bclexus

You say the LS feels 'too big' to you. I don't know what size man you are (height and weight), but in my opinion it takes a rather large person in either height or weight, or both, to look right, feel right, and fit right in any large sedan. When I see a 5' 6" 130 lb man get out of a large sedan like a Lexus LS I laugh to myself...just like I laugh to myself when I see a 6' 5" 290 lb man get out of a Mini Cooper. It's like the small guy is wearing a friend's size 60 Long suit and the large guy is wearing a friend's size 32 Short suit. I'd say for a man to feel that a Lexus LS 'feel right' he should be at least 5' 11" tall or be significantly overweight, or both.

PS: Krave - You really need to change your location to LA (for Louisiana). Your lower case l looks like a capital i, and the 'la' you're currently using stands for Iowa.

php

I'm actually looking for more luxury than sportiness in the potential Lexus. I fully understand it will not be a 911, and I'm not expecting it to be. Luxury will come first, but at the same time I don't want something that drives too soft, hence not considering the ES. It seems the general feedback is the LS will be too soft of a ride (and maybe too big) for me at this moment.

I also searched a few threads regarding luxury package/wood trim and F Sport. I originally thought about getting F Sport and just swap out the aluminum trim for wood, but a few said that would be major $$ ($10k?!). If that, I would probably just go for the luxury package, and then swap out the front bumper for a F Sport one. I understand the F Sport will have slightly different tuned suspension, so I will try to experience both at the dealership soon to see which one I prefer.

Since I will be losing a lot of the sportiness from the 911, I'm hoping to up the luxury and comfort level a lot in the Lexus GS, but at the same time hoping that I can still have a pretty decent handling car that wouldn't mind taking on a few winding roads occasionally. Let me know if I'm thinking about this right.

Mcb345

Assuming the LS is out, I believe the F Sport is the superior car for the price but I think you might be ok in the luxury package GS with the adjustable suspension for the occasional WOT winding back road as long as you aren't pushing the car to it's limits (which will be reached a little sooner than the F Sport). I personally thought the luxury package exterior was too sedated for me so the F Sport was a no brainer since it adds the gun metal 19" wheels (FYI 2013 GS luxury models had 18" wheels not 19" like 2015) and sport bumpers / rear lip. Buf, if you're willing to throw a few thousand dollars more to upgrade the exterior then the Luxury Package might suit you just fine but foregoing the wood trim Luxury Package gives you a much nicer handling car in the F Sport with very few features lost compared to the Luxury Package. Yes, I think the Luxury Package interior is more luxurious LOOKING but in reality they both offer top notch features and there are very few, if any compromises in terms of bells and whistles lost if you choose the F Sport (can't get rear-audio controls, oh well).

Also, I'm not well versed on this but I believe if you're doing RWD you can't get the Dynamic Handling Package with the Luxury Package. I"m not certain how many cars have the Dynamic Handling package built in (in my area they only offer AWD which doesn't have the package available) but it would be a nice feature to have for carving backroads and only comes in the F Sport. Keep in mind, if you're coming from a 911 you might need as much sportiness as possible on your next car so that you don't experience extreme 911 withdrawal!!!

Final thought, are you defining "luxury" as the features presented in the car or the look of the interior? If it's the former then go F Sport. Will you really get upset about not having rear audio controls and side door sunshades? Your golf buddies on Saturday's can survive without this...

SW17LS

You loose more than just the rear audio controls with the F Sport.

-Rear audio controls
-Rear door sunshade
-3 Zone climate control
-S Flow function
-Adaptive headlights
-Additional seat adjustments (makes a difference)
-Semi-aniline leather
-Passenger seat memory

As someone who also is looking for more luxury than sport, its a clear decision to me between the Luxury and the F Sport.

GS3Tek

iTrader: (8)

You have to drive each one back to back to feel the diffference

I was in the exact same position last year and ended up with the 14 GS F sport.

Also, I don't know if bsm and rcta were introduced in the 09-11 LS?

What about those petite ladies driving those humongoloid suburbans, escalades and expeditions and all you see are knuckles on the steering wheel???

bclexus

Women are different (yeah, I know)! When I see a petite women get out of a huge Suburban or Escalade I usually just think they are a soccer Mom and she needs that size vehicle for her kids and half the neighbors' kids for sport functions, etc. When I see a petite woman get out of something like a Lexus LS I usually just think she is just temporarily driving her husband's car...and he is 6' 3' and weighs 220 lbs. I really cannot imagine why any petite woman would want to drive any type of large vehicle unless it was really needed or necessary. Such vehicles are often a pain to drive and park in high-traffic cities.

krava

Right now I am 5'10 probably 290lbs right now after going off my diet for the past 2 weeks thinking about a car. I have come to the conclusion that I need to earn it. So I am going to post some criteria that I have to obtain before I get a new one. Now if my car starts eating oil or the car goes out I get one immediately if not I have to earn it. My credit went from a 750 to 711 since 2 places ran my credit though 9 places. I am going to work that back up. You have to remember the cars that I have used. #1 eagle talon, #2 99 corvette #3 acura NSX, then 1998 Passat then GS350. I am definitely not used to a big car. The biggest car I had was 1992 ES300 or the 2002 acura TL-S. This was in response to the OP asking how big I am. I need to get down to 5'10 220lbs at 10% bodyfat. I haven't ever gotten there closest was around 18%. The fat loss hand held machine says 31 .

obturator

Boy, I didn't know I need to grow few more inches and gain a few more pounds to upgrade to an LS. You learn something new everyday on these forums. I guess that's why I used to own a MINI Cooper S, coincidently enough. Lol.

sarcoptic

I have to laugh about the weight thing as for me personally I had this same situation. I remember my wife and I sitting in 2nd Gen IS when I we were on the bigger size and couldn't believe how small the car felt. Now looking back I realize I was just fat. I ended up dropping from 275 down to 185 and my wife losing a lot of weight as well. 18 months ago we went and sat in the 3rd Gen IS Fsport and was astounded by how much room it had and the cockpit feel. So I definitely see the context of bigger size and smaller cars BTW that IS is now gone for a '15 Fsport Crafted and I couldn't be happier. Having all the amenities in a car is huge over a gauge cluster

coach1

I'm very happy with my 2014 GS350 F-Sport....however....the new LS460 F-Sport & Craft Line are impressive. It is much less "grandpa's luxury tank" than the previous generation....and by no means disrespecting the older models, just my opinion. It is a hefty price to pay, but for the ultimate in sport and luxury, it does have my attention.

SW17LS

Its not a pair of pants guys lol, you don't have to be a certain size to wear an LS.

obturator

If the baggy fit is still in, then I'm lookin' gooood in my GS. Lol.