Well, I dropped off my car at the body shop to get some work done on it and I have a Jag to play with for the next few weeks. I'm not a fan of Jags but it was the most luxurious car that the rental place had, so I chose it.

Well......THIS CAR SCOOTS. It's faster than my GS, quieter, and grips the road like MADD. There is almost no body roll and I can take the craziest turns at pretty high speeds. My roomie was driving it home and there's this turn on the drive on the way home and he wanted to see if he could take it and it managed it flawlessly. My GS would have rolled so much that I would have to slam on teh brakes for fear of the car loosing it's grip. It's like driving a BMW.

I'm going to try to mod my suspension as much as my wallet allows me to get the ride as close to this as I can, but I probably can't really do too much about the power that is lacking in my GS. I'm really disappointed in Lexus for not giving the GS a more surer suspension.

Just my 2 cents.

 

$$$ will fix that

 

I will agree that they do look nice but, they are complete garbage. They run like crap after 30,000 miles.
I know, I deal with them everyday.

 

Trust me, I KNOW!!!

I've read reviews and talked to a few owners....not a very happy group of campers. But this car sure does impress me. The next three weeks will be fun, but I am already missing my baby.

 

Are you talking about the regular S2000 or the "R" model? Standard Jag suspensions are usually biased more toward comfort than handling. "R"s, of course, are a different story.

Also, tires can make a big difference....it is not all in the suspension either.
Jag reliability, while having improved under Ford ownership somewhat, still is not up to Lexus-Infiniti standards. If you're going to keep the car 100,000 (or more) miles, I'd say keep the GS and stop complaining.....but that, of course, is your call.

 

Well, I'm not complaining, but more just stating an observation of the car compared to my GS. The S-Type I am renting is the 4.2 V8 and it's a rather luxurious car. My dad has an XJ6 I believe, and I drove it a when he first bought it, but wasn’t quite impressed. I’ve never been a fan of the brand and only heard complaints about it’s reliability, which I still hear is a problem with current models. This S-Type though is another story as it has impressed me. The amenities that are in it far surpass the standards in my GS.

The Alpine sound system is an absolute aural orgasm. The cabin is quieter than the GS, and with sensors almost ever few feet the car automatically detects road noise and cabin temperature and the car quickly and efficiently makes adjustments. The ASL on my GS is almost a function that really isn’t even there. The car has an indash CD player that plays one disc and in the trunk there is a 6 disc changer for more music.

The trunk is one of my favorite things on the car as well. It’s not quite as roomy as the GS but one push of the button pops the trunk open which is pretty standard. But the Jag doesn’t stop there. With a longer press of the button it will also open it completely for you making loading the car with full hands easier. That is something that Lexus should have implemented in the car. It’s the most useful nuance for me, as I am always loading my bags in and out of the car. The S-Types trunk is not as tall as the GS but it will fit enough to get you to your destination. My Vuitton cruiser might not be able to fit in the trunk because it’s too tall for the Jag but que sera. My Alize and Keep-Alls though fit perfectly well in it.

Another trick is that the sunshade disappears when you open the sunroof. This eliminates the dust line that our GSs form on the shades after while. I hate that you can see the sunshade in our cars when the sunroofs are completely open. It’s something small and really insignificant, but it’s the small nuances and details that separate luxury from the regular cars.

The interior is a little tight in the Jaguar and feels more like a cockpit. The seats though are bucket seats and really make spirited driving very comfortable. They hug you and give you more confidence and security. You get a feeling of lying down in the Jag and that took me a while to get used to. The leather is a bit on the hard side and I miss the comfortable Zen like feeling of my GS. It has a very European feel to it over all. The two setting heated seats are also pretty useful for those who want a warmer seat on some days and a warmed seat on others.

Now guys please don’t misconstrue this review of sorts as me leaning more towards the Jaguar, as I am a die-hard Lexus lover. I absolutely love my GS and the quality of the car is what keeps me in a Lexus, as it is the only brand I have ever owned. The GS is a car that was not a purchase for just a means of transportation. My GS purchase was one of emotion. It was love at first sight. Its curves and stance is as sexy as a Diablo. Everything about the car is as I would have wanted. The interior is large enough to carry myself and a few passengers and allow us to not just fit in the car but be comfortable in it. The instrumentation along with everything else in it is where one would expect it to be. It’s uncluttered and has everything one needs. The stock audio system is adequate but could be better as we all know and perhaps the Mark Levinson addresses this but from what I hear, it only makes it a little more bearable.

Now, if I were to own an S-Type, I would enjoy the ride, but I would not love it as I love my GS. The GS is a vehicle that evokes passion. Every time I look at it, it’s like falling in love again for the first time and every emotion that I felt for it when I saw it years ago returns just as strongly as before. I just hope that Lexus engineers its cars to do a better job at keeping up with the other marquee luxury manufacturers out there. Yes our cars are smooth as butter on the road, but we easily get smoked on the road when performance is put to the test. Lexus has the Luxury part down with no questions asked….now lets concentrate on building up from that foundation.
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I guess it doesn't hurt to have a little more power, but I sure don't want to see Lexus start to take the same road Mercedes has. Case in point: 15 years ago ( before Lexus was even in the American market) Mercedes built what were probably the best cars in the world quality-wise ( just like Lexus does today ).
And what happened?....they lost sense of their mission, started adding the AMG models.....putting more and more HP and torque in until now it has reached simply absurd levels of power...approaching 700 in some cases. Meanwhile, as more and more emphasis was placed on power and the AMG cars, quality control went straight to hell....today Mercedes builds not the best, like 15 years ago, but some of the WORST cars on the road quality-wise. I DON'T want to see that happen to Lexus.....like you, I like their cars too much for that.

 

I totally agree. I don't think Lexus is ever going to go south as far as in quality. I have drivin so many cars and Toyota and Lexus are always well put together. This goes for the Corollas all the way up to the LS4. I just don't want Lexus to get too comfortable with being on the top.

Jaguar recognizes that to be taken seriously by luxury car shoppers it had better ante up. For 2003 the mid-sized S-Type’s 4.0 V8 became a 4.2, boosting horsepower to an even 300. But remember 300 is just enough for the vanilla model in this class these days. So there’s also a R supercharged 4.2, good for an even 400 horsepower. BMW M5 territory—at least until the next generation M5 shows up with a 500 horsepower V10.

Though Lexus has a steadfast hold on the Luxury aspect, it's development is not parralleling the rest of the auto industry. Lesser sedans are now coming out with 18s standard and more horsepower and Lexus hopefully will be able to at least match that. I'm a bit ashamed that an Altima or a Maxima can smoke my GS3. I still love my car though. Always will, as well as the Lexus Brand. I'll probably die owning one.