It's just a bit more assertive, with light feel and just a suggestion of feedback. Its variable-ratio steering responds mostly with lightness and distance. Even the seatbelts have power height adjusters. Eco slows out the throttle for better mileage, while Sport speeds it up along with steering response for a nonlinear boost across the board. Lexus strives to build vehicles to matchcustomer interest, and thus they are typically built with popular options andoption packages. The Remote Touch allows the user to operate the climate, audio, phone controls, navigation system and more. Vehicles equipped with the available air suspension add Comfort and Sport S+ modes.
Opt for all-wheel drive and technical considerations like rerouting the exhaust drop horsepower to 360 and torque to 347 lb-ft. Lexus Enform® with App Suite leverages the customers' mobile phone technology to provide a new level of connectivity and information management. F Sports wear their own mesh grille, black grille trim, and round fog lamps, along with F Sport badges and on some, an exclusive shade of white. Tech types will be impressed by the 0. If you're more often chauffeured, add the Executive Class Seating Package, and you'll practically have a Rolls-Royce-caliber space back there.
Of course, stepping up into long-wheelbase, F Sport, and Hybrid models tips the scales with more equipment--some of it absolutely decadent. Sitting in leather luxury, the interior around you is quiet and unassuming. Standard entertainment and connectivity advancements include enhanced Bluetooth® capability with automatic phonebook download and streaming audio. That spindle grille adds an aggressiveness not seen in earlier Lexus models and the image flows rearward to the back, where the spindle shape reappears rather subtly, topped by a vestigial Bangle butt. The base versions without air suspension offer electronic control of transmission, revised electric power steering, and throttle in Eco, Normal, and Sport modes.
Excludes taxes,title, license and optional equipment. The F-Sport Package itself included 19-inch, 10-spoke wheels, an adaptive air suspension, black leather interior, paddle shifters, and the interior and exterior styling changes mentioned earlier. With every new Lexus that lands, a spindle grille's shown up on the front end. The Lexus and its aging V-8 engine have a lot of work ahead to fend off the up-and-coming V-6 powered European models. Aluminum is used for some of the controls, and on the F Sport, it makes up the pedals and other interior trim. It's hard to make a silver car stand out, but our car's impressive Liquid Platinum color positively glowed at nearly any time of day, setting off the subtle curves of the sedate bodywork. Lexus pegs the 0-60 time at 5.
The driver-focused interior integrates modern refinement with intuitive technology. Sport S mode remaps the transmission and throttle response, making for slightly more responsive acceleration. In extended versions, there's a standout ottoman-style seating option with built-in massage features, both of the backseat positions, in top-of-the-line models, get power adjustability. Body control is better, and there's somewhat crisper response from the steering, but it's still very light and unenthusiastic. That's what Lexus is all about. Even short-wheelbase models come with enough space for taller, lankier passengers, though, and across the line, large, comfortable front seats, well contoured backseats, and a large trunk make these sedans great choices for those with important guests to transport—or just impressive long-haul comfort.
The L trim level is a long-wheelbase mode for a little extra cabin space, but it also sprinkles in a few extra features. A next-generation Remote Touch, with one-push confirmation, is standard on all models and enables smooth, intuitive control of many vehicle systems. The braking system has been adjusted for more immediate power and greater pedal feel. This year, it adds an F Sport model that's aimed primarily at its hard-charging German luxosedan competition, and it aims to capture some of their handling precision through the miracle of electronic controls. Adaptive cruise control and automatic high-beam headlamps are available once more.
Based on its excellent performance in the past, we're giving it a high score that also takes into account a raft of new safety technology that's been made available for the 2013 model year. Having to remotely move a cursor around on the screen adds an extra step to the process, which during a more complicated action — like hunting for a song or playlist on an iPod — becomes frustrating. Interior storage is also dandy: the glovebox is pretty slim, but the center console is deep and has an elegantly damped lid that slides and pivots backward. Its engine is a 5. The base model is as loaded up as anyone would expect from a premium sedan, featuring things like leather interior, premium sound system, navigation, power seats, and so on.
Decent, but not quite the best. Ahead are four thankfully analog gauges, to the right a 12. Eco changes the throttle and transmission pattern to create a more relaxed response regardless of how you're actually driving, a provision designed to use less fuel. It's all up front, and inside. For all of the past 22 years, Lexus has been about removing those disturbances. Noises have been quelled, vibrations have been damped out.
F Sport exterior badging completes the look. Lexus' Remote Touch, a mouse-style controller, drives the infotainment functions, while Entune links the audio system to your smartphone for mobile-app usage, including audio streaming and Facebook updating. You can interpret our ratings in the following way: 5-Star: Outstanding vehicle. It's hard to make a silver car stand out, but our car'. The back seats can be heated and cooled, and fitted with lumbar adjustment; the rear glass can be covered with sunshades. The driving experience is no longer exactly effortless, now that the electronics of the air suspension, transmission, steering, and throttle allow some custom tailoring. Most drivers will find the differences to be minor, with the gauge cluster's change from blue to red lighting the only real indication.
The gear indicator held firm at the top of its range, despite clicking and tapping to trigger downshifts that should have been legal, given the place on the tach. The ride is exceptionally controlled and smooth, even in the air suspension's stiffest mode, probably because the air suspension now shares information between wheels to control ride motions as a whole, not as individual wheels. Nonetheless, knee and head room in front are still good. Brakes include front Brembos on the F Sport and the wheels are 18- or 19-in. Its finishes are more traditional, but its sleek new interior is very roomy, and fitted with exquisite care. The customizable system uses multiple sensors to automatically regulate not only the temperature of the cabin, but also the climate control seats and the heated steering wheel, quickly bringing each occupant to their preferred temperature.