Dd1101

Good morning Club Lexus,

I have a 2014 TL, and have been looking to upgrade. I was really excited to drive the GS 350 fsport, last night but was a little let down. I did drive the C43 before the GS

First thing, road noise. Not sure if it was the roads around my dealership but I felt I heard too much road noise.

2. Can that intake sound be turned off? It's nice in sports + but everyday that engine note might get annoying.

3. Power, folks who came from a AWD TL did you feel like the power feels the same?

I am am going to drive the car again today since it's a bit warmer I will see if I could drive the car on the highway.

We dont need a big car, we have a MDX for those duties. Other cars on my list are Q50, C43, and 340i. Price range I am trying to stay in is 50k to 55k OTD

OUGrad05

I looked pretty hard at numerous cars about 18 months ago including the TL. The GS is in my opinion a much better sports sedan. The chassis is better, the engine revs smoother and the power delivery is excellent. The TL felt similarly quick if I remember correctly but overall dynamics went to the GS by a long way. The TL just felt large and ponderous by comparison.

The Q50 with revised steering is supposed to drive a lot better than the early cars, but the interior quality leaves a lot to be desired on those. The C43, I have not yet driven, I own a 2015 335i M Sport, very similar to the 340i, but the new engine is fantastic in the 3 series, not that mine was bad....The GS is wider inside than the 3 series and it feels like a bigger car when sitting inside. The GS though imparts more confidence when driven hard, which is odd given its bigger size.

Curious to know how your drive goes today

shurik74

iTrader: (5)

I came from 2011 TL SH-AWD 6MT, owned for 3 years. I love GS for exterior & interior look but drive characteristics I prefer on TL, especially if you drive in states where rain & snow involved. Vtech engine is great + SH-AWD system is brilliant!

MustangSal

Not a TL guy myself but with regards to road feel and noise. Now that it's getting colder I've noticed a vast difference in when my tires are at 29/30 psi on cold mornings to when they're warmed up to 34-36 psi. Definitely a big difference in the feel and the on-pavement feel and sound. As always, the road surface makes a difference too. Newly paved is a dream to run on.

gflexus

C43 is a powerful car (360 HP twin turbo) and stiffer suspension, etc. Not really comparable to GS...more like an M3. . GS will feel slow compared to it. But GS is a bigger more comfortable car and will have much more options. I don't think you are going to get a C43 for the $50-$55K you mentioned, or at least not one with many options..

DJP333

I just traded in my 2008 IS350 for a 2015 GS350 F Sport. Initally, I too was not as impressed, since I came from a similar engine in a smaller car, but I think with all cars you have to get used to the way it drives. After about 2 months now, I really enjoy driving it. I mostly drive in Sport mode, which really helps if you want a more sporty throttle mapping. Once you understand how the engine shifts, you can have some real fun. Oh, and I love the note of the engine when you get on the revs, I look forward to hearing it everyday, my IS was too quiet. I think road noise (and performance) is all related to tires, look at what those are. I have the Bridgestone Potenza RE050As, some of the GS's come with Dunlops. Once I get through my tires I already have, am going to go with Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3s. I had these on my IS350 before I traded it and they made the car feel and ride totally differently to before (which is a shame because at this point I had already gone 150k miles). The A/S 3s had little road noise and really stuck to the concrete to help utilize the horsepower to it's extent.

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

Yep for road noise. I was just thinking the same thing myself yesterday. My tires aren't known for a smooth and/or quiet ride so I'm looking forward to putting on Michelins in the near future.

2. Yes it can be quieter. I took the sound generator off of my car a couple of months ago. It is SO MUCH better without the extra noise.

3. Power is about the same so I'm not surprised that you didn't notice a big difference.

OreoSlinky

We have the '15 Q50S (more of the wife's) and '16 GS 350 fsport. Driving both cars on a daily basis, I list things that stand out more.

Q50:
-power/delivery (its got more umph to it)
-remote start is a lot simpler, it doesn't turn off the car once you open doors/trunk
-dual screen in the center console makes it a little easier to navigate while traveling (although the bottom one likes to act up sometimes)

GS:
-interior feels more luxurious... for the longer or heavy traffic commutes it's feels a lot better.
-more room
-better/more options: examples are cooled/heated seats (q50 only has heated), heated rear seats & climate control, folding mirrors, black headliner, disable 'spare' keyfob, rear window shade, Heads up display, interior lighting.
-Lexus enform app (when it works it's actually pretty nice)
-digital tachometer with the 12.3 nav screen (only 16+ fsports get the digital tach)

it it was the finer details that really made me love the GS more.

atrac7

I actually came from a 2012 SH-AWD w/ tech. Very much loved the car but issues came up near the 100k mark in terms of service amongst other issues....had it for a few years and put about 60k on that vehicle. Also had the 3G TL before that one.

I now have the Lux pkg, so non-F sport. Road noise is acceptable, but I agree that it could be a bit quieter. Tires play a big part in this, and i'm looking forward to swapping the ones that came with my car to help with quiet feel. The car is smoother at highway cruising imo.

Power in terms of numbers are similar to SH-AWD, but I do feel the GS has more "grunt" when it comes to pickup in the mid to high RPMs on the RWD model. The GS is lighter as well, and it feels more nimble. Keep note however that feeling more nimble isn't the same as feeling planted...the SH-AWD was amazing in that regards. Not sure how the AWD in the GS does, but the SH-AWD in the TL truly had that confidence with the road feel when power was driven to all wheels. I still miss how aggressively you can hug a winding entrance/exit ramp on the TL with ease. One of the best handling cars I've ever owned.

In the end though, I was looking to upgrade, and that is exactly what you'd be doing with TL --> GS350. The Lexus is on a different level in terms of refinement and overall driver satisfaction...from technology to little creature comforts like automatic and telescoping wheel when exiting/entering vehicle. Make the switch!

old vs new

OUGrad05

Wow, that photo with the two cars side by side reallllllly makes the lexus look fantastic.

DP03

Definitely tires to quiet the road noise. I switched to Pirelli P7's shortly after I bought my car and it made a huge difference.