I think he is talking about the front end of the 4GS, but the way it's worded is confusing.

 

great post. absolutely, they need to be more different now

yeah, it must be worded very weirdly if he was talking about 4gs. on the other hand, it would be even more silly if they have another facelift on the 3gs

 

His comment about making Lexus more driver-oriented is disconcerting. I think Lexus has always had a great niche as a company that makes high quality cars that are more geared toward refinement and quiet than sport.

Sure cars like the IS and LFA... go for it. Maybe even the GS. But I hope they don't take this all the way to the LS and ES and try to make them drive like BMWs.

 

If the 2012 GS is another facelift and not a FULL redesign, there will be a lot of VERY angry people, including me.

Didn't you say you heard the GS would retain "traditional" GS cues?


I agree completely. The ES and LS need to still be focused on luxury. The IS, GS, and cars like the CT or HS can be focused a bit more on sport. The SC should be sport luxury.


I think he was being so vague he confused himself . He claims we will see changes on the 2011 IS and GS. He is incorrect here though, as the 2011 GS is already on the Lexus USA website and there are no changes to it. He is correct that the 2011 IS is slightly updated.

Agreed, and the ISF and LFA are good first steps. They don't look like any Toyota vehicles out there. Even the CT unfortunately looks similar to a Toyota from the side profile, mainly due to those underwhelming rims .


Exactly, and I just hope that this interview had a bunch of weird wording and that a lot of misinterpretation exists here to due the vague answers.

Lexus needs to stick with what they're good at; in other words Lexus needs to REMAIN Lexus, not try to be BMW like Infiniti and Acura. The F sub-brand is just that, a sub-brand, not the core of the brand. The CORE Lexus cars still need to be mostly about luxury. At the same time, there is nothing wrong with the IS and GS both being sportier. They need to differentiate the IS, GS, and ES from each other.

IS and GS can both be sporty as long as Lexus maintains a clear differentiation and keeps the ES and LS luxury.

 

They better redo the IS. Its a dwarfs car and looks a little plain jane imho

 

I'm kind of on the fence about the GS. I know it's semi-marketed as a sport sedan and I know it hasn't been selling great, but I'm not sure that's because it isn't sporty. I used to have a 2GS and despite the fact that they used to have commercials galore comparing it to the 5-series, and despite the fact that on paper it accelerated evenly with the 5 and even out-braked it, the overall driving experience was just far too dull. Still, I don't think that's the issue. I think it has more to do with the car itself being kind of uninspiring overall. I think you can make a car inspiring and impressionable without making it sporty. And if anyone can do that, Lexus can. I also think they need to drop the 5-series comparisons and lead in their own way.

Make a GS-F... sure... no problem there. But don't take everything down to the basic GS and make everyone pay with a harsh ride and excessive NVH.

 

I see what you mean and I agree in a way. The GS needs to be sportier than it currently is, without being harsh or having poor NVH. The key is balance.

The problem with the 3GS that a lot of people seem to have is that it is somewhat of a harsh-riding car, yet it's feel and driving character is dull and uninspiring. So in essence you get the worst of both worlds. You get a fairly harsh ride with a dull driving experience.

Even with the ISF some people say that the ride is overly harsh in the context of the feel and driving character it offers. I think that's one of the reasons the 2011 ISF has a revised suspension that is supposed to be more comfortable while at the same time providing better handling.

The 4GS I feel needs to be sporty without being harsh. It needs to be have a sporty driving character while still being fairly comfortable and having great NVH. At the same time, it needs to be clearly differentiated from the ES. Overall it needs to be a more inspiring car, and that includes the interior and exterior. The key to all this is everything in the car needs to be better balanced together.

 

+1 with you bro: Lexus has something good with the quad lights. Its a shame they took them off of the LX570.

To me, the quad lights emphasize a different type of Lexus vehicle than what the traditional buyer gets.

 

absolutely agree. the 3gs is noticeably stiffer than 2gs in terms of ride. but handling/drive wise i don't see as much of an improvement

indeed i have heard some people saying that. from my test drive of the isf, i also feel it's pretty darn stiff on uneven roads

that would be the goal. i think the new 5 series with sport package comes very close to this. sporty, very capable, but when you want to relax, it allows you

 

It does seem like the new 5 with sport package offers a great overall inspiring driving experience. That along with the fact that the new E Class is very popular means the GS needs to be great in almost all categories to be competitive. Plus the GS needs to be further distanced from indirect competition such as the Genesis sedan.

 

but i think it's a great time for lexus to demonstrate what they are capable of

 

Yes it is . Toyota has a history of delivering a greatly improved product if the previous generation was disappointing or unsuccessful. Lexus did this with the 1IS to 2IS change.

 

I hope he's saying the 2013 GS will come in 2012.
It's starting to look like lexus is following bmw's release schedule, where the 5 series lasted 7 years.

2011 IS just got a face lift, so i expect the facelift to last 2 years through 2012, with the 3IS coming late 2012 as a 2013 model.

you'll all just have to sit and bite your nails.

 

Huh, 2013 GS? His comments about the 2011 GS are incorrect, or maybe the article has incorrect wording, because the 2011 GS is up early on the Lexus USA website. I'm pretty sure that's a strong indication the 2012 GS is redesigned and is coming early.

As for the IS, yes I would expect a redesigned IS for the 2013 MY.

 

Curious to know why the 1IS was a disappointing. I always thought it was a pretty good Lexus.