Drove a GS F
04-05-16, 02:26 PM
#16
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Location: New Jersey
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I've driven the GS F and here are my thoughts, in order as they ocurred.
- Looks very muscular, beastly. Loved the CF lip and spoiler. Hated the gray painted side mirrors and b-pillars. Liked the wheels but wished Lexus would be more aggressive on offsets.
- The RC seats look hot in the GS but I was hoping they wouldn't be the exact same seats. This is still a luxury sedan and the seats should be more comfy than the coupe.
- Cranking it up was marvelous. The sound! Made for car enthusiasts.
- I was trying to be careful since it was our first car off the truck and there was a crowd of guys standing around but the acceleration didn't feel as strong as the coupe. But again, I was being careful. I'll try it again when we get more cars in. That first one sold that same day and we haven't received another yet.
My take away from that brief experience....they will sell. They will sell!
- Looks very muscular, beastly. Loved the CF lip and spoiler. Hated the gray painted side mirrors and b-pillars. Liked the wheels but wished Lexus would be more aggressive on offsets.
- The RC seats look hot in the GS but I was hoping they wouldn't be the exact same seats. This is still a luxury sedan and the seats should be more comfy than the coupe.
- Cranking it up was marvelous. The sound! Made for car enthusiasts.
- I was trying to be careful since it was our first car off the truck and there was a crowd of guys standing around but the acceleration didn't feel as strong as the coupe. But again, I was being careful. I'll try it again when we get more cars in. That first one sold that same day and we haven't received another yet.
My take away from that brief experience....they will sell. They will sell!
04-28-16, 04:53 PM
#18
I can tell you why, the Lexus badge. Most car enthusiast did not grow up dreaming of owning a high performance Lexus. They dreamt of owning a M car or AMG. I did too. If the GS F wore an M badge, it would sell like hot cake. Exactly the reason Lexus is trying to get into the performance sector with F.
05-06-16, 07:43 PM
#19
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Join Date: May 2016
Location: va
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I can tell you why, the Lexus badge. Most car enthusiast did not grow up dreaming of owning a high performance Lexus. They dreamt of owning a M car or AMG. I did too. If the GS F wore an M badge, it would sell like hot cake. Exactly the reason Lexus is trying to get into the performance sector with F.
05-06-16, 08:02 PM
#20
We have about 8 that have been on the lot about 2 months. We are willing to discount them but not 10K off. That's what people are offering.
05-06-16, 08:06 PM
#21
I can tell you why, the Lexus badge. Most car enthusiast did not grow up dreaming of owning a high performance Lexus. They dreamt of owning a M car or AMG. I did too. If the GS F wore an M badge, it would sell like hot cake. Exactly the reason Lexus is trying to get into the performance sector with F.
05-07-16, 05:28 AM
#23
05-10-16, 09:49 AM
#25
Lexus Test Driver
I drove one too
Into my 18th month of leasing 2015 Lexus GS350 F Sport it has become my favorite vehicle.
Yesterday I drove the 2016 GS F with high expectations. It is not a boring car.
My observations:
- It looks stunning, striking the right balance between muscular and sophisticated
- The seats are as comfortable as the F Sport, which is to say they are awesome, and somehow manage to accomplish the same effect with fewer adjustments. I felt like I could get them down to the point that I was sitting lower in the car than I can in my F Sport. Is that possible?
- The rear view mirror is now frameless, with the beveled look as seen in the Tesla Model S
- The instrument cluster is a huge step up and very quick to master
- I don’t have the HUD, and it was a surprise to me how much I liked it, especially at speed when you don’t even want to glance down for a split second
- There’s slightly less room in the back (I think) due to thicker front seats combined with a more pronounced center hump. Many have commented that they think this is to make room for the TVD
- The USB is stunning and really pops in person. That would be my choice with black interior, although I also saw an LP and it looked great in an understated way. I’d like to see the black too.
- I like the wheels, no aftermarket for me. Can do without orange calipers but whatever
- Not a huge fan of the Alcantara add-ons. To my eye, always looks kind of dirty and feels warm in any kind of sunlight. I prefer my leather.
- New dedicated “back” and “scroll” buttons help the functionality of navigating the menus, but it’s still the worst part of the car. You get used to the crappy nav and entertainment menus organization, but it’s still way behind the times
Now driving:
- Pulling out of the parking lot everything felt familiar, except for the slight gurgling noise coming from the quad exhaust
- First few bumps and dips navigating out of the dealer driveway confirmed that the ride around town was totally fine. It was very similar to my car in S+ mode. Firm but not jittery or annoying
- Opening up the engine for the first time: Wooohooo! Spectacular sound. Plenty of thrust for anything this side of a racetrack. It was intoxicating. If this is the last of the NA V8’s it’s worth the price of admission just for that. The car is quiet and calm at low RPMs then changes character dramatically when pushed hard. Again, you can putter around town smoothly, then open her up and shred the asphalt in a totally visceral machine.
