evil00017

yes it is cheaper to do but I dont think lexus really had cheap in mind when they made the GS. If ur looking for na performance u really should have got the 400.

ISFjimmy

iTrader: (5)

uhh... FWD FTL!

Maxima3

well i would only think that all business looks for the most cost efficient way to run their business, so i guess a rear wheel drive was best for em, who am i to say (same with who are you to say they didnt want to be less expensive)

Maxima3

Why??? i dont prefer one over the other but if my maxima dynoed even close to the same HP i beleive i would murder your car on a course of turns, not to trash talk or call you out, but whats so terrible in a FWD, i've driver both and the RWD seemed more prone to losing it around a steep turn.... however i love RWD for slamming purposes

jcat_350

no, no you would not beat us on a road course. FWD (from experience of owning a maxima and hitting curves at speed) = MASSIVE understeer. You would push through the corners and have to back off it to grab and pull through the apex. whereas RWD (when driven properly WITHOUT throwing it sideways) will yield mild oversteer, controllable by redistributing the weight of the car through proper braking and acceleration techniques (i.e. hard right, get on the brakes and turn right, shifting most of the weight to the front left wheel, then at the apex accelerate hard and shift to rear left wheel keeping the car planted and pulling through the curve).

Why do you think damn near ALL road racing cars are either RWD or AWD (rear biased)?

Maxima3

and the FWD takes the cake alot of times...




im not saying that RWD cars are terrible cause i love em, but i dont see why it would've been so terrible for lexus if they did the GS3 FWD, maximas do understeer, but idk about massive but if you say so, all im saying was that it wouldve been decent if it was a FWD and pushing 190+hp stock... just sayin

ZippyGuy

iTrader: (9)

If it gives everyone a little more perspective, Toyota Motors makes a FWD vehicle that was modified for performance purposes. That vehicle is a Camry and last time I looked, Toyota modified their Camry to a rear wheel drive to maximize potential and present that product to NASCAR.

Straight line performance a FWD may cause problems, no doubt, might even beat a few ballers on this site. I had my a*& served to me by a Civic DOHC while in my turbocharged 350Z jumping from 35. Cornering like jcat_GS3 talked about we would own the road, sorry it's a fact.

Kind of like playing basketball at Prince's house, don't discount the frilly shirts and tight pants.........you might get embarrassed.

mex lex

iTrader: (4)

LOL well said. "The shirts against the blouses. What are you angry about? You know where you got that shirt from, and it damn sho wasn't from the men's department.

jcat_350

two problems with your post. that mazda6 i would assume is based on the awd mazdaspeed6 (i'm not positive but i'm just saying this for clarification)

second, the 4 and 5gen maxima (year ranges comparable to our cars for the most part except 02-05) were NOT pushing 190hp plus. They were 190 exactly at the crank, meaning 158 at the wheels, LESS than what a bone stock gs3 puts out as you can see by this thread. Now the 5.5gen is another story, 6MT and 220 or so to the wheels, but still kinda heavy.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

FWD isn't a real problem until you add a lot of weight. Once the car becomes porky, you're just going to plow through the corners.

ZippyGuy

iTrader: (9)

Isn't that statement true of any car seeking performance and handling?

evil00017

Trq steer,under steer,wheel hop these are the things I hate about fwd and reasons why im glad GSs dont come with fwd.

Alexus_300

iTrader: (4)

While I'm not here to defend anyone. Both FWD and RWD are fast in the right hand and driver. To make a comparison between a GS300 to the tri-point mazda 6 is not fair. Have you seen their suspension setup??? It is far from being a production car. I have lots of friend who are race engineers for large racing teams that compete in rolex sports car series and Nascar so I know a little about racing. Maxima3, while I don't know you personally, I feel that you might have offended a few people here by stating that your maxima is faster around turns then some of the others on this board. I totally respect that, but I'm also extending the invitation to take you on the challenge and put my 01 GS300 up to run with you on any track. My car is street legal with full interior and all just like how lexus designed it. I've made some improvements here and there to my driving needs. If you're up to it, I believe the next event that is a good meeting point for you and I is at VIR with the porsche guys. So what's your take on that? Oh, I'm NA btw..

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Yea that's true. Lightweight is king when it comes to handling, but RWD can somewhat counter that. You have 4000lbs M5s, E63, etc that can run around most cars in circles. But when was the last time you saw a 4000lbs FWD car do that same? But at a lower weight level, they're on a more even playing field. One example would be the Integra Type R vs Honda S2000. They're basically neck and neck on most tracks.

Alexus_300

iTrader: (4)

Hmm.. Never thought about the ITR and S2k. My friend who races both cars own a JDM RHD ITR and a s2k. We've never really put both cars against each other on the same day and track before. But then again, driver has alot to do with how they respond on track. The S2k is tail happy while the ITR is pretty neutral.