mrpartsman

good find , thats y Lexus keeps its name, and not lots of ppl drive it , because they think its too expensive or overpriced, but they dont think abt the luxury in that car and the quality built, thats y everybody buys bimmers and have that cheap plastic interior and always end up at the dealer for repairs or lemons.

natnut

BTW the same website also tested the BMW ActiveHybrid 3 series( AH3).

Even though officially rated as more fuel efficient as the GS 450h, real world testing of the AH3 showed 12km/L, worse than the real world number of 14km/L for the GS450h.

Modeler

The BMW hybrid has one huge disadvantage relative to the GS450h from my perspective. Unlike the GS, the BMW does not qualify for the HOV exemption (ability to use the High Occupancy Vehicle lanes without having a passenger) in Virginia. That completely eliminates BMW as an option for me.

LexFather

^^^ wow didn't know that

I like that activehybrid badge in the trunk...at least it says why your trunk room is so small. Think I might now add a badge to the GS 450h

1111GS

That would be a huge disadvantage. How do people know which cars are qualified? In Cal, I don't think they care if it's a prius or a 5 or a gs. I think being able to drive the HOV lane is probably the most justified reasons to buy a hybrid performance/luxury vehicle. Other than that I don't see why people buy them. Maybe for the badge? If one does their math, it takes a LONG time to drive to break even the extra cost that hybrid vehicle has.

natnut

I used to think like you. When the 4GS came out, I never considered the GS450h as I thought that it was a pointless variant of the 4GS.

UNTIL I came across these two reviews of the 4GS :




Then I test drove the GS450 F-Sport. Note this was after I had driven the GS350 F-Sport.

Basically the GS450h addresses all the low end lack-of-torque concerns of the GS350 with not much penalty in handling. Like the 2nd review video said : " Buy this car for the power. The fuel economy is just a bonus."

After I drove the GS350 F-Sport, I was ready to sign on the dotted line. But something made me wait for my test-drive of the GS450h F-Sport.

Granted, this is the F-Sport variant of the GS450h which is not available in the US. But my fears of the extra hybrid weight screwing up the sublime handling of the GS chassis evaporated once I took the GS hybrid F-Sport through its paces on small windy backroads. This thing clings on to the road like glue no matter how I tossed it through a corner. I ran out of guts faster than it ran out of grip (and this is on the dinky Singapore spec 18 inch tyres).

The key is the rear wheel steering in the F-Sport package. My personal feeling is that the DRS mitigates the extra weight of the electric motor in the rear of the car allowing the best of both worlds : extra torque/power of the hybrid drivetrain especially at the low-end with little penalty in the handling department compared to the lighter GS350.

It just WORKS. The combination of the wonderful Lexus Hybrid drivetrain and the F-Sport package feel like they were designed to work together from the drawing board stage onwards. My personal suspicion is that the 4GS engineers aimed for a performance pinnacle using a GS450h F-Sport test-bed and then took away options to arrive at the other cheaper priced variants.

In short, in the creators' minds, the 4GS platform is designed optimally to function in the real world with both the 450h hybrid drivetrain and the DRS.
(This is just my initial opinion. I'll have to test drive the GS450h Luxury to see if it handles anything like the F-Sport.)

sydtoosic

i like to watch the autobytel reviews. i think this guy is firm but fair, a few things he's said about Lexus i'd have to disagree with, just a few. i would love to have the 450H F Sport but it's not possible here and it only comes in RWD.

Modeler

Virginia DMV web site lists all eligible models. One of the key reasons to buy the h for me, in addition to the HOV use, is the CVT. In my opinion there's no better transmission on the market.

natnut

One of the best videography of the GS450h F-Sport from this Dutch Review (translations included). Matador Red is my favorite GS color and goes very well with the F-Sport front fascia and tri-LED headlights.