Prestige & Luxury Cars

The Lexus LS has long been a quiet achiever - literally, so, given that the 1989 original set a new standard in refinement and comfort - and now, the fifth-generation's facelift aims to do the same. Painstaking effort has gone into making an already sophisticated limo even more so, while improving the cosseting and comfy ride too in the process. The result is an efficient, luxurious performer.

Porsche is responsible for many of the best sports cars in history. But electric cars? That's new territory. And considering how high the carmaker normally sets the bar, its first one has to be great. Well, the zero-emissions Taycan large sedan has arrived. And guess what? It's a damn good electric car – and a damn good sports car.

The Turbo sits above the entry-level 4S and below the flagship Turbo S in the Porsche Taycan line-up, with it priced from $268,500 plus on-road costs.Standard equipment includes rear torque vectoring, sports-tuned three-chamber air suspension with adaptive dampers and active anti-roll bars, ceramic-coated cast-iron brakes (410mm front and 365mm rear discs with six- and four-piston calipers respectively), dusk-sensing Matrix LED headlights, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, 20-inch 'Turbo Aero' alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, a power-operated tailgate and body-colour exterior trim.Inside, keyless entry and start, satellite navigation with live traffic, Apple CarPlay support, digital radio, a 710W Bose sound system with 14 speakers, a heated steering wheel, 14-way power-adjustable front seats with heating and cooling, heated rear seats and four-zone climate control feature.ANCAP hasn’t awarded the Taycan line-up a safety rating yet. Advanced driver-assist systems in all grades extend to autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, surround-view cameras, front and rear parking sensors, and tyre pressure monitoring.The Turbo is powered by two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, which are split between the front and rear axles to enable all-wheel drive, with the former fitted with a single-speed automatic transmission, while the latter has a two-speed unit. Together, they produce up to 500kW of power and 850Nm of torque. Electricity use on the combined-cycle test (ADR 81/02) is 28.0kWh/100km, while driving range is 420km.

The 4S sits below the mid-range Turbo and flagship Turbo S in the Porsche Taycan line-up, with it priced from $190,400 plus on-road costs.Standard equipment includes three-chamber air suspension with adaptive dampers, cast-iron brakes (360mm front and 358mm rear discs with six- and four-piston calipers respectively), dusk-sensing LED headlights, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, 20-inch 'Sport Aero' alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, a power-operated tailgate and black exterior trim.Inside, keyless entry and start, satellite navigation with live traffic, Apple CarPlay support, digital radio, a 710W Bose sound system with 14 speakers, a heated steering wheel, 14-way power-adjustable front seats with heating and cooling, and dual-zone climate control feature.ANCAP hasn’t awarded the Taycan line-up a safety rating yet. Advanced driver-assist systems in all grades extend to autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, surround-view cameras, front and rear parking sensors, and tyre pressure monitoring.The 4S is powered by two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, which are split between the front and rear axles to enable all-wheel drive, with the former fitted with a single-speed automatic transmission, while the latter has a two-speed unit. Together, they produce up to 390kW of power and 640Nm of torque. Electricity use on the combined-cycle test (ADR 81/02) is 26.2kWh/100km, while driving range is 365km. 

The Turbo S sits above the entry-level 4S and mid-range Turbo in the Porsche Taycan line-up, with it priced from $338,500 plus on-road costs.Standard equipment includes 'Electric Sport Sound', the 'Sport Chrono' package, rear torque vectoring, speed-sensitive and rear-axle steering, sports-tuned three-chamber air suspension with adaptive dampers and active anti-roll bars, carbon-ceramic brakes (420mm front and 410mm rear discs with 10- and four-piston calipers respectively), dusk-sensing Matrix LED headlights, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, 21-inch 'Mission E Design' alloy wheels, rear privacy glass, a power-operated tailgate and carbon-fibre exterior trim.Inside, keyless entry and start, satellite navigation with live traffic, Apple CarPlay support, digital radio, a 710W Bose sound system with 14 speakers, a heated sports steering wheel, 18-way power-adjustable front sports seats with heating and cooling, heated rear seats and four-zone climate control feature.ANCAP hasn’t awarded the Taycan line-up a safety rating yet. Advanced driver-assist systems in all grades extend to autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, lane-keep assist, adaptive cruise control, blind-spot monitoring, surround-view cameras, front and rear parking sensors, and tyre pressure monitoring.The Turbo is powered by two permanent magnet synchronous electric motors, which are split between the front and rear axles to enable all-wheel drive, with the former fitted with a single-speed automatic transmission, while the latter has a two-speed unit. Together, they produce up to 560kW of power and 1050Nm of torque. Electricity use on the combined-cycle test (ADR 81/02) is 28.5kWh/100km, while driving range is 405km.

Mercedes-AMG has been filling up its range with (very) hot hatches and compact SUVs. But now it's turned to its attention to the bruising E 63 S, with with some aero-focused styling tweaks, Merc's latest 'Widescreen' digital cockpit, as well as the MBUX multimedia system, and a tricky new multi-function sports steering wheel.

The Lexus IS has had such a major facelift that the company would like us all to think that it's substantially new. But with the same engines behind the fresh, bolder face, the Luxury is perhaps the one that is most like the old.

Audi's crucial Q5 gets a significant overhaul for 2021, but you'd hardly be able to tell from the outside.

For the 2021 model year Audi has mixed up the naming conventions in its range. The base car is now simply called the Q5, while this mid-spec car is called the Sport.

The S-Line is the capstone of the Q5 range for 2021, sporting a unique 50 TDI engine option and an overhauled look to go with Audi’s most recent design language