Come along as we take a spin through frond-fringed passages of Palm Springs in what surely scores as the most sophisticated luxury sports sedan on our planet. This describes the 2006 GS 430 from Lexus, the elite up-shoot brand from Toyota of Japan.

This stunning machine, projecting a bullet-shaped body as fluid as quicksilver, represents the top model for a new generation of designs on the mid-size GS series with a two-inch stretch in the wheelbase and an inch more in width on the rear wheel track.

There's a big V8 tucked below that elongated hood, a super-stiff structure behind smooth sheet metal and optimum mechanical hardware to rank it as a high-performance rear-wheel-drive (RWD) four-door sports car of world-class rank.

But that oval L-letter badge on the front grille of this car signifies it comes from the automaker that redefines the meaning for control of NVH (noise/vibration/harshness) and passenger comfort. As a result, the car's five-seat cabin is draped in fine leather cowhides plus glossy hardwood and aluminum trim work -- such extensive trappings of luxury that it easily out-classes comforts in the nearest luxury sport competitors from Europe. Then there's the high-tech angle with an adaptive variable suspension and more computerized controls (and more acronyms to delineate those controls) than any other production car to-date.

A key element is the new VDIM -- Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management -- system on GS 430. Tapping into a host of sensors -- tracking such vehicle functions as the angle of the steering wheel, the turn rate of each wheel, lateral motion of the car body, and pressure on brake and accelerator pedals -- the VDIM constantly analyzes all collected data and uses it to deploy various traction controllers and maintain stability.

The acronyms in car safety include the variable gear ratio steering (VGRS), electronically controlled brakes (ECB), anti-lock brake system (ABS), vehicle stability control (VSC), electronic traction control (ETC), brake assist (BA), plus electronically controlled throttle system with intelligence (ECTS-i).

Stability control devices on other cars merely react when the vehicle loses traction, but the Lexus VDIM system is pro-active in a design that actually anticipates a potentially dangerous situation developing and makes subtle corrections to brakes or throttle or steering in a way that's virtually transparent to the driver. In effect, VDIM enables the GS driver to perform at a level that's perhaps a step above innate skills -- you come off as an expert in car control even if you don't realize you are one.

GS cars from Lexus trace to debut designs of 1993, with improvements coming in the iterations of 1997 and 2000. GS for 2006, built on the longer and broader structure, splits into two editions based on engine size. (CONTINUE...)