Ls400 Personality

[Gbneil]

It strikes me that our cars have been unfairly tagged with the extremely competent but soulless name for too long, almost damning with faint praise. I of actually think the ls400 is dripping with personality, the problem has been that is is personality from a culture we don't live in, so it's personality sneaked under the radar. Think about it's main attributes....space and quietness, serenity, inner peace....if you were a Japanese car designer designing the best car in the world, what two characteristics would you make sure your car had?....the two any executive in Tokyo or any bustling city screams out for...space, and serenity. Space is at a huge premium in Japanese cities, as is peacefulness. If the car is to be a true luxury car it must relax its inhabitants, protect them from their normal environment, allow them to breath out, relax....we never really got that over here because space is available to all...to the Japanese businessman leaving a crowded building, walking through the crowded streets with car horns and voices going, the lexus must have seemed like a welcome Sensory deprivation cocoon....the engine whispers even under load and the cars performance is as powerful as any heavyweight judoka....it just has manners, doesn't shout about it....

The Japanese have a fascination for mechanical integrity we just didn't have when the lexus came out. A luxury car for us was a beautiful looking jag with ford switchgear or an overly ostentatious rolls Royce that had been living off a hundred year reputation for an excellence it no longer really provided. Neither were overly concerned with ergonomics nor did either give a damn about the feel, the operation of their switches, buttons etc. Japanese culture puts things like this above traditional looks etc, which we will come to next. Japanese luxury cars through the ages have not been beautiful, they have been big, square rigged cars with big, sometimes ostentatious grilles....they took this idea to its zenith with the ls400... I bet out of all the countries it was sold in, it stuck out and commanded most respect from its looks in it's home country. Designed to be non fussy, designed not to stand out, but with that Japanese love of a look at me grille minimised so the lexus did not look like a caricature of a saloon car but a cohesive, obsessive design. We like our luxury cars to shout look at me. The Japanese like them to be excellent, aesthetics has always come second. I would argue they nailed both with the ls, it's not till you live with one you appreciate what a master class of design it is....vast yet perfectly proportioned....much lower than you think, very aerodynamic whilst keeping those traditional Japanese attributes, it's built in spoiler/boot lid lip being a case in point....

I bet the Japanese thought the ls400 was a huge car with a huge personality....THEIR personality....it drips Japanese culture, it's personality is steeped in a tactile integrity that can be sensed by all who drive or, are lucky enough to own one....just as a jag, or a Bristol can be said to represent English culture, and just as both until recently, had almost become a pastiche, a caricature of said culture, the lexus ls400 represents Japanese culture and personality to a tee...and lexus has continued to do that with their options without becoming a caricature...

No personality?....my cars loaded with it...

[Malc]

quietly and unostentatiously concur

Malc

[Mybikes a cx500]

Excellently put, that hadn't occurred to me

[Titch LS]

George, you got it spot on. The likes of the ignoramous Jeremy Clarkson and his ilk, just don't appreciate what Lexus cars are all about and therefore despise them. In one episode of Top Gear, Clarkson had an LS400 shot to pieces with tank rounds!! It was sickening to watch. He said that driving one made him feel like he was dead, it was that serene. To him, a car must have a rasping exhaust note and relieve one's mouth of its fillings as you drive it. Also, it must be German. Sadly, the watching public are suckers enough to believe him.

[Bluesman]

Makes me want to run out and buy a Bonsai tree for the back window shelf. Mike

[Gbneil]

I actually like clarksons writing...his TV persona is just that, a persona..but I think it's fascinating how national characteristics shine through in cars....a jag could only be English, a bmw, German, and so on.....lexus, inc lfa, could only be Japanese....another car I think ticks the Japanese box is the rx8... As Japanese as a pebble and bonsai garden!...

[ambermarine]

When I first saw the LS400 it had been around for 5 years and the view was of a second hand Mark 2 on sale in a Toyota/Lexus dealership as they were then before Lexus got Franchisee's to go it alone .

I was very impressed but had a Audi 90 at the time and was happy with it and was only in the Toyota dealership picking up a friend.

A year later and the buisness was doing well and my accountant told me to trade up and lose some tax on the Audi,I was considering a Jag when I went to Devon to see relatives .

I was out for the day and walked by an independant Auto sales and right in the middle of the showroom was a 1990 one owner maroon ls400 in mint condition.The rest is history I have never even considered anything else after 18 years of owning one of these cars and probably never will.I still marvel at how a 16 year old car still looks the part and as engineering attributes second to none that are not matched even in todays competitors.I agree totally with George's excellently put appraisel of this wonderful car that great minds built.

[Mybikes a cx500]

To sum up then, absolute comfort, spacious serenity- until you floor it!

[Malc]

.............. and I popped it to 6000 revs today ...................... a boy racer was trying to tailgate me and succeeded in annoying me sooooo much

Malc

[plexus914]

Amen.

[The-Acre]

George, you got it spot on. The likes of the ignoramous Jeremy Clarkson and his ilk, just don't appreciate what Lexus cars are all about and therefore despise them. In one episode of Top Gear, Clarkson had an LS400 shot to pieces with tank rounds!! It was sickening to watch. He said that driving one made him feel like he was dead, it was that serene. To him, a car must have a rasping exhaust note and relieve one's mouth of its fillings as you drive it. Also, it must be German. Sadly, the watching public are suckers enough to believe him.

Clarkson said the LS400 is boring, that's because with the German cars there's always something to do, like repairing them for instance!

[Scribe]

I'm quite happy for Clarkson to run down LSs on Top Gear because the k**bs who hang on his every word will buy BMWs and leave all the Lexuses for us.

Malc, what speed does 6,000 rpm get you up to? I've never taken mine to more than about 3,500 - there hasn't been enough road.

[Malc]

6000 revs doesn't equate to speed in this instance particularly, I just wanted to leave the little tailgating sod way behind me, approaching the A249 from a slip road ..... probably no more than 70mph but zipped to that speed in, it seemed, about ten nanoseconds................... , but guess it was a bit longer

It felt immeasurably good and exhilarating, my g/f thought we were about to take off into flight ! I think the car enjoyed too . in PWR mode, my usual day to day driving, makes the car feel more responsive and somewhere I read ( and can confirm ) it doesn't consume any more fuel for it either.

Malc

[Gbneil]

These cars can shift...am sure official figures say 60 in seven and a bit seconds for series three and under seven for series four....and 155 mph...these figures are only hot hatch quick these days but enough to surprise an delight all concerned...it's the effortless feeling I love...

[Scribe]

As we've said before on here, the effortlessness of all that power means that you don't want to use it very often., It's just nice to know that it's there when you fancy the occasional blast (there's nothing like feeling that slight push in the back as the transmission kicks down and the revs increase).

[oldhazey]

I had thought the same as most clarkson followers until the point that my 95 came along at takeaway money,and since owning im hooked,its the way it just wafts until ya boot it,then all large objects in the rear view mirror become very small very quickly with what seems like no effort,and all this is done with nearly 190,000 on the clock :-)

[Bluesman]

Ssshh dont tell everyone. Mike