- Through the tips of my fingers I felt the more massive weight of the V8 over the front wheels. Not that it was understeering, just that there was definitely more weight to throw around.
- Throwing it hard into a few corners and particularly on a tight onramp, this thing becomes a totally different car. There’s just no comparison to the F Sport. I feel like my F Sport can hang on and is a very agile, fun sedan. But the GSF hunkers down and seriously carves the corner with a much more purposeful sensation. Clearly, there’s much more here than just a bigger engine and some body kit. It was sensational.
- The transmission is one of the biggest differences. Even in full auto mode it aggressively downshifts as you brake and does so quickly, with the BLIP BRAT BRAT that I always wished I had on the F Sport. In manual it’s quite responsive and will NOT shift gears for you if you’re bumping up against the redline. The sales guy thought that depended on the TVD mode.
- Speaking of TVD, I didn’t get too much time to test it, but where I did, it felt great. Tightened up the turns in a way that I imagine a good four wheel steering system would. Definitely would take some getting used to but I’m a fan. I think it would make even slow speed turns fun
So overall it’s a totally different experience from the “everyday” GS. For someone who loves and respects the art of driving but also wants the classy executive sedan with bulletproof reliability, this is your car.
As for the price, yes it’s expensive, but if you put it up against comparable machines and include cost of ownership, the gap narrows. While I was there they offered me a $5000 lease credit even though I made it clear that my current lease had another 18 months to go. The salesman jumped in with “room to negotiate” right away so there are deals to be had.
Yesterday I drove the 2016 GS F with high expectations. It is not a boring car.
My observations:
- It looks stunning, striking the right balance between muscular and sophisticated
- The seats are as comfortable as the F Sport, which is to say they are awesome, and somehow manage to accomplish the same effect with fewer adjustments. I felt like I could get them down to the point that I was sitting lower in the car than I can in my F Sport. Is that possible?
- The rear view mirror is now frameless, with the beveled look as seen in the Tesla Model S
- The instrument cluster is a huge step up and very quick to master
- I don’t have the HUD, and it was a surprise to me how much I liked it, especially at speed when you don’t even want to glance down for a split second
- There’s slightly less room in the back (I think) due to thicker front seats combined with a more pronounced center hump. Many have commented that they think this is to make room for the TVD
- The USB is stunning and really pops in person. That would be my choice with black interior, although I also saw an LP and it looked great in an understated way. I’d like to see the black too.
- I like the wheels, no aftermarket for me. Can do without orange calipers but whatever
- Not a huge fan of the Alcantara add-ons. To my eye, always looks kind of dirty and feels warm in any kind of sunlight. I prefer my leather.
- New dedicated “back” and “scroll” buttons help the functionality of navigating the menus, but it’s still the worst part of the car. You get used to the crappy nav and entertainment menus organization, but it’s still way behind the times
Now driving:
- Pulling out of the parking lot everything felt familiar, except for the slight gurgling noise coming from the quad exhaust
- First few bumps and dips navigating out of the dealer driveway confirmed that the ride around town was totally fine. It was very similar to my car in S+ mode. Firm but not jittery or annoying
- Opening up the engine for the first time: Wooohooo! Spectacular sound. Plenty of thrust for anything this side of a racetrack. It was intoxicating. If this is the last of the NA V8’s it’s worth the price of admission just for that. The car is quiet and calm at low RPMs then changes character dramatically when pushed hard. Again, you can putter around town smoothly, then open her up and shred the asphalt in a totally visceral machine.
- Through the tips of my fingers I felt the more massive weight of the V8 over the front wheels. Not that it was understeering, just that there was definitely more weight to throw around.
- Throwing it hard into a few corners and particularly on a tight onramp, this thing becomes a totally different car. There’s just no comparison to the F Sport. I feel like my F Sport can hang on and is a very agile, fun sedan. But the GSF hunkers down and seriously carves the corner with a much more purposeful sensation. Clearly, there’s much more here than just a bigger engine and some body kit. It was sensational.
- The transmission is one of the biggest differences. Even in full auto mode it aggressively downshifts as you brake and does so quickly, with the BLIP BRAT BRAT that I always wished I had on the F Sport. In manual it’s quite responsive and will NOT shift gears for you if you’re bumping up against the redline. The sales guy thought that depended on the TVD mode.
- Speaking of TVD, I didn’t get too much time to test it, but where I did, it felt great. Tightened up the turns in a way that I imagine a good four wheel steering system would. Definitely would take some getting used to but I’m a fan. I think it would make even slow speed turns fun
So overall it’s a totally different experience from the “everyday” GS. For someone who loves and respects the art of driving but also wants the classy executive sedan with bulletproof reliability, this is your car.
As for the price, yes it’s expensive, but if you put it up against comparable machines and include cost of ownership, the gap narrows. While I was there they offered me a $5000 lease credit even though I made it clear that my current lease had another 18 months to go. The salesman jumped in with “room to negotiate” right away so there are deals to be had.
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