Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price

Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price - The GS hopes you’ll appearance past its polarizing seems and remember it a sports activities sedan worth of competing with the nice from here and Germany. The GS200t’s 241-hp 2.0-liter rapid 4, rear-wheel pressure, and an 8-speed automated are general. GS350 fashions get a 311-hp three.five-liter V-6 and 8-velocity vehicle; non-obligatory all-wheel pressure has a six-velocity computerized. GS450h hybrids make 338 hp with a CVT. fanatics will want the F sport package with a tuned suspension, larger wheels, and upgraded brakes. Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price.

while the Lexus GS arrived in the early Nineteen Nineties—the original Giugiaro-designed one—its undertaking become to assignment the reigning mid-length luxurious sedans from Audi, BMW, Jaguar, and Mercedes-Benz. for that reason ready with a preference of V-6 or V-eight engines, the second one-era model made this kind of convincing case that it gained 10Best cars accolades for 3 years walking (1998 through 2000). it's been a while, though, due to the fact we may want to rank the GS on the top of the sphere. The cutting-edge, fourth-generation GS is in its 5th yr of manufacturing and reveals itself squaring off against a Mercedes-Benz E-elegance and a Jaguar XF that had been new in 2016, an Audi A6 that turned into facelifted remaining 12 months, and an all-new 2017 BMW five-series.

Lexus isn’t status nonetheless, even though. For its 2016 midlife refresh, Lexus introduced the cost-priced base model examined here with a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine that makes 241 horsepower and 258 lb-toes of torque. That engine gives the latest GS variation a right away in shape for the 500-cc-per-cylinder fours that maximum of the ecu brands now have in equivalent models. The tail badge says GS200t, although the marketers name it the GS rapid because, nicely, because Lexus entrepreneurs by no means had a turbo before, and it comes at a beginning fee that leaves a few respiratory room under $50,000, something you received’t locate if you store mid-length top class sedans at the German shops.

In turbo 2.zero-liter rear-force shape, the GS’s direct options slender to the BMW, the Mercedes-Benz, and the Cadillac CTS. the base Audi A6 and the Volvo S90 are front-wheel force, and the Jaguar XF’s 4-cylinder is a 180-hp rapid-diesel. The Cadillac’s turbocharged 4 is the outlier here, leading the p.c. with 268 horsepower, whilst the others cluster near 240.

Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price

With the most effective to be had transmission being a paddle-shifted 8-speed computerized, the GS200t zipped from zero to 60 mph in 6.6 seconds on the take a look at tune. We saw 60 mph in 6.five seconds in the 2017 Mercedes-Benz E300 with 4MATIC, while the CTS 2.0T did it in 6.2 and the A6 2.0T Quattro in 6.1. The BMW 528i wanted most effective five.9 seconds, however it’s being replaced for 2017. word that the Benz and the Audi had been all-wheel-drive motors, an choice Lexus reserves for the six-cylinder GS350. Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price.

at the same time as it’s genuinely now not the quickest, the Lexus doesn’t experience inordinately sluggish. as long as the boost is up, it’s torquey enough to feel peppy transferring its 3869 kilos in habitual driving conditions. most effective at higher speeds does the drivetrain falter—after which handiest when you want to accelerate quick. It takes a moment for the 8-pace to find the right gear and faucet into the engine’s powerband, requiring that the driving force plan ahead for a -lane passing maneuver. This is not strange for sedans this large with a 2.0-liter faster four-cylinder. The payoff is progressed gasoline financial system: We measured 24 mpg in our checking out, below its EPA mixed rating of 26 mpg but an awful lot higher than the 19 and 20 mpg we’ve measured in checks of the GS350.

in which this automobile excels is in its easygoing demeanor. The GS200t glides alongside, unperturbed by using pavement irregularities, yet it stays composed on a hard avenue. apart from a little frame roll, its chassis measures up on this area, returning a solid zero.86 g at the skidpad. The GS also stopped from 70 mph in 173 ft, an excellent however now not first rate performance for this class. Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price.

For those searching for to amp up the riding fun, Lexus offers an F recreation version of the GS turbo. It brings a tauter suspension and quite a few different functions but provides $7670 to the price, which places it inside $one thousand of the $55,785 sticker on a GS350 F sport with the more potent 311-hp V-6.

Lexus designers seem to be grasping for approaches to make their infotainment controls specific, with out a whole lot success in making them useful. There’s a clumsy touchpad inside the NX crossover, at the same time as in some older designs along with this GS, Lexus still employs a vague and inconsistent floating controller on the middle console that maintains to frustrate. It’s like a poorly made version of the joysticks at the transportable Sony playstation  and needs too much attention to be a possible manipulate alternative while driving—this is a case wherein Lexus would do properly to observe some competitors who've changed or augmented their further awkward faraway controllers with touchscreen activation. The 12.3-inch multimedia screen that comes as a part of the $1730 Navigation package, even though, is properly prepared and fantastic, and it gives cut up-display screen viewing.

Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price

The infotainment tale is disheartening, because the GS has an otherwise cordial cabin. The heated and ventilated perforated leather-based seats are supportive, the brushed-metallic accents look stylish, and the tight suits and surface finishes measure up to magnificence requirements. Our test automobile had a few textured black trim that regarded a bit cheap on near examination however also averted the issues posed via the widely used shiny piano-black opportunity that emphasizes fingerprints and appears suitable only inside the showroom. Lexus gives elective aluminum and open-pore wooden trim, but they’re now not pretty as handsome as those found in Volvo and Mercedes cabins.

The now familiar GS’s 192.1-inch ordinary period is the shortest in the subject, but the packaging works out well, yielding a competitive 98 cubic toes of interior space. The 18-cubic-foot trunk spanks its opposition, which averages around 14, but the rear seats don’t fold to make bigger the shipment maintain. Rear-seat legroom can sense tight for adults over six-toes tall, and the middle tunnel is tall and extensive. The front center console can be opened handiest if its lid is slid rearward on its tune, which makes the rear middle role even much less useful—if you’re traveling any distance with a fifth occupant, one in every of them had higher be a toddler. Lexus GS 2018 Review, Specs, Price.

For Lexus, this rapid engine makes lots of sense. The powerplant already existed within the logo’s portfolio (it also is observed in the IS200t and the NX200t), and it improves fuel financial system in a mid-size sedan. except, BMW and Mercedes are doing it, too, and you know how that goes. but, to customers, the GS rapid’s most attractive feature might be that sub-$50,000 sticky label. There are fancier and faster choices within the section, but the GS200t is a solid, pleasant package at an reachable price.

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