2007 Lexus LS460 in Burbank

The Lexus LS might not be the brand's best-selling model (that would be the RX crossover), but it is certainly Lexus's signature vehicle. When Toyota launched Lexus in late 1989, it was the LS400, far more than the rectangular, Camry-esqe ES250, that captured the public's imagination. Since then, the top Lexus sedan has had a remarkably evolutionary . . . well, evolution.

So it's perhaps not surprising that over the course of twelve months and nearly 30,000 miles, we found our LS460L to exhibit all the traits (including sterling quality) that have made the LS - and, by extension, Lexus itself - a dominant force in the U.S. luxury-car market. But that evolution also means that the LS is starting to look and feel almost too familiar, even - could it be? - a little stale.

To its credit, this fourth-generation LS has changed more than any of the previous redesigns. Most obvious are the two additions to the lineup. First, there's a new, extended-wheelbase version - a brand extension so natural it's hard to believe that it wasn't offered before. And there's a new, six-figure range topper, the LS600hL, a (slightly) alternative take on the flagship genre in that it uses a hybrid V-8 powertrain instead of a twelve-cylinder engine.

Even though our LS460L lacked electric propulsion and a trunk full of batteries, it turned in very good fuel economy, averaging 21 mpg over twelve months. That betters previous Four Seasons megacruisers such as the Volkswagen Phaeton (19 mpg) and the BMW 745Li (20 mpg), if not the smaller and much lighter Jaguar XJ8 (22 mpg).... Read full article