Test drive Lexus LS 2006 - 2009 sedan

Lexus LS 600 H

Will the car of the future be needed by the driver? We are trying to answer this question, testing the hybrid Lexus LS 600H The brightest sample of absolute luxury and truly cosmic technological work of modern automotive industry.
The path to the Higher Automobile Society in the Casta of the so -called premium brands is thorny, expensive and, as a rule, long. It can only be reduced due to unique know-how. So at one time, Audi made a breakthrough into the premium segment due to the implementation of the capacity of the Quattro and aluminum bodies in serial production. The Toyota Lexus luxury brand was originally created for the most demanding and wealthy buyers, but he still has to prove his solidity among eminent brands. Unlike some of the noble European and American premium brands, relatively young Lexus brand builds advancement not on many years of history (it, in fact, has not yet been written), but on the technological and reliability of its cars. The Japanese company is going to surpass traditional European luxury car manufacturers through the creation of high -tech cars. This is not just a journalistic observation. Lexus intends to conquer, in particular, for Mercedes, a share of representative and sports cars is more expensive than $ 70 thousand. Lexus success is possible if the company will offer machines more powerful and technically more perfect than competitors' models, says Bob Carter, vice president and general manager of the Lexus Bob Carter group. Today it is already clear that the main engine of the Lexus brand is hybrid technologies. Lexus remains the only premium marke using hybrid power units in its cars. Recall that gasoline-electrical versions also have a Lexus RX crossover and the Lexus GS business class sedan. And now the debut of the fastest, most luxurious and expensive car in the Lexus model of the representative sedan LS 600H.
The era of hybrids
The presentation of the Lexus flagship took place in Berlin of a self -confident metropolis, which made a real breakthrough in architecture 18 years after the fall of the Berlin wall. A city with a centuries -old history and culture, which existed in the conditions of two political systems, gave rise to many architectural contradictions, inconsistencies in the urban habitat. To work on creating a new appearance of the capital of Germany, the best architects and international architectural teams were collected. They boldly invade various eras, skillfully combine styles and directions. Their work is ambiguous, but, as time shows, harmonious. Modern Berlin, despite his heterogeneity, is already perceived as a whole. A similar story and hybrid Lexus LS 600H. How to combine incompatible? At first glance, the idea to install an economical hybrid motor on the representative sedan looks absurd. Does any of the owners of such cars think about fuel saving? And the desire of the creators for environmental friendliness? Do you believe that buyers of representative cars are concerned about the amount of carbon dioxide thrown into the atmosphere? I am not very. Moreover, many of the owners of expensive cars (especially in Russia) are to one degree or another, are related to oil business. And, in the end, what percentage is the emissions of CO2 from the exhaust pipes of representative sedans compared to mass models? Misex! So is it worth talking about taking care of the ecology? Nevertheless, despite all the alleged inconsistencies, the Lexus LS 600H is absolutely harmonious. You feel that the best Japanese engineers and designers, fanatically devoted to their business, worked on the creation of this unique car. Professionals to the brain of bones. Creative people, like those architects who equipped the new Berlin.
Compound
Do not understand me incorrectly, we do not claim that the hybrid is the only and final step in the evolution of automobile technology, but no matter what the future you imagine, this is an undoubted step in the right direction, Dirk de Man Director of Lexus Europe, explains the position of his company. Indeed, Lexus Hybrid Drive is an extremely flexible basis for the development of new technologies. For example, an internal combustion engine working in tandem with an electric motor can consume not only gasoline, but also biofuel or hydrogen. But this is the future. Today, the buyer of a representative car is primarily interested in power, comfort, quality, technological and prestige. I am sure that by choosing the Lexus LS 600h, he will receive all this. Moreover, premium qualities will be provided to the owner of this machine in volumes exceeding the tangible limits. By the way, where did the number 600 come from? It suggests that the power of the LS 600H power unit is approximately the same as that of a 6 -liter engine. The ultra-modern 5-liter gasoline V8 installed on LS 600H has a specific power of approximately 90 hp. per liter of volume. The main feature of this engine is a combination of distributed and direct gasoline injection (D-4S system), which allows more precisely to dose fuel and increase the return by 7.5%. The engine is paired with an electric motor that receives energy from a nickel-metall-hydrate battery, which is recharged during braking, while driving under a slope, as well as with stable movement in a straight line. The smooth transmission of the torque is facilitated by the unavailable automatic transmission with electronic control (variator). Feeling the power of the Lexus LS 600H is not easy. This car is fenced off by a driver and passenger from outbreaky reality as reliable as the Berlin Wall of Socialism from capitalism at one time. Inside the LS 600H time stops. Yes, on paper the numbers are impressive: LS 600H gains 100 km/h for 6.3 s, and accelerates from 80 to 