- Doors and Seats
4 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
3.0i, 6 cyl.
- Engine Power
183kW, 310Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 9.8L/100KM
- Manufacturer
RWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
4 Yr, 100000 KMs
- Ancap Safety
NA
Lexus GS300 Sport Luxury
Drive a Lexus down main street USA and you have made it. However, the brand has failed to inspire Australians to the same extent.
Australian luxury car buyers look at a $100,000 Lexus and hear a voice, calling "It's a Toyota." Which is true in terms of who owns who and the badge engineering applied across several model lines.
The new rear-drive GS sedan though, is Lexus through and through. Well, the bits that count, anyway. It will spearhead Lexus's launch this year as a stand-alone marque in Japan, where failure, for obvious reasons, is not an option.
One drive makes it clear that Lexus has put the best design, engineering and production resources it has into this car. It is an imposing piece of machinery.
The range opens with the GS300 Sports, priced at $95,000; the Sports Luxury variant is $112,000. The GS300 has a new, direct-injection 3.0-litre V6 engine, which produces 183kW of power at 6200rpm. It's bolted to a six-speed sequential automatic gearbox.
The GS430 is priced at $137,000. Its 4.3-litre V8, as used in the LS430, produces 208kW at 5600rpm. It also uses the LS six-speed sequential automatic.
The GS430 has adaptive dampers (with nine programmed increments), which you can set to Normal or Sport modes. The GS300 has conventional non-adjustable suspension. Wheels are 17-inch on the GS300 (with 225/50 tyres) and 18-inch on the GS430 (with 245/40s).
Beyond the basic hardware, Lexus has turned up the gee-whiz meter on the GS430 with variable-ratio electric power steering (VGRS) and radar cruise control, which incorporates a collision-sensing seatbelt/brake preparation function (also on the GS300 Sports Luxury.)
Hero high-tech feature on the GS430 is Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management, which introduces a self-correcting steering feature to the suite of stability control functions. If it's lots of nanny technology and acronyms you're after, the GS430 is your car.
However, a brief drive left a disappointing impression. The 430 felt heavy, floaty and poorly controlled. The adaptive dampers, as is often the case, were either to hard or too soft, unable to keep up with a constantly changing road surface. The steering was completely lifeless and the 4.3-litre V8 lacked the muscle of its BMW and Benz rivals. So we chose the GS300 to test. It turned out to be a better drive.
Direct injection - its first use in a petrol engine of this capacity - plus a high 11.5:1 compression ratio and variable valve timing, generates impressive performance and economy numbers from the 3.0-litre V6.
Of particular note is its exceptionally broad, strong torque delivery, which peaks at 310Nm at 3500rpm. It will pull like a train from only 1800rpm in sixth. Between 2000rpm and 3500rpm, where many 3.0-litre engines struggle in a large car, it also does it easily.
It drives the GS to 100kmh in 8.1 seconds. As it closes on the 6400rpm redline, it remains willing and responsive, albeit with the tonal quality of a sewing machine.
When cruising, though, you hear and feel almost nothing. This level of engine, road and wind-noise suppression - a Lexus trademark - is astounding. It would be unfair, and contradictory, to criticise Lexus for achieving such refinement but it has been so successful the sensations from the driver's seat are almost virtual rather than real. The usual background noises and vibrations in other cars are replaced by an eerie void.
Still, smoothness and quietness are the measures by which many people judge a luxury car. If so, it's Lexus first, daylight second.
The six-speed's shifts are fluid and timely, though the stepped gate is rather clumsy. Manual mode holds each gear to redline. The GS300's conventional dampers give it noticeably more taut, agile dynamics than the GS430.
However, its handling abilities fall well short of its German rivals, especially the BMW 5 Series. In tighter corners, the GS is easily provoked into enthusiastic understeer.
On quicker, open road corners, there is a moment of nervous disconnectedness when you point the car in, as its weight lifts, shifts, then settles back onto the suspension.
The electric steering is overly light, with no road feel. You often find yourself taking two or three bites at a bend, as its sharp initial response is followed by a rather dull, imprecise quality at greater wheel angles.
Like those on the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, the electronic brakes have no shortage of power. However, they are too touchy to light pedal pressure and as you push harder, their response is inconsistent.
On all surfaces, the ride is compliant and comfortable. Again, the GS300 is superior to the GS430 here, with greater control over body movement.
The Lexus interior is faultless in quality, unmistakeably Japanese in its functional, efficient design and generously equipped.
Permanently lit instruments are brilliantly clear but ambient light sources at night create a weird and quite distracting hologram effect.
Standard equipment in the GS300 Sports includes 10 airbags, dual-zone automatic air-conditioning, full leather, remote central locking, stability control, a rear-view camera, Bluetooth compatibility, rain-sensing wipers and adaptive (turn in) low-beam headlights.
The GS300 Sports Luxury adds touch-screen satellite navigation, 14-speaker, six-stack in-dash CD Mark Levinson audio, the pre-crash safety system, radar cruise, audible parking warning, rear sunblind and a sunroof.
The driver's seat is luxuriously proportioned and padded, with long travel. Upper body support is inadequate when cornering. There's plenty of oddment storage close at hand.
You have to duck under the low, coupe-style roofline to reach the back seat, which can be tight if the front seat occupants are tall. In all seats, headroom is limited. If you're over 185cm tall, you might have to look elsewhere. The narrow, shallow boot is also quite small and a full-size spare on an alloy wheel is underneath.
If you're looking for capital L Luxury, the GS300 represents the best the car business has to offer in quality and refinement, the 3.0 V6/six-speed drivetrain works well and you get a truckload of technology and equipment for your money.
However, fixing the Sport tag to the GS is wishful thinking. Sport implies activity, participation and reward. The Lexus would prefer you just sat there, trusted the technology and didn't get involved.