Car that went to the moon and back
A secret meeting at Toyota Headquarters, The entire leadership roster is present and waiting with bated breath. In a few sentences Toyota's company chairman lays out a plan that'll change Toyota and the luxury car market forever. This is the story of an engineering masterpiece, Lexus LS400.
How it started
Luxus LS400 made its debut in 1989 with the engine 1UZ-FE. But describing the car's debut in one single sentence would be an massive insult to a relentless pursuit of quality which started 6 years before. In 1983 Toyota chairman Eiji Toyoda initiated the "Project F1".
In 1980's if you wanted a luxury car your options were either American or European brands. But the cars were tremendously expensive and broke down easily. So, Toyota took the step. The goal of Project F1 was to make a luxury sedan that would outdo flagship vehicles offered by American and European brands. To make this happen Toyota went all in. The project had no budget limit or time constraint. Toyota was willing to take everything to make this happen. Toyota had 600 designers, 1400 engineers and 2300 technicians working only on this project. That's a mideum sized village working just to make a car. Toyota knew potential luxury buyers won't settle for a traditional Japanese car. Toyota obsessively analysed people; what do they drive, what luxury meant to people. Over the course of Project F1 the team developed 900 engine prototypes. One of the engine prototypes that came on top was the 1UZ-FE. It had an all aluminium block, aluminium head, dual overhead camshaft and most importantly 8 Cylinders. By the time the Project F1 was finished and receipts tallied up Toyota had spent 1 billion dollars to make LS400 happen.
Testing
Toyota built 450 prototype cars and tested them extensively in US and Germany. The engine was tested for days driving at full throttle in Autobahn making sure it could take the beating. Engineers put the car through hell. They shipped some cars to Sweden and Canada testing the traction control and interlock breaking systems in extreme cold weather. The team logged 2.7 million kilometers of test driving ranging from Nordic regions of Europe to scorching sun in Saudi Arabia. For two winters the car lived in one of the coldest places in the world to make sure the systems held up in those conditions. Toyota still wasn't satisfied. Designs of LS400 and 1UZ-FE was reviewed countless times. Something other manufacturers would find totally acceptable was reviewed again and again and improved until it was perfect.
The media reaction
Autocar tested an LS400 in 1990 and wasn’t disappointed, noting that Lexus was “on the right road – a long, smooth, straight one”
“It is the quietest, most relaxed and most refined car we have ever had the pleasure to drive,” the magazine wrote. “Its engine is a marvel and its ride under such conditions is extraordinary.”
They did, however, believe it lacked a touch of class, that little something extra that made the likes of Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar a touch more special.
One of the greatest part about the car is how smooth the engine is. The engine was nearly vibrant-free. Road & Track journalist Matt Farah described his experience of the car as new, when he was nine years old and his father bought a 1991 model.
“I would invite my fourth-grade classmates over to the house and ask my dad to start the car—you could not believe it was actually running unless you looked at the eerie ‘ghost’ dials,” he wrote.
“The Lexus was silent. It seemed so soft, so fast and quiet, that it was all that much more unbelievable when I told my friends the price.”
If you put a glass of water on top of the engine and rev it upto 6000 rpm the water wouldn't even tremble. It was so smooth that you can balance a tower of wine glass on top of the engine while the engine ran at 4000rpm.
Automotive journalist Peter Egan when reviewed the Lexus, recounted seating in the passenger seat, flipping through a CD binder completely unaware that the driver was doing 130mph(209kmh). He later wrote, "I had never before made a casual music selection while going more than two miles per minute. A near absence of wind noise and mechanical commotion, along with excellent directional stability, made the new LS400 the calmest, quietest car I’ve driven at high speed. The Lexus V-8 and its nearly vibration-free driveline simply set a new standard for combining horsepower with civility.”
Best car in the world?
