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Limo-like luxury
Lexus LS 430 offers high-tech upgrades for 2004
By Michael Bettencourt
Thursday, November 27, 2003
NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE, Ont. - The top-line Lexus LS sedan has always been a wonderfully crafted, serenely relaxing car to drive. Sure, it hasn't exactly ignited fires of passion with its styling or performance, but its combination of quiet luxury and uncompromising quality has proven to be an unqualified success.
In true Lexus fashion, the company is building on its many strengths while addressing its critics with the tweaked 2004 LS 430, which sports a few dynamic upgrades as well as a host of new high-tech features.
First, the styling. It would take a jeweller's eyepiece to notice the visual changes to the 2004 model, with different rims on some trim levels being the most obvious clue. If you're really curious, there are new mini air inlets to the inside of the front fog lights on the '04 model, whereas last year's fogs were mounted flush with the lower lip. It's still a relatively conservative design, but there is an understated power and heft to this sizeable automobile that's more apparent in person than in pictures. On the dynamic side of things, the latest LS provides the same amount of horsepower and torque, but has snappier acceleration, thanks to the shorter lower gears of the new 6-speed automatic transmission. Stomp on the gas pedal and the LS 430 provides swift, but not sharp forward propulsion, as engine and tire noise is absent in all but redline rushes. With about 0.3 seconds lopped off the car's zero to 100 acceleration times (down to about six seconds flat), and a slight decrease in highway fuel consumption numbers, the new 6-speed's benefits are subtle, but it helps keep the LS in the upper echelon of executive luxury sedans.
Handling remains confident if not back road thirsty. The obvious focus here is on the bump-absorbing ride, which is as creamy smooth as a Harry Rosen sales associate. An air suspension is available (but was not fitted to our tester), which promises an even smoother ride from its semi-active, double wishbones that exert damping force at each corner to keep the car's occupants as level and unperturbed as possible.
Inside is where things really get interesting, starting with a new way to enter the car. An optional SmartAccess system lets you leave the key fob in your pocket while it automatically unlocks the driver's door, two doors or all four portals. Of course the system would be useless if you had to pull out the key once you were seated to start the car, so it lets you twist the eerily empty ignition switch to bring the LS 430 to life. On exiting, simply touch a small button on the door handle to lock it.
Once you've fired up the LS and put it into reverse, you'll notice another Jetson-ready toy - the navigation screen turns into a view of what's directly behind you. This optional back-up camera projects an image out from the rear trunk edge to aid in parking, and is especially useful for those whose bodies protest at turning around in the driver's seat. If you don't opt for the navigation system (which is part of a $5,600 package), audible beeping front and rear is still helpful in preventing untimely - and embarrassing - brushes with inanimate objects.
That navigation system has also been updated. It's now compatible with the latest Bluetooth-enabled phones, which allows the driver to dial any number in the phone's memory hands-free, although there are 10 steps overall to get this done (five each on phone and car). This begs the question: If it's the same number of steps to dial with your voice as it is to actually punch in the numbers on your phone, what's the benefit?
The refreshed navigation system is more user-friendly, with the ability to give you an exact address simply by punching in the phone number of a particular business. Think of it as a digital telephone directory, with over 10 million addresses listed, according to Toyota. The voice recognition has also been upgraded to include climate controls, as well as audio and navigation functions.
The latter allows a hungry LS driver to say "Find Italian restaurant" and receive a list of eateries in the area.
Other high-tech options include heated and air conditioned front seats, headlights that swivel to better follow the road and laser-guided cruise control that keeps a predetermined amount of space between you and the car ahead. The Ultra Premium option package will make rear seat riders happy with power adjustable massaging seats, audio and climate controls and a cooler in the centre armrest that pumps in air from the air conditioning to keep up to five cans cool.
One notable feature the LS thankfully does not offer is a mouse-like controller between the front seats, making it one of the easiest luxury sedans to hop in and drive.
Being the flagship Lexus sedan also means every safety device available within Toyota's considerable corporate empire is provided, including airbags for knees, head and torso. The standard vehicle stability system helps the rear-wheel drive LS maintain traction on both dry and wet pavement, and if it gets a touch too involved to allow true sporting fun, there's a shut-off switch. A tire pressure monitoring system is standard equipment, as well as a cabin air filtration system that automatically adjusts.
All these changes mean that while the '04 LS 430 may not be "all-new," it adds enough updates to keep the it at the front of the luxury car class.
Immediate competition:
BMW 7 Series,
Infiniti Q45,
Jaguar XJ,
Mercedes-Benz S-Class
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