What’s new? Only everything. This is the third entirely new generation of LS since Lexus was formed back in 1990 and it owes not one spot weld to its predecessor. Costing around £60,000 when it goes on sale in January, it is perhaps the most technologically sophisticated production road car ever created.Nevertheless its configuration is conventional, with a quad cam V8 motor in the nose driving the rear wheels alone while steel, rather than aluminium, is still the material mainly used in its construction. What is extraordinary about it is not so much the concept – it’s the execution.What’s it like? This is a car with an eight-speed gearbox that will slam the brakes on if it thinks you’re going to crash, move your headrests if it thinks you’re going to be punted up the rear and constantly watches your face to make sure you’re paying attention.If it thinks you’ve nodded off or are looking out the side window when your eyes should be looking at some fast approaching obstacle, it will ring bells, flash lights and even brake to jolt you out of your reverie. It is a technological showcase on wheels the likes of which we have never seen before.At its core, the new 375bhp, 4.6-litre V8 provides excellent performance (0-62mph in 5.7sec) but needs to be worked hard to deliver it. That strongly suggests that it actually needs its eight gears rather the transmission being a thinly veiled two-finger salute to Mercedes-Benz with its paltry seven-speed gearbox.Its handling is surprisingly good and its ride reminiscent of Lexus’ of old before the likes of the IS and GS became all stiff and sporting. But its strongest suit is its refinement. We haven’t done the group test yet but I’d be surprised if there was another car out there that made appreciably less noise at a steady 70mph.Should I buy one? However impressive the LS460 is on paper, in real life it’s a hard car to love, even though you cannot help but admire it. Technological overload is all very well but not when it’s achieved at the expense of that sense of occasion so critical to all true luxury cars.For all its undoubted abilities, it still feels like the world’s most grown-up Toyota. Its cabin functions effectively, but it is not the home from home customers increasingly expect from cars in this class and enjoy every time they step behind the wheel of most European rivals in general, and the Audi A8 in particular.Technocrats will doubtless love it, but for the rest of us, the LS460 suffers from the same fundamental problem as both its predecessors: objectively it does everything you could ask of it, subjectively it falls a little short.Andrew Frankel
Add your comment