agreed.

 

I received confirmation today that the GS will *definitely* be at the L.A. Auto Show later this year.

 

LA Autoshow? Autoblog seems to believe the 4GS is debuting next month at the New York Autoshow with the FT-86.

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/03/10/r...-new-york-aut/

 

of course v8 is for bragging right, but isn't that the whole point of luxury segment? it's just like saying the LS line can survive just fine with the v6 and no need for v8

 

Both of you may be right, actually, if it turns out that the 4GS debuts as a concept in New York and as a production car in Los Angeles.

 

That's the fuzzy part. I asked about NY and my contact wasn't sure, but knew the car would certainly be at L.A. and called it a "done deal."

If it doesn't show up in NY, we can at least expect it in L.A.

 

Is hard to say, it can go either way. Everyone is down sizing their engines now a days and a V6 Hybrid make the power of a ordinary V8. Is true that all the competitors have a V8......E550, 550i, S6, XF, M56......but then none of them have a V6 Hybrid that makes the same power. Also lately it feels like Lexus is not trying to compete with all the other competitors, the GS460 only have 342 hp all these times for example when they got all the parts in the part's bin to make 381 hp. I would hate to see the V8 goes too. It will be interesting to see Lexus's next move.

The current GS460 and GS450h almost feel redundant though since they perform almost identically, even if they feel very different. If I am Toyota, it would make sense to have a regular V6 with 330-350 hp, a V6 Hybrid that makes 380-400 hp, and a V8 GS-F with 450-475 hp.

 

That make sense, the car will debut at N.Y. next month and will be at the L.A. show again later in the year.

 

the current gs460 is a joke, i personally think either they have 1) technical difficulties in doing the full 380hp on the gs platform, or 2) they don't want the v8 to overshadow their first hybrid effort on the gsh, which has 340hp. either way i think that's where the 3gs failed with the v8. looking at the e550 and 550i and it's clear that v8 needs to push around 380hp.

if lexus really moves away from v8 and use v6 hybrid to full cover that segment, i would be very interested in seeing how lexus pull off the marketing and stack up with the competitors, both in performance and sales numbers.

 

Cylinder count is so important for image, the new Audi S4 instantly lost some appeal when it switched to a V6, even though it is a quicker car, it still feel lesser in a way. I mean power is one thing, the feels and sounds is also as important, especially in a luxury sporty car.

 

Yeah I saw that this morning. I was surprised since Gustav was the one who told me it was definitely an auto.

 

I am guessing #2, their whole selling point of the GSh is V8 power, V6 efficiency, so they don't want their V8 to make 40 hp more......that is dumb if you ask me, but make sense. I can't see how they would have any technical difficulties, is all just intake/exhaust/cam and tuning differences, is not like a size issue, it even got the same 8-speeds! It is pretty obvious that they tune down the GS460 for a reason when the LS460 makes 381 hp with the same motor. That pissed me off, since the GS400/430 used to make "MORE" power then the LS400/430.

Definitely. 380~390 hp about 3 years ago, the new standard for 2011/2012 is 400 hp~430 hp, 550i got 400hp, M56 got 420 hp, Genesis R-Spec sedan got 429 hp. But then the R-Spec is more like a cheaper alternative to the GS-F.

Marketing would just say their V6 Hybrid perform the same as a traditional V8, and it does. Even though they would never feel the same. Is back to the whole S4 thing again, even if the performance is the same, it still feel inferior. They offer the current GS460 and GS450h at the same time with the 460 being down on power is probably their way to ease us into the concept.

I guess if I think about it, as much as I love my V8, I would be open to a 350~400 hp V6 Hybrid as my daily commuter, it is always nice to save some gas money. I feel the current GS450h is a perfectly adequate and nice daily commuter. But as long as the V8 option exist, I would prefer the V8 for the smoothness and quietness.

 

good post

and nothing proves that better than Acura

 

As discussed previously, if they ever decide to build a GS-F it had better come with north of 500 hp or it isn't worth building. A 450-475 hp F would be a joke compared to the M5/E63/RS6. And no, it will not be sufficiently light enough to justify being that dramatically underpowered. The safety requirements of vehicles today are making them heavier not lighter. Some carbon fiber tech may be possible but it will be cost prohibitive to put enough in to reduce the weight to being significantly lighter than every other car in the segment.

 

not to everyone. v8 does offer some benefits, smoothness, quieter, lower end torque bias vs. a v6. the v6 hybrid in the 450h is impressive, but of course at the expense of trunk space in particular. if they can solve that, i think the gs450h type of car could be a real winner.

well, LS is a lot bigger of course, so more weight to tote around. as mercedes now has the S350, an LS350 wouldn't be such a bad idea really, or an LS450h.



if they can get the trunk space back, i think a compelling case can be made that a GS hybrid is as quick or quicker, as luxurious, smoother, quieter, and more fuel efficient than the competition's v8 cars.