Details of the new Lexus LS have emerged, with the car adopting the sharper styling seen on the latest GS and being made available for the first time in F Sport trim.
The much sportier look will divide opinion in Lexus owners, but the aim for the company is to capture sales from existing BMW, Audi and Mercedes customers who expect more aggressive, stylish lines.
In amongst 3,000 changes, Lexus has introduced its first ‘driving mode’ system, with Eco, Comfort, Normal, Sport S and Sport S+ featuring in a dial selector design that echoes systems seen on existing big German saloons.
Lexus claims clever new welding techniques and ‘four-wheel interlock control’ technology have made the LS both more comfortable and better through corners, with a flatter cornering attitude and improved steering. The brakes have also been extensively re-tuned to give more power, sooner, with more feel, in an attempt to give the Lexus Flagship genuine interest outside of its traditional comfort and luxury remits.
F Sport trim is new to the LS, and comes with additions that are aimed straight at equivalent BMW M Sport models. The ride height is 10mm lower, Brembo six-piston callipers feature on the front brakes and paddle-shifters with automatic downshift throttle-blipping are standard.
Even more impressively, a mechanical limited-slip differential is included, alongside a device that amplifies the engine’s intake vibration and ‘introduces it into the cabin’. Whether this involves BMW-style fakery in playing engine noise through the speakers is as yet unclear.
Continuing past Lexus form, though, the company claims the new LS is among the quietest and most refined cars in the world, listing comprehensive improvements to wind, road and engine noise insulation.
New to Lexus are hollow-chamber ‘noise-reduction’ alloy wheels, which reduce the amount of road noise that reaches the cabin.
Just one of the new LS’s advancements is in climate control. A system called ‘Climate Concierge’ uses up to 13 sensors around the cabin to accurately and quickly control the temperature across four interior zones.