flipside909

No Lexus cars to date have a Blind Spot Monitoriing system. They do have a wide panoramic camera for the front on the GX and HS, and the RX has the option for a camera on the passenger side mirror.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i am still holding my breath on the 4gs. it sees to receive quite good welcomes from magazines, but still, after 3gs, i want to be careful on judging the 4gs on a lot of aspects. hopefully soon i will see the car in person. given that i had the 2gs and now 3gs, would be very interesting to see how this stack up to the previous two, as much as how it does to the competitors

flipside909

Oooh..adjustable driver's side seat bolsters!!!!

Joe Z

iTrader: (10)

Your right Ryan..!!

I guess on the LX it's offically called "Wide-view Front & Side Monitor System with Intuitive Parking Assist"

This would obviously be an improved version of that system..


~ Joe Z

Vladi

That picture has lense distortion galore so its really hard to tell anything other than the guy's wearing red tee, blue jeans and he is making some hand gesture.

@lpher

I looked at all the posted seat pics, and it seems that this particular car indeed has two different front seats... The upper portion of the seat is different aswell. Pre production... Not that it matters

REALLY exited about us Europeans getting both a GS250 and a GS diesel though, as this is what is needed...in addition to a wagon that is

JessePS

Hopefully one day we will have that on all the models

Mr. Burns

Very likely. Also this car has night vision, not sure if anyone picked up on that.

What I'm really interested is how this GS platform affects the next IS, I will be in the market for a car in the IS' class in a few years and it would be nice if the next IS is significantly improved as well since it's based on the GS. The next IS, the next 3 series and the Cadillac ATS will be front runners.

TorontoIS

I believe that the IS will be based once again on the GS's platform. As such, I would think that much of the handling prowess that the GS seems to have attained will be passed on to the smaller and lighter IS. I will be really interested to drive the GS and then the upcoming IS to see how that plays out. Potentially the IS will also be one great car.

UDel

I have mixed feelings on the new GS so far, it is still too early because of all the camo to say whether I like it or not so I will reserve final judgment until I see non camo pics and one in person. The good is that they seemed to have addressed the drive/handling issues of the 3rd Gen which is a very good thing. I don't mind it not having a 7 or 8 speed as I doubt those extra gears would make much diff in acceleration/fuel economy, it is mainly just bragging rights. The Germans need those extra gears because their sedans are much heavier and have thirsty v8s. More hp would be nice but since it is pretty light the GS350 powerplant should still provide good power/acceleration. The most impressive aspect of the new GS to me is how light they are reporting it to be, very impressive considering it is supposed to gain some interior room, another sore spot for the 3rd Gen that needed to be addressed. The 12 in screen should be interesting.

I am one of the few that is not all that impressed and a little disappointed with the interior design so far although it looks to be higher quality then the current one. I thought it was going to have a more CT look which I think is more interesting. The design seems kind of plain to me especially the center console and shifter area and does not strike me as something upscale or performance oriented(I know it has stitched leather on the dash and doors) but it is heavily camo'd so it may get better once you peel all the extra tape off. I don't feel going for a Germanic even somewhat American look was the best way to go but hopefully it will get better when the rest of the tape comes off. I do like how the rear seating gets plenty of adjustments and features to play around with(I have no problem with the style of buttons), one of my big complaints in mid sized lux sedans is how plain and featureless the rear seats normally are for what you pay. I just hope that those rear seat controls are not part of some 8-10K overpriced package like they normally are.

Overall it seems like Toyota has addressed most of the complaints of the current model and it is going to have totally different styling inside and out. Not sure if I am sold on the interior design although I am sure it will be higher quality and have nicer materials then the current one. Still way to early to gauge the exterior design because of all the camo but I am sure it will be better looking and have a better stance then the current fast back design which I am not a fan of.

Hopefully this new GS will heavily boost sales.

G Star

iTrader: (2)

Honestly, I kind of agree that the interior is not up to par with my expectations but I could be wrong since so much has been taped up. Let's see what happens @ Pebble Beach. If they stick with the current material/texture of that rear climate control system I'd be extremely disappointed. I have great faith in Lexus, they will pull through.

What I do know is that Lexus will once again give us more standard options compared to MB/BMW/Audi for a better price, they have always done this and won't stop.

Blackraven

I do hope they do the GS diesel right (because the IS220d was CRAPSH1T).

If it helps though:
You can expect that if ever there will be a GS Diesel, it will be more refined than any of past attempts of Lexus for diesel cars................because ALL GS will use automatic and CVT gearboxes (including possible diesel models obviously).

No unrefined stick shifts in this upcoming Lexus

flipside909

IS 220d is no more...there's IS 200d now...same Aisin manual trans from Tacoma though...also shared by Cadillac, Honda and Mazda.

http://www.lexus.co.uk/range/is/index.aspx

Blackraven

Yeah, I heard about the new IS200d (as well as what spwolf told me about it). They say it's suppose to be better than that IS220d garbage. Let's hope it is indeed better.

Either way, for the upcoming GS, tranny choices will obviously be automatics and CVTs ONLY. Sad to say for some purists BUT there won't be a manual gearbox.

The 3GS NEVER got a stick shift so don't expect the 4GS to have it either .

jruhi4

A couple of minor clarifications on this:

- There are actually two versions of the Toyota/Lexus 2.2-liter 4-cylinder diesel: a "low-output" 148 hp version and a "high-output" 177 hp version. Both are offered on the Euro market Toyota Avensis and RAV4 and, as of the 2011 facelift, on the Lexus IS. (Yes, the IS 200d is really a lower-output 2.2). In the case of the latter, Lexus allowed each European market to decide which version(s) to offer. The U.K., as Flipside909 rightly noted, only chose the IS 200d (for its lower CO2 numbers and lower UK taxation), whereas more power-hungry Germany offers both IS 200d and IS 220d. Spwolf (if they'll let him back in here, that is) could probably tell us what other European markets do.

- If I'm not mistaken, both high and low-output diesels are manual-only. That manual is, indeed, an Aisin unit shared with the Toyota Tacoma and FJ Cruiser, as well as with V6 versions of the Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Camaro. NOT with Honda and Mazda, though. You're thinking of an entirely different (and MUCH better) Aisin manual shared by Honda S2000, Mazda RX-8 and 3rd-gen Mazda MX-5 Miata.

Speaking of transmissions, and returning to 4GS, at least one of the pre-production cars identified as a GS 450h appears to have paddle shifters. So, what do you all think? Has Lexus finally developed a proper hybrid CVT powertrain with paddle shifters after being disappointed with CT (which offers the paddles only in Japan after engineers were disappointed with the paddles' feel)? Or is this just more pre-production prototype component mishmash?

I guess we won't know for sure until Frankfurt...