davezaristo

and better yet, the GS350 is less expensive by almost 1,000,000 yen...so who would actually buy the 430 in japan?

http://lexus.jp/models/gs/performance/powerunit.html

HKGS300

lol ... that is one of the reasons why Lexus US came out with the GS300 rather than the GS350.

IMO unless there is a replacement for the V8, the US currently will keep the GS300.

leogsx97

430 has more torque and it pics around 3.5K; I would prefer torque over HP for the same price.

Gojirra99

I also prefer higher torque at lower rpm for the GS.

jrock65

GS430: 280 ps = 276 hp
GS350: 315 ps = 311 hp

Note: 1 pferdestarke (ps) = 0.9863201 horsepower

Gojirra99

According to my calculations :

Japanese GS350 : 278 lb.ft of torque at 4800 rpm
Japanese GS430 : 317 lb.ft of torque at 3400 rpm

US spec GS430 has 325 lb.ft. of torque at 3400 rpm

bmgs400

That's true...it's all about TQ.

looknow12

Nothing like torque.

My buddy has a V6 4runner with 245hp. I've got the GX (04) with 235. We both prefer the V8. The smoothness and confidence a V8 demonstrates cannot be compared. Particularly with a luxury vehicle where you don't want something wild, noisy, and a dramatic power curve under the hood.

LEXUS FAN!

i can't believe the GS 350 is going to have about 300 horespower...that is crazy

that means the GS460 will have at least 350 horsepower

what is the 0-60 on both cars?

Gojirra99

With the 300+ hp IS350, it really shouldn't be a surprise . . .

maaloxx

Lets not forget that the GS will also be getting a hybrid powerplant. The 350 i think will be a hybrid as will the GS600.

Sam Khoury

jrock65's calculation seems dead on because according to the Lexus IS Preview page that recently went up on Lexus US web site, the IS350 will have 306hp so I'm sure it will be about the same for the GS. For those of you who don't read the IS forum, here's a link to the IS preview page.

http://www.lexus.com/2006is_preview/index.html

I can't see Lexus replacing the GS300 with the GS350 unless the GS430 is replaced with the GS450h with more than 300hp or maybe the future lineup will be GS300, GS350 and GS450h and the GS430 is going away. Actually the latter seems like the more likely scenario for several reasons. First, I believe the 3.0-liter V6 in the GS300 is a brand new engine. The previous GS300 had an inline 6. Why develop a new engine and setup the factory to install this particular engine in the GS for only one model year? That wouldn't make sense to me but then again, based on this scenario, the 4.3-liter V8 would only be available for a year but the 4.3 is not a newly developed engine like the 3.0-liter V6. Second, the engine in the GS450h is the 3.5-liter V6 with an electric motor mated to it which is supposed to produce substantially more than 300hp. So we could see an engine lineup of the 3.0-liter V6 producing 245hp, the 3.5-liter V6 producing ~300hp and the hybrid in the GS450h producing substantially more than 300hp. Maybe this has been discussed in other threads already, but I'd like to hear what people think of my theory.

INHOCJP

I think the likely scenario is that the GS300 will go away, eventually leaving the line up of the GS350, GS460, and the GS450H. I think it's been widely speculated already that the GS460 may be coming in the fall of next year (and the 450H is the spring of next year). Also, the newly redesigned LS460 and it's variants are also rumored to be released next fall. I think it's a given that Lexus won't release the GS350 until the GS460 is ready, and vice versa.

In any situation, I can't imagine Lexus dropping the V8 from the GS lineup, especially when MB and BMW both offer a high HP V8.

Sam Khoury

Ok that makes sense to a certain extent because I forgot about the GS460. The only part that doesn't make sense to me is that you're basically saying that in a year or 2, the lowest hp engine in the GS will be making ~300hp (i.e. the GS350). I would expect them to have at least one engine producing hp in the low 200s. BMW has 2 engines in their 5 series that produce hp in the 200s.

I have a question. Is the 3.0-liter V6 in the current GS300 used in any other Lexus/Toyota vehicles? If it's not, then why develop it to only use it for one or 2 model years?

INHOCJP

Good point. Never thought about that. How cool would it be if the smallest engine in the GS lineup offered more than 300 HP You're right about BMW, I see tons more 525's than I do 530/545's. But MB has the E350 as the lowest powered E, and it has around 268 HP...a pretty high number.

I'm also curious what Lexus's strategy is with the GS engines. If the 350 has around 300 HP, then the 460 better have 40-50 more to justify the price difference (in spite of the torque difference).