so i was driving my gs400 the other day on the freeway, and i was thinking. my car is 1998, granted i wash and keep my car clean like no tomorrow, but hardly anyone can even guess that my car is already a 7 yr old car. that's how "old" the style of this car is already. people sit in my car and they still love the interior. i think it's pretty amazing.

but then i thought, so f there is one thing i would love to see when the car was released, what would it be? and there was a major facelift (also engine changes) for 01, what would be some of the features i would have loved to see back then?

for a car coming out in 98, the gs was defiintely way ahead of its time, that's how timeless the car is imho. at that time 300hp and 310tq v8 on a sedan was superb to say the least, remember it was advertised as the fastest sedan in the world or something like that (faster than the m3 sedan by a tad). so performance wise it was flawless already. if anything, foldin/tilted mirror would be something i wished to see, or at the most in dash cd changer (which was too advanced at the time already i think).

now however, for 01, i would have quite some items i wished lexus would have improved on the gs. these would be
1) a bit more hp numbers on the 430 (it always helps)
2) in dash cd changer
3) improvement on the interior / center console layout (it's getting a bit old style)
4) tilt down side mirror
5) more sporty suspensions

don't get me wrong, they already did a lot on the engine and also the nav, together with some other things. but i am just being picky here

so, what addition to the perfection do you guys have? (now be reasonable, i am sure we all want 500hp... )

 

-330 HP for the GS430 would have been nice

-SLIGHTLY revised front and rear bumpers

-new more aerodynamic side mirrors w/turn signals built into the self folding side mirrors

-6 speed w/eshift on 430

-edfc style suspension and the power ect button to also make the rear end limited slip




If only I worked for Lexus

 

After seeing the new GS at the SFO auto show, this also got me thinking. My wife and I, who both have GS's, are not really thinking of eventually replacing them with GS's. My guess is the things that would get us to consider the GS again would be:

1. Suspension. Get the GS suspension up to the levels of a world class luxury sport sedan. OK, this involves the cursed BMW comparo but the GS needs to go to finishing school. Mods that improve handling get the ride harsh very quickly, at least on our roads. If the new GS hasn't improved the ride/handling balance, more hp won't get me to sign on the dotted line.

2. Noise. This may also surprise some folks but we don't find our GS's to be particularly quiet. This may be a conspiracy of modern tires and our roads but with the threads on "What is the quietest tire", I think a lot of people find this with the GS. When we complained to Lexus about the noise in my wife's 2003 GS3, we were told that the GS was Lexus' sporty model and was not expected to be quiet.

3. Technology. The interior of the new A6 is very impressive for fit and finish, more so than the last one IMO. But it has also taken a big step to Euro Techno/fussy. The current GS interior may be getting a bit aged (I don't really agree with this) but I haven't seen any of the new setups permit any more funcitonality better than the current setup. Using an LCD panel and a half a dozen screens to set a radio channel is not an improvement over the process in the current GS which is done by rotating the **** to the channel and holding the button down to program. MB, Bimmer, Audi, etc. impress me by having complicated the interior controls without making anything better. I know a lot of you younger guys prefer your auto experience to be based on constantly learning a new function in your sound system, but not me. I was uniformly, across the board, unimpressed with the MB lineup. The reason that keeps cropping up is that the reason their reliability has plummeted, the quality of materials has gone down, and most of the decline in their cars, is because of the cost and complexity of the electronics. News flash for MB - back off on the electronics if that is true. Your cars have suffered and you are living off reputation.

4. Style. The new GS is an OK evolutionary step. Couldn't tell if they have stole any room from the interior, as MB did with the new E class, but it is a reasonable advance. I was not quite a fan of the current design but I have to admit, it has grown on me. And when you see the new model and the old model side by side, as you could at the auto show, the old one doesn't look really out of style. Not sure about the black wood on the gray interior, looks like plastic from a distance. But there are carmakers that are really getting off track on style, and here is the BMW mention that they don't want. I thought from the photos and the few 5's I have seen that the new 5 might have been the right platform for Bangle. But as I see more 5's it is obvious that something doesn't work even worse than the seven. Getting up close to the new 5 at the show really reinforces that. There are too many surfaces on that car for the overall size. Bending one is going to result in a religious experience at the body shop if I am right - unless you just replace everything, getting those surfaces back is going to cost a lot of bucks. And there is something about the length/width relative to height that just seems off. The new GS works pretty well in this regard although there is a creeping trend to bring back chrome, Lexus isn't alone at this, and I am not sure I am a big fan of this. May have to wait and see more.

OK, there's my quick list. Don't expect anyone to agree but from a couple that each have current GS's, these were the bigger items we discussed at dinner after the show. ANd if the GS3 moves up to where it needs to be for competitive reasons to say 260 or 275 hp, the V8 is going to really have to move up to justify the cost and mileage. The lighter weight in the GS3 with that hp would make a tough choice to go for the 8. Of course 400hp would help but then you are going to pay for that everytime at the pump. Hybrid is probably going to be the wild card but we just don't know enough about that yet.

