Review and Test Drive: 2020 Lexus LS 500 F Sport AWD
We last looked at Lexus’ flagship LS in standard LS and LS Hybrid guise late last year and this summer turned our sights towards their more powerful sibling, the LS 500 F Sport AWD.
Now in its fifth generation, the original Lexus LS, launched in the same year that the marque was, namely 1989, turned the automotive industry on its ear. Back then, Lexus stunned the automotive world with a luxury vehicle with better build quality and a significantly lower price tag than competitors BMW and Mercedes-Benz.
Meanwhile, I can happily report that Lexus’ dedication to innovation and quality has not subsided in the past third of a century.
The current LS made its debut at the 2017 North American International Auto Show in Detroit as a 2018 model. In keeping with the current fashion, both the exterior and interior became more emotive. In addition, the fifth-generation LS is the first Lexus sedan to feature a six-sided window design. It also features an outer-slide-type panoramic moonroof as opposed t the more conventional internally retracting kind. This allows Lexus to bestow upon the LS a low roofline without sacrificing headroom.
A striking F Sport in the very aptly named Liquid Platinum color arrived at our offices on an exceptionally hot summer day. In contrast to the more sedate LS, the F Sport is the bad boy of the family, decked out and looking for trouble while comfortably transporting its occupants in supreme comfort, albeit with bolstered seating. The F Sport-specific front fascia and mesh grille are the only real telltale signs that something powerful lurks underneath the hood, while the striking LED headlamp design, with its Z-shape, certainly connotes the swashbuckling Douglas Fairbanks in the 1920 film, “The Mark of Zorro.”
Click here to continue to Page 2 – Inside the 2020 Lexus LS 500 F Sport
