Verdict
Automakers historically use mid-cycle updates to maintain their merchandise feeling recent. Often, a giant change or an thrilling new piece of tech comes alongside, however not often does something substantive occur. And based mostly on appears to be like alone, the 2021 Lexus LS seems to be one other case of nipping and tucking.
And that’d be tremendous typically. The LS is a giant, enticing sedan, particularly in F-Sport guise, and its design is so aggressive that it nonetheless feels trendy a number of years after debuting. However this refresh hides various substantial mechanical enhancements beneath its acquainted sheet metallic.
How substantial, you ask? Effectively, the LS expertise has improved to a level that Lexus took the bizarre step of loaning us a 2021 LS 500 F-Kind and a 2020 LS 500 F-Sport on the similar time, for back-to-back comparisons. You will not have to take such measures, although. The brand new LS is a majorly improved product from the phrase “go” even when it suffers from a few of the similar oddities as final yr’s mannequin.
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Small Modifications, Massive Outcomes
The under-the-skin modifications for the LS aren’t the issues of breathless press releases. Engineers tweaked the dampers and the elective air suspension, swapped in new entrance and rear sway bars, added lighter management arms, and adjusted spring charges. The dual-turbocharged 3.0-liter V6 includes a modified combustion cycle whereas the 10-speed computerized transmission advantages from “enhanced” shift logic. As modifications go, that is all fairly darn boring.
And but, the cumulative result’s a a lot, rather more composed journey on tough roads. When confronted with quite a few small and medium impacts, that are widespread in metro Detroit in the course of the winter, final yr’s mannequin responded poorly. The journey feels brittle and nervous by the steering, which judders and, for a big luxurious sedan, requires a large effort to maintain pointed straight. Suspension noises creep into the cabin with stunning readability, whereas tire noise is extra apparent, as properly.
The under-the-skin modifications for the LS aren’t the issues of breathless press releases.
Against this, the 2021 LS irons out the harshest parts and mutes the sound of the street much better, although. The revised dampers, retuned (and elective) air suspension, and new management arms make their presence identified instantly, isolating the up to date sedan’s cabin from no matter Michigan’s pockmarked roads can throw at it. The one factor extra stunning than the distinction between 2020 and 2021 is how uncouth (comparatively talking) the LS was within the first place – was Lexus actually promoting a flagship four-door with such poor manners all alongside?
Our take a look at automobile featured each dealing with characteristic out there on the LS, from the $1,400 air suspension to the $7,800 F-Sport Dynamic Dealing with Bundle (four-wheel steering, lively anti-roll bars, and variable gear ratio steering). What’s attention-grabbing about this gear just isn’t that it is unusual – the BMW 7 Sequence, Audi A8, and the upcoming Mercedes-Benz S-Class every have their very own variations.
The LS stands out for the way it makes use of them, although. The four-wheel steering and lively anti-roll bars, particularly, can lower each methods, bettering dealing with and minimizing the affect of weight whereas producing a extra steady, comfy journey. In contrast to its German rivals, the LS places extra emphasis on the latter trait than the previous.
The LS can waft down the street at excessive speeds with the very best of them, however is much less proud of sudden steering inputs, which provoke stunning physique roll and a common unhappiness from the chassis. This does not really feel as sharp or dynamic as a 750i or A8, however in case you’re driving your LS this fashion, you are lacking the purpose. With regards to massive sedans, we’ll take the Lexus’ excessive isolation and quiet over flat, sharp dealing with any day.
The LS can waft down the street at excessive speeds with the very best of them, however is much less proud of sudden steering inputs
That quiet and isolation is all of the extra evident for 2021 due to the LS’ powertrain tweaks. The dual-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 that debuted within the LS method again in 2017 outgunned the 4.6-liter V8 it changed – 416 horsepower and 442 pound-feet to 386 hp and 367 lb-ft – however the brand new engine was at a extreme deficit by way of refinement. Loud and liable to disagreeable vibrations that permeated the cabin, the three.0-liter had the punch vital for a luxurious sedan however not the character or singing voice.
Whereas Lexus says it merely “optimized and refined the gasoline engine combustion cycle,” that is an understatement. This engine is what ought to have launched in 2017 – a V6 that is as highly effective as it’s refined. At around-town speeds, the revised engine blends into the background with nice manners and a delicate thrum when beneath throttle. Give it the beans and energy and torque can be found in spades, paired with a easy and premium-sounding word from beneath the hood.
Within the racier drive modes, the LS sharpens the throttle response and asks the up to date 10-speed computerized for some faster shifts, however it additionally adjusts the sound from beneath the hood. And that, associates, is motive sufficient to go away the LS in Consolation – like different Lexus merchandise, there’s an annoying and overpowering synthetic consumption sound north of three,000 rpms in Sport S and Sport S Plus. Consolation handles these increased engine speeds in a extra pure, much less intrusive method.
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Some Points Stay
Lexus has dramatically improved refinement for its top-dog sedan, however various flaws stay that maintain the LS again. Sure, there is a new-for-2021 touchscreen infotainment system. The display screen itself is responsive sufficient and its graphics look fairly, however the hated trackpad stays, as does the cumbersome working system that depends on it. There’s additionally a design argument to make towards the brand new display screen since Lexus styled the LS cabin for a recessed show. Retrofitting the 12.3-inch touchscreen and the slab that homes it ruins the circulate of an in any other case nice inside.
That cabin, in the meantime, is a broad enchancment, even when the modifications aren’t as dramatic as these beneath the sheet metallic. Lexus adjusted the padding for the entrance and rear seats, though the entrance chairs and the weird seating place stay uncomfortable for anybody over 6 ft tall. The armrests characteristic new leather-based upholstery and there are bodily buttons for the heated seats. Wonderful modifications, all in all.
However Lexus didn’t additionally tackle the broader characteristic set. You will not discover wi-fi Apple CarPlay or a wi-fi charging pad however, inexplicably, there’s nonetheless a CD participant. Issues like that little slot within the heart stack make the LS such an odd duck on this section – it has the most important head-up show within the class, however massaging seats or heated arm rests? Nah.
One motive for these absences could possibly be all the way down to the worth. The LS, because it’s accomplished for ages, handily undercuts Germany in each beginning and as-tested pricing. The bottom rear-drive LS calls for $76,000 to start out – the six-cylinder variations of the BMW 7 Sequence and Audi A8, each demand round $86,000. Solely the $72,950 Genesis G90, which coincidentally is the one car within the class to position a larger emphasis on consolation, prices much less.
Our tester, a rear-drive LS 500 F Sport rings up at $79,600, whereas including the complete choices catalog drives that sum as much as $98,630, or about the identical as an optionless, V8-powered A8 or 7 Sequence (though each of these embrace all-wheel drive). The LS stays, then, a formidable cut price relative to each car within the section however the G90 (lower than $81,000 absolutely loaded).
The worth argument for the LS is stronger than ever in 2021, however we won’t assist however really feel there are cracks displaying. Even with the mechanical enhancements, it is very simple to argue that the LS feels older and fewer progressive, and the US launch of the redesigned S-Class (which, to be honest, in all probability shall be even pricier than the Audi and BMW) in just a few brief months will seemingly exacerbate that notion. However for patrons that merely need a massive, ultra-plush luxurious sedan and may fortunately go on the technological tinsel, the 2021 LS marks a dramatic enchancment the place it counts: consolation and refinement.
