jyg es3

i'm going to dealer to drive . gs430 today. I have already driven gs300. At dealer in CT both have run flats. no a big fan of t car with no spare. I''m told a donut spare may be offfered later as an addd on as there is room in the trunk. . gs300 was ok ride grear tranny and engine, still think I want v-8
will see after I drive it. Loved the drive of m45 sport, but can get used to looks of car and horrible center stack, . Hopefully gs 430 will have great accelleraton as well. gs is very expensive compared
to m45. 52k vs 58 k, real tires on m45 with full size spare/full wheel .

LexFather

From my understanding you do not have to get the run-flats. I can list a few things the M45 doesn't have the GS has. For instance a 6 speed auto vs a 5 speed unit.

jyg es3

is on v-8, I know to get performance on the gs-300 it ad to be down shifted to 4tth 2 gears dowm On m45 had to go down 2 gers to third. I will know better after this afternoon when I drive tthe gs430
It this point style of car has to turn me on, gs does m45 does not:both exterior and intterior.

LexFather

The more gears a car has the better. It allows the gearing to be more aggresive (letting you really squeeze power out an engine).lt also allows for better fuel economy. It also allows for relaxed highway cruising at under 2000rpm at 60mph, so there is less engine noise. I believe at 60mph the M is at 2500 RPM or so, pretty high. Also the Lexus unit is much more advanced and modified from the more expensive LS 430. The M unit is used from the G35 and is an older model.

Its not that the Ms tranny is bad, its just the GSs is better.

dseag2

Agreed. 6-speed is better than 5-speed, and Infinitis cruise along at high rpm's. I'm always surprised when I hit 80mph in my FX and the tach is reading 3000! It is still quiet and stable at that speed, but high rpm's aren't as good for engine longevity and gas mileage. High rpm's are one of the reasons Infinitis always feel like they have power on tap, but they're also one of the reasons gas mileage isn't so good.

...and after my experience with runflats on my SC430, I would go with non-runflats and a spare!

LexFather

And some of the new Benzs have a 7-speed!!

flipside909

Yes you can depending on your region. I know the Eastern Region gets runflats as we here in the Western Region get regular all seasons. I'm like you, i'd rather have a fullsize spare for piece of mind. But honestly, tires are well made nowadays that you usually don't need a fullsize spare. Out of the last 3 vehicles I have had, I haven't had to use the spare tire. The last 3 vehicles I had the tires replaced after the OEM tires wore out. Just some food for thought.

flipside909

We may laugh now, but we may end up with 10 or more forward gears like big rigs someday.

BugattiT59

Could you provide some detail on your (bad?) experience with the SC430 run-flats. I have heard that the ride can be a little harsher, anything else? I was considering getting them. Do we know if they are they same kind of run-flats as the GS has?

Another question, does having runflats restrict your rim options? i.e. if you have run-flats (with tire-pressure monitoring) would that restrict your lexus/after-market rim options?

dseag2

It would probably be a good idea for you to go over to the SC430 forum and do a search for "runflats" before making a decision. Basically, the runflats on the SC430 made the ride downright teeth-jarring over road imperfections and detracted from the car's handling. Many owners chose to ditch them and go with non-runflats, even at their own expense. Keep in mind that the whole principle behind runflats is that they don't need air. Consequently, the rubber has to be hard enough to stay intact on its own. Sometimes you can feel this in the ride/handling.

With that said, it is my understanding the SC430 suspension was poorly designed to handle runflats. BMW offers them on several of its models, and I've never heard negative comments... at least from the auto critics. The best test is to actually drive the car and see for yourself. If it's rough, you'll be able to tell!

As for rim options, I don't believe the runflats restrict them, although I bought new rims/tires at the same time. However, the tire pressure sensors DO restrict your options. Hope that helps.

Traturn

Cars arriving from the NJ port appear to have Run Flats and a compact spare too.

tough to tell a customer their 50k car has no spare, and its an extra ~$300.00 for one if they want to 'add' it.

omaha_lex

I would bet that in the not-too-distant future today's standard multiple gear trannys will be replaced with more advanced continuously-variable transmissions

spwolf

eh, good ol journalists, what we actually heard was that new 3 series has much better ride than harsh 5 series because suspension was designed for runflats, unlike 5 series suspension, of course none of the original 5 series articles complained about harshness, but new ones do (I just noticed 2 different European 530 reviews with harsh ride comments).

That being said, GS is probably much better designed for runflats than SC430 was...