By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Sorry for the preaching overtones, that's just my view.
Besides, since the Big Kahuna helped get me hooked on autocrossing, I don't have near the desire for playing on public roads. There's nothing you can do on the road that can compare with putting yourself and your LS right at the limits and keeping it there for 60 seconds. Or 70 seconds, if you're a rookie like me.:)
Any updates you can provide the rest of us regarding this issue will be appreciated.
Hey Mike,
I applied to llsoc for a trial membership a while ago, but they have not responded yet. I was the one who sent you the email.
Lowest priced LS at CarMax here is low-twenties ($21 or 22K). Don't know mileage, engine type, or equipment though.
Many here will rave about the Pilot Sports (Michelins), which I hear have fine performance and are very quiet. They'll run you $90 more per tire than the Firehawks.
I guess everything is a trade-off. The Stones are a great all-season tire. Even at $120 each.
When we got to where we were going, I found out that another friend of mine, who recently purchased a new Pontiac Grand Prix GTP, was right behind me going through the off-ramp. In trying to keep up with me, he almost put himself into the wall. I explained to him that he should have known better than to try and keep up with a car that is rear-wheel drive and has bigger wheels and tires than his and his response was "Yeah, but you're driving a Lincoln. If it was a Corvette, Porsche or BMW, I wouldn't have even tried." So, maybe just by the nature of our cars, we do inadvertently bait people into dangerous situations.
Of course, I still don't, or didn't that day, feel responsible for his or other people's ignorance. Just pity them for not knowing any better.
As I related in an earlier post, they ride more smoothly and quietly on the highway, but don't appear to have a significantly higher degree of grip in the corners.
I happen to think they look good from behind as well (which is the view most cars have of my LS as they fall behind in the twisties).
Regarding my favorite corner, I have never and still do not consider my actions baiting anyone. Around here 10 MPH over the limit is usually accepted by the enforcers. If I'm 10 over and someone behind me is trying to push me to go faster I have to assume that they are responsible for their actions. No I wouldn't want that idiot in the SUV to run into your wife and kids, but it's my responsibility to operate my vehicle in a safe manor and the other guys to operate his the same. Every action anyone takes can have an unintended consequence. If we tried to predict every unintended consequence of every action we took, we'd never make it out of bed in the morning.
The main 2 lane road near where I live has posted limits of 50 and 45 in different sections. The road has wide shoulders and in most places long sight lines. Even though its a secondary road with houses and businesses on it, at 50 you feel like your're going slow, so 60 & 55 seems to be accepted. Every few months the gendarmes need to have a speeding crackdown due to the idiots who seem to lack any common sense. The winner in the last crack down was a jerk clocked at 110 MPH and there were several busted for over 80. Yes these idiots are a danger to themselves and everyone around them but don't look at me to protect your wife & kids from them.
I'll still follow the golden rule myself, rely in karma, and hope that when some of these clowns remove themselves from the gene pool, they do it alone.
In almost all of the situations I believe the other person following KNEW the road very well - but thought they would be able to follow the "Lincoln" through the turn. Too bad!
Got to see a Buick Park Avenue do a panic stop at a red light today, in the lane beside me. WOW. I didn't know the rear end could go up so far and the nose down so far on one of those things. YIKES!
As much as I enjoy seeing stupid drivers get what they deserve I don't think it's worth risking a serious accident. I couldn't live with myself if I did that knowingly and someone ended up in a body bag - even though it was their own fault. I'm not preaching here - just asking you to think about the possible consequences and make sure you can live with them.
I think the comment about the CTS being sluggish in comparison emphasizes how quick the LS is once you get it moving. I think the CTS has better low end torque and/or gearing for quicker off the line acceleration and as a result is just as quick 0-60 as the V8 LS - low 7's. But I don't think it will keep up 60-80 or 60-100. Fixing the lack of low end torque and/or gearing for quicker launches in the 2003 should make the LS 'feel' even quicker.
It's also another problem vis-a-vis tailgaters. There aren't many cars that can get behind me and stop anywhere near as quickly as I can.
One more reason to give the lead car a little cushion...not so much that I need it to keep from hitting him, but so that I can brake slowly enough to not get rear-ended.
Geez---I may need to buy an appliance. A car that goes this well, corners this well, and stops this well may be hazardous. Nahhhh!
Travel Well
Lincoln LS Team...we are counting on you so Cadillac's effort will again be too little, too late.
Mania II and III attendee and 2001 V-8 Sport owner with 0 problems and enjoying the heck out ouf my LS. Mileage has suddenly jumped 2 MPG since 27,000 miles (now 28,000) to 20.7 in the same daily 40 mile commute. Averaging 27+ MPG on 79+ mph highway trips. This motor is a real jewel with a 27,000 mile break-in period.
