Impressive Performance out of this fully stock 2013 RWD GS350 with the 6-Speed
08-14-20 | 10:15 AM
#61
Lead Lap
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 642
Likes: 119
From: Texas
The GS is dead so unfortunately it doesn't really matter what it needs to stay relevant, from the manufacturer's perspective at least. The NA V6 has stayed the same for so many years that the lack of turbocharged power to deliver low end torque has allowed it to become eclipsed by the competition. I had that engine for many years in our ES350 and I loved it, but I didn't expect anything performance-wise on the lower rpm range.
Without touching the engine, a steeper rear end gear would help immensely but at a slight mpg penalty. Even easier, always having a great set of tires and exhibiting them only when warmed will probably get you ahead of the competition most of time in a true street scenario. I'm sure I can get my GS200t there with a fairly easy and mild hybrid turbo mod, water injection and some tuning. The rest of the car is so good that I personally couldn't care about 0-60 or what other cars are quicker. Not sure why so many are fixated on those numbers in a street car designed to drive on public roads.
My previous daily driver was in the high 3's 0-60 and I never needed the extra edge to merge or get in front of traffic. It was a lot of extra gas and money on wide tires for nothing. It was fun at the track but I always went easy at the hit for fear of breaking something on my daily driver. I was always focused on trap speed anyways. If the juveniles want to play stupid and race 0-60+ on the street then that's on them for choosing the wrong car. But as I mentioned, spending the extra money on that great set of tires and only "exhibiting" them when warm and at appropriate pressure will go a long way in a 0-60 competition on the street. The aggressive styling of the F Sport doesn't really help either for those conscious (self-conscious?) about how fast their car is compared to the rest.
Without touching the engine, a steeper rear end gear would help immensely but at a slight mpg penalty. Even easier, always having a great set of tires and exhibiting them only when warmed will probably get you ahead of the competition most of time in a true street scenario. I'm sure I can get my GS200t there with a fairly easy and mild hybrid turbo mod, water injection and some tuning. The rest of the car is so good that I personally couldn't care about 0-60 or what other cars are quicker. Not sure why so many are fixated on those numbers in a street car designed to drive on public roads.
My previous daily driver was in the high 3's 0-60 and I never needed the extra edge to merge or get in front of traffic. It was a lot of extra gas and money on wide tires for nothing. It was fun at the track but I always went easy at the hit for fear of breaking something on my daily driver. I was always focused on trap speed anyways. If the juveniles want to play stupid and race 0-60+ on the street then that's on them for choosing the wrong car. But as I mentioned, spending the extra money on that great set of tires and only "exhibiting" them when warm and at appropriate pressure will go a long way in a 0-60 competition on the street. The aggressive styling of the F Sport doesn't really help either for those conscious (self-conscious?) about how fast their car is compared to the rest.
08-14-20 | 10:41 AM
#62
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,900
Likes: 888
From: Midwest
Yeah I agree that the GS350 power is sufficient for daily driving; however, the original point of this thread was the "impressive performance" of the GS350 mainly the 0-60 aspect or short runs. In that aspect I am not sure if "impressive performance" is accurate if comparing the car to its direct competitors. Hell even a base C300 is quicker than the GS350. And as you stated the poor torque from the old V6 really hurts the performance even moreso in daily driving. The turbo 4 cylinder in the C300 has a great torque band and feels way peppier in daily driving.
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drgrant (08-14-20)
08-14-20 | 10:50 AM
#63
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 1,900
Likes: 888
From: Midwest
I'm pretty impressed with how the GS 350 performed against this Audi A7 with a 3.0 liter supercharged V6 making 333hp and 325lb-ft of torque. The Audi was also modified with an intake and lightweight wheels. The GS is fully stock as it has been in all of these races.
08-14-20 | 11:24 AM
#64
Instructor
Joined: May 2015
Posts: 777
Likes: 120
From: MA
The GS is dead so unfortunately it doesn't really matter what it needs to stay relevant, from the manufacturer's perspective at least. The NA V6 has stayed the same for so many years that the lack of turbocharged power to deliver low end torque has allowed it to become eclipsed by the competition.
