Just came home from a preview of the RX330 at the Bayridge dealership. I spoke to a guy from lexus corporate (not from the dealership).

He confirmed a lot of the stuff that we already know about the new GS. He said it will most likely be out in August or early fall of 2004 as a 2005 model. It will have many engine options. The new engine will be a 3.5L V-6 derived from the new engine in the RX.

This new engine will also be used in the hybrid model that will have 300hp :eek: and get about 40mpg. He said the hybrid option will only cost about $1500 more then the regular V6. The hybrid model will only come with AWD. He said this will be a revolutionary system developed by lexus where the hybrid engine works together with the AWD system. This system is a few years ahead of the hybrid systems of all the other car companies.

The other engine option will be the V8. He did not specify if the engine will be the same or brand new but he said it will be more then 300hp and it will serve as the high performance model in the GS lineup.

The New GS will have an optional sport tuned suspension and the handling will be much better overall.

He also confirmed that lexus will not compete with BMW's M and MB's AMG divisions. That is not the target market for Lexus at this point. But lexus will offer more performance inspired cars, as will be seen with the new GS and IS models.

Finally he confirmed that nobody knows what the new GS looks like except for the people actually involved in creating the car. He did mention the styling will be similar to the Bentley GT (2 door) concept car, but nobody really knows of the final outcome. Ihope Lexus creates another beauty to follow the gen 1 and 2 GS.

All i know is the new GS will be a GREAT car, I cant wait for it to come out already.

 

Knowing the high stakes involved in the luxury car business. I hope Lexus does the right thing & gives the GS the aggresive
flowing lines of the 1st & 2nd generation cars. I CAN"T WAIT!

Paul

 

Now, if we could only see some sort of picture....

 

a 300hp car with 40 mpg that is very nice! i saw an article about the hybrid engine they developed for a rx300 which got around 40 mpg at 240 hp i think. definitely can't wait.

 

RNM,

Any idea of price ranges for the new GS?

Thanks

 

lemme get this straight: the new GS330 will come as a normal and hybrid, one at 240hp, the other at 300hp for only $1500 more ? Don't you think that would kill sales of the normal gs330 considering that the hybrid gets better mileage and has 60 more hp ??

 

Good point! Unless people want to mod the V6 engine...doubt that'll be possible w/ the hybrid.

 

RNM GS3 - thanks very much for the info - it sounds like solid info. All sounds positive in my view. If they pull it off and it's good looking the 'revolutionary' aspects could really be a home run for Lexus. No more Mr. Conservative! I'm excited!

 

Hey Bitkahuna,

Have you also posted on the Edmunds boards? I always found your posts very helpful.


Anyway, this new information does sound encouraging. I just hope that the new hybrid setup does not have any bugs if it does find its way into the new GS.

 

Here are some pics of that car. The Bently that is.
/Fredric

 

Yup, that's me, and thanks. It's really been quiet over there for the past few months on the GS board but I've been a bit active on the GX470 one.

 

The new engine will be 3.5L derived from the 3.3L in the RX330, so it will be called GS350.

I asked the guy the very same question, why anybody would buy the regular V6? The major difference between them will be that the hybrid will only be made on an AWD platform while the regular V6 will be RWD. The price difference will not be big, around $1500 is what he said. But Lexus tends to group many options together in high costing packages, so who knows.

The impression that I got is that Lexus wants to have all their cars to eventually be hybrid. Their technology is much more advanced at this point than the other car companies and they want to take advantage of this. We will see the hybrid version of the RX330 next year, so its not far away.

As far as the Bentley styling, he said try to imagine it with 4 doors instead of the coupe in order to get an idea of what the new GS might look like. I doubt anybody will get to see the new GS until it is introduced by Lexus a few months before it goes on sale.

 

Sounds like Lexus is going to make this car worth the wait. I dont plan on getting one but it's nice to know whats coming.

My real hope is Lexus offers a sports car to compete with Corvette and 911's

 

Hey guys. I just got good INFO. on what the new GS looks like.
I can't say who it's from. They were able to see it from front 3/4, & rear shot only. They said it looked OK. They were really not excited at all. They all agreed that it lost some attitude & looks more dorky. What the hell is up with the DORKY trend that Toyota has been coming up with lately. It does have the same shape as the Bently coupe but, lost some of it's GS lines. They said that it looks like a cross between the 1st & 2nd generation gs. The body & wheel base is longer about 5 inch.It has the shape of the 1st gen. with the bentley/2nd gen.cross over. I asked well what grade would you give it & they said right now a C+:eek:
Oh my God! I'm hoping they are completely wrong.


Paul

 

man if they make it look like the Bently GT Coupe with four doors, I will be all over that car like white on rice...

Maybe this person that gave it a C+ rating just doesn't like the car? I know people that absolutely HATE the way the GS looks (but they're stupid so it doesn't count...hehehehehe)...

I love the way that Bentley looks....I just hope they don't make it look like the front end of the new ES300...I still don't like it that much...