AL13NV8D3R

Wasn't this option available for the 2013 gs?
Does anyone actually bought one with night view?
I have never seen a gs optioned with night view, just wondering how its like?

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

I have it, and it's a pretty useless option to be honest. Here is a short video I made a while ago, https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...ion-video.html

JAM

I have Night Vision and only use it in winter time in New Jersey as the deer are running across roads and many times I am on back roads. It can be distracting and have never seen deer in the camera. Most owners chose not to add as option so not worth it for Lexus to have it available. Many times I forget to use it. So you will not miss it.

bigblack06

iTrader: (20)

Yeah I must say compared to other brands this one isn't as good as say Mercedes I think since this is located in the navigation not the speedometer.

FishBike

It was also discontinued in Canada, where it wasn't a separate option, but instead was part of the top-tier option package. That allowed them to reduce the price of that package so that more people would spring for it, while only removing an option most didn't care about anyway.

Howiiieee

There engineering dreams and there is reality. Lexus have it in the first place because BMW and MB have it. Engineers need to keep up.

The 8 speed transmission and dropping the night vision is the reality of what the customers want and don't want. It is a business decision, not an engineering one.

hziemba

I was seriously considering it when I was ordering - got almost all the other options. Ultimately, I didn't get it because to do so meant I couldn't get the Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) - both options use the same camera location, making them mutually exclusive. I find LKA very useful - just wish it didn't have to be turned on each time you start the car.

When I was researching night vision systems, I found that Lexus, like most car systems, use active IR which means that they need illuminators, limiting their range to that of the illuminators. The other, in my opinion better, is the passive IR like BMW uses, which display the heat emitted by objects, without need for illuminators.

The other consideration, even more important, is how the image is processed and displayed to the driver. Putting an image in the field of view of the driver (HUD or instrument cluster) is far better than into a nav display, as Lexus does).

Ideally, you'd like a system where the IR image is analyzed continuously to detect a potential danger, and the driver is alerted with a cue. That way you don't have to keep glancing over all the time. As I recall, Lexus doesn't do that, but BMW and MB do, at least to some extent. As you might expect, a demo car with the feature was not to be found.

When I drive rural roads, I find that the high beams provide plenty of illumination (assuming no oncoming traffic) for cyclists or pedestrians. As far as animals, like deer, if they just pop out of the woods running in front of you, no night vision or high beam will give you enough warning - insufficient illumination beam width/ field of view.

NOTE;
FLIR Systems has come out with a passive IR camera attachment for iPhone 5c and 5s at a retail price of $349. It looks like a battery shell that attaches to the back of the phone. Get a windshield mount and put it in the driver's FOV, and for about $400 you've got a nice passive IR system from a very reputable manufacturer at a small fraction of the nightview option.

Neogenic

I found it to be useless as well, the dealer said 200 meters range and that number was pretty unrealistic. But I had everything installed so why not this gadget:-)

One pretty cool thing is driving the car in the dark. If you decide to cut lights off then you can use the monitor to drive. It took me a while to adapt but I can drive the car by looking at the monitor. I use it when I smuggle stuff a cross the border :-) no just kidding there, its ilegal to drive without headlights here as well.

zicogold

I am always suspicious of anything that encourages you from taking your eyes off the road. I would expect police services and transport safety boards would be too.