I had that engine for many years in our ES350 and I loved it, but I didn't expect anything performance-wise on the lower rpm range.
anything, but equating the two setups in any way is kind of absurd. I've owned cars with both and they are nothing alike other than having 6 cylinders and the same displacement.
Without touching the engine, a steeper rear end gear would help immensely but at a slight mpg penalty. Even easier, always having a great set of tires and exhibiting them only when warmed will probably get you ahead of the competition most of time in a true street scenario. I'm sure I can get my GS200t there with a fairly easy and mild hybrid turbo mod, water injection and some tuning. The rest of the car is so good that I personally couldn't care about 0-60 or what other cars are quicker. Not sure why so many are fixated on those numbers in a street car designed to drive on public roads.
6 in it that will smoke my car without even trying. Nobody with a brain buys a car like this unless they want to have fun with it. If you're not pushing the GS once in awhile, it's a wasted car.
A 200T? Its a crying shame those things are slugs, could probably benefit from a decent tune. I know why they did that though, to keep it from blowing up.
My previous daily driver was in the high 3's 0-60 and I never needed the extra edge to merge or get in front of traffic. It was a lot of extra gas and money on wide tires for nothing. It was fun at the track but I always went easy at the hit for fear of breaking something on my daily driver. I was always focused on trap speed anyways. If the juveniles want to play stupid and race 0-60+ on the street then that's on them for choosing the wrong car.
But as I mentioned, spending the extra money on that great set of tires and only "exhibiting" them when warm and at appropriate pressure will go a long way in a 0-60 competition on the street. The aggressive styling of the F Sport doesn't really help either for those conscious (self-conscious?) about how fast their car is compared to the rest
.
.
being sold past 2020....
-Mike
08-14-20 | 12:19 PM
#65
I was more speaking from the perspective of, if they reroll the GS, it has to be sub 5 to be considered a serious car.
Lol the 2GR-FE (Camry, most ES350, etc. Highlander, etc ) and the 2GR-FSE are two totally different engines. Not that the FSE/FKS is a torque monster or
anything, but equating the two setups in any way is kind of absurd. I've owned cars with both and they are nothing alike other than having 6 cylinders and the same displacement.
Because in 2020 a performance car shooting mid 5s is slow, that's why. 5.5 secs was cool for a BMW M3 that came out... 100 years ago. Not anymore. A friend of mine just bought a Ford Fusion with a turbo
6 in it that will smoke my car without even trying. Nobody with a brain buys a car like this unless they want to have fun with it. If you're not pushing the GS once in awhile, it's a wasted car.
A 200T? Its a crying shame those things are slugs, could probably benefit from a decent tune. I know why they did that though, to keep it from blowing up.
Lol, then likewise in your situation, you bought the wrong car.
Yeah, but even all of that won't make a GS a sub 5 car. On a good day with no passengers, a mostly empty gas tank, and no spare tire, you can probably shoot 5.3s with it all day long. Fast vs the average crapmobile most people are driving? sure. Fast vs its peers? no, not usually. Does it matter? thankfully, most of the time no. But it does matter in terms of people like US ever being able to see another new GS
being sold past 2020....
-Mike
Lol the 2GR-FE (Camry, most ES350, etc. Highlander, etc ) and the 2GR-FSE are two totally different engines. Not that the FSE/FKS is a torque monster or
anything, but equating the two setups in any way is kind of absurd. I've owned cars with both and they are nothing alike other than having 6 cylinders and the same displacement.
Because in 2020 a performance car shooting mid 5s is slow, that's why. 5.5 secs was cool for a BMW M3 that came out... 100 years ago. Not anymore. A friend of mine just bought a Ford Fusion with a turbo
6 in it that will smoke my car without even trying. Nobody with a brain buys a car like this unless they want to have fun with it. If you're not pushing the GS once in awhile, it's a wasted car.
