terrycs

I have driven both extensively. I had a GS loaner while my F-Sport was at the dealer.The rear steering option is very obvious to me, both at high speeds and at low speeds.

It makes the car more responsive and more agile at highway speeds.

The loaner also can't make a U-turn on my residential street, but my F-Sport could.

The F-Sport suspension is also tuned more aggressively than the Non F-Sport.

natnut

January 22, 2013


If I park on the curb the night before, which I often do, my first morning task consists of flipping a U-turn to get myself pointed toward work. More often than not that winds up being a three-point turn because, well, my quiet suburban street isn't all that wide.

But a funny thing happened in our 2013 Lexus GS 350 F-Sport. This largish 190.7-inch long machine whipped around easily. No sweat.

Smaller cars such as a Toyota Prius c Four (the one with the 17-inch wheels) have gone down to defeat. The same is true of numerous other cars and trucks of all brands.

How did the GS 350 and its longish 112.2-inch wheelbase pull it off? For one, rear-drive machines that ride on double wishbone front suspension can sometimes, but not always, offer more lock than front drive cars that ride on struts. But our 2013 GS 350 also has a trick up its sleeve that goes by the name of Lexus Dynamic Handling, which includes something they call Dynamic Rear Steering or DRS. Modern computer-controlled rear steering systems can do a lot of nifty things whether one is expertly carving up corners or inexpertly running out of talent, but a reduced turning circle in a situation like this is one of the technology's more mundane and practical benefits.

But how much is it worth? In an odd twist, I'm dealing with two sets of official turning circle numbers: one that matches the Lexus website (and ours) and another I got after a call to the Lexus PR department. Odd this may be, both sets of figures agree on one point: DRS shaves 1.4 feet off the curb-to-curb U-turn diameter. Not much, perhaps, but just enough here on my street.

Curious, I lined the Lexus up for a little test reenactment, starting as you see here with the outside edges of the tires lined up with the asphalt/concrete gutter seam as a reference line. Next I cranked the steering all the way to the left and then eased onto the gas.


Here's where the GS wound up. After first straightening the wheels my tape measure told me the ride-side tires had moved laterally exactly 30.0 feet from the seam I started from. But 30 feet is not the turning circle we're looking for because the front tires trace a wider arc during a turn.


Turns out the protruding chin of the GS's front fascia is the limiting factor, and here it came no closer than a couple of inches.

According to my tape the asphalt part of the road is 31 feet, 8 inches wide, with two more feet of gutter to the curb. That's a turning circle of 33 feet, 8 inches minus the two inches by which the Lexus missed the curb. Call it 33.5 feet. Care to guess the published number with the rear steering option?

The number I got from Lexus PR was 33.4 feet. I suppose that means the website's "with LDH" figure of 35.4 feet isn't correct because there's no doubt I cleared that distance.

However you look at it, 33.5 feet is a mighty tight turning circle for a car this long, a good thing to know if you have a tight driveway.

Dan Edmunds, Director of Vehicle Testing @ 8,885 miles

Link : http://www.edmunds.com/lexus/gs-350/...ng-circle.html

larryinWA

Do they offer the cold weather package with the FSport? It's a good thing most people feel stongly about either the FSport or the Luxury. Shows Lexus did some good marketing research. Whoever said the lux model is about the passengers, is correct fo me. I wanted a fun car to drive, but passenger amenities were also important.

