2gs4blue

get a gs400 u will be satisfy

RamAirRckt

I was pretty happy with it. Didn't have DVD NAV, not sure that is really that important to me anyway. It has cool factor, but I am not buying it to be cool either.

For those who have driven a 400 and 430, how much better really IS the 430? And how much more is it worth?

1QWKGS4

iTrader: (3)

There are numerous threads on this but in Brief, I own both so I'm going to give you the low down -The two cars look identical except for motor size and a few interior differences and how they drive..

GS400 Rocks!! (More Sporty, power deliver is quicker with less lag because it Throttle is via cable instead of drive by wire in the GS430) GS400 has Tiptronic and i used it last night and it was fun! GS430 just auto, no shifting of any kind except gate shifting..GS400's are more mod friendly..

GS430 is great car too, though same body, it feels different (more Luxurious, car has more Torque so it evens the playing field between the cars to perform equally, though the GS430 feels less peppy but have same performance numbers/times..

Its mostly up to "Feel" and depends on what you're preference. I daily drive my GS430 so i enjoy the Smoooooth and Luxurious Ride while having V8 power.. The GS400 is a great daily too but not as smooth, I only drive my GS400 when i feel itchy for a race or a good romp..

Actually, after driving my GS400 last night. i'm considering selling my GS430 and just driving my GS400 all the time..

RamAirRckt

How is the torque management in the 2 cars? The GS400 I drove has massive amounts of TM, friend of mine says Lexus is proud of that because it makes smooth shifts. But honestly it feels like my friend's 94 Dodge during a shift. My SC 3800 has better shift FEEL. The Dodge shift feels goofy.

But then again I like a neck snapping firm shift that will break the tires loose too. My 80 Turbo TA would chirp them nicely at 95 mph going into 3rd.... I miss that.

How is the manual shift supposed to work? (Tiptronic this is NOT, trust me, worlds different) When I engaged man mode I could shift manually, but I could not lock into 5th, if I gave it throttle, it would still downshift for me. Which I don't want.

I searched, couldn't find much on how it is supposed to work.

RamAirRckt

I drove a 99 GS4 last night with 112k on it, it felt sloppy and just didn't have the refinement of the 138k mile 98 GS4 I drove Sunday. It had nice chrome wheels, but looks isn't what I am necessarily after. And the car smelled, someone sprayed some stuff in there to musk the cigarette wreak from it. I felt like I smelled like it the rest of the night.

Was there any significant differences in the 98 to 99? Transmission felt poorer (harsh on shifts when you step on it), suspension was looser, the NAV buttons were worn down and barely readable, the factory sub if it had one was gone, I didn't see Nakamichi on the NAV/stereo at all, were not all Nakamichi?

It didn't sound very good, the aftermarket amp that may or may not have been hooked up to the aftermarket sub probably was a good part of that.

The 98 had the Nakamichi sound (Said it on the unit), but not NAV. It sounded great, really liked that part. Car felt solid and true, getting up to 90 was sweet and got there with no effort. The 99 seemed hard to get up to higher speeds, power was there, but it didn't feel right at 70 mph compared to the 98 car at 90 mph.