joedaddy1

iTrader: (1)

Fire sale on the 200t!

dchar

They are changing the GS200t to GS300 for marketing reasons. You look at BMW 530i and MB E300, they both have turbo-4 but have a 3 designation in their name. Some customers that are less informed assume that that car is better, so I'm not surprised about the name change.

ItzFilyO

I bet u they will sell more cars if they name it GS 349.

bclexus

Here ya go ► https://www.clublexus.com/articles/lexus-quietly-renames-2018-gs-turbo-models/?utm_source=jan16&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content


'A sedan that offers both luxury and sporty handling, the Lexus GS has three distinct renditions - the GS 300 (formerly the GS 200t), GS 350 and GS 450h.'

ChronoR

Did they increase the power at least or is this purely a rebrand? You would think increasing the power of a turbo engine wouldn't be that difficult especially considering how relatively low the 200t's is set to.

e60bmw

iTrader: (1)

So our GS350 looks like a more powerful model over the 2018s? Sweet

bclexus

How's that?

rjm

The GS350 will still be around with no significant changes.

e60bmw

iTrader: (1)

I was being sarcastic

NVMYHS

Not sure why the sales of the 350 would be affected by selling the 300. If someone wants a 6 cyl, then they still can purchase one. GS sales haven't been that great anyway. However, when the German automakers starting putting 4 cyl in all their cars, then Lexus had to follow suit. Now, ALL luxury brand automakers offer 4 cyl. And I love mine! I had a 2013 GS350, then a MB C300 4 cyl, now a GS200t. And the 200t is by far the best. It's extremely quiet, great gas mileage and certainly enough power. I'll let you 18 year olds flex your 6 cyl muscle!

bb700092

I completely agree given my one-year experience with my 200t as a daily driver in dry, rain and light snow (as it is in TN). The 200t is the perfect blend of luxury (has all options as the 350 except Luxury package and AWD), price (costs a few thousand less than the 350) and maintenance (everything same as the 350 except the mpg is close to that of 450h). The power/torque is more than adequate for everyday driving (I have been driving a 290 hp Maxima since 2009).

Is the GS 200t/300 perfect? Of course not. It should have reduced weight (currently ~3800 lbs) given that it is using a smaller displacement engine than the 350. The turbo needs to have less lag off the line. But then the 350 is also not a car with instant torque and is not fast off the line by any standard. Reduced weight would allow the 200t to accelerate faster and get even better mpg.

It is funny when people pass "expert" comments regarding the 200t after 5 mins of test drive. Even worse, some pass expert comments just after looking at the 200t's specs in some website or from hearsay. The turbo engines and CVT are the future in non-electric vehicles as we see all manufacturers embracing these more efficient technologies.

UDel

What? You had to revive a months old thread just to make that "18 year old 6 cylinder comment"? I am no 18 year old, I was not 18 when I got my GS430. I test drove a 4 cylinder GS200t and did not like it at all, felt week, noisy, unrefined, engine not suited for the car. GS sales were a good deal higher before they introduced that GS200t and raised the price on the GS350 while tacking on that new ugly grill. You may love your 4 cylinder GS but don't try to take lame shots at people who like 6 or 8 cylinders in their mid sized luxury cars with that 18 year old comment and see the name change from 200 to 300 as a marketing ploy to try to fool some into thinking there is a bigger/better engine in it then just a small disp 4 cylinder.

drgrant

It doesn't take a rocket scientist though to figure out that a 200T is generally a slug, of course Lexus did this because that's typically "the thing" in a lot of cars in this segment, Audi does it all the time with the base model A4 and A6, nice car, slug motor- but the "leasing vanity throwaway types that want a new car every 3 years that don't really drive a lot" gobble this stuff right up, as it lets them lower the lease payment of the car, etc.. BMW and Volvo do it too all the time. Most of their cars are sold with slug motors. I can't blame them either, there is a huge segment of buyers where a 7 or 8 second , turbo lagged, 0-60 is "good enough" or "feels fast enough" That doesn't mean that the rest of us want that, though. lol.

-Mike

bb700092

How do you know? Did Lexus personally tell you that?

Why did Honda get rid of the V6 and settle for two turbocharged engines in the 2018 Accord -- their bread and butter product?

One can choose whatever he wants but it becomes a problem his strong opinions are based on very little experience with the product.

NVMYHS

Of course! That's why the treads are here! There is no way you drove a GS200t and it was noisy...now you're just making things up. The car (engine) is extremely quiet. No one who buys the 4 cyl is being fooled. We all know what we're buying. I think the problem is that people compare the 4 cyl to the 6 cyl. Which is just plain senseless. That would be like driving the GSF and then coming back to the 350 and saying "the 350 lacks power and acceleration" Well of course it does if you compare it to the GSF. You have to compare apples to apples. If you compare it to the other luxury automakers (MB, BMW) who use 4 cyl then you'll see it performs on-par with the 4 cyl. I know, I drove a MB 4 cyl. Didn’t mean to take a “lame shot” at you partner…relax, it’s just not that serious. Just pointing out that when I was YOUNGER having all that power under the hood (that I never used) was important, just to feel gratified when people look at what I was driving. Now, it’s all about comfort, luxury and yes, affordability and the 200t exceeds all expectation!