I tried out the LS460 at the Taste of Lexus this Sunday.

Lexuses are such great great cars. The fit and finish inside is incredibly nice plus the sound proofing is insane in those things. Even their lower end ES model. It's one of the best cars out there in terms of how well it's put together. The leather in the Lexuses blow Infinitis and especially Mazda's away. Heck, the roof material on the LS feels like vellum or something. Craziness. The engine was very smooth and quiet and the transmission shifted smoothly too.

But if you look at Lexus from a driving enthusiast point of view, they suck. You're really disconnected from the car. The steering is very imprecise. I felt like I had to turn the wheel like 7x to go around a corner.

The IS actually has great power. I wasn't too impressed when I test drove it but I didn't get to really mash the gas pedal during my test drive. On the other hand I mashed it during the event and that car really does pull. The suspension's pretty decent, but IIRC it suffers from the imprecise steering.

It's kind of funny for the survey at the end, I said after the event I was very unlikely to buy a Lexus, but I was very likely to recommend friends/family to buy it. Most of my family (and extended even) aren't enthusiasts. Like 2/3rds of my friends aren't either.

 

They only came out with the 8 speed auto to try to outdo Mercedes with their 7 speed auto. There comes a point where you just don't need that many gears. How many is that going to be? May as well just go CVT.

 

THis car is like a hotel room on wheels.....What a great back seat!!!

 

I agree that there comes to a point where the makers should just go CVT. How about a 69 speed transmission?

 

It is about ratio coverage. The largest ratio coverage CVT right now is the Audi Multitronic, that is just in excess of 6:1.
Nissan [JATCO] in the Murano/altima/maxima is 5.4:1 with the V6 & 6:1 for the I4 engines.
The Nissan extroid has a 4.4:1 (full toroidal) but has a dual range planetary to compensate & the traction oil has 'issues' with extreme cold

The ZF 6hp family 19,26,32,4x-738ft-lbs has 6:1. Mercedes-Benz 7g-tronic also has 6:1 & two reverse gears.
The AisinWarner 8 speed automatic toyota is using has 6.7:1 (and still has a torque converter) and one reverse
The ZF 7p family (no torque converter, wet clutch pack) has 7.28:1

 

How would you like to pay for a transmission rebuild?

 

I bet you it gear hunts like mad.