Lexus LS600h L
By Paul Borden

Hybrid technology, as you no doubt are aware from media reports, is the big thing in automotive technology these days. The fuel-saving capabilities you get from combining an electric motor with a gasoline engine have made hybrids the darlings of the market, and potential buyers often face long waiting lists.

But here’s something you should know: Not all hybrids are big fuel sippers.

Take the Lexus LS 600h L.

Billed as the ultimate Lexus and the flagship for the company brand, the 2008 LS 600h L combines a 5.0-liter V8 gasoline-powered engine with two electric motors, which results in more power than the standard LS 460 V8 but very little in the way of fuel savings. In fact, the savings at the pump would be so miniscule it would take you years of driving before you would even come close to making up the difference in price in the two models.

So what’s the deal then?

Simple. The 600h L wasn’t built to compete with the LS 460 but instead was the Japanese response to the ten- and twelve-cylinder engines European competitors were putting in their top-of-the-line luxury sedans. If the LS 600h L is rated only a couple more miles-per-gallon better in fuel efficiency than the LS 460 (21 and 19 mpg, respectively), that still is far better than anyone is getting these days from the V10s and V12s. The latter are usually in the mid-teens and come with a gas guzzler tax that runs a couple of thousand dollars. The LS 400h L escapes such a penalty.

Not a big premium when you’re talking about a car with a price tag that runs into six figures, but an extra cost nonetheless.

But there’s a downside to what you gain in mileage. The extra pounds the battery pack and electric motors add to the weight of the LS 600h L and detract from the car’s overall performance. The combined gasoline-electric powerplant puts out a peak of 438 horsepower, moving the 5,049 pounds of the LS 600h L from zero-to-sixty miles per hour in 5.5 seconds. That is actually a tenth-of-a-second slower than the company’s clocking for the LS 460, which weighs about 700 pounds less and comes with a V8 engine, and a half-second or more slower than some of its competitors.

So if you’re not getting real performance -- not that it’s a sluggish performer or anything of the sort, because it’s not -- why bother with the LS 600h L?

Well, for one thing, you can fool some people into thinking you’re really doing something to save the planet because of all the hybrid badging that appears on the car. Nearly everyone associates the word “hybrid” with social responsibility.

But the big attraction is that the LS 600h L offers a long list of features as standard equipment, features you have to pay extra for on the LS 460. The “L” in 600h L doesn’t stand for “Luxury,” though it very well could have. (It actually denotes the long wheelbase.)

The heated and cooled leather trim seats, the generous use of wood and chrome treatments in the interior, the Alcantara headliner, the keyless operation featuring a push-button start, the charcoal-activated air and dust pollen filter in the climate control system, the 19-speaker Mark Levinson audio and XM Satellite radio, power door closers, a 16-way power driver seat and 12-way passenger seat, Bluetooth hands-free voice communication, and navigation system are just some of the features included as standard.

To really appreciate what Lexus has to offer in the LS 600h L, however, you have to get the Executive Class Seating Package II. It is one of three option packages offered and cuts seating from five passengers to four because of the huge rear-seat console and wood table, but adds a power recliner and massager for the right-rear passenger. Operated with a TV-like remote, the mssager coddles the passenger with a variety of massages and also allows the rear occupant to move the front passenger seat forward and recline the rear seat so you’re nearly lying down. As you lie back, a leg rest rises for support. The LS 600h L is the ultimate in riding -- not driving, but riding -- experience.

The Executive Seating Package also includes some features offered in the two Premium Packages, such as the Parking Assist System Lexus introduced on the LS 460 a couple of years ago. Using the navigation screen, you line up the car for the proper parking space and the system uses sonar and the rearview camera to guide the car into the spot. The driver doesn’t steer but does control the speed. It sounds great, but it takes so long to position the car properly you’re probably better off taking parallel parking lessons or restrict yourself to using valets.

While catering to the comfort of the passenger, however, the LS 600h L doesn’t offer a whole lot of fun in the driving department, certainly not anything close to the sport sedans the Germans are producing these days. The LS 600h L comes with a electronically controlled continuously variable transmission (E-CVT) that can be set in normal, power, or snow modes, but the power mode then negates some of the fuel-saving advantages of the hybrid drivetrain. All-wheel drive is standard, which can be nice not only in the snows of northern winters but during Southwest Florida thunderstorms. You may also adjust the suspension damping via a switch on the console.

The ride is cushy and quiet, as one as come to expect of Lexus, and all of the technological features, including the navigation system, are very intuitive and simple to operate. Let’s hope the Japanese don’t follow the lead of their German competitors in that department.

One significant shortcoming is the luggage space. The battery pack for the hybrid operation is behind the rear seat, and because designers emphasized giving as much space to the passengers, the result is a trunk of the size you usually find on convertibles. Officially, it’s 11.7 cubic feet, which is at least three cubic feet of what you usually find in this class.

Also, Lexus in the spring tacked on $900 to the price, raising the base MSRP to $104,900. Our test model topped $120,000 with the addition of the Executive Seating Package and the Pre-Collision System accounting for all but a couple hundred dollars of the increase.

That not only makes the LS600h L the ultimate Lexus but by far the most expensive one as well.

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