LexFather

^^^ Damn bro.....

I felt the last gen was more of a bargain as lucusb7 stated. This one is kind of mind-boggling with pricing. It no longer gives V-8 power but it does give I-4 economy.

I wonder should they just have made a GS 300h and been done with it.

Stormforge

agreed mike. that's one of the things that's stopping me from upgrading to the 4GSh. that's a sore point for me, because i want my "umf" when i floor it. this is forcing me to keep my 3GSh a little longer, even tho i want to get rid of it. 4GSh may happen, we'll see. will all depend if jdm full bumper replacements make the 4GS look like a keeper....

nantang

I am much happier with a GS450h at $67k than a cheaper GS300h. A less powerful engine and better fuel economy goes against the basic essence of the GS as a sports sedan, and such would be skirting closer to the ES300h, with its newly updated, more aggressive elements. 36-37 mpg is still spectacular, and so is 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. I feel the GS hybrid is where it needs to be. I just wish more agreed, because there aren't a lot of them.

LexFather

Its kind of odd to me.

Lexus debuts worlds first RWD hybrid sport luxury sedan. Lexus hardly advertises or pushes it. Internet bashes it. Owners love it. Lexus even races it. More performance oriented than MPG oriented.

Oddly enough for a vehicle people bashed and few bought, the competition chased it. Now here or overseas the 5, A6, M35h, even Porsche Panamera offer hybrids, all less effective. Odd to enter a market that isn't a high seller at all.

2nd gen arrives, superior to the 3GSh in most every way, an amazing 31 MPG average, best in class and Lexus hasn't said a word. Even less advertising than the first model. Maybe I've reading the wrong mags but its like it never debuted. Contrarily Infiniti advertised the M35h very heavily, even showing the 3GS in ads and the car has bombed. It sells worse than the Panamera hybrid.

I don't know why Lexus put the effort into it if they don't want to showcase it. To make matter more mind-boggling, they position it as a somewhat V-8 competitor yet we don't get the F-sport model.

I am absolutely lost about their strategy for the GS 450h. Completely lost me.

spwolf

i would rather get GS450h than GS300h if they cost the same... but they dont. GS450h here is ridicilously priced at $135k loaded.

In Europe though - 200hp+ is considered as very good... it will also be lighter so better handling. Prius like mileage matters a lot for mpg as well as resale value, at $8-9/gallon 30%-40% difference in mileage adds up!

natnut

My crazy suspicion is that the upcoming GS-F may be hybrid.

That oft-mentioned 460hp is "only" for the petrol part of the drivetrain and that Lexus is banking on the battery to make-up the hp/torque shortfall to the German super-sedans.

That's why they're downplaying the impressive performance credentials of the GS450h in the US. So that the GS-F hybrid's turbo-V8-challenging performance will seem fresh and new when it finally debuts.

Think about it -- Lexus could probably tune the electric motor in their sleep to pump out M5/E63 AMG rivalling hp/torque at the simple trade-off of fuel economy. They're just biding their time...

Stormforge

if your guesses for the GS-F comes true, i would be all over it like a kid in a candy store!

judoflip

Let's face it, it's an exotic beast that hasn't defined its market. People buying hybrids to save money on gas aren't going to buy a luxury car and people looking for a luxury car can get equivalent plush and ride without the price premium on the hybrid tech. So who's left, besides me?

There is a tiny little niche that the 450h fills for the moment: people like me who really want an all EV luxury car, like the Tesla Model S or the Fisker Karma, but no one is offering one yet, including Tesla and Fisker (sarcasm). I'm banking on Tesla getting their act together by the time my Lexus lease runs out in 2015, but in the mean time, I'm very happy with my 450h.