What is good automotive engineering? Pick up a copy of the average car buff book and you'd think it's LED headlights and alcantara. Or how the A-pillar meets the top corner of the fender and tapers over the wheel arch into a splitter that widens the whole front into a road-hugging stance. Or an interior switch that feels like a jelly bean. Generally, good automotive engineering is when your neighbour thinks you just got a fat promotion seeing you roll up in your new car.
Sadly, today's customers base their car buying decision mainly on image…
In fact, good engineering is everything that's underneath a Lexus LS 460. Everything that you can't see, because what you can see, isn't much to look at.
Respect my authority!
The Lexus LS 460 has always been king of the luxury saloon segment here, despite having less power than all its rivals from a 4.6-litre V8. But even though all it could offer was 342bhp — a pathetic specific output of 74.3bhp, while Hyundai's i30 1.6-litre engine makes 75bhp/litre — customers still hogged it like the last slice of midnight pizza. Anyway, Lexus saw fit to finally give us the same version that Americans and others get; the 2011 LS 460 now comes with the carmaker's D-4S direct injection engine system that delivers 375 horses at 6,400rpm and 493Nm of torque from 4,000rpm.
Long story short, it adopts two injectors per cylinder and is not only more powerful but also cleaner as a result of the dry intake this system benefits from.
As far as updates for 2011 go, that's it. The big Lexus still gets nice luxury features such as a 16-way power adjustable driver's seat and a 12-way passenger seat, multi zone AC, an optional ottoman rear seat in the long wheelbase versions, massage functions, a Mark Levinson audio system and remote starting.
However, seeing as it's the power that Lexus is boasting about, we pretty much have to focus on how the new engine improves the LS 460. Umm, it doesn't, actually. It's still as great as ever, not noticeably any quicker, and as quiet and pampering as you'd expect. Maybe the six-and-a-half second sprint to 100kph should mean something to me, but I spent all my time with the LS 460 as any normal owner would; wafting about at quarter-throttle and nodding off at every traffic light. I did like the ‘eco mode' feature, but that's always been there, and even with it on you hardly save any fuel shoving a 1,945kg heap of steel down the highway.
Sorry, I know I should be telling you more about the engine, but honestly, the 33 extra horses make no difference. Which is fine, because the 2011 LS 460 is as good as ever, which means brilliant. The novelty of the new engine is that it's, well, new. It means you can mock your cousin that his is a 2009 and yours is a 2011.
When it comes to dynamics, sending the Lexus to the naughty corner because it's rubbish at handling would be like lambasting a KTM X-Bow because there's nowhere to put your shopping bags. The Lexus cruises sublimely well, rolls more than its rivals and doesn't provide much feel through its chassis or steering. Again, those last two bits are totally irrelevant. It's majestically comfortable. I drove it almost back-to-back with a Rolls-Royce Ghost that I had over the following weekend and I'm convinced the Lexus soaks up bumps better than the Roller's runflats.
Then there's its pristine resale and dependability record. Just as much as you can rely on the sun to rise in the morning, you can rely on the LS for decades. Starting at Dh329,000, I'd also say it's fantastic value. As great deals go, it's like if Qatar got the 2022 World Cup in exchange for a box of dates and one of those colourful bottles of sand.
The only issue — and this was specifically highlighted to me by the 2011 LS 460 model as I drove the S-Class and Audi's A8 only days before it — is that it's old. Really, really old. The interior is pretty much a Camry with soft leather and many, many more buttons. It doesn't feel special at all, not nearly as much as an A8 which cannot in any state of delusion be compared to a VW Passat.
Styling-wise, it's as inspiring as waiting in line.
Verdict
The Lexus LS 460 is a phenomenally well-engineered vehicle, as obviously evidenced by its loyal customers, reliability records, its price, and the fact that nothing matches it for comfort levels. The only problem is that since the car's reached middle age, BMW's launched the 7 Series, Merc has improved its S-Class and started offering a hybrid, Audi has come up with a brilliantly put together A8 and Jaguar stunned us with the painfully classy XJ. And if you must have sporty characteristics, the brand new Panamera V6 is unbeatable. All of these cars have what the LS 460 couldn't even define, let alone possess; character.
But none of them are totally silent, socially phobic, or nearly as relaxed as the Lexus. They are also all costlier, so there you go. The new engine makes little difference; the Lexus LS 460 is just as great and just as flawed as ever.
specs & ratings
Model LS 460
Engine 4.6-litre V8
Transmission Eight-speed auto, RWD
Max power 375bhp @ 6,400rpm
Max torque 493Nm @ 4,000rpm
Top speed 250kph
0-100kph 6.3sec
Price Dh329,000
Plus Wonderful limousine, value for money
Minus Lacks character