 

hey that's some awesome points there ron, i like them!

just keep in mind though, i was more talking about improvement on the current generation, not the 3rd gen that's coming out but i do agree with the suspension parts

 

1. Trademark the design so every new Nissan Sedan didn't take cues from the 2nd gen
2. Seats needed more support. Compared to SC 400/IS 300 seats, not enough lateral support.
3. Should have made L-tuned better. L-tuned was an nice set-up but could have been better. I think a few of us here could teach Lexus on L-tuned and what it should have been.
4. Make black leather more available. Its very tough to find unless its black/black.
5. Bump the HP rating. Pull a Nissan or Mazda, tell consumers a car has 350hp but it still only has 300. Oh, sorry, that would intefere with the INTEGRITY of the product.
6. Clear tails. Not sure why they left that amber when most companies have abonded it, including Lexus.
7. ALTEZZAS!!!! j/k, okay maybe an option , j/k (not really kidding), yes I am....


Honestly, the GS didn't have to many faults to begin with, IMO.

 

Sorry. Guess I got a little confused with your post. Didn't focus on the changes being applied to the midlife freshening in '01 based on what we know now. But then having looked at everything last week at the SFO auto show, that was probably most in my mind.

Knowing what I know now, the biggest things wrong with the '01 freshening were:

1. Leaky headlight housings.

2. Those *&$%#! rattles from the sunshade.

3. How hard would it have been to have the bolts on that front sway bar bracket tightened at the factory?

From my comparo with my wife's 2k3 GS3, they fixed all of them by 2003. Still think the suspension/noise comments stand. And the interior may be one of the best ever done, then, now, or in the future for a long time from what I can see. As for engine, I know how little impact 10% more hp makes. Now if the 4.3 had bumped to 350 or more, that might have been very impressive in 2k1. And the reliability? Boring Toyota perfection. Value? In hindisght 2k1 was also perfection.

 

keep coming, this is awesome and very interesting. and yes, ron, the runroof! they can make it a bit tighter i am sure!

 

I cannot think of anything to improve upon perfection other than some minor stuff and "performance related" things (similar to what 1SICKLEX pointed out regarding L-tuned).

1. Aggressive sport option (along the lines of M or AMG - brakes, suspension, HP, better lateral support seats)
2. Blinkers in side mirrors
3. Less noisy on the inside (I always compare this aspect to the car I traded in on my GS - a 96 E320 - that car was definitely much quieter than my GS).

 

.... + NO 16's in sight ever -only 17,18's and 19's

 

Lex, you might want to tone down your signature some....it's getting bigger everyday!

 

Rominl -- this is a great thread and very interesting to think about. Just curious -- how long have you owned your 98? I bought my 98 GS400 in March of this year, so I had the option to buy pre or post 2001. Exterior color is very important to me and I really love silver. Anyway, when doing my research early on, I found that 98-99 were alpine silver and 2000+ were millenium silver (of course this is obvious to me now). For some reason, I really liked the alpine silver over the millenium (no offense to millenium silver owners), so I had to decide whether the 2001+ GS was such an improvement over the pre-2001 models that it justified not having the exact color I wanted. Of course, price played a factor as well. Anyway, long story short, I went with the 98.

In response to your comments, I think Lexus probably could have done more with the 2001 to set it apart from the earlier model years, but, then again, that's classic Lexus for you (in a good way). Other than major redesigns after several years, it seems that Lexus doesn't like to outdate its cars too quickly. From an owners' perspective, this is great because the cars really hold their value. Think about it, from the exterior, other than taillights, front grill, and perhaps wheels (depending on whether you have 16s or 17s), there aren't any major differences between the pre-2001 and 2001+. I realize that there are some additional differences on the inside (e.g., wood steering wheel. absence of e-shift, and probably other distinctions), but on the whole, the cars are basically the same, and I would venture to guess that the average person wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a 1998 and a 2001 model. So, although it would have been nice to see some additional improvements in the 2001+ model, I can see why Lexus wanted to leave well enough alone. And, also, why try to fix it if it's not broken. Anyway, just my .02.

e-man

 

I've never noticed, what's the diff between alpine and millenium silver? pics?

 

Hey Chuck. Here's how I would describe the difference. Alpine silver is a little more icy with a hint of blue and millenium silver is a little more satin. It's hard to explain in words, and I just remembered responding to a thread that had a picture of an alpine and millenium silver side-by-side. Let me see if I can find it . . .

Here it is:

 

ASM is more closer of a true silver where as MSM has a greenish tint in comparison to most silvers.

 

~i wish the 430 had ESHIFT>..
~maybe a 2 tone stock interior.. i like the way certain cars to this..
~should had more HP than 300 .. i mean not 500 but maybe 350 or so..
~fix the heated seats problems..
~i wish the doors and trunk closed like the LS430 Ultra lux ones.. where you just close them and they do the rest for you.. (maybe im lazy)