Toyota's flagship, the Lexus LS, sets a benchmark for soothing luxury motoring, providing a cosseting and isolating environment in a very spacious cabin. Even though the 4.6-liter V8 and first-ever-production eight-speed automatic date back to the car's 2007 introduction, the powertrain remains a paragon of response and smoothness. We measured 21 mpg overall -- impressive for this very large and swift sedan.
Updates for 2013 include updated styling, a revised dashboard and suspension tweaks that resulted in a more responsive handling, yet preserved the creamy, serene ride. The LS remains a terrific highway cruiser and yet it won't completely disappoint if it's occasionally hurried.
The biggest change was the move to more complicated controls, including a mouse-like controller that moves around a giant center dashboard screen. This represents a step backward compared to the relative simplicity of the previous touch-screen system.
It's hard to beat the Lexus LS for comfort, luxury, refinement and reliability. However, it may not provide the same emotional experience that you'd get in the more sensual cabin and greater driving rewards of, say, an Audi A8, Jaguar XJ, or Mercedes-Benz S-Class. This might matter to you...or it might not.