Why You Should Buy This Car:
Even though you're rich, stealth-wealth is your thing: you're not just another schmuck in an S-class. Mercilessly powerful, unbelievable technology, cruise ship smooth ride, sublime comfort and modern good looks. The back seat is one of the best in the world. Five powered sunshades. The perverse pleasure you get from knowing that you're getting twice the gas mileage of competing vehicles. Lexus is only selling 2,000 of them in the States per year, which makes 'em rare. You love pushing buttons, all 166 of them. Remote tilting DVD screen. World's best stereo. Killer headlights. Who doesn't want a hybrid limousine?

Why You Shouldn't Buy This Car:
Not green in any way, shape or form, no matter what the badges want you to think. Not as decadent inside as its $100,000+ price would indicate. While using a supplemental electric motor for more power is clever and novel, we'll take an actual V12, thank you. Toyota has a perfectly awesome 5.0-liter V12 sitting inside its epic JDM Century. In fact, bring on the Century! Not to be confused with a driver's car as the steering was shot up at the factory with Novocain and brakes have hair triggers. You just know that the computer could be rejiggered for mo' powa! The trunk is too small. Block-wide turning radius. The ride is so smooth it lulls you to sleep. $117,000 is Audi R8 money, yo. Supposedly, the LS600h L has over 100 servos and motors on board -- that makes us nervous.

Suitability Parameters:
Speed Merchants: Yes
Fashion Victims: Yes
Treehuggers: Yes
Mack Daddies: No
Tuner Crowd: No
Hairdressers: No
Penny Pinchers: No
Euro Snobs: No
Working Stiffs: No
Technogeeks: Yes
Poseurs: Yes
Soccer Moms: No
Nascar Dads: No
Golfing Grandparents: No

Also Consider:
• Mercedes-Benz S600
• BMW 760Li
• Bentley Continental Flying Spur
• A warm bath

Vitals:
• Manufacturer: Lexus
• Model tested: LS600h L
• Model year: 2008
• Base Price: $104,000
• Price as Tested: $117,179
• Engine type: 5.0 Liter DOHC V8 + Permanent magnet electric-drive motor
• Horsepower: 438
• Torque: 385
• Red line: 6,600 RPM
• Transmission: Continuously Variable
• Curb Weight: 5,219 lbs
• LxWxH: 202.8" x 73.8 " x 58.3"
• Wheelbase: 121.7"
• Tires: 245/45R19
• Drive type: AWD
• 0 - 60 mph: 5.4 seconds
• 1/4-mile: 13.8 seconds
• Top speed: 130 MPH (computer limited)
• Fuel economy city/highway: 20/22 MPG
• Jalopnik observed: 20.6 MPG
• NHTSA crash test rating: N/A

[Photography by Wafting around Los Angeles for a week in the Cyber Barge (née I have a fair number of friends who work in design-related fields- architecture, industrial design, graphic design, that sort of thing. Each seems to feel real physical pain when some controllable element of their surroundings does not glow with an aura of quality design. Furniture, clothing, appliances, and so on- you're not going to see El Cheapo crap unless it's an ironic statement of some kind. Such a person will always have a Macintosh computer, and the car in the driveway will likely be German. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, of course, since pro designers are naturally drawn to attractively designed objects, but it's an easily observed phenomenon. While shooting some Engine Pr0n of the Audi RS4, and then later for the Lexus IS-F, I was struck by the differing design philosophies on display in the cars' respective engine compartments. Let's take a look (make the jump for more gallery goodness):

Each engine produces roughly the same power as the other (414 horses for the RS4, 416 for the IS-F), yet it's a totally different scene when you look under the hood. Audi clearly hired some very, very good artists and industrial designers to pretty things up; note the fanatically neat wire looms, the exquisite texturing on the intake runners, the colors selected after weeks of agonizing debate. Meanwhile, when you look at the Lexus' engine compartment, you can tell that the engineers went for pure function and ease of access, with the engineering itself as a design statement (yes, yes, there's a cheap plastic cover slapped on top of the whole mess as an afterthought, but it doesn't count). What at first glance appears to be chaos turns out to be anything but. It's not OSX versus Windows, it's OSX versus Unix. But... which is more beautiful? It's a tough one for me- that Audi intake is a work of art, yet I get the sense it's attempting to hide the fact that one is looking at an engine.

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Exterior Design: ***1/2
First of all, the "Hybrid" badges on the doors are gauche, essentially meaningless and an utter afterthought. Talk about tacked on. And tacky. Lexus, the car costs over $100,000 -- the kind of people that buy the LS600h L don't care what others think. Make that shouldn't care. Most likely, these folks will care the most. So I see the point. And the badgers are still awful. That said, at 0.3 inches longer than an Escalade (202.8 inches overall) this long-wheelbase baby cuts a pretty dapper rug. Ten times better looking than the fuddy-duddy previous gen big Lexus. We love the busy, jeweled headlights and dig the improved upon Bangle-butt. The trapezoidal tail pipes are a bit odd, though.

Interior Design: ***1/2
If we were only talking about the rear-seat the big Hybrid would score 5 stars, maybe more. The harsh light of reality insists that we have to include the front seat, too. At over 100 grand the wood shouldn't look fake, the buttons and switch gear shouldn't be shared with other, lesser models and the leather ought to be much more buttery. Also, there are just too many damn buttons. Either stick 'em all in the touchscreen or it's time to starting thinking about a Toyotafied iDrive. The backseat