Stormforge

^ have you driven the GS450h from 60-100? are you sure 100% that the hybrid is slower that a regular V8? i do know for a fact that even at 60 mph (or 100 kph), i can still punch it and could even reel in a V8 supercharged jaguar XF that tried to get me to eat dust. my experience below:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sto...ercharged.html

to quote 1sicklex: "The key here is the cars were already moving, the instant torque from the batteries = class leading passing power. If you look at any reviews, the h passing power 60-80/80-100 is a clear step ahead. That is how he was able to catch up so quickly and could have passed if he wanted if there is enough room."

cornering ability - with my GS450h lowered on tanabe springs in conjunction with AVS, i feel confident that my cornering ability has improved. it should be on par (if not better) than a stock GS460.

of all of the lexus hybrids, the GS450h is more for performance than fuel efficiency.

yamanote

I thought that since the torque was available immediately acceleration even at higher speeds would be excellent?

Oh well, it's not like the GS460 is available here in Hong Kong. We only have the GS300 and 450h.

And Stormforge, can you answer this question for me? It's the only thing stopping me from immediately signing the papers for the GSh

Do you notice that the GSh has a more audible 'hum' sound (when idling) than on the RXh? I noticed this and was wondering whether this was normal. My dealer claimed that this was because the GSh was designed as a more 'sporty' car and thus lets in a bit more engine noise?

The hum was only audible when idling though, not when moving at approx 60mph.

Thanks!

*Batman*

Yamamote - sorry to take this a little off topic, but just answering stormforge here.

Here is C&Ds test results on the GS450H on the skidpad. The reason it is low is weight. Upgrading springs won't help because it doesn't change the mechanical traction. Getting wider tires will help. However you can't carry a hybrid with the added weight round a corner as fast as a lighter V8 on the same tires. Its simple mechanical traction principles.


Here is their test on acceleration which confirms your point about strong 50-70 perfromance, but you see a gap to 100 and 130.


And here is the result of the GS460 test. You will notice slightly faster higher end acceleration, same time to 0-60 (which is less than Lexus claims on both cars maybe due to weight diff between Japanese and American C&D test driver), and and a significant difference in cornering traction where the GS460 matches the BMW 550i.

*Batman*

BTW what is impressive here, is that if you don't mind the loss of cornering speed, the GS450H performance is truly in the V8 territory with V6 efficiency as they claim. It is impressive. When I drove the GS450h I liked it a lot. Only 2 things I didn't like were that it felt heavy when cornering and on a couple of instances I was able to run out of battery around town. However I think very few people have this second issue in normal driving.

If you look at the GS350 you see that the high speed performance is noticeably short of the 2 higher end models. At the low end and in cornering the GS350 is very strong too.

Stormforge

torque is immediately available at higher speeds, my experience with the jaguar xf proves that.


does the hum go away after a several minutes? sort of like the engine cut off and goes back to hybrid battery quietness? if yes, i think the hum is normal and nothing to worry about.

Stormforge

According to C&D link above, at 30-50 mph and 50-70 mph speeds, the GS450h beats the BMW 550i, Infiniti M45 Sport and Mercedes E550. But no where does it show 100-130 mph tests as being slower that the test group of cars. Unless you have definitive proof that the GS450h is slower than the test group at 100-130 mph, I'm going to disagree with you that the hybrid is slower from 60-100 mph.

In fact, check this youtube video regarding the GS450h going from 0-260 kph in approx 30 sec: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbv1i6GvE7s

^ that is nothing to sneeze at or taken lightly imho; slower 60-100 mph? i don't think so!

*Batman*

If you deduct the 0-60 time from the 0-100 time the GS460 is faster than the GS450H by 0.2 seconds.

However for track performance that is negligible. what is really significant is the 0.08 g difference in skidpad traction and the 20mph difference in top speed.

And I'm not taking the GS450h lightly or sneezing at it. I'm just saying it's not as fast as a GS460 in general.

yamanote

Not looking for a track car here, just a fast-ish luxury sedan with decent fuel consumption, so I don't need amazing track figures. If I did, I would be looking at the M5 or E63 AMG, not a Lexus

EDIT: Few questions here... thanks