Lexus' flagship luxury car has always set THE benchmark when it comes to an ultra-smooth ultra-quiet ride with tons of neat features for a reasonable price and with very impressive reliability and low maintenance needs.

It has not, however, ever been for the performance enthusiast. It looks like it may continue in a similar direction in one model, and in higher$$ model start heading somewhat in the direction of Mercede's AMG.

The 07 LS will have the ultra-smooth UZ-FE derived 4.6 liter V8 in the ~350hp range.

The 07 LS "stretch" (6 inches longer) will also be available with an increased displacement 5.0 liter with Synergy drive Hybrid system boasting at least 460 hp and a 0-60 in under 5.0 seconds. Most of the increased length will be in the rear seat room. It will have a 19 speaker 7.1 surround sound Mark Levinson stereo, rear footrests, climate control that not only measures the cabin temp but the body temperature of the occupants, etc.

The Hybrid model will also have LED headlights standard; they may be optional on the non-hybrid model with xenon being standard.

This is the LS-Fh hybrid concept but is said to me 90% identical to the look of the new LS460:
http://clublexus.com/forums/attachme...id=75942&stc=1


I think all the factual info will be revealed at the same exact show as the new Camaro, not that any of y'all will be giving even a fraction of a damn when the Camaro is there.

 

I hope they devised a better way of doing this than the old fashioned 'stick the thermometer up your a$$'

 

Threxx I think you should put that this is in your opinion. My belief is that the DTS/Deville will be smoother with a nicer power delivery and will have a better highway feel than the LS has, have ridden in both and IMO DTS/Deville wins every time.

Just wanted to add my 2 cents.

 

Eh... just repeating what I read time and time again in magazines. The noise is quantifiable and fact last I compared though - the LS has the lowest average dB rating inside of any car on the market today.

I think that's crazy to say that about the DTS though. I mean the DTS does have quite a bit more of that old fashioned grandpa's waterbed-like lincoln ride to it, but to me that's smoothed, but not controlled feeling. ie it feels 'loose'. I prefer smooth but still 'tight'. Best way I can explain it.

And FWIW I have not driven the new DTS but do have experience with the previous gens.

 

i saw the car at the Osaka Motor show. Just sort of 'meh' to me. might be a nice car and it will probably sell like mad bc its a toyota. damn toyota

 

wow, where can they stick 19 speakers? did they have pimp my ride do a mockup of the new lexus interior than work off of that? I bet it sounds incredible. my dad's caddy's bose system has half as many speakers and is the clearest sounding car stereo ive ever heard.

 

More is not always better. And, I believe the system would probably be a composite system. Meaning they seperate the tweeters from the midrange, from the subs, etc.
Doing a composite would make it sound good, but more speakers is not inherently good.

 

You mean component... and you are correct that more is not always better, but if they are setup correctly and by somebody who knows what they're doing (and I'd definitely say Mark Levinson is among the most if not THE most capable OEM car audio company on the market today) then it can definitely become an advantage when using proper crossover frequencies and such.

 

Ahhh yes, where is my head? It is component. Where the heck did I get composite from?

 

Well to your credit, there is such a thing as composite speakers - but that's a reference to the type of material the driver/cone is made out of (composite/paper/aluminum/whatever).

 

The DTS has a very different feel.

 

The "new" DTS is pretty impressive, I got to drive one around the Indy road course back in Oct. and it handled very well for a large FWD car. Even though we were suppose to drive "normal" around the track with the DTS, I got into some of the corners pretty hard. The car felt solid, with very little weight shift, or sway. "Loose" it wasn't.

Its a shame Cadillac doesn't have something to compete with the larger Mercedes, Lexus, and BMW. There is only so much a can do with a large FWD car.