The best place to be in the Lexus LS 500 Sports Luxury is the back. That's not damning the company's all-new flagship sedan with faint praise as it is vastly improved in the front, too, especially from the driver's seat. But the back is really something special, particularly if you are going somewhere interesting.

So I discovered when I was offered a chance to chill out in the rear cabin after taking the wheel on various occasions at the car's international launch in California.