First Test: 2008 Lexus LS 600h L

Ah, the 12-cylinder. The epitome of automotive grandeur, it's an engine that requires two hands to assemble, yet three to tally the piston chambers. By and large, a 12 has the potential to produce more horsepower and torque than its eight- and 10-cylinder counterparts, yet in a manner as smooth and rewarding as 50-year-old Glenlivet. Save for the outrageous 16-cylinder that rockets the $1.4 million Bugatti Veyron 16.4, the 12-cylinder is the engine that best symbolizes wealth and power. Scan the list of automakers offering one-Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, and Rolls-Royce-and it reads like a CEO caravan. Moreover, the average base price for a 12-cylinder automobile is nearly $250,000. No doubt, these vehicles are meant for affluent buyers who binge on beluga and down the Dom.

One automaker conspicuously absent from the 12-cylinder club is Lexus. As Japan's preeminent, best-selling, and most prosperous luxury brand in the U.S., Lexus is arguably well positioned to offer a 12-cylinder halo car. After all, parent company Toyota has been squeezing a 5.0-liter V-12 into the Japan-market Century for years. Why not bump displacement by 1000 cc, stuff that mill into an LS, and call it a flagship? Well, that would be too easy, and when it comes to Lexus, Toyota isn't about doing it easy.

"Simply dropping in a larger-displacement engine would've required no creativity," says LS chief engineer Moritaka Yoshida. "We decided that creating V-12 power using a hybrid drive system would be uniquely Lexus, innovative, and a challenge that we would relish." Thus, say hello to Yoshida-san's baby, the LS 600h L, the most sophisticated, technologically advanced, and, yes, creative vehicle Lexus has ever built. Based on the long-wheelbase LS 460 L, the 600h looks much the same, differentiated aesthetically by blue-accented badges and all-LED headlamps on the outside and a cabin complemented with a leather-covered dash and door panels (not featured in our preproduction test car) and a wood-trimmed shift knob and assist handles. Mechanically, though, the differences are significant.

Lexus claims the 600h-propelled by a 5.0-liter V-8, a high-output electric motor, and a new all-wheel-drive electronically controlled CVT-provides power equivalent to a 6.0-liter 12-cylinder (thus, the "600" badge), while offering the fuel economy of an all-wheel-drive V-6 sedan. Indeed, the 389 horses from the 2UR-FSE V-8 (a detuned version of the 5.0-liter coming in next year's high-strung IS-F) and the 221 ponies from the electric motor combine, albeit in an arithmetically confusing way, to deliver 438 horsepower, matching that of the V-12 BMW 760Li. The 600h's other competitors all boast more juice-450 horses for the Audi A8 L W12 Quattro, 510 for the Mercedes S600, and 552 for the Bentley Continental Flying Spur-but none, including the BMW, can sip a Lexus-like 21 combined mpg. Even the 19 mpg we observed during our stint humbles the others' combined average of 16 mpg. Also of note is the 600h's SULEV rating, which, according to Lexus, means its emissions are 70 percent cleaner than that of its greenest competitor, the ULEV S600.

For people who aren't only inclined to hug trees but also embrace a six-figure luxury sedan, the environmental friendliness of the LS 600h L is the icing on the cake. But what about the cake? It's there, in all its lusciousness. To get a sense from behind the wheel, imagine sinking into a lavish and serene home-entertainment room, replete with Eames lounge chairs covered in the supplest leather, a reference-quality 7.1-surround, 450-watt, 19-speaker Mark Levinson audio system displayed in bird's-eye maple furnishings, and a ceiling presented in chamois-soft Alcantara. Now imagine that room has the supernatural ability to forcibly yet effortlessly launch you from 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds and through the quarter mile in 14.0 ticks at 102.7 mph. Get the idea?

Describing the 600h as smooth and quiet seems a slight. Lexus engineers went to great lengths to reduce NVH, even adding extra sound insulation around the cylinder-head covers and repeatedly testing the sizes and locations of the engine mounts. Come to a stop and, unless you're eyeing the tachometer, you'll miss that the engine has shut down. Ditto for takeoff-engine startup is imperceptible. Further, all the controls whisper in response, always silky, always proficient. Grip, lateral and straight-line, is excellent, evidenced by a brisk 26.6-second run through the figure eight and a 60-to-0 distance of 114 feet. Kudos to the LS's available active anti-roll bars and standard variable-ratio electric power steering and three-stage adjustable air suspension, all of which improve dynamics without being numbing. Managed via the gearless CVT, power and torque build as if the LS were a Shinkansen, with torque seemingly underrated at 385 pound-feet. For sure, that figure represents only the engine, as Lexus engineers are either reticent or unable to calculate the engine and motor's combined twist, although electric motor torque is highest at zero rpm. The 45-to-65-mph passing time-a revealing torque indicator-required 2.8 seconds from the 5220-pound hybrid, 0.3 slower than the 5556-pound Flying Spur (479 pound-feet) and 0.6 behind the 5013-pound S600 (612 pound-feet). Keep in mind that those competitors' 12 cylinders exhale via twin turbochargers; the 600h would likely fare favorably with the normally aspirated Audi and BMW.

Where the LS 600h L will undoubtedly fare favorably, though, is on the wallet. Lexus's high-heeled hybrid starts at $104,715, well below its rivals, the nearest of which, the Audi, retails for just under $122,000. Lexus offers a full bevy of options, notably the advanced precollision system and an executive-class package that adds massage and recline features to the right rear seat, so expect fully loaded example to come in several thousand higher. A new stratosphere for Lexus, certainly, but to reach new customers the 600h must not only be a marvel of technology, refinement, and performance, but also price. In light of its competition, it's a deal. Going green never required so much green, but, hey, at least the badges are blue.

There Is No Second Place

"It is simply the most advanced vehicle we know how to make," says Lexus group vice president and general manager Bob Carter. As such, the LS 600h L features four "World First" technologies:

1. Electronically controlled continuously variable transmission with Torsen AWDWith a compact Torsen limited-slip differential integrated to the rear drive shaft, the LS 600h L's new L110F CVT weighs 332 pounds and boasts polished gear teeth finished in the micron range. Featuring "eight speed" sequential engine braking, it routes the combined 438 horsepower 40/60 front/rear under normal circumstances and up to 30/70 front/rear when, say, decelerating and cornering.

2. Advanced precollision system (APCS) with pedestrian recognitionThe Mercedes CL's safety net of Pre-Safe and Distronic Plus offers similar services, but the LS 600h L's available APCS takes it a step further by recognizing pedestrians. Using a stereo-vision camera mounted above the rearview mirror, near-infrared projectors built into the high-beam headlamp units, and a millimeter wave radar phased antenna behind the Lexus emblem, APCS detects people or large animals and then calls upon its outputs-steering and brake assist, seatbelt retractors, and firm air-suspension setting-to avoid or prepare for a collision.

3. Driver monitorMounted on the steering column and part of the APCS, the monitor contains six near-infrared lights that illuminate the driver's face and a charge coupled device (CCD) that receives the reflected light, enabling the system to function in the dark. If the monitor calculates that the driver isn't facing forward and a collision is possible, the system will blink a warning light in the instrument panel, sound a buzzer, and apply a warning brake.

4. LED headlampsThey're coming on Euro versions of the Audi R8, but not until the end of the year. Each LS housing contains nine LEDs-five low-beam, two parking, and two side markers-all smaller than a penny.