2014 Lexus GS350: 8AT, Siri, Climate Concierge and more!
09-25-13, 11:13 AM
#31
What I would like to see in the new GS if I were to ever go back to the GS would be simply the feature that allows the base of the seat to extend for taller drivers. I dont think I saw that when I sat in one recently. Thats one thing I have admired about the Q50 and G37. Even though its a midsize car it gives you that seat feature that you usually only get in large premium luxury sedans. I think overall the GS350 is very very hard to beat. For me the fact that its a Lexus that looks amazing, handles better than it looks ( and better than the competing 5 series ), and is better than the previous gen in every way is enough to get me back even with the added thigh support. But it would be great with it
09-25-13, 11:14 AM
#33
What I would like to see in the new GS if I were to ever go back to the GS would be simply the feature that allows the base of the seat to extend for taller drivers. I dont think I saw that when I sat in one recently. Thats one thing I have admired about the Q50 and G37. Even though its a midsize car it gives you that seat feature that you usually only get in large premium luxury sedans. I think overall the GS350 is very very hard to beat. For me the fact that its a Lexus that looks amazing, handles better than it looks ( and better than the competing 5 series ), and is better than the previous gen in every way is enough to get me back even with the added thigh support. But it would be great with it
09-25-13, 11:29 AM
#34
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Nice upgrades! Although I am confused about the 6 speed AT. I do remember hearing the chief engineer saying that they didn't want to have an 8 speed AT because they were looking for a maximum performance output... It seems that marketing and everybody going 8-9 won over performance.
09-25-13, 11:46 AM
#35
Pole Position
Nice upgrades! Although I am confused about the 6 speed AT. I do remember hearing the chief engineer saying that they didn't want to have an 8 speed AT because they were looking for a maximum performance output... It seems that marketing and everybody going 8-9 won over performance.
You didn't really buy into that BS excuse, 8 speed probably wasn't ready at the time when GS was conceived or some other models had priority in inventory. Anyway nice update, should have been like that from the first MY but better late than never.
I think GS is now 80% complete, all it needs now is some good face refresh a la IS/LS and its good to go. And offer those LEDs as an option or standard on all trims for Christ's sake.
Oh and one more thing LDH package didn't go away as it was speculated before.
Last edited by Vladi; 09-25-13 at 02:38 PM.
that proves my point. The ES came out first with BSM and RCTA. The GS comes out a year later with just BSM...
09-25-13, 03:18 PM
#40
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09-25-13, 05:39 PM
#41
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09-25-13, 10:58 PM
#44
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Nice upgrades! Although I am confused about the 6 speed AT. I do remember hearing the chief engineer saying that they didn't want to have an 8 speed AT because they were looking for a maximum performance output... It seems that marketing and everybody going 8-9 won over performance.
You didn't really buy into that BS excuse, 8 speed probably wasn't ready at the time when GS was conceived or some other models had priority in inventory. Anyway nice update, should have been like that from the first MY but better late than never.
I think GS is now 80% complete, all it needs now is some good face refresh a la IS/LS and its good to go. And offer those LEDs as an option or standard on all trims for Christ's sake.
Oh and one more thing LDH package didn't go away as it was speculated before.
09-26-13, 03:42 AM
#45
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Plenty of engineers are on record in technical publications saying that the laws of diminishing returns kick in past "6 or 7" forward gears. 8 and 9 is really all marketing. I've had plenty of seat time in newer BMWs with the ZF 8-speed, and while it's a fine transmission it really is overkill. Do you really need gears spaced every 500rpm? If 8th gear wasn't providing enough pull to go up a grade or make a maneuver, 7th wasn't either and it was actually hitting 6th on me. Gearing could have easily been 1-2-3-4-6-8, skipping 5th and 7th. In other words, just spread out 5th and 6th on a 6-speed automatic a bit more and you have the same thing, minus the overkill. On higher powered cars like the BMW 550i, 1st gear is pretty pointless and you can actually get better 0-60 times starting from 2nd gear since there's so much power and you save the time for a shift. If you're in manual mode, it's also annoying having to manually click through so many gears. Manual shift from 8th to 4th is a lot more annoying than getting from 6th to 4th. Anyways if you've got an 8-speed it's nice and entertaining in a way to hear the engine wind up and wind down so quickly as it goes through all of the gears, but no big loss at all if you're not really gaining much performance (either acceleration or fuel economy) and 6-speed automatics don't hunt as much and are easier to keep track of mentally in manual mode.