The first time this happened, I was the lead car in a 5-car chain in Newnan, GA. I myself was stopped behind a long string of cars waiting on a stopped school bus on a busy secondary road. The insurance company of the guy immediately behind me got stuck with my repair bill, but the last time this happened (only 3 cars - Dec. 1999 on heavily congested Phoenix highway at rush hour) the insurance company of the guy that started the chain reaction got my repair bill and the bill for the guy that hit me. That had to hurt! Luckily, no one was injured in either of these incidents.
I asked him why he bought it as he'd owned 3 Sevilles in a row.
He said it was the best value bar none in that price range plus he was back with a rear driver.
I was surprised to hear him say the LS had better passing power than the Sevilles even though they have the 300 HP Norstar engines. He's fairly tall and found the LS interior a little cramped (as most of us do)
He wasn't aware of all the design features and doesn't care - he uses the car to go from A to B. He also stated it handled better in snow then the Caddy which also surprised me. I told him about the club and will try and get him to join.
Anyway, I was driving an Escort. Its brakes held enough that I wasn't pushed into the car in front of me (cushion anyone), and the truck had more damage to its cosmetic bumper than I had on the Escort. The real damage was the truck loaded with lumber. His load slid, intruded well into the cab, and nearly took out the driver.
"Stuff" happens.
As a motorcyclist (for 52 years now), I have almost always been driving a vehicle that can stop in a shorter distance (on dry pavement) than about 95% of the automobiles out there. Does this suggest anything about defensive driving?
It is wonderful to have great brakes and a very short stopping distance, but it is a last choice method of avoiding an accident... ESPECIALLY on a motorcycle!
One of the most effective defensive driving guidelines I can give is to drive in such a manner that one almost NEVER has to brake hard. If you do this, you'll be driving in tune with the traffic flow and much more naturally aware of the traffic space around you.
To the degree feasible, I drive my automobiles according to the same defensive guidelines I use on the motorcycle. It has a lot to do with space awareness and traffic flow. The one big advantage the bike has is its small size and ability to fit into escape paths too small for a car. The main disadvantage is that it is necessary to assume I am invisible to other drivers, because LOTS of them really don't really see a motorcycle in the same way they do a car. Even when they do see it, they often misjudge its speed and distance, so it is a lot like not being seen.
If you drive with this basic assumption, you'll have very few close calls.
Anyway, I was driving an Escort. Its brakes held enough that I wasn't pushed into the car in front of me (cushion anyone), and the truck had more damage to its cosmetic bumper than I had on the Escort. The real damage was the truck loaded with lumber. His load slid, intruded well into the cab, and nearly took out the driver.
"Stuff" happens.
Makes you wonder how much LS development money got wasted on it.
The money wasted could have been aimed at a less affluent but more numerous market such as the LS enthusiast.
Gee, we could have had a V-8 (Manual that is).
It will STILL be fugly but it WILL ROCK!
LM needs to slam it into gear now.
Since no GM car is allowed to have more power than the Corvette, the CTS will get a "detuned" Vette motor. Will Caddy dealerships start selling speed equipment? Watch out for that CTS with headers and side pipes! Should look good with the Landau top. I mean, could it look any worse?
I also have baited drivers with cars they thought were better than mine. The Fraser Canyon in British Columbia is a fun place, with an s-curve into and out of a railroad overpass, among several other highlights. I've driven other curvy bits around the continent often enough to engage in this sort of thing from time to time, as appropriate.
Sucking idiots into corners is a cottage industry where I come from. Unlike Solo II stuff, if you screw up, you die. Worse yet, as has been pointed out, you kill others. People who drive over their heads certainly don't need to be encouraged by us to be unsafe, but most of my work was done between midnight and 4 a.m. Driving lights were not optional.
Reverse with luxury though
Mayo
I may have missed a few ... help me out folks.
Look at this option thing from a different perspective - if you didn't want a moonroof you would be very happy that you could get the LS without one and cursing Lexus for not offering the ES300 without one. As for the other features, the LS has features that the ES300 doesn't AFAIK (like rain sensing wipers, anti-dive anti-squat suspension, etc.). Since the LS was a brand new from the ground up vehicle in 99 there was only so much they could put in, and it won't be updated til this November when the 2003 comes out. Since I don't believe Ford had done a one-touch up window before it's not that easy. I'm sure Lexus already had this on their LS400 so that makes it a lot easier.
Bottom line - option them the way you want and price them out. If you're looking at used only then I understand the issue with optional equipment. That's part of the reason I normally buy new and order mine from the factory - so i get exactly what I want. When i was buying $16K trucks it wasn't a big deal but now that I'm into $40K territory, I may be looking at a used 2003 LS in 2004. Should save about $15K at least.