http://pressroom.toyota.com/photo_li...ml?id=20050318

Lexus Unveils All-New IS Sport Sedan and Hybrid Version of its GS Performance Sedan at the New York International Auto Show



03/18/2005 Torrance, CA

Lexus will stage the world premiere of the all-new IS 350 high-performance luxury sport sedan in a press conference at the 2005 New York International Auto Show. The all-new IS series will offer four separate models for the U.S. market.

Lexus will also unveil the all-new GS 450h high-performance hybrid luxury sedan, the first rear-wheel drive hybrid ever offered. The Super Ultra Low Emissions-rated GS 450h will provide an unparalleled combination of high performance, luxury-refinement and unexpected fuel efficiency.

The reveal will be held on Wednesday, March 23, at 12:00 p.m. ET in the Galleria Room, Level Four at the Javits Convention Center. In addition, the Lexus press conference will be webcast live via streaming video on www.lexus.com beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. The Lexus press conference video will also be archived for viewing on demand after March 23.

 

Awh man, yall have no idea how excited I am to go to the NYIAS this year. Its gonna be great. IS350 and GS450h are going to be there?? And more than likely the LF-A concept car?? Man, the Lexus section is going to be overcrowded again, like it was last year. Good luck taking pictures unless you go when the doors open.

 

Lucky you! I was gonna flyup but got a few interviews this week so I could not attend. It is very exciting, right now.

Here is our speculation thread
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=154932
And I think the Xb concept will be there too.

 

If i already posted this remark about the Hybrid GS, then why would you post it again and then you put it at the top like it was bette thna mine. Whats up with that?

 

well because it is.

 

To answer the original question, I'd say that the GS450h will start at $55,000. The only options will be the Nav/Levinson combo, at $4000, and PCS, at $2800.

Actually, I think the engine itself will be a detuned version (to improve mileage) of the 3.5 GR, meaning that it, by ITSELF, will make less than the 280hp in the Avalon. This is similar to the idea that the 3.3 in the RX400h makes 208hp, while the 3.3 in the RX330 makes 230hp.

I'd make a wild guess that the engine will make 260hp and the electric motor will make about 80hp, for a total of 340hp.

 

are there any options on the RX hybrid or does it come fully loaded?

 

I like the way you think JRock. Since I know that the GS450h is pure performance I don't think they need to detune it as much as the RX400h. What I'm really curious about is where they will put the rear drive motor/generator and the hybrid battery. I think the battery might go where the spare tire is or under the rear seat again and give it close to a 50/50 weight distribution. The current GS300 is 53% front 47% back. Since they are using the 3.5 V6 which is capable of 320 HP then let's say they detune it to 300 HP and they can easily get 50-65 HP out of the rear motor /generator so my guess is between 350-360 Horsepower round numbers. The thing about hybrids is that they can give "push you back in your seat" torque for 6-8 seconds and then they start to lose battery strength and need to recharge some. By then of course in the GS450h you will be travelling at 90 MPH and using the horspower of the gas engine. The GS450h should have VGRS and my favorite VDIM. The overall torque curve should be pretty interesting since the electric motor will spike at about 2000 rpms. The max torque on the gas engine should be around 3700 RPM's so it will have a large torque band. I would figure the 0-60 time at about 5.3 seconds. This Hybrid will need staggered wheels that are wider in the back to handle the torque application. If you turn off the traction control you will be buying a lot of rubber with your credit card. Since it will outperform the V8 or what's the point of producing it then it may cost more too. The battery will be the key to the extra cost. The GS430 already costs 58,000 so I hope that the Hybrid doesn't break the 60K mark. Since it is a variant of the GS350 which should come in modestly higher than the GS300 you could make a case that it should be 4-5000 more than the GS350 RWD or about $57,000 with Nav. Lev. and VDIM and VGRS and AVS added. I figure with all of that performance it will need the Hughes braking system with the massive rotors and we're back up to $58,000 again. It will be the flagship GS until the GS460 comes out which should incorporate the new intake/exhaust valve timing and direct injection in a larger block size and probably use a no flex timing chain like the 300 and 350 motors. So the price should be $58-60,000's. Expect 26 City 28 Hwy. SULEV emissions. Does BMW or Mercedes make any SULEV's? I didn't think so.....

 

eh, lets not confuse things. We have to remember that electric engines will probably make some 170hp themselves (like in RX400h), however combination of electric+petrol engines peak will be....... 350? 380? Who really knows. Electric power makes itself known at lower rpms, which is why passing times will be ridiciously fast... Reason peak hp is not that high is because petrol engine peaks at some 5.6k rpm while electric engine peaks at 2k... So in hybrid system, peak hp number is really not telling the whole story or you would think that RX400h and Prius have some electric power (when RX almost has 3x more)..

If we compare what we know about RX400h mpg, and what we know about GS300, I figure that mpg should be seriously better than RX's. Consider how GS450h is going to be some 300-400lbs lighter, have more economic petrol engine, better cd, you should get seriously better mpg than 400h - >>>30mpg.

I dont think there will be many faster sport sedans in crucial passing times like 50-70, just like what RX400h did with its competition, even if it had 100 petrol hp less than them.

People who thought GS430 doesnt "feel" fast, will love GS450h because it will "feel" like it is flying.

 

What you say about peak hp is true. I was referring to peak hp, which doesn't tell the whole story with any car, especially with hybrids, which tend to have some serious grunt down low.

 

yep, just trying to point out how powerful electric motors in HSD are - unlike some other systems, such as Accord Hybrid which has mere 16hp, which is 14x less than what RX400h has... To think that the price premium between Accord hybrid/normal and RX300/400h is about the same.............

 

Remember the RX has two electric motors though.

 

the RX has 2 electric motors?

then shouldn't it have more than 268 hp?

 

Lexus will stage the world premiere of the all-new IS 350 "high-performance"
Cant wait to see what Lexus considers high-performance.

 

Liz, are you ready for us??? I guess I need to abandon my plan of driving my GS until it hits 250K miles.....