2018 Lexus LS

Despite being backed by decades of exacting Japanese engineering, Lexus's range-topping LS sedan languishes near the bottom of sales charts for full-size luxury cars. German manufacturers like BMW and Mercedes-Benz have had more experience building ultra-posh vehicles like this, and so names like 7 Series and S-Class are simply better recognized by buyers with deep pockets.

Lexus is keen to pull the LS out of the shadows with a totally redesigned and newly-engineered version that is the fifth generation of its flagship four-door called the LS 500 and, in hybrid form, LS 500h.

Gone are the old car's slab sides, replaced with a profile Lexus describes as coupe-like that's built on a platform shared with the LC coupe and promises to make the LS a more engaging car to drive.

You can't drive without an engine, and the redrawn LS gets a new one of those in a twin-turbo V6 that makes 416 hp and 442 lb-ft of torque -- big jumps over the old V8's 386 hp and 367 lb-ft. Lexus said it designed the all-new 3.5L just for the LS based on technology borrowed from the company's Formula 1 racing experience to lend it better thermal efficiency and refinement.

Also borrowed from the LC coupe is a 10-speed automatic transmission that feeds the engine's power to all four wheels.

The LS Hybrid returns for 2018 after a year's hiatus, and it too ditches a V8 in favour of a V6, this one a naturally aspirated motor that works with electric power to generate 354 hp. It also gets a novel new transmission that, like before, uses a continuously variable transmission but gets a novel addition in a four-speed automatic gearset that expands the car's overall gearing.

Other mechanical attributes include 20-inch wheels with staggered tires (wider in the back) and six-piston front brakes with rotors measuring 400 mm up front and 359 out back. Those front rotors are larger than the wheels on many economy cars.

Lexus boasts the new LS Hybrid delivers more electric assist at low speeds but can also run on electricity alone at short distances at speeds up to 140 km/h.

Unsurprisingly, the LS is loaded with safety tech that includes a pre-collision system with automatic braking, lane departure alert and lane keep assist, radar cruise control, rear park assist with automatic braking, panoramic-view camera system, lane tracing assist and front cross traffic alert. It also comes with CoDrive, a new driver assist system that combines the lane tracing and radar cruise functions to predict the driver's intentions in order to help keep the car centred in its lane and positioned a set distance behind a car in front in highway driving.

And while the LS also comes with the expected upscale interior furnishings, among the interior highlights is the option of beautiful pleated door panels created through a technique related to the ancient Japanese art of origami.

Rear-seat options include a right-rear seat that reclines more than in any other car in the segment, and a massage function. Riders back there can enjoy music through a stereo that places its 23 speakers in 16 different locations throughout the cabin, including in the car's headliner.