2006 Lexus GS 430

2006 Lexus GS 430 Test Drive

Call us biased, but we think the redesigned GS is one of the best luxury sedans on the market.

Reporters like to claim utter impassivity toward their subjects. Like a cardiologist fixing clogged arteries, we reporters are without favor. We treat the topic carefully, thoughtfully, get the job done efficiently, but when the next story comes along we offer equal ardor, dispassion and our laser-like eye for key details.

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Sure.

And I slept at a Holiday Inn Express, too, so just lie back and relax while I scrape the rust off this scalpel.

The reality is that we journalists, and especially critics — as a test-drive columnist I am a critic, not a correspondent, editor or astronaut — play favorites all the time. Face it: In your job, there are fun things you do, and there's the drudgery. Mostly it's the latter.

As a car scribbler, I can make no such complaint. I love cars. And I get to study them and the industry. Oh, and I get to drive new cars all the time, too. I'm spoiled rotten — and luckily after more than half a decade on this ticket I've acquired a fair bit of knowledge that I can happily and heartily share with you.

But I'm hardly without bias.

You just read about one of them: I love cars. Why else would I do this? Bias No. 2: I love balance. Whether it's a minivan or a sports car, the suspension and powertrain should be well-mated, so the handling and steering work in harmony. Inside, a great car at any price should be as uncluttered as possible. A restaurant you'd want to eat at weekly wouldn't look like the inside of a Faberge egg; ditto for the cabin of a car you'll occupy for several hours a week.

Bias No. 3?

I'm a sucker for any car that steers intuitively, has a great transmission (preferably manual, but I'm not doctrinaire about this), and handles turns without nosediving earthward at the apex of bends or squirming unduly in emergency maneuvers. That's not to say a rocket ship or a go-kart would be my preference. A car that's driveable every day, such as a Mini Cooper or a Mazda Miata or a BMW 3 series are all just superb by this critic's likes, but even Honda's Acura MDX is a good example of a vehicle that suits all of my aforementioned biases.

Why tell you all this?

Because it's only fair for you to know at the outset what I like and don't. For instance, restaurant critics are full of ticks and quirks they seldom reveal overtly. Shame on them. If a food critic hates Asian food and proceeds to spend two decades panning sushi joints, he should just fess up to his inklings.

Given all of that, and this reporter's biases, this next bit of news might come as a mild surprise: I adore Toyota Motor's latest minting of the $51,375 Lexus GS430. The old GS? All wrong. It had a cramped backseat, flighty steering, a snarling V-8 that should have been sexy but instead seemed icily engineered for output, not verve, and a suspension that delivered a flinty ride without the actual grip to dance on blacktop the way BMW's latest 5 series does. The same can be said about Nissan's superb new Infiniti M45, by the way.

Well, forget the prior GS. The 2006 Lexus GS430 is balanced, fast, fun and fluid over rough pavement. The cabin is elegant, the seats are firm but not too sporty, folks in the second row will be nearly as comfortable as those up front, and if you can afford it, the Mark Levinson audio system sounds nearly as good as what we've heard kicking through Bentleys.

This car is just splendid. Perfect? Nah. There are flaws. Read about them by clicking here.