Comparison Tests
If you're in the market for one of the long-wheelbase versions of sports-luxury sedans in the $80,000-to-$100,000 range, then you're probably a big-city businessman or -woman who needs a car in which you often sit in the rear while being driven to work or play.
Why else pay the premium for all that extra back-seat space? Not for the kids to run amok in, surely, or for the Great Pyrenees dog to stretch out in. Nope, these cars are desirable not only because they're roomy and luxurious in the rear-passenger compartment but also because they are satisfying to drive when you have the car to yourself.
And the model choice is creamy rich. Newest among these bourgeois buggies is the Lexus LS460L, flagship of the company's fourth-generation LS range and first-ever long-wheelbase model. Lexus threw everything it knows about luxury at this car, including optional air springs, variable-gear-ratio steering, a premium airline-like right rear seat with power ottoman and multifunctional massage, advanced parking guidance, and an integrated 30-gig hard drive that not only speeds up the navigation system but also stores music and videos.
Powering all this extravagance is a 380-hp V-8 with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Of course, you have to check some options boxes to get all the features mentioned here, but you get the picture.
For a sense of how well the Lexus fulfills its luxury promise, we lined up the obvious suspects. Audi's A8L is an incontrovertible competitor, armed as it is with an oversize leather-and-wood-lined rear-passenger compartment. For 2007, the A8 has a new direct-injection 4.2-liter V-8 with 350 horsepower; unfortunately, only a 2006 with the 40-valve, 335-hp V-8 was available for this test. So keep in mind that the specification, performance, and pricing information are for the 2006 A8L. Expect the '07 car to be a smidge quicker and cost about $1000 more. The Audi brings with it the advantages of four-wheel drive and competitive pricing. But despite all-aluminum body construction, the Audi weighs within a couple hundred pounds of the heaviest contender.
Jaguar's Super V-8 long-wheelbase version of its XJR also boasts aluminum construction, but in this case the light metal is used to better effect, and the car tips the truck scales at Schick Moving & Storage at just over two tons — the lightest car here. Adding a supercharger helps tote that load, too, giving the long Jag a distinctive theoretical power-to-weight advantage in this group.
And no group would be complete without a BMW. It just so happens that the company makes a long version of its 7-series bruiser — the 750Li — complete with thundering 4.8-liter V-8 and the traditional athletic chassis to go with it. You get a sense of BMW's priorities when you read that the 750Li is equipped standard with 20-way power-adjustable "comfort" front seats. Always thinking about the driver, those guys.
Rounding out the group is the Mercedes-Benz S550, which is not a special long-wheelbase model. It just comes with a generous wheelbase and a ton of rear-seat legroom, somehow without looking freakishly long. Powered by a new-generation four-cam V-8 that drives through a seven-speed transmission, the S550 we requested also wore the company's Airmatic springs with adaptive damping and active roll control, promising good ride and handling balance.
Thus equipped, we put the cars through our usual battery of tests to see what would shake out. And yes, we also remembered to spend a little time in the back seat.
