Rockville

forum you are posting in. I have a lot of seat time in both the GS300 and the ES350 UL. It boils down to what type of driver you are and your space requirements. As others have posted the ES350 has an enormous back seat and a generous trunk. It has more luxury content than anything else in its segment. It is sold out most of the time. It has the newest Gen. 5 nav system and the UL will give your the 7.1 surround sound theater experience. The back moonroof is a nice touch and the graphite wheels look sporty enough too. You get the rear sunshade and parking assist usually. It employs a 272 HP engine that scoots to highway speed in 6.8 seconds. The ES350 out performs the Acura TL and really now competes more with the RL. It has a much smaller turning radius than the TL too. It is equal in performance to the current GS300. The ES350 UL as equipped lists for $43,989.

The GS350's arrival is imminent and will be a big step for Lexus in the Sport sedan segment. It will have a high performance 3.5 liter putting out 303 HP. It will be offerred in AWD for places like Chicago. An AWD will take on hilly terrain much better than FWD in the snow. It will handle like a sport sedan and not the same at all as the FWD ES350's luxmobile character. Very little body roll and electric power steering that is fast and precise. The GS350 will reward the enthusiast driver in acceleration like a V8 at 5.7 seconds with the RWD and a tenth or so more in AWD. It will have the Gen. 5 Nav and newer Bluetooth. It will offer the Mark Levinson surround sound DVD movie theater. It will have intuitive park assist, outside mirror foldback and headlamp washers. This will list for $51,967 which is slightly less than the GS300. It is made in the top ranked factory in the world Tahara along with the LS and GX series.

Just like Gumbo can have many ingredients and variations these are two distinctly different sedans that need to be savored for your taste preferences. Luxury or Sport?

Rock

PsychDoc

All very interesting.

But when all is said and done you're still left with that magificent exterior "styling" the GS brings to the table.

GumboChief

If only they had added VDIM to the GS350AWD special sauce
Your posts (and early speculation on it being in the GS350) really sold me on the technology. That would have made the GS an easy choice

However a 65K sticker in Chicago for a GS430 is a bit more than I care to spend

LexBob2

In cars, as well as other areas - "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

I believe the trunk of the GS is the same size as the current Avalon.

TunedRX300

Correction, physical measurement does not square up with your subjective experience.

PsychDoc

Mine and about 4 other people who have seen as well as test driven the GS and either driven or spent a considerable amount of time in the ES.

My point still stands.

rx7_fan

This is turning into the Acura TL VS ES thread. People coming in this ES350 forum asking XXX vs ES350 are coming in with a loaded question, and is likely to spark off fumes.

In the end though, it's your money so just drive both models and buy what you like and can afford. Many ES members here will offers their opinions and give you some perspectives when you test drive the ES and GS; but don't take their word for it, go test drive it yourself and see.

Oooh about the GS VS ES in "roomy-ness," I really don't care what the specs sheet say, if the ES physically feels bigger (inside cabin) to me, then it's bigger. Who cares about specs, it's all about how you feel when you drive in the car. When your friends/family feet are crammed, are you going to show them the spec sheet and say 'this car is really big, because this piece of paper say so'?

MD350

Well said. I agree

LexBob2

GumboChief, have you checked the GS forum? That would give you additional perspective to consider from GS owners. It might help to filter out any bias (which is natural) from both owner groups. As previouly stated. It's your money, buy the car that is right for you. Good luck.

GumboChief

Not a loaded question at all. I sought opinions. I got them. A loaded, troll-like question is, "MT just reviewed '07 G35 v 335i. Who would win if ES350 were in mix?"

Now that is asking for trouble.

I had a question. Did a search. Found no threads discussing said topic. Posted question.

If you don't lke people stating thier opinions on why they chose one car over the other, you probably shouldn't be posting/reading on boards.

Kaius88

ES350

rx7_fan

I didn't mean to say that you purposely come in here and get everyone fumed up; but what did really expect asking people with the ES350? Did you honestly expected them to tell you that the GS is better? You could had asked "What made you decided to buy your ES?" I think that way, you could had achieved the same results with less arguements about what is better than what; since the question does not ask people to compre A and B; instead it asked them to tell why they picked A.

PsychDoc

What a silly concept.

Given the fact that there are dozens of vehicles for anyone to choose from and between, what better point could there possibly be than to pose a question that asks people to compare/contrast two price competitive models?

Rockville

There is no car that is right for everybody. These two Lexus are different enough to appeal to varied audiences. Some who have the sports car mentality will never accept a FWD as one of their own. The ES350's FWD has very little influence on its steering which was a feat in itself. The Acura TL can partially dislocate your shoulder under hard acceleration in comparison. The GS350's AWD will have a hump on the transmission tunnel that has the center differential under it. A lady in the showroom asked me why they couldn't have put it on the other (passenger) side so it didn't intrude on the driver. Then I wondered if the Japanese version with right hand drive had it on the passenger side over there.....ha ha.

VDIM would be possible on the GS350 as it has the electric power steering even though the AWD might complicate it some. I was driving the RX400h with two customers and I wanted to demonstrate the VDIM to them. I accelerated and waited until we were going around a bend and then I slammed the brakes hard. The RX400h just came to an abrubt stop under perfect control of its 4300 lbs without any wrenching. They were impressed.

The AWD has a different suspension from the RWD version of the GS350 so it can route the drive components to the wheels in the front. It devotes 70% of its power to the rear wheels and can go to 50%/50% if slipping is detected. It has a much better front to rear weight balance than the the front heavy ES350. The ES350 uses a strut to strut reinforcement bar that stabilizes the steering feel quite well. The ES350 exhibits body roll but in a nice controlled way.

The GS350 has a cockpit. I feel like everyone should have headsets on while driving it. At night the dash controls have a soft green hue that is easy on the eyes of the pilot. The center hump in the backseat precludes all but the little ones from sittting there. The other four positions have adequate side bolstering to keep you in place during night ops.

The ES350 has a pre flight luxury lounge. The drivers seat has a nice cushion extender that can give extra leg support for the taller drivers lower limbs. The backseat floor is almost flat all the way across and the ES350 was the first to have the side airbags as the new GS350 will follow suit in '07. The rear sunshade will retract in reverse maneuvers. Pull back the rear moonroof shade and you can check the prevailing weather pattern through the tinted glass. Everything is so quiet that you feel that you should say something to break the silence....

AWD Sport vs. Ultra Luxury


Rock

GumboChief

Thanks again to everyone. For those who care, I think I am looking more for luxury over sport, and will pursue that path with Lexus' offerings.

Hate to start a thread and run, but I have to catch a plane to Brazil

I'll try to check back in, while pounding back a scotch in the first class airline lounge that Rock mentioned