2005 Lexus LS 430 Road Test

But just to get a feel for the 2005 model's performance, to see if Lexus had made any improvements to it, I took it for a spirited

The LS 430 feels totally in control all the time, even when pushed hard. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

spin up the mountain to the ski resort behind my home. Changing the adaptive suspension from norm to sport makes a world of difference during side-to-side transitions and when hitting a bump during a long, sweeping corner at high speed. The LS feels totally in control all the time, even when pushed hard. It might produce a little more lean than say a BMW 7, but it delivers the goods needed to not only make it through a series of sharp curves but also make the experience enjoyable.

I think it's safe to say that gone are the days when the LS deserved to be relegated to the luxury car only category, when Lexus served the car up biased primary for ride quality at the expense of handling ability. The

Gone are the days when the LS deserved to be relegated to the luxury car only category. Now it performs well too. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

new LS 430 is an entirely different machine, now capable of keeping up on a winding road, and speeding ahead of some competitors on the straights. On that note it's also one of the easiest cars to navigate through a tight parking garage, with one of the smallest turning circles in its class, or any class for that matter.

Of course, once out of the garage the LS is ruddy quick, as mentioned previously, with one of the reasons it performs so well being its new 6-speed automatic transmission received last model year. It features a sequential-shift mode, adding to the car's entertainment factor in the corners.

The brakes were upgraded too, with 4-wheel ventilated discs featuring electronic brake force distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA), bringing all the fun to an almost immediate, smooth and composed halt.