Lexus – 19 years ago, some Toyota marketing executives spelled Lexus as “Luxury EXports to the US of America”. Indeed, it has not derailed since then.  Unlike most Japanese brands which also target the luxury market, Lexus seems to be the only surviving leader in terms of sales and technological innovation.

Lexus LS600hL is perhaps the one of its kind luxury vehicle.  As the Lexus top sales executive put it, the RX400h is the best seller in the luxury SUV sector, the LS600hL will be one of the most sophisticated and fuel efficient saloon.

The Lexus may not be that expensive comparing to its German counterparts, such as the Mercedes-Benz S600L, BMW760Li and Audi A8LW12. Yet, what you do not find in those German vehicle cars are fuel efficient hybrid drive trains and auto parking mechanism. The Lexus will only cost you from just A$240,000. The German’s, however, starts from $326,000. By simple comparison, it is perhaps the most affordable and valued for money. The fuel economy is just 9.3L/100 claimed; as the lowest in its class.
 
The Lexus has a special parking assist function, which helps the driver to park the 5.1 metre long saloon. It automatically steers the car for you into any parking spot. All you have to do is just to touch a menu prompted on the big LCD screen of the central console. I found it quite interesting. It was because that was the only electronic input that I needed to interact with the car in making the parking decision. The other interaction was the parking speed controlled by me with the brake pedal. Yet, I found out that the system preferred slow and careful manoeuvre to work with the automatic steering.  But it was wonderful to experience the automatic parking.

When driving the Lexus, I felt it was extremely quiet. The automatic gear box was another innovation of the world’s first 8-gear transmission. It works with the 5.0litre V8 of 290kW/520Nm and the electric motor of 165kW/300Nm. There was hardly any awkward intrusion felt when switching power source from petrol to electric or vice versa, or even a combination of both energy.

The All wheel drive system can split the drive from 30:70 for the front and rear, then to 50:50.  The AWD setup helps for faster acceleration and  better grip on different road surfaces. However, it would slightly compromise the driving feeling on the steer wheel. Handling is a bit not as good as its petrol only version LS460 as that only powers the rear wheels. I realised that the automatic parking assist and steering of the front wheel drive mechanism would have taken up some of the precision touch feeling of the drive. It was being sacrificed for the automatic steering (while parking), better drive and traction control. But it is obviously for a good cause. I truly believe that this technology has laid an important milestone for fully automatic steering navigation system in the near future.

In terms of lavishness, it has everything that you would expect from a luxury car. Leather seats (heated and cooled), trimming and upholstery, heated steering wheel, fully electric seats and a near 45 degrees reclining seat for the rear left passenger (4 seats configuration).   The rear left passenger is the most pampered person on board.  He can access to Ottoman massage shiatsu or stretch massage, with leg support.  The front passenger seat can lean forward and its headrest can fold forward to clear out extra leg room for the left rear passenger.  A folding table from the central will help the passenger for holding laptop. The console in between the two rear passengers houses all the control functions for the audio and visuals, massage, air conditioning and chair reclining.  The rear of the front passenger seat also houses an extra airbag for the left rear passenger.  This will ensure extra safety precaution for the rear passenger while having the seat reclined.  However, I think it would be better for the front passenger seat to move an extra 5cm towards the dash, because while reclining, it needs extra leg room for fully stretching out.  I think this is perhaps my only complaint.  Then, I believe there will be some arguments between the two rear passengers on who should get the Ottoman seat.  The answer is simple, just call in another LS600hL and they will both be happy.

I have invited a number of friends to sit and travel with me in the Lexus.  They were very happy with the luxury provisions especially the audio and visual system.   For me, I see the hybrid technology being used on luxury cars, and the auto parking assist function, both becoming more popular that those two technologies will one day be filtered down to less expensive cars for daily commuters.

凌志 (Lexus) － 十九年前，一些豐田 (Toyota ) 市場行政人員把凌志Lexus 這英語拼為 '出口美國的奢侈品' (“Luxury Exports to the US of America”)。不似於其他同樣是針對富裕市場的日本品牌，凌志(Lexus)是在銷售及科技革新方面絕的佼佼者。

Lexus的LS600hL或許位列Lexus優良名貴汽車之一。而在名貴SUV系列中， RX400h是最暢銷的。而LS600hL將會是其中一部最精良及最省油的房車。

Lexus跟德國的對手，如Mercedes-Benz S600L, BMW760Li 及 Audi A8LW12相比之下，或許不是最昂貴的。然而，你不會在那些德國汽車中找到省油混種驅動裝置及自動泊車裝置。售價將會是$240,000澳元，但是那些德國品牌售價郤由$326,000起。如此相比之下，Lexus或許是最便宜及最優惠的。每一百公里只耗用九點三升汽油，在它的階級中最低的。
 
Lexus 有一個特別的泊車輔助功能。它能協助駕駛者停泊車身長五點一米的房車，因為它能自動操縱方向盤來停泊在任何泊車場地。你只需按在中央控制板上大LCD屏幕出現的目清單，便能作出泊車的決定；又可透過煞車踏板來控制泊車時的速度。那個系統配合緩慢及安全操縱的轉向裝置，使駕駛者能體驗泊車樂趣◦

當駕駛Lexus時，該車發揮出優秀的造工，完全提噪音隔絕。此車的自動波箱是全世界首輛八前速汽車。它可以以5.0 公升V8的引擎 290kW/520Nm 及 電子引擎165kW/300Nm 行駛。駕駛者能靈活轉換能源，由汽油到電子，或相反或同時兩者一起使用◦

四輪驅動系統能使前後車輪分為30:70，然後 50:50 行駛。 那 AWD 裝置能有助於加速及有效地緊貼不同的路面。然而，稍微減低了駕駛的感覺。 開動性能不及使用汽油的 LS460。我相信自動泊車輔助及前輪驅動器裝置有助於某些行駛時的精確性、觸感及感覺。它具有自動驅動裝置(泊車時) 、更好的駕駛及摩擦力控制。 我深相這科技為未來自動驅動器衛星導航系統建立了的重要里程碑。

就名貴而言，你可以在Lexus LS600hL找到所有名貴汽車擁有的。皮製座椅、裝飾及家俬裝飾質料、導熱方向盤、全自動電子座椅及給左後座的乘客調整接近45度角的躺椅(四座位的構造)。 它可配合 Ottoman 日式指壓按摩或舒展按摩。前座乘客的頭墊稍為傾前，使左後座的乘客能有更多舒展腳部的空間。車中央的摺疊式桌子能放置手提電腦。兩位後座乘客之間有具有控制影音設備、按摩、空調及座位調整功能的控制板。這使座位傾斜時，給予後座乘客額外的安全預防措施。我認為前座乘客的座位應該對儀表器前向多五厘米，因為傾斜時，便能使腳部有更多的伸展空間。

我邀請了數位友人一起乘坐 Lexus。他們都很滿意車內的名貴設備，尤其是影音系統。我相信在名貴汽車使用的混種科技及自動泊車輔助功能將會越來越普及，那兩種科技終有一天會運用到較便宜的汽車上。