120 km/h only 4.3 s, but it is impossible to feel accelerated, it is impossible to feel it. Throw into space is quiet, smoothly and as comfortable as possible. The driver and passenger do not experience the severity of overloads, do not feel twigs, do not hear the voice of the engine. I don’t know what place in the Lexus LS 600h salon will prefer to take its owners. In my opinion, the most suitable on the right in the second row. And the point is not only in the relaxing work of a double-mode massager built into the windows. Just driving the LS 600H you can feel superfluous. Judge for yourself: thanks to the two radars (front and back) and two video cameras at the upper edge of the windshield LS 600H is able not only to independently maintain the distance in the flow, but also to steal, helping to keep the machine within the marking strips. And if the radars foresee a collision or hitting behind, then the Pre-Crash Safety system will increase the alarm, involves the brakes and leads the belts and head restraints to the combat readiness state. A special infrared sensor installed on the steering column LS 600H is monitors the position of the driver's head. If at the time of dangerous rapprochement with the obstacle he does not look at the road, the electronics begins to act, warning a sound signal sitting at the wheel and at the same time preparing for a possible collision, for example, pulling up the seat belts in advance using the Pre-Crash Safety system. In extreme cases, Lexus will begin to slow down with an intensity of not higher than 0.7 g. However, Russian buyers LS 600H will not yet be able to fully evaluate these fantastic options. In our country, they, unfortunately, are prohibited (like similar devices in competing vehicles) supposedly radar systems for active car safety work in closed military waves. The creators of the Lexus LS 600H claim that they managed it is only 53 dB to achieve a record low noise in the cabin, which is comparable to the sound background in a country house. Such an atmosphere is the best suited to evaluate the magnificent characteristics of the Mark Levinson Reference Surrome music system. A hybrid power plant also contributes to quiet starts, because in the vast majority of cases the Lexus LS 600H begins to move due to a silent electric motor.
In total, in abundance
I am sure that Lexus LS 600H will be in great demand in Russia. And the point is not only that we have a special attitude to the Lexus brand: today the Russian market for Lexus is the second largest sales among European countries (after the UK). I think that the success of the LS 600H is predetermined primarily by the presence of this car in all -wheel drive. For ordinary gasoline LS, all-wheel drive will not be offered, but, as sales statistics, for example, Mercedes S-class shows, the vast majority of the representative class sedans in our country are bought in a four-wheel drive version. The distribution of the torque between the front and rear axle LS 600H occurs due to the classic Torsen differential. It distributes the moment in a ratio of 40% on the front axle and 60% to the rear. In this case, depending on the degree of adhesion of the wheels with the surface, the moment can be transferred between the front and rear axle in a ratio of 30/70 or 50/50. To evaluate the advantages of the all -wheel drive Lexus LS 600H on dry asphalt on public roads, it was not possible to break the breakdown threshold in sliding is far beyond the facet of rational and safe speeds in normal road conditions. However, a test race on a specially prepared coating track with a different clutch coefficient showed the possibility of all -wheel drive. And at starting, and when braking, and during turns, the electronic system of control of the dynamics of the VDIM car worked paired with a mechanical differential Torsen absolutely synchronously, providing extremely confident, smooth, without jerks of the car. Hybrid power plant and all -wheel drive the main differences of the LS 600H and gasoline LS. According to the configuration, equipping with active and passive safety systems, interior and exterior design, these models are identical. You can distinguish the hybrid LS from a gasoline version only by the Lexus emblem on the radiator grill and the trunk lid enclosed in a shining blue oval and the corresponding nameplate. And another nuance: hybrid LS will be offered exclusively in a long -drawn version.
Lexus LS 600H is almost perfect. The clear drawback of this car one battery of a hybrid power plant was occupied by a good two -thirds of the beneficial volume of the trunk. Therefore, in terms of opportunities to transport cargo, the representative sedan is noticeably inferior even to compact city cars of class V.
Nevertheless, as statistics show, many buyers of hybrid Lexus are ready to put up with a decrease in the carrying capacity of their cars. Lexus hybrid sales in Europe are growing steadily. Today, a third of European sales of the Toyota luxury unit falls on cars with hybrid power plants. This once again proves: in modern society it is prestigious to feel involved in the technologies of the future.

Technical characteristics Lexus LS 600 H
Dimensions, mm 5030x1875x1465
Base, mm 3090
Front/behind, mm 1610/1610
Diameter of the turn, m 11.8
Equipped mass, kg 2430
V8 gasoline engine type and electric motor
Working volume, cubic meter. cm 4969
Max. Power, L.S./rpm 394/6400
Max. moment, nm/rpm 520/4000
Working volume, cubic meter. cm 4969
Max. Power, L.S./KW 394/6400
Max. moment, nm 300
Automatic unavailable transmission with electronic control
The permanent drive is complete
Max. Speed, km/h 250
Acceleration time 0-100 km, with 6.3
Fuel consumption (average), l/100 km 8.0
 
Igor Komarov
Photo of the manufacturer
 
 

Source: Avtopanorama magazine