Test Drive: 2010 Lexus LS 600h L

March 8, 2010

There are so many controls at the driver’s command that a few weeks behind the wheel would be required to prioritize and set them to suit one’s preferences. There are the ride/suspension controls, the power settings, the proximity sensors, the display options, the cruise settings, lane departure activation, the audio options… countless buttons and switches for numerous functions, many tucked away due to the lack of additional instrument panel real estate. It’s a smorgasbord of electrical and mechanical controls, although they are not always readily visible. Connecting one’s cell phone via Bluetooth, by the way, took only a couple of seconds, even without reading the manual.

Eventually you kind of set everything in the middle, and just drive. Premium fuel is required, and the big car returns a genuine 9.0 L/100km on the highway and 11.0 in the city (very close to the official 9.1/10.6 Energuide estimates). The intelligent cruise control works very well, obviating the need to use the accelerator or brake for long distances on the highway.

2010 Lexus LS 600h L. Click image to enlarge

The automatic climate control system in the LS600h L is one of the best I’ve ever experienced. There’s no noise as it brings the interior to comfortable levels, and the infrared body temperature feature continuously measures your temperature and adjusts the climate controls accordingly. This is a true “set and forget” system.

The LS600h L does feature the Lexus automatic parking system, but like the folks at Top Gear, I failed the course. The system does work — I’ve used it in a Lexus demonstration where I had no trouble at all — but on the fly without preparation, I resorted to parking the car conventionally.

From the passenger’s perspective, the back seat of the LS600h L is an area in which you could get up to all kinds of hijinks. Reclining and massaging seats, rear privacy screens, vast legroom, audiophile entertainment system: it’s party central back there. Or it could be, I guess, unless you’re a genuine executive doing business-like things, in which case it’s a genuine executive suite.

But should you want to make a quiet getaway from… whatever, you can switch the car to Electric Vehicle (EV) mode, and silently exit the scene, avoiding unwanted attention as you do so.

The interior fit and finish, by the way, is beautifully rendered and of the expected fine quality throughout. The exterior styling ably communicates that this is an exclusive vehicle, with some drivers choosing to give the Lexus the right-of-way at intersections, presumably because they thought its driver was important and deserved such deference. From the rear it does look somewhat like a BMW, but the Lexus L-Finesse design has been criticized for that before. It’s a formidable look, perhaps lacking in passion, but definitely grand.

Probably the most obvious criticism of the LS600h L is its diminutive trunk. The whopping wheelbase provides vast space for rear-seat occupants, but the hybrid battery has to go somewhere, and that seems to be behind the rear seat, intruding into the trunk.

Another criticism is that the rear DVD entertainment centre is not high-definition Blu-ray. I’m thinking that when you buy an advanced car like this, you should get the latest. If mini-laptop computers can do it, so can Lexus.

Other luxury brands are now introducing hybrid versions of their flagship vehicles (Mercedes-Benz S-Class, BMW ActiveHybrid 7 Series), but Toyota/Lexus is the pioneer with this technology. In the LS 600h L, however, that technology is so seamlessly integrated into the vehicle’s drivetrain that some occupants wouldn’t know it was a hybrid unless they were told.

Pricing: 2010 Lexus LS600h L

Base price: $119,950

Options: $24,050 (Premium Executive Package)

A/C tax: $100

Freight: $1,895

Price as tested: $145,995
Click here for options, dealer invoice prices and factory incentives

Specifications

Buyer’s Guide: 2010 Lexus LS 600h L

Competitors

Buyer’s Guide: 2010 Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid

Crash test results

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)