If Toyota’s aim was to build the best car in the world, CAR magazine put it to the ultimate test in November 1991, pitching it against a Bentley Turbo R, Jaguar Sovereign 4.0, and a Mercedes 600SEL. It wasn’t an entirely fair contest, with the Bentley costing £124,000 and the Mercedes a mere £85,000, while the Jag was judged “world’s best saloon” when tested in 1986. But the Lexus, already judged by CAR as better all round than the Rolls Royce Silver Spirit the year before, was far from disgraced.
It had “the best external finish – superbly tight panel gaps, almost inimitable panel fit and paint quality”.
“But it lacks on-road presence. Its styling is very derivative Japanese rather than the bold step forward we had hoped.”
The interior felt the “least special”, “like an upmarket Camry…and in this company that’s not good enough.” Nevertheless, the magazine concludes by saying they had gathered together “the world’s best cars” and that, while the Lexus lacked a touch of class, “it is still an exceptional car, not least because it is such a splendid first effort in this class. Its drivetrain is superb, as good as anything else here. It is quiet and wonderfully refined.”
Conclusion
Ichiro Suzuki and his team reimagined the luxury car 30 years ago with an entirely new set of standards for speed, sound, and quality. Nowhere in Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit, a 250-page book on the LS400, does it mention extreme high mileage as a goal. Lexus was focused on the experience of the first customer, but the production LS 400 was so incredibly well refined, so smooth and vibration free, so well engineered, that over time, when the luxury world moved on, the car’s real virtue became durability.
It was the quietest sedan ever sold, faster and roughly 25 percent more fuel efficient than the BMW 735i or Mercedes 420SE, for $10,000 less. LS400 is truly one of the most important cars in automotive history.
Luxus LS400 made its debut in 1989 with the engine 1UZ-FE. But describing the car's debut in one single sentence would be an massive insult to a relentless pursuit of quality which started 6 years before. In 1983 Toyota chairman Eiji Toyoda initiated the "Project F1".
In 1980's if you wanted a luxury car your options were either American or European brands. But the cars were tremendously expensive and broke down easily. So, Toyota took the step. The goal of Project F1 was to make a luxury sedan that would outdo flagship vehicles offered by American and European brands. To make this happen Toyota went all in. The project had no budget limit or time constraint. Toyota was willing to take everything to make this happen. Toyota had 600 designers, 1400 engineers and 2300 technicians working only on this project. That's a mideum sized village working just to make a car. Toyota knew potential luxury buyers won't settle for a traditional Japanese car. Toyota obsessively analysed people; what do they drive, what luxury meant to people. Over the course of Project F1 the team developed 900 engine prototypes. One of the engine prototypes that came on top was the 1UZ-FE. It had an all aluminium block, aluminium head, dual overhead camshaft and most importantly 8 Cylinders. By the time the Project F1 was finished and receipts tallied up Toyota had spent 1 billion dollars to make LS400 happen.
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| 1UZ-FE engine |
Testing
Toyota built 450 prototype cars and tested them extensively in US and Germany. The engine was tested for days driving at full throttle in Autobahn making sure it could take the beating. Engineers put the car through hell. They shipped some cars to Sweden and Canada testing the traction control and interlock breaking systems in extreme cold weather. The team logged 2.7 million kilometers of test driving ranging from Nordic regions of Europe to scorching sun in Saudi Arabia. For two winters the car lived in one of the coldest places in the world to make sure the systems held up in those conditions. Toyota still wasn't satisfied. Designs of LS400 and 1UZ-FE was reviewed countless times. Something other manufacturers would find totally acceptable was reviewed again and again and improved until it was perfect.
The media reaction
Autocar tested an LS400 in 1990 and wasn’t disappointed, noting that Lexus was “on the right road – a long, smooth, straight one”
“It is the quietest, most relaxed and most refined car we have ever had the pleasure to drive,” the magazine wrote. “Its engine is a marvel and its ride under such conditions is extraordinary.”
They did, however, believe it lacked a touch of class, that little something extra that made the likes of Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar a touch more special.