BarrettF77

Glad you agreed with my statement. If comfort and additional amenities for older passengers is
Your thing, it's a great match. With younger kiddos and short trips when the whole family is in my car, the F Sport is perfect for me.

omaralt

my issue is that the F sport and luxury packages are essentially the same price, and you get a lot less stuff in the f sport package.. why? why not include the semi aniline leather? why not include the 18 way seats for both driver and passenger (instead of 16 way driver and 8 way passenger)? why not get the adaptive headlights? you get no real advantage with the F sport other than cosmetics.. they both have the adjustable suspension (sport +) so they're very similar in driving dynamics. i just dont get it. the f sport package either needs to be cheaper or have more stuff. otherwise lexus is making a killer profit on it

Outrage

The F Sport trim is sufficiently selling, so it wouldn't make sense for Toyota to decrease the higher profit margin on that model by adding features. I started out looking at purchasing an F Sport model until I more thoroughly researched the feature lists. The shocks' dampening calibration differences between the F Sport and Luxury models were unremarkable to me. Add to that the fact that the AWD F Sport is equipped with all-season touring tires while the Luxury model is equipped with all-season high-performance tires and the differences seem even more obtuse.

Vladi

F-Sport on GS is more about cosmetics than anything else unless you add that rear wheel steering option, which I think should've been included together with 8 speed in F-Sport package anyway.

IS takes completely different approach with F-Sport but you do indeed loose a lot of luxury features so if you are all about the features GS F-sport is not such a bad trade off at all.

Valueguy

I have a lower back problem. Most car seats cause me to have back pain. I prefer the Luxury GS 350 over the F sport except in one crucial area: Driver's seat. I will sit in the fully loaded Luxury GS 350 again but the F sport seat was quite nice.

If you haven't compared car seats then that means you don't have a back issue. But, many of us do have some sort of back problem and Car seat comfort trumps everything else.

I like the look of the F sport but one can always add a spoiler and change the wheels. I also prefer a leather steering wheel.

Outrage

I've had surgery on my spine and I still have quite a bit of pain. I find the seats on the F Sport, Luxury, and Premium models sufficient. The upper backrest tilt adjustment is the most desirable trait of the F Sport and Luxury models, however. I found the GS's seats, in all configurations, are superior to any other vehicles in the class. It was one of the reasons I purchased it over the A6, specifically.

Valueguy

I agree with you. I like a thigh extender and the ability to tilt the entire seat back (including the bottom cushion) to take pressure off my lower back. at the Auto show I sat in about 50 cars and my back hurt in most of them (almost all of them). The GS 350 F sport was one of the few cars I could actually sit in without severe back pain. That said, I still think the upgraded seats in the BMW 5 series are best in class. But, I found the F sport seats better than the A6, Acura RL and TL, Hyundai Genesis, Infiniti, etc.

Here is a recent blog comment about the F Sport:

After a week in the driver's seat, the 2013 Lexus GS 350 F Sport left us very impressed – so much so that we're now wondering if this particular enthusiast-tuned GS is a better sport sedan than the benchmark BMW 535i. Those are strong considerations, but the third-generation Japanese contender delivers quicker acceleration, more grip and a much more engaging driving experience. The BMW 5 Series is a fine automobile, but it appears that Lexus has finally managed to raise the all-important sport sedan bar just a bit higher

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

I think the biggest feature I really wish they kept was the AFS (Adaptive Front Lighting System) other than that I could care less about the others.

praetor

Biggest feature of the FSport for me was that it was about $2K less than the luxury model. LOL ... Luxury model definitely a better value but I had no used for a lot of the extras that came with the luxury model. I got the Fsport because I like how it drives and looks.

BarrettF77

I think Lexus is making more on the F Sport, but the variable gear ratio for the steering is also something I think the F Sport gets. The Lux does drive softer and there are other subtle differences. I think the F Sport RWD also has a LSD.

Lexus should add more features to the F Sport though. Just don't do it soon because it's been too soon since I just got my car.

sam430

iTrader: (10)

Can anyone confirm the LSD being in the F?

omaralt

i agree, i dont understand why they took that out. that seems to fit with the sporty image of the F sport. but the fact that you dont care about them is irrelevant. the luxury package has a lot more stuff yet they're the same price

there is only $60 difference between the two. not $2K. maybe the luxury one you were looking at had more options (HUD, ML, etc)

i drove both and could not tell any difference when both were set to sport +. i dont think any GS350 has an LSD.