Photos: 2008 Lexus LS 600h

Lexus' new flagship sedan is based on the LS 460 L. The LS 600h uses the same body as the LS 460 L and similar cabin electronics, but the LS 600h uses a hybrid drivetrain and gets a few other performance features.

The grille, like most other design features of the LS 600h, is understated. The hood curves nicely into it. Lexus tinted the car's badge blue to denote that it's different than the LS 460 L.

The adaptive headlights on the LS 600h are LEDs. This is the first use of LEDs as headlights on a production car.

The LS 600h has a long wheelbase, with plenty of legroom for the rear passengers. The profile is fairly conventional, with a roofline that holds its height over the back seat, for headroom, before sloping down to the trunk.

With its twin trapezoidal exhaust pipes, the back of the LS 600h has an aggressive look, which is a contrast from the sides and front.

The powertrain in the LS 600h combines a 389 horsepower 5-liter engine with a 165 kilowatt electric motor, for a total of 438 horsepower. The car may not be as speedy as a V-12, but it gets fuel economy similar to many V-6 engines.

A well-balanced combination of wood and leather in the cabin gives the LS 600h a very luxurious feel. The seats do a fantastic job of preventing stiffness and aches during long drives.

Although this car has a lot of cabin gadgets, Lexus kept the amount of buttons on the steering wheel under control.

We really like the power and suspension switches, which can be set to give the car good sporting characteristics or a soft, luxury ride.

An EV button lets you keep the car driving in electric mode for as long as it has enough battery power.

The power flow screen is the most complex we've seen in any hybrid, as it has to show power going from the engine and electric motor to both front and rear wheels.

The adaptive cruise control matches the speed of the LS 600h with any cars in front. You can set three different following distances between the LS 600h and any cars in front.

The green frame in the back-up camera shows the location of the parking space that the LS 600h will automatically back into. You can adjust the position of the parking frame to match a real-world parking space.

Because the voice-command system isn't terribly intuitive, this help screen comes in handy.

We like that the navigation system gives three potential routes to a destination. And the map is very nicely rendered.

The LS 600h has a very complete list of points of interest, including retail shops from just about every category.

We like the look of the CD display screen, although it could be better optimized to show more information, such as in a single column list format.

The music server screen, 10GB of hard drive space, uses a similar layout as the CD screen. We would prefer an interface that lets you view all the music by genre, artist, album, or track, similar to what you would find on most MP3 players.

With a DVD-audio disc in the changer, the screen shows graphics from the disc.

The LS 600h's Mark Levinson stereo system uses 19 speakers and has phenomenal audio quality.

The Bluetooth cell phone system works well and lets you transfer your phonebook to the car.