Lexus has also come up with something new in the seating department. Instead of your ordinary wire springs, the new seats have a system of coil springs, little torsion bars and stabilizer bars, not unlike the car's suspension system.

The idea is to improve comfort and help the seat cushion resist deformation during hard cornering, and Toyota has patented the system. This may seem like a complicated way of achieving the goal, but it works, it doesn't add weight and it's typical of the kind of inventive engineering that's gone into this car.

Here's another example: The dual automatic climate-control system is 25 percent more compact than before, but also has increased capacity.

And another: The optional 6-disc CD changer is mounted in the dashboard - a first - above the glove box, which is bigger than the old glove box, and there's still room for the passenger-side airbag.

Other interior elements that we loved in the original are unchanged: the spiffy wood trim and the outstanding backlit primary instruments, which we think are the most attractive in the industry.

The LS 400 isn't a Volvo, but its safety credentials measure up as contemporary: dual airbags, a side-impact system that meets 1997 federal standards, enlarged front and rear crumple zones to absorb impact energy, front seat-belt pretensioners, 3-point seat belts at all five seating positions and a new collapsible steering column that has earned Toyota yet another patent.

Something that has not changed is the LS 400's extensive inventory of luxury features. Take a look at the specs. It's clear that there's nothing basic about the basic LS 400.

We do have one quibble with the interior: Trunk space has been whittled down to 13.9 cu. ft., which is not much more than what's offered in the Ford Contour.