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| 1989 Lexus LS400 |
“Underneath it all, this exceptionally good car is still a Toyota, and it shows,” it concluded
One of the greatest part about the car is how smooth the engine is. The engine was nearly vibrant-free. Road & Track journalist Matt Farah described his experience of the car as new, when he was nine years old and his father bought a 1991 model.
“I would invite my fourth-grade classmates over to the house and ask my dad to start the car—you could not believe it was actually running unless you looked at the eerie ‘ghost’ dials,” he wrote.
“The Lexus was silent. It seemed so soft, so fast and quiet, that it was all that much more unbelievable when I told my friends the price.”
If you put a glass of water on top of the engine and rev it upto 6000 rpm the water wouldn't even tremble. It was so smooth that you can balance a tower of wine glass on top of the engine while the engine ran at 4000rpm.
 |
| Tower of wine glass balanced over a running LS400 |
Automotive journalist Peter Egan when reviewed the Lexus, recounted seating in the passenger seat, flipping through a CD binder completely unaware that the driver was doing 130mph(209kmh). He later wrote, "I had never before made a casual music selection while going more than two miles per minute. A near absence of wind noise and mechanical commotion, along with excellent directional stability, made the new LS400 the calmest, quietest car I’ve driven at high speed. The Lexus V-8 and its nearly vibration-free driveline simply set a new standard for combining horsepower with civility.”
Best car in the world?
If Toyota’s aim was to build the best car in the world, CAR magazine put it to the ultimate test in November 1991, pitching it against a Bentley Turbo R, Jaguar Sovereign 4.0, and a Mercedes 600SEL. It wasn’t an entirely fair contest, with the Bentley costing £124,000 and the Mercedes a mere £85,000, while the Jag was judged “world’s best saloon” when tested in 1986. But the Lexus, already judged by CAR as better all round than the Rolls Royce Silver Spirit the year before, was far from disgraced.
It had “the best external finish – superbly tight panel gaps, almost inimitable panel fit and paint quality”.
“But it lacks on-road presence. Its styling is very derivative Japanese rather than the bold step forward we had hoped.”
The interior felt the “least special”, “like an upmarket Camry…and in this company that’s not good enough.” Nevertheless, the magazine concludes by saying they had gathered together “the world’s best cars” and that, while the Lexus lacked a touch of class, “it is still an exceptional car, not least because it is such a splendid first effort in this class. Its drivetrain is superb, as good as anything else here. It is quiet and wonderfully refined.”
In 1994 the car redesigned. Already one of the best engines in the world, the 1UZ-FE unit was extensively improved to reduce weight and friction, raising maximum power to 260bhp in the process. The car was more refined than before.
In 2007 consumer report list of LS400 showed that the cars were clocking 200,000 miles with just regular maintainnace. Almost three decades of the car's debut it is proven that the car can clock more than 200,000 miles. How more you say? How about 5 times more. In 2019 a 1996 LS400 owned by Matt Farah reached 1million mile on the clock with its original engine. The car had driven the distance to the moon and back twice. The valve covers had never been taken off the engine up until 894,000miles, 1UZ-FE one of the durable automotive engine ever made.
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| LS400 hits 1million mile on odometer |
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| The "Million-mile" LS400 |
Conclusion
Ichiro Suzuki and his team reimagined the luxury car 30 years ago with an entirely new set of standards for speed, sound, and quality. Nowhere in Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit, a 250-page book on the LS400, does it mention extreme high mileage as a goal. Lexus was focused on the experience of the first customer, but the production LS 400 was so incredibly well refined, so smooth and vibration free, so well engineered, that over time, when the luxury world moved on, the car’s real virtue became durability.
It was the quietest sedan ever sold, faster and roughly 25 percent more fuel efficient than the BMW 735i or Mercedes 420SE, for $10,000 less. LS400 is truly one of the most important cars in automotive history.
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