bam

I def agree that some of their designs look awkward or even out of place like it was an afterthought. For example, on the 3g gs, the lower trim or whatever you call it on the door just doesn't look good. I'm not a bog fan of slab doors and much prefer sopme kind of character cut line. I do realize that the 3g gs has a character line very high on the door, maybe about an inch or so from the window but it's almost invisible and I don't like the execution. The slab side looks so plain to me and again this goes back to my opinion about how their design does create (positive) emotion.

The Audi in many regards is a conservative design but they're also being aggressive is other design elements. All in all, you can tell that Audi, BMW, and MB are (of course) german hwereas Toyota/Lexus is very reserved and "Japanese" in their design.

Don't get me wrong. I love Toyota/Lexus. All I'm saying is that Toyota has publicly come out and said that they need to make sportier cars because they are falling way behind in the image category and so I'm just backing up that direction but so far, the GS concept really isn't grabbing my interest. It's an interesting proposal but it doesn't seem like a cohesive design.

Sal Collaziano

Don't forget, Bam, that Lexus uses slab sides because the rest of the industry uses more exciting sides and they want to be different. Yes, that IS hilarious, isn't it? They said something about this in regards to the recent concept vehicle. Though the Cadillac XTS will be the KING of slab sides...

dunnojack

Yes, one of the most conservative-




yep

Sal Collaziano

I think they could have been called conservative until this year... But that's just me.

rjacket

The competition seems to holistically design their new model exteriors, getting them right from every angle.

Lexus exterior designs, when executed in production, seem to be a result of continuous improvement, rather than original concepts. The 3GS seems to have suffered the most from that. The comparison to the Jaguar XF is most telling. Similar concept, completely different execution.

RufRidn

iTrader: (5)

Just went to a focus group and to my surprise it was about the 4gs. They had it there along with a Audi A6, BMW 530i, Infiniti M35 and a Mercedes E350. All the cars were 2011 models and the GS was labeled as a 2013. They took everyone's phones away before they showed the cars so no pics.

The size seemed the same, it looked like it had leds as drls. Interior was real nice, had a little analog clock in the dash, the navigation was on the center and looked pushed into the dash. It had a split screen view so you can view navi and music at the same time.

GiantsFan

iTrader: (9)

Nice looked very different from the GSh?

And what market research company did the focus group?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

very interesting, good stuff! thanks for sharing

what do you think of the exterior?

RufRidn

iTrader: (5)

It looks alot sportier, the front end did kind of look like this without the fenders.

[/QUOTE]

It also had the remote touch inside. The color combo they brought was hideous, silver exterior with tan interior. It was the 350 model and the sticker price with all the options it has came out to 51000. It has blind spot detection and pre collision as a option.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

interesting. so the upper and lower front grilles aren't connected like in the concept? that's one thing a lot of people talk about. and sticker at 51k huh? that doesn't sound like much step up from the current one (assume it has navs and such)

LexFather

It also had the remote touch inside. The color combo they brought was hideous, silver exterior with tan interior. It was the 350 model and the sticker price with all the options it has came out to 51000. It has blind spot detection and pre collision as a option.[/QUOTE]

Wow, thanks for sharing! Anything else you can remember and want to post about? Did you get to sit inside? What questions did they ask? Any hp figures, any V-8 or GS F being mentioned? Did you ask anything?

Sorry,excited.

jtrue28

remote touch

dunnojack

wow. lucky duck. How do you get selected for focus groups?

My main question is..... does the 4GS front end look anything like the CT200 ?
How is the spindle shape incorporated into the front end?
same overall shape as the LF-Gh ?

is this chop way off?

rjacket

What was the comparative feedback? How did the 4GS fare?

mikesm

This is great! Did the NAV look like a touchscreen, or did it have the psudomouse for control?