jimxo

5 months and counting........

Milla...

I don't know that picture above gives me a real Avalon flavor.

Gojirra99

I agree Doesn't look appealing to me at all.

brendanlim

Honestly, what get's me the most is the grill. I think it's just plain ugly. Can't wait to see what aftermarket grills will be available.

jimxo

post 999 do I here 1000?

Overclocker

I'm on it.

LexFather

That is a great pic. But this car is not really doing it for me. Inside or out. It will REQUIRE a kit and drop and 20s.

Xanadu350

But when you see the car on video it looks different again. The grill does need more tweaking to be a headturner. I wish there were more interior pics to look at also. I was hoping for big big things on this new design, Is it possible that Lexus team reads our posts & would tweak the design even further or is this it?

I do think that until you get this one in your hands & feel the road with it & see what it can do & how it drives, just seeing pics is hard to decide whether Lexus sweat the details on this or not.

Since I don't have a GS but will be looking at this new model next year, Did Lexus poll the GS owners about what they liked or disliked about the current GS & what the owners would change or like to have added to the new model? Didn't they do that with the ES when they changed the body style on that one?

LexFather

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT!

I just remembered. The 1993-1996 1st gen GS used a 4-speed auto. The 1997 1st gen used the new 5 SPEED used in the 2nd gen GS/LS/SC.
Times from the 4-speed to 5 speed GS improved a whole second in the GS 300. 0-60 dropped from 9 seconds to high 7s, 8 seconds flat.

This also is backed up by the new 04 LS 430 with the 6 speed over the 03 LS 430 with the 5 speed. Same engine, same 290 rating, the extra gear as previously stated makes the LS a BEAST. Dropping 0-60 time in 1/2 a second (from 6.4 seconds to 5.9).

So if the GS 430 does keep the same 300hp rating (which I seriously doubt) and weight stays the same (the GS only grew .6 inches), we may have a solid mid 5 second GS.

BTW, the GS 400 and GS 300 with e-shift you can only shift from 2-5.
WIth the new 6 speed in the LS 430, you can shift from 1-6 with the shift lever.
Looking at the competition(I'll only name cars under 6 seconds)
The E500 does the sprint at 5.9 (fastest time I've seen).
The new 545 I've seen 5.5.
The current M45, fastest time I've seen is 5.7. The new one uses the same 340hp engine, I think weight might go up (the FM platform is a heavy one).

The new GS has a better chance of the 430 being near of at the top with acceleration.

THe GS 300/330, I HOPE they make it a mid to high 6 second car. They will NEED to.

pfsacer

I guess they will stay with the 300hp, and come with an "M-division" to get into the race with M-3/M-5, AMG, S-Audi and the likes.
I only hope they don't wait to long getting there.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

I haven't posted very much here, but look a page or so back at my first post in this topic. The only place that horsepower numbers really matter are for bragging rights, IMO. What will make the GS a competitive car in the performance arena will be 1) the engine but we also need to think about 2) gearing in the transmission, 3) weight and 4) tires and wheels. We might all sit here and be disappointed with "just" 300HP/325 lb-ft of torque but if the weight is near that of the current model, and the gearing in the 6spd automatic is aggressive enough, the new GS430 will be dropping 0-60s of 5.5 and 5.4 seconds. The fastest time I have seen for the 545i 6AT was 6.0 seconds flat, the 6spd however is rated at like 5.5 seconds. Remember that the performance of the new M45 and STS will be slightly retarded by the use of a 5spd automatic. It may not be a big issue, but a 6 spd would definitely make them a bit quicker. Caddy's Northstar V-8 (in the new STS) is posting times of 5.9 seconds or so, and Infiniti's VK (I think?) series V-8 has proved to have a rather anemic HP rating in all of it's applications. It's also unproven if Mercedes 7spd automatic (soon to make it into the E500) will have any performance advantage over the current 5spd, but it seems like overkill to me. The new A6 4.2 Quattro has yet to be tested, but out of the other cars mentioned here (Caddy STS 4.6, 545i 6AT, E500, M45) I'm betting the Audi will be quickest. There haven't been any official tests or anything, but I think that it will have the power/ability to out-muscle the others at the dragstrip. If the 2006 GS430 really does end up putting down 0-60 times of 5.3 seconds or so (which is quite likely), it will be the fastest automatic in it's class, despite having the lowest HP rating.

Time will tell though...

-Michael-

pfsacer

Leading rather than trailing is my opinion, we have the reliability, now lets do something in the fun department.
The Beamer although numbers don't tell still has a higher fun factor, and feels quicker.

Don't forget all major brands have their perfomance department (M,S,AMG,V,R etc) for that reason they do not have to go up in HP in the "regular models".
Lexus on the other hand doesn't have that (yet ?), so leading in the non-performance department is the least they can try.
Also no manual or SMG-like tranny is offered in the Lexus while some others do.

Xanadu350

Hey, Is there anyway all the pics that have surfaced on the new 2005 GS can be posted somewhere on a separate thread?

I have wanted to go back sometimes & just look at the pics but don't have time to sift through 68 pages to find them all.

Not talking about the photoshop creations but the true look of what the model will be.

Anyone else think this is a good idea? Maybe the separate thread could be moderated to keep all the pics official ones? I'm sure will see more at the time gets closer but I want to see them now all in one spot quickly.
Thanks

pfsacer

I think it is a good idea, why not put them all in the Gallery in a seperate section (new GS), they can also include the photoshops, they look much better than the original.

adale

Just got the latest Lexus magizine and they showed a tease of the new GS. It was stated that it will be a '05 appearing "soon" . Also about the HP debate, my mother-in-law just bought a new LS430 and for a car of that size and weight that damn thing moves amazingly well. The 6 speed does wonders and the manual shift mode works very well. The handling is still, well , rather boatish, but not like the big US sedans but not anything like the tightness of the big euro sedans either. My '04 GS300 handles much better as it should. Just my $0.02 worth.