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Rockville · 02-17-05, 07:09 AM

The tradition of a true performance car being RWD has been altered by advancements in power application and stabilization. I remember when one of the auto writers went to Germany to test the AWD 911 Turbo he drove it around the track and his time was only about a second less than the Professional drivers. The sophisticated AWD and stability control made an otherwise difficult to manage street race car intelligent enough for the common man. Some years earlier a respected Indy driver totalled a much earlier technology 959 after only 15 minutes on the autobahn. These situations support Spywolf's enthusiast view. The new VDIM system is very impressive on film when you see a Lexus RX400h (AWD) driven through a slalom course in about 3 or 4 inches of snow. The conventional RX with VSC drives the slalom in much wider archs like a novice skier. The RX400h takes the course like a world cup racer in a much straighter and shorter line and of course faster. Since this system may save many lives it may be the only justification needed to spend $5,000 more on the hybrid. This same system now comes on the GS430. As soon as we begin test driving our 430 and it is raining I will take it to an empty lot and try sudden avoidance and middle of turn death spirals. The brakes on the GS430 are massive. I think the engineers had some magazine test in mind and went for overkill in the brake dept. Don't forget to wear your safety harness folks! This car should come with a helmet too. The V6 seems to be about 60 degrees and you get a bulge at the driver right leg for the AWD. I have been wondering why the V8 couldn't be produced with the AWD? The 4.3 is a 90 degree but I'm not sure if clearance is an issue. Audi makes a nice V8 4.2 AWD. Since AWD soaks up the torque it is usually not as snappy on the throttle. I haven't driven the RWD GS300 much so that will help me see if it is sportier. The 0-60 times are only a tenth of a second different.
My customers vary greatly but I think the AWD will have two main benefits. It will instill confidence in the wet weather for the average driver. It will help them climb up their driveways when it snows. Very few of my customers will go to the trouble of having snow specific tires in our region. You can take an IS300 and put some Blizzaks or Hakepelittas on it and it will take the snow slalom better than the 325X ! This test was actually done be AMCI. All you snowbelt drivers out there remember Wolf's advice. Taller and narrower snow specific tires make Winter driving a sport of its own.

02-17-05, 07:09 AM	#21
Rockville Lexus Test Driver Trader Score: (0) Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: MD Posts: 1,167	Runnin' with the Wolf The tradition of a true performance car being RWD has been altered by advancements in power application and stabilization. I remember when one of the auto writers went to Germany to test the AWD 911 Turbo he drove it around the track and his time was only about a second less than the Professional drivers. The sophisticated AWD and stability control made an otherwise difficult to manage street race car intelligent enough for the common man. Some years earlier a respected Indy driver totalled a much earlier technology 959 after only 15 minutes on the autobahn. These situations support Spywolf's enthusiast view. The new VDIM system is very impressive on film when you see a Lexus RX400h (AWD) driven through a slalom course in about 3 or 4 inches of snow. The conventional RX with VSC drives the slalom in much wider archs like a novice skier. The RX400h takes the course like a world cup racer in a much straighter and shorter line and of course faster. Since this system may save many lives it may be the only justification needed to spend $5,000 more on the hybrid. This same system now comes on the GS430. As soon as we begin test driving our 430 and it is raining I will take it to an empty lot and try sudden avoidance and middle of turn death spirals. The brakes on the GS430 are massive. I think the engineers had some magazine test in mind and went for overkill in the brake dept. Don't forget to wear your safety harness folks! This car should come with a helmet too. The V6 seems to be about 60 degrees and you get a bulge at the driver right leg for the AWD. I have been wondering why the V8 couldn't be produced with the AWD? The 4.3 is a 90 degree but I'm not sure if clearance is an issue. Audi makes a nice V8 4.2 AWD. Since AWD soaks up the torque it is usually not as snappy on the throttle. I haven't driven the RWD GS300 much so that will help me see if it is sportier. The 0-60 times are only a tenth of a second different. My customers vary greatly but I think the AWD will have two main benefits. It will instill confidence in the wet weather for the average driver. It will help them climb up their driveways when it snows. Very few of my customers will go to the trouble of having snow specific tires in our region. You can take an IS300 and put some Blizzaks or Hakepelittas on it and it will take the snow slalom better than the 325X ! This test was actually done be AMCI. All you snowbelt drivers out there remember Wolf's advice. Taller and narrower snow specific tires make Winter driving a sport of its own.