With my latest obsession, naturally I wanted to go for a test drive and really take a look at the car little by little. Luckily, my uncle just picked his up not too long ago and I asked if I could come by and drive it and have him show me the car. The other good thing about it is I don’t have to go to the dealership and get some sales guy to give me a pitch on why the car is good and hover over me while you sit there and take in all that it is lol.

I snapped some pics while I was there for you guys to see too. Excuse the dirty cars – it’s winter. lol

The two monsters. And by monsters, I mean that they are huge. The Lexus is taller and a bit longer, but the 7-series doesn’t really take a backseat to it either. Both are nice in their own way – I prefer Japanese personally so while the 7-series is pretty gangster, I don’t think it’s for me. He offered to let me drive it as a comparison, but I turned it down. Whether that was a good or bad decision – I don’t know. haha

Another angle of it. One of the reasons why I like (and have always liked) the LS is that it doesn’t really look like an “old” car. It’s got it’s stylish cues – the headlights are sharp, the tail lights flow with the rear of the car. And generally while the lines of the car aren’t crazy or out there, it works well.

The headlights. Double projectors.

Shot of the front. Interior. There are a bunch of nice little touches everywhere that make you think that there is so much unnecessary stuff in here but it’s so awesome that it becomes necessary. Take a look at the cluster where it displays a little image of the LS when you open the door as a “welcome”.

The center console area. While this isn’t the Luxury package – so it has no Nav,  it’s still classy. Simple. It’s effective. I am undecided on whether I care about having a nav or not. It’s nice to have, but after having one in my STI – I don’t think I used it once, nor did I ever have it on the nav screen. haha

The pilot seat. While it looks pretty simple – the wood on the top and bottom of the wheel is actually very nice to the touch. I’m used to the leather and suede, but wood is a totally different feel.

The door. Again, simple but effective. Lights under the door area.

The rear. It’s hard to tell from a picture, but it’s awesome how much room is in the back. If you aren’t a tall person, you can literally almost stretch out your legs and be super comfortable. All you need is a pull out table from the back of the seats and you’d be set.

The grill. Another one of my favourite pieces of the LS, or any Lexus for that matter. Lexus has been stepping it up with the front fascia of their cars and with the 2013 LS that has just been released, it makes me wish I was rich enough to afford that. Regardless, the front of the 07’s were ahead of it’s time.

A tour of the backseat. Each side has a pretty large mirror that can be dropped down with a light to do your make up or just look at yourself while you pay someone to drive you around.

Your own personal vent if you get too hot from looking at yourself.

Tried to show how much room is in the back. It’s got more room than a Westjet plane if that matters to anyone.

More views of how the rear looks.

A shot of the outside. The rear on the LS is one of my favourites. Especially the exhaust openings.

And a final shot of the engine bay. It’s pretty sealed up. It’s a clean layout – you really only have access to check and fill your oil, fill your windshield washer fluid, and check brake fluid. Everything else is covered.

Overall – pretty happy with the LS. My initial thoughts about the LS was that it was going to be sluggish and clunky to drive around because that’s exactly what it looks like. It’s actually pretty powerful and it’s the refined power that lets you go fast, but doesn’t really let you know you’re going fast. At a few points on the test drive, I was easily going 30km/h over the limit but it felt like we were slowly cruising. It’s torquey and it’s no slouch. The V8 is a different animal compared to the 2.5L turbo 4cyl STI.

The ride is soft and bouncy – not in a bad way. People have described it as riding on a cloud and that’s exactly what it is. My dad was in the back and he was quiet the whole time which is different for him. 2 seconds in the STI the day I got it and he said it was too loud and rough. I didn’t really hear much from him other than how this was so much better than the Subaru.

The sound system – even though it was not the upgraded system – was great. It’s loud, the sound comes from all angles and you really feel it in the front of your head. Weird way to explain it, but it’s nice when you know it’s not coming from the door panels to your left and right near your foot.

So – all in all, awesome car and almost everything I expected it to be, maybe a bit more. I can see myself getting too comfortable in it which isn’t a bad thing. It’s definitely a totally different route than the racer boy look that I’ve been rocking for the last 6 years. I think it’s time for a more grown up look… maybe, with a little touch of racer boy.