static808

Does anybody know the actual vehicle alotment for the U.S.? I know somewhere on the boards a Lexus representative mentioned Lexus' GS300 breakout is: 30% GS300AWD, 70% GS300. Is Lexus going to ship a good amount of cars for the intro or trickle in the cars ?

This might or might not affect price, especially the GS300AWD.

biker

The price should not be affected - they'll all go for MSRP for quite some time - the only thing it will affect is availability of certain combos.
Lexus will build as many as it can sell - 2K/mo I'd guess.

jjl12

1. so it looks like we can definitely order the GS300 AWD with the 18 inch rims on the GS430, correct??

2. will the GS300 AWD have a noticeable gap in the wheel well because it's AWD, or will it look identical to the GS430 assuming you put the same 18 inch rims?? the pics i saw of the GS300AWD w/ the 18 inch GS430 rims had an awful big gap in the wheelwell, i hope they just forgot to remove the spacers before displaying. anyone care to venture a guess??

it's gonna be a close call for me between the 530xi, GS300AWD, or the new Benz M-Class (i have one child, will have 2 soon, might need the cargo space).

flipside909

Where does it say 18" is available for AWD and what photos are you referring to? 18" will be available for the GS430.

lexguynj

I too have not seen or heard any mention of an optional 18" Rim from Lexus for the GS300 AWD. It may not be practical to outfit a large rim size with AWD, however the RX330 can do it (my former one had the 18" Rim option and was still good in the now, so maybe it's possible it will be offerred on the GS300 AWD.

At this time, I have only seen the 18" rims on the GS430, which look great!

lexguynj

Have faith that if you have a good relationship with your local Lexus Dealer and have bought cars for them in the past that they will give you at least a couple of hundred dollars off MSRP. Although not much, at least it's something. Start kissing some dealer butt early!

lexguynj

I am located in NJ and my local dealer said all the initial 2006 GS300s that will come in will all be AWD and then the RWD GS300s will follow afterwards. Why not offer the Loaded GS300 AWD first to make more money and create more demand. Here in NJ, the AWD version will come in handy for these winters.

lexguynj

I know you can take a dealer's info with a grain of salt (mostly inaccurate), but my local BMW dealer tells me that the New 530s with the new enginer and AWD will be coming out in April / May of this year, so that is only a couple of months away! But it still seems like forever and I think you have to compare these the 530xi vs the GS300 AWD in person to find out which is the more fun car to drive. The GS300 AWD is growing on me, but I am still not sure yet.

LexFather

Well, all cars have gap. That is why upgraded shocks/springs are for. WIth 18" wheels, it will still have gap.

Also, AWD cars ride higher than their RWD/FWD counterparts. I expect the AWD GS to be about 1/2 inch higher than the RWD model to fit the gear. For instance;
A BMW 330i is 55.7 inches tall. THe AWD 330xi is 56.5 inches tall.

jjl12

Yes, all cars have gap, but the gap in the 430 with the 18 inch wheels is perfect. And no, my A4 3.0 with sport package rides just as low as any RWD car, which is partly the reason why i chose it over the 330xi (the gap is perfect). I'm hoping that the Gs300 AWD won't ride any higher (i.e. have more of a gap) than the RWD version.

LexFather

Audi (and magazines have commented on this) A4s with the sport kit simply look perfect. There may not be another car that looks so right from the factory. Now a A4 1.8 without the sport kit looks as bad as a 300C with those 16" wheels.

Many car makers take pics of thier cars in magazines with cut springs or aftermarket springs. I am not accusing Lexus of this but I would not be surprised if the car looked different in person than in pics.

To your question, I guess we'll see.

flipside909

I think theres a big important thing that people are comparing, complaining, nitpicking about the new GS which is mostly seen on Autoshow displays and turntables. 1) All the cars are lifted up to have every wheel lined up to have the L badge right side up. 2) Most of us know that when a car is lifted by a jack, the natural suspension setting is not completely flat after lifted. The suspension sits proper after the wheels have turned on the ground. Because of this, the car looks as if it has more gap than it should. Granted it is stock suspension, wheel gap is going to be evident regardless. Remember, most Lexus vehicle suspensions are tuned primarily for comfort, not asthetics or performance.

biker

I have a feeling Lexus might want to change that a bit with the new GS.

that_guy

I'd think they'd tune this one more towards performance. I mean, they tested it on the nurburgring!

BaLLzZz

If i am correct it has the 4 suspension setting buttons. LUXURY,SPORT,SNOW,SUMINELSE