2015 Lexus LS 460 F Sport: Race Organizer Review

Race Organizer Review - 2015 Lexus LS460 F Sport

Here in California's Wine Country, big luxury sedans fit right in.

The 24 Hours of LeMons race series held two events at Sonoma Raceway aka Sears Point earlier this year, one in January and one in March. As Chief Justice of the LeMons Supreme Court, responsible for punishing cheaters and making examples of miscreant drivers, I like to roll up to these races in proper style. In January, I drove an Alanite Gray 2015 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG sedan to the track, and so it just made sense that I'd bring Toyota's S-Class rival -- the 2015 Lexus LS 460 F Sport sedan -- to the Sears Pointless race two months later.

I daily-drive this well-preserved Silver Jade Metallic 1997 Lexus LS 400 Coach Edition

Murilee Martin

A few years ago, I became fascinated with the first decade of credibly luxurious Japanese sedans sold in the United States and decided that I needed a first- or second-generation Lexus LS 400 (actually, I really wanted an early Infiniti Q45, but it proved impossible to find an example that wasn't a beat-to-hell and probably a biohazardous hooptie). After much searching, I found a clean 1997 LS 400 Coach Edition, which has been my main driver ever since. This car is so fundamentally competent that it still intimidates me; other than the cassette deck and lack of 21st-century horsepower (just 260 horses from its 1UZ-FE V8), this 18-year-old car doesn't feel at all dated today. So, I daily-drive an early LS, my very first car was a Toyota, and I own a chopped and heavily customized Toyota … all of which meant that I was ready to like the latest LS, but that I was going to feel pretty disappointed with any failings I might find.

Here’s about the only thing that's really wrong with the ls.< p

Murilee Martin

We'll get right to the biggest problem with the Lexus LS since Toyota simultaneously Benzified and de-Century-ized the styling, starting with the 1998 UCF21 LS 400 and continuing with the 2001 UCF30 LS 430: a car that looks like a big Camry. Sure, the earlier LS design wasn't exactly exciting -- this is Toyota, after all -- but there was just enough bright-lights-of-Tokyo menace to the UCF10 and UCF20 LS 400s that you could imagine cold-eyed Yakuza enforcers with suspicious suit bulges driving them. When I picked up the LS 460 at the Oakland Airport and drove it on the streets of nearby Alameda, I kept seeing Camrys that I thought were LSs. So, you don't get much in the way of flash with this car.

The F Sport badging is subtle, like the rest of the car.

Murilee Martin

The flip side of the lack of flash, of course, is that there's nothing frivolous about this car. The F Sport wheels look slightly racy and there's a bit of a snarly exhaust note when you get on the throttle, but the F Sport badges are small and the interior doesn't scream at you with chartreuse piping and metalflake Naugahyde (come to think of it, metalflake Naugahyde needs to make a comeback). The LS doesn't change quickly; I couldn't identify any controls or interior features that were exactly like the ones in my LS 400, but the general philosophy of the car's design had not changed over course of a couple of decades. The '15 felt much like my '97, only with tauter suspension, 108 more horsepower, and 21st-century audio hardware.

Sport S+ mode doesn’t turn the ls 460 into a sports car, but it gets a little friskier when the red car appears on the screen.< p

Murilee Martin

Twisting the console selector knob to Sport S+ mode stiffens up the suspension and allows for a bit more uncivilized behavior on the part of the LS driver; you can kick the rear end out a bit, just to show those AMG drivers you're not completely oblivious to V8-powered fun. Yes, it will do a burnout, though that sort of thing just seems unseemly for an LS.

Upon arrival at Sears Point, I parked between a pair of my fellow Race Organizers’white cars.< p

Murilee Martin

After the 50-mile drive from Alameda to Sears Point— wait, I mean Sonoma Raceway— I pulled into the paddock and looked for an appropriate berth to dock the big Lexus. Two of my fellow 24 Hours of LeMons employees had brought their white 1960s cars, so I parked between the Ford Cortina GT (which boasts Honda S2000 running gear) and the Sunbeam Alpine (which boasts 66 Rootes Group horses at the rear wheels).

Do I drive the Lexus… or do I drive this amazing Judgemobile?

Murilee Martin

As so often happens with 24 Hours of LeMons judges, a generous team gave us the use of this excellent Judgemobile. Tall tires, no doors, no fenders, no grab handles for entry/egress, and welded differentials made this Ford just the thing for post-race-session cruising around the paddock. Once again, I was forced to choose between a modern luxury sedan with plush interior and top-of-the-line audio system and a fearsomely bad deathtrap with a scratchy cassette deck. I chose the latter, of course.

The LS proved to be the correct vehicle for driving to distant corners of the Sears Point facility, as well as my trips to and from the track.

Murilee Martin

The Lexus was still my Judgemobile of choice for the times I had to drive all the way around the perimeter of the track in search of photographic vantage points. Bluetooth interactions with my (Android) phone were less painful than with most cars, the trunk had plenty of room for bribes from generous racers plus all my camera gear, and rolling up the windows did an excellent job of shutting out the sounds of connecting rods clanking off the tarmac.

Carrying on a Race Organizer Review tradition, I photographed the LS with a LeMons car made by the same manufacturer

Murilee Martin

I like to photograph each Race Organizer Review vehicle with a 24 Hours of LeMons car made by the same manufacturer (and driven by a racer black-flagged for on-track screwups, so there's no rush about positioning the cars for the ideal photo). There was the Chrysler 300 SRT with the Dodge Daytona, the Nissan Versa Note with the Nissan Quest, the Mercedes-Benz E400 with the W124 and so forth, and this time I had a Japanese-battle-flag-bedecked Toyota Supra to pose with the LS. Overall Race Organizer impressions of the 2015 LS 460 F Sport: drives well, fairly powerful, intimidatingly competent, doesn't impress racers at all, extremely comfortable. If I were luxury-car shopping, would I buy one? You bet!