A 200T? Its a crying shame those things are slugs, could probably benefit from a decent tune. I know why they did that though, to keep it from blowing up.
Lol, then likewise in your situation, you bought the wrong car.
Yeah, but even all of that won't make a GS a sub 5 car. On a good day with no passengers, a mostly empty gas tank, and no spare tire, you can probably shoot 5.3s with it all day long. Fast vs the average crapmobile most people are driving? sure. Fast vs its peers? no, not usually. Does it matter? thankfully, most of the time no. But it does matter in terms of people like US ever being able to see another new GS
being sold past 2020....
-Mike
The point I was trying to make with the tires was that even a car that ran sub 5 or 4 seconds in a mfg or magazine test can easily run 6-7 in suboptimal conditions with ok quality tires. If you care about competing 0-60 on the street then having great tires (I like Michelin PS4S) will keep your times more consistent, even if they are always at 5.5 seconds, you still will win versus a car that runs slower due to traction. I'm assuming that's the only reason you would care about 0-60 times.
Last edited by BMGS; 08-15-20 at 05:11 AM.
08-14-20 | 02:58 PM
#66
Lead Lap
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 642
Likes: 119
From: Texas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9jQsBTM2bA
I'm pretty impressed with how the GS 350 performed against this Audi A7 with a 3.0 liter supercharged V6 making 333hp and 325lb-ft of torque. The Audi was also modified with an intake and lightweight wheels. The GS is fully stock as it has been in all of these races.
I'm pretty impressed with how the GS 350 performed against this Audi A7 with a 3.0 liter supercharged V6 making 333hp and 325lb-ft of torque. The Audi was also modified with an intake and lightweight wheels. The GS is fully stock as it has been in all of these races.
08-15-20 | 01:01 AM
#67
Driver
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 63
Likes: 11
From: Georgia
I mean it isn't bad but also kinda in line with what youd expect. The A7 is way heavier than the GS350 so off the line the GS will have the punch but then the greater power of the A7 causes for it to pull ahead in the end every time. The A7 weighs like 400lbs more but makes around 10% more HP and around 20% more torque. The 3.0T A6 would be a more accurate comparison of same class of car which should take the GS at any speed based on pure specs (I have never driven or raced against it so pure conjecture at this point).
both
3.5-3.5
V6-V6
AT6-7G
RWD-RWD
p.s GS for its weight and year, the scientist is a cheerful machine
08-15-20 | 12:20 PM
#68
Driver
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 78
Likes: 29
From: NV
equal in weight
both
3.5-3.5
V6-V6
AT6-7G
RWD-RWD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O4c7ZJUxi0
p.s GS for its weight and year, the scientist is a cheerful machine
both
3.5-3.5
V6-V6
AT6-7G
RWD-RWD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O4c7ZJUxi0
p.s GS for its weight and year, the scientist is a cheerful machine
I wish I had it on video but I’ve given a newer model V6 Challenger with mods(had a loud exhaust and who know what else) a head start and still reeled him in and passed him hard at top end from a dead start and again from a roll.
Ran a newer model modded 392 V8 Charger(had exhaust and who knows what else) from a roll on the freeway few weeks ago. He pulled on me(as expected) but was only inching away just a few cars right in front of me in my barely stock V6.
08-15-20 | 01:06 PM
#71
Driver
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 78
Likes: 29
From: NV
08-15-20 | 01:32 PM
#73
Instructor
Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 874
Likes: 513
From: Pacific NW
As many have noted......the sense of speed in these things is very deceiving.....
Rarely put it in sport + but yesterday afternoon I decided to have a little fun. next thing I know I'm doing 93......in a 55. Ooops.
Rarely put it in sport + but yesterday afternoon I decided to have a little fun. next thing I know I'm doing 93......in a 55. Ooops.
08-15-20 | 01:38 PM
#74
Driver
Joined: Oct 2016
Posts: 78
Likes: 29
From: NV
I drive in:
Sport+ 95% of the time..
Sport 3% of the time..
normal 2% of the time..
ECO 0% of the time..
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LexusGSboy (08-15-20)