It's not really a hunch, Lexus WILL do this. They stated publicly a while back that they're going to stagger body and power train updates to make the most of each. Other BMW, MB, etc do this as well.

 

Great victory for Lexus and the GS. It is indeed a superb automobile and the award is well deserved and long overdue. Rarely does Lexus get the recognition it deserves.
Always good to see Lexus beat out BMW....if this had been car and driver I'm sure they would have picked the BMW since they're so biased towards them. I'm sure the internet forums (jalopnik, autoblog, etc) will hate this since they all hate Lexus, but hell bring it on. We all KNOW who builds the best product and has been doing so every day since 1989.
The Lexus speaks for itself. From this point there is no turning back!

On a side note, I'm surprised the Infiniti did so poorly.

 

I can't help but think, how much did this GS win because the BMW was bad? Does that really make the GS great if it's peers stink? I don't actually believe this theory (it's a strong group of cars), but it's worth a thought anytime you have an upset or surprise outcome.

 

you didn't read my first sentence? i know the isf engine is a tuned up engine from the ls600hl

i said detune the isf engine "a bit". if going all the way back to the ls600hl setup, then might as well just use the 460 coz' the output is just about the same

 

Still no hint of GS-F from Lexus ?

 

drool love the look of this one posted above

 

^Yeah, that looks amazing!

 

Ah haha sorry didn't see that. Well to me the IS-F's 5.0 is barely tuned at all because from a horsepower-per-liter standpoint it's basically identical to that of the 4.6 (380hp x 5.0 / 4.6 = 413hp). Even Hyundai's 5.0 produces 429hp already. There should be much more room for further tuning in the IS-F's 5.0, so that the current 5.0 can be dropped into the regular GS as is.

 

yup, the 5.0 in the ls600hl is tuned purely for smoothness (hybrid thing) so i agree it's very detuned. on the other hand the isf setup is good but maybe start to get on the aggressive side. somewhere in the middle would be great gs500. given lexus already has this engine laying around, why not just use it.

which is why it somewhat leads me to think it has something to do with possible gsf

 

Motor Trend has come a long way from its embarassing past, several decades ago. I'm not just saying this because the new GS won the comparo, but I've noticed the magazine becoming much more credible lately in its tests and columns. There was a time when I actually stopped reading it because I felt that the people writing it were incompetent.

 

Man this thing is sickening!

 

Really? The 535i isn't rated all that much higher power-wise (much fatter power-band though) and weighs a lot more. Looks about right IMO. They're 1mph off in trap-speed roughly, which makes for a drivers race. Interesting in that the 328i is also this fast.

Lexus did a great job with the weight savings, though they definitely need a better engine (I know they can do it) - and opening up their ECU for modifications would be a nice gesture to the performance community as well. I'm a bit alarmed that the BMW had a quieter interior, smoother ride, and smoother motor; did Lexus drop a few things that set it above everyone else in order to push more into the sport side? Or is this only particular to the Fsport version of the car?

I'd hope the proposed V8 GS would be packing a bit more power than the IS-F 5.0L does. Afterall the Ford Coyote motor puts out MORE power than that and the BMW competitor would be the new 550.... twinturbo V8.

 

First off the reason for this is the F10 gained 400lbs of luxury over its E60 predecessor. Secondly an I6 is smoother than a V6

The 4.4L TT V8 from BMW puts out 400hp and 450lbft. The Ford 5.0L V8 is rated at 420hp and 390lbft. The difference is in the torque. The Boss puts out 444hp and a higher redline but 10 less lbft. The amazing thing is that the 5.0 does NOT have direct injection. So plenty of power to be had. That all said the Lexus 5.0 has a tunable range from both stock base 416hp 371lbft all the way up to the LS TMG edition running the ring with 641hp (albeit supercharged)

 

i think it comes down to what you are looking for. for the longest time, lexus has been about smooth and quiet, and it's been boring to drive. now bmw went that route (by comparison) and lexus got sportier and road feel. you can't have both

 

since GS won, not sure why it "needs" anything. i would think based on results, it is bmw/audi that "need" to do something...