comfort, and the BMW 7th series with a symbol of sports in this segment, then LS 460, perhaps, managed to combine the advantages of both. Or, out of respect for formidable competitors, say, take their place between them. A place that will allow you to fight for leadership in the classroom.
With the rapid advance of the mark on the screen of the navigation system, we began to understand that we were in time at the airport. Having calmed down somewhat, I just enjoyed the car. The brakes already seemed exactly the way. It is harder to press, but it is easier to dose the effort. The steering wheel is accurate and perfectly informs that they are doing the wheels. The suspension works not only for comfort, but also for stability.
And how nice it was to go on such a car on perfectly even asphalt, where there is neither a pavement, nor potholes, nor permanent repairs! And what the weather! And the sun! What wonderful landscapes outside the window! As a result, we even had time to drop into Nice, to move along the English embankment along the azure sea under the rustle of palm trees.
French city ... English embankment ... Japanese car ... play with enthusiasm!
Technical characteristics Lexus LS 460
Dimensions, mm 5030x1875x1465
Base, mm 2055
Benzine engine type V8
Working volume, cubic meter. cm 4608
Max. Power, L.S./rpm 380/6400
Max. moment, nm/rpm 493/4100
The transmission is automatic 8-band
The rear drive
Max. speed, km/h 250*
Tires 225/65 R17
Acceleration time 0-100 km, from 5.7
Fuel consumption (average), l/100 km 11.1
* Limited by electronics.
Leonid Sitnik
Photo by the author and the manufacturer
Source: Avtopanorama magazine
