Lexus LS test drive since 2009 sedan

Talent of imitation - "Lexus"

Lexus LS400 debuted in 1988. Seven years later, thoroughly modernized. It is produced only with the body of a four -door sedan, a four -liter engine and an automatic gearbox. In standard LS equipment, only the hatch in the roof and active suspension are not provided: they belong to additional equipment.
By the mid-80s, Japanese automobile companies firmly settled on the American continent. But ... the Yankees are so accustomed that the Japanese car means cheap that it was almost impossible to break into more prestigious (and, therefore, more profitable) classes under the same flag. Then, in the company of Toyota, specially for the United States created a new brand - Lexus in 1987. The richly equipped car soon became very popular.
At the price, he was close to prestigious American models, while he possessed a halo of importance and exclusivity, excellent riding qualities, as more expensive European classmates - it is no coincidence that he resembles them so outwardly.
So, the department of Lexus specializes in expensive prestigious modifications of Toyota cars. In its gamut-the flagship LS400 (Toyota-Tselsior), the SC300/SC400 sports coupe (Toyota-SoAr), ES300 (Toyota-Kamri), GS300 (Toyota-Aristo) and Victorist LX450 (Toyota-Lendkryuzer-80). In addition to America, adapted cars are also supplied to Europe, including Russia.

Today, at our disposal is a representative car, the cost of which in dollars is expressed by a six -digit figure. So, get acquainted - Lexus LS400.
The body is 4.2 points. You can’t call the appearance of the four hundredth avant -garde, but this is not required: some old -fashioned only emphasizes the solidity of the owner and its inappropriateness with minute poetry. The high quality of the performance of such a car is implied. But the triple (!) Dressing of the doors is a rarity.
Soft clicking doors, and we fall into the boudoir of black leather and nut wood. You can relax here according to the full program: designed specifically for Lexus, the two-hundredth audio system Hi-End, SI-Di-WHENTER for six discs, a cell phone in an armrest, separate (left and right) Microclimate adjustment, seats, as many as three cigarette lights with ashtrays,, as an ashtray. Completely coming from where the cup holders and much more. And in the glove compartment there are instructions and a service book ... in the binding of the same leather as the upholstery of the cabin. It should be noted that Lexus is very spacious, although in some cases the adjustment ranges confirm the subtitality of designers. On the other hand, there is a place for a basketball player: in the extreme position, the right seat leaves almost under the front panel and behind his back is not like knees, socks will not reach your shoes!
To wrinkle the forehead in attempts to evaluate the dimensions and convenience of the trunk - not the case. We only note that he is enough for his eyes to accommodate the luggage of the married (or not quite) pair, flying away, say, for two weeks in Nice. What surprised - the car has a full -sized spare wheel, a good set of tools, there is a lantern and even gloves - a Russian package.

The driver's workplace is 4.4 points. Lord, how can one steer here? The steering wheel is somewhere far away, in front and above. I insert the key into the ignition lock - the steering wheel, gently buzzing with servo drives, sinks and drives closer. This is done for the convenience of planting and breeding the driver. Electronics will remember two options for setting up the steering column, seat and external rear -view mirrors for two drivers.
By the way, both external and internal mirrors automatically (!) Are obscured when the headlights of the car walking behind the car walking behind. In general, with visibility here is a complete order - it is clearly visible not only forward and to the sides, but also back, which is facilitated by the moderate height of the trunk. And a small substetrician on its edge allows you to feel better.
Convenient and spacious seat - with six (naturally, electric) adjustments, and most servo drives are turned on with one large handle. And the pneumatic pillow in the back and electric drives to change the height of the headrest, as well as the upper point of the security belt, even give rise to some kind of redundancy.
The step groove along which the automatic transmission selector is moving is more convenient than the usual unaccounted forline - it allows you to switch to the touch, without risk to slip the desired gear. By the way, the switching range can be narrowed up to three, two or completely limited to one transmission. Nearby is the mode switch: normal and sports. In addition, the box itself adjusts to the driving style of a particular driver. There is still a switch nearby - it controls the change in the road clearance. The rigidity of the suspension changes automatically, Depending on the quality of the road surface. On the left below is a small parking brake pedal. It can only be released by hand, although automatic disinteriority is found on less prestigious cars. On the left on the steering wheel - a telephone control unit, on the right is a cruise control handle.
Turn on the ignition. In the black window on the instrument panel, first white arrows occur, and then dials: temperature indicator, tachometer, speedometer and fuel level indicator. Only the most necessary, no excesses. In the middle is a vertical indicator of the gearbox ranges. Below is a line of multi -colored icons, extinguishing after starting the engine. (By the way, the superstar and prolonged sound of the starter’s work unpleasantly cut a rumor.)
Movement - 4.3 points. A little scary, but try to ride. And it’s scary because those abnormal that rush around (did I go far from them?), They don’t really know how much my handsome man costs. And God forbid, something will happen to him - you will have to pay until retirement. Take the price tags on the sides.
I’m going, and I persuade myself: imagine that this is an ordinary Volga. Just on the hood there is a crystal vase. Gradually, the mandracy passed, and for two days I traveled around the capital and its environs with a vase on the hood.
Having hit a couple of hundred kilometers, you can draw some conclusions. According to the modest experience of driving by cars with an automatic gearbox, he expected from Lexus some sluggishness during acceleration. This was not at all in sight: the machine gun is quite dense, the connection between speed and speed is almost like that of a mechanical box. At the same time, switching is smooth, without jerking.
A powerful engine provides a comparatively non -fire machine with excellent dynamics - 7.5 seconds to hundreds. With stability and handling - no problem. And the four-channel ABS and TREKSHN-control make the probability of loss of control vanishly small. The possibilities of Lexus when moving along a slippery road significantly increases the self -locking differential of the rear axle.
Comfort - 4.5 points. Undoubtedly, one of the most important criteria for evaluating such a car. About a lot of what it consists of was already said. Another example: when the passenger on the right closed his window, it seemed that the muffled nearby KAMAZ (we stood in traffic) simply stalled. The engine is almost not heard on the move - when acceleration, it seems that you were picked up by a gust of wind: there is neither a roar nor vibrations, and the gear is imperceptibly. The work of excellent suspension is voiced only by chips of asphalt.

