I battling a tough decision between buying a GS450h or a GS460 and I was curious what the Sport shifter in the 450h was for since it has a E-CVT 1 speed transmission? I know the hybrid's are supposed to be Lexus' top of the line but I don't think ill get used to not being able to shift or having a smaller trunk or only being limited to 131mph so what does the shifter do and what do you guys think i should settle on?

 

I would seriously test drive a car with a CVT first but understand its just WEIRD feeling at first and maybe for a couple weeks. Your entire life you are used to shifting and feeling it and then in a CVT there is none!! Its quite an odd experience but one that you can get used to.

For me its a wash since the GS 460 doesn't have paddle shifters, you have to shift with the lever. I really wish the GS had paddle shifters like the IS.

The trunk can be an issue on trips and with shopping with people. The top speed is no worry to me on either car.

GOod luck!

 

The Sport Shift in the 450h is supposed to replicate holding a certain gear. But because there are no actual physical gears, it is awkward that there is no pause for shifts. If the smaller trunk space is not to your liking, the 460 is the obvious choice.

 

I think the 450h has a 2 speed transmission and it "shifts" at 60mph.

 

I've had my 450h for a year and a half now. CVT is a fantastic thing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE not to feel automatic transmission shifts. It's weird at first, but you get used to it in a few weeks.

The stick shifter simulates having five gears. I use it in the mountains when descending long steep slopes -- put it in "3rd" gear to increase engine braking.

As far as the trunk goes, yes, it is small. But we drove my 450h to a 3-night beach vacation with my wife and two kids. We fit in just fine.

 

I'm with modeler on this one. the CVT is awesome and really gives you the most out of the car. If you punch it it just holds the RPMs at redline/peak power and the transmission does the rest. The way it just effortlessly passes cars is amazing! I have never tried the fake gears going up a mountain because I like the CVT so much. But they do work well for engine breaking. And as for what rkb43 said it does have a two speed planetary gear set but you don't really feel that unless at full throttle and then it is still rather discrete. Its whole purpose it to keep the revs low on the freeway.

If you haven't already, I think you should test drive the cars. They are truely different beasts. I was very close to buying a 535i or gs350 because of the trunk. But then I really evaluated how much of the trunk I actually use. I found that the 450h trunk just gives you the super useable space and then the rest I would mainly use for luggage. Now you may not be able to put to much luggage in the trunk but it is great for shopping. It always holds all I buy and its size can be used as an advantage to hold things in their spot. And as with modeler I have taken a 4 day 3 person road trip. We could have easily gone a week or more. The key is to bring duffle bags that conform more to the trunk.

 

If trunk space is important you should look at the 460. I got rid of my RX400H because I didn't need the room of an SUV. After I got my GSH I saw a regular version's trunk in the showroom. I was shocked how much smaller the H trunk is. But quite frankly I really don't care about the smaller trunk because it has all the room I need.

I just picked up some puppy supplies this morning, they didn't fit in the trunk so I just threw the stuff that didn't fit in the back seat

As far as shifting goes I got used to the no shifting from the RX400H, but the option to shift is something the RX didn't have. I tried fooling around with the shifter for a while but now I just leave it in "D"

As far as being limited to 131 goes I had a friend if mine who happened to be a cop on duty make sure the expressway was safe to drive on fast and there would be no danger to anyone. I got my Corvette to about 140 and could have pushed it higher but it was getting a bit scary. As a matter of fact it started getting scary before I even go up to 131.

 

My main issue with the trunk space is from all the reviews ive read the sound system in the 3GS isnt all that great so if push came to shove and I did want to throw something extra into the trunk will I have enough room to do it, I m leaning more towards a fully loaded GS460 right now but I would still like to hear everyones opinion. I do plan on test driving when I get a chance...

 

I am very happy with the sound system in my car, but some people favor volume over quality. If youwant me to I can take a picture of my trunk but basically all the space between the rear wheels from the back of the rear seat is to the end of the wheel wells is all filled up with batteries

 

Thank you, all of you for your responses. I went to Lexus of Orlando yesterday and test drove both a 460 and a 450h and I am gonna go with the 460.. Personal pref.. loved both of them though..

 

I don't know if the take off from a dead stop is important, but the first time I nailed it at a stop light the 450H shocked the heck out of me, it is amazing what it will do from a dead stop, and the one time I nailed it to pass some slow poke doing about 30 MPH the car took off real fast. I noticed that the RX400H I had was pretty fast but I had no idea the this GS450h would be this much faster, this car is a lot faster than I expected.

 

it should be fast considering it is a hybrid and gets only 25 mpg !!

 

I don't think 25 is all that bad but I really don't know what my true MPG is because the car had less than 400 miles on it. If it is anything like the RX400H I had it will improve after 5,000 miles on it. I am hoping for better than 25 after it is broken in, but I will be happy with 25 it that's all I get. It is fast and comfortable, I don't drive much because I am retired, but when I do drive it is usually 1,000 to 1,600 miles round Tripp. By the way I was getting around 27 MPG till I started using the A/C a few days ago