If your family budget allows room for a hybrid luxury sedan that’s good
for the environment and will give you a shiatsu massage…
Lexus LS600h L
By Dean Adams Curtis
I was in a hurry and was making good time in the ultra-comfy 2009 Lexus LS600h L hybrid luxury sedan when the light ahead turned red.
My foot pressed down on the brake pedal and resulted in a smooth stop, though I had simultaneously activated both the vehicle’s energy regeneration system that captures energy to help recharge the batteries and also its advanced friction braking system.
As I waited for the light to turn green the Lexus LS600h L turned green.
It stalled, or it seemed to. Our brains, conditioned to the constant humming of our internal combustion engines as they are, automatically think a sudden quieting of our engines is the sound of them quitting. But, of course, hybrids cut off their combustion engines when stopped to save gas. They leave their electric motors on standby to respond instantly when requested by a driver’s foot on the accelerator pedal.
Soon the light turned green and the Lexus LS600h L leapt into action.
As it did, this Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle emitted seventy percent less smog-forming
particles than an average new car. Amazingly, the oil controlled two-way
Hydrocarbon Absorber and Catalyst (HCAC) exhaust system lets loose emissions from the LS 600h L that are said to be cleaner than the air in some major cities.
Lexus debuted twenty years ago at the Detroit Auto Show. Over a dozen years ago they began a secret flagship sedan effort that resulted in the LS600 series, rated one of the most reliable vehicles ever built. For ten consecutive years it
In addition to its list of accolades, the Lexus LS600h L has been rated one of the quietest automobiles ever built. A denominator of this quiet equation is the Lexus LS 600h’s ultra-quiet hybrid drive system, which was the world's first to combine a V8 gasoline engine with an all-wheel-drive (AWD) hybrid.
We’re not qualified to critique the variable valve timing with intelligent and electrically controlled intake cams on the Lexus LS600h L (who except a Lexus engineer is), but Lexus believes this combination of VVT-i with their electric-motor driven intake achieves superior engine-startup operation and high-output performance. As we pressed the LS600h’s accelerator pedal further toward the floor board, achieving thrust that was like being in control of an earthbound Taurus or Titan rocket, we heartily agreed with them.
The 2009 Lexus LS600h L isn’t designed as a car for everyone. It isn’t even meant for most of us. In fact you’d best be in an income bracket at the upper one to ten percent of all human beings before considering purchase of this car. But if that defines your family, you might add the Lexus LS 600h L to your shopping list.
While it didn’t evoke love at first sight, the 2009 Lexus LS600h L engendered in me a sense of love at first feel. I haven’t spent time testing the BMW 7 series or the MB S-class, so the Lexus LS600h’s pillowy leather seats, leather wrapped dash and wood grain steering wheel were an instant delight. It left me wondering if perhaps the mysterious final “L” in the vehicle’s name actually stands for “love.”
Enjoy a quick video tour of the Lexus LS600h L.
has held the highest vehicle dependability survey ranking given by J.D. Power and Associates. It has also received Consumer Reports' highest ranking for vehicle dependability.
Recently the Lexus LS 600h L was named "chauffeur car of the year" by a magazine called "The Chauffeur." It said that the car is a favorite of London’s CEOs.
Even though you'll probably be able to find this car for about $10K less than
the manufacturer’s suggested retail price of about $104K, you probably will need to have a CEO,
COO, or CTO in yourfamily to
consider acquiring it. But if this vehicle is for you, maybe your family would
enjoy the optional $12K “Executive Class Seating Package II” that provides the kicked back, feet up, reclining back passenger seat.
Then family members can take turns in the back seat getting shiatsu massages.