Operation, service - 4.0 points. The owner of a car of this class is hardly particularly interested in fuel consumption, except in relation to the tanning capacity of the gas tank. Nevertheless, we note that in terms of economy, Lexus is the best among classmates. You can serve it at two branded stations in Moscow and on any Toyota. Moreover, only mechanics who have worked at the Toyota station have been allowed to work with him for at least three years. The warranty in Russia is 1 year or 20 thousand km.
And when examining the car from below, the abundance of dampers, rubber pillows and other tricks was struck in order to reduce the level of vibration and noise.

Press about the Lexus LS400 car
Despite the patriotic orientation of American journalism, since the appearance of Lexus the press, the press has been full of enthusiastic assessments: the quality of the assembly of the car surpasses everything that has ever seen. At a speed of 60 miles per hour in the cabin, quietly, like at midnight in the cemetery ... After modernization, Lexus became more powerful, dynamic, easier, a little more acute and more pleasant in management. Especially the Americans noted a magnificent gearbox with absolutely inconspicuous switching. And the noise level in a fixed machine with a working engine is 39 dB - this is an absolute record among all the cars now produced.
German journalists are usually more skeptical, but they also paid tribute to the magnificent combination of the engine and gearboxes made by ergonomics and the rich equipment of the car. In the comparative test of Auto magazine, the UND Shport MV-740i and Lexus LS400 were equivalent, although in Germany Lexus is more expensive than BMW. At the same time, the Japanese is more economically about 1 l/100 km. German experts were able to complain only to the insufficient height of the passenger compartment above the rear seat and the comfort of the suspension on short waves of the road surface.
The conclusion from the foregoing is clear: Lexus LS400 - the crown of the Japanese automotive industry, which is not inferior to recognized authorities, but in some ways that surpasses them.

Bedor of black leather and nut wood. A speedometer marked up to 280 km/h is an extra reason for self -affirmation. In the upper glove - a six -disc chinger, and in the armrest there is a six -hundred -hundred -piece phone.

There is something in the guise of Lexus from a Mercedes, from BMW ...

Technical characteristics of the Lexus LS400 car
General data: number of places - 5; equipped mass - 1680 kg; full mass- 2185 kg; maximum speed (with an electronic limiter) - 250 km/h; acceleration time from a place to 100 km/h - 7.5 s; fuel consumption at 90, 120 km/h and Hz - 7.9; 9.6; 13.3 l/100 km; Fuel supply - 85 liters. Dimensions, mm: length - 5005; width - 1830; height - 1435; base - 2850; The track in front and back - 1570; clearance - 150; trunk volume - 465 l; Radius of rotation - 6 m. Engine: with distributed injection, eight -cylinder V -shaped, four valves per cylinder; working volume - 3969 cm; cylinder diameter and piston stroke - 87.5x82.5 mm; compression degree - 10; Power - 194 kW/264 hp at 5400 rpm; The maximum torque is 365 N.M at 4000-4800 rpm. Transmission: rear wheel drive; Gearbox - Automatic four -speed (I - 2.53; II - 1.53; III - 1.00; IV - 0.75; Z.Kh. - 1.88; main gear - 3.62 or 3.92) . Suspension: independent, with stabilizers of the anti -resistance stability; The front is two -leash with a spring -loaded counter, the back is multi -link, collected on a subframe. Brakes: Disc ventilated in all wheels, with a vacuum amplifier in the hydraulic drive. Steering: rheck with a hydraulic wrap. Tire size: 225/60R16.

Summary. Lexus LS400 is one of the few representative cars from the Land of the Rising Sun, a sort of Japanese Mercedes. Experiencing classmates in level of standard configuration, it costs about the same. However, it is reasonable to spend at all the first on his purchase, probably not the second and, most likely, not even the third honestly earned hundred thousand dollars.

Designers have worked under the hood: you will not immediately figure out how the engine is installed, longitudinally or transversely.
Yuri Nechetov
Photo by Sergey Ivanov

A source: The magazine "Driving"