Lexus GS 450h
frenchorne
Member Posts: 31
in Lexus
The hybrid story continues with the 2007 Lexus GS 450h. It was introduced today at the NY Auto Show. Some interesting numbers are include in the press release ...
http://www.lexus.com/about/press_releases/popups/2005/pr_03_23_b.html
http://www.lexus.com/about/press_releases/popups/2005/pr_03_23_b.html
Tagged:
0
Comments
So Toyota is going in Economy route. After all 300 hp (with 0-60 in <6 seconds) is more than enough. If this can suceed, then it will bring an end to V8 engine in many household vehicles especially sedans.
Looks like Toyota is moving from Engine to Motor.
You're not telling the whole story there. Remember, the RX400h does not use the GS450h's 3.5L V6. It uses the old Camry derived 3.3L, modified to be more fuel efficient, and making just 208hp on its own. The electrics add a maximum of 60hp. The version of Toyota's all new 3.5L V6 that we've seen thus far makes 280hp in the Avalon. Assuming Toyota chops out 20hp or so for fuel efficiency, that same 60hp electric motor will take it to 320.
falconone, I agree that Lexus has missed an opportunity to make the GS450h AWD, since that would be something Infiniti cant match. Having the GS450h and GS460 both be RWD seems kind of redundant.
How is INfiniti going to match the GS450h any which way?? Infiniti has no hybrid plans for the M35/45 that I know of.
"Having the GS450h and GS460 both be RWD seems kind of redundant. "
First of all, we don't know what the horsepower will be of the GS450h. It could be around 350, since in the IS350, the same 3.5L will produce over 300bhp according to Lexus. Also, just because the current GS430 doesn't have AWD doesn't mean the V8 version of all future GS's will be RWD only.
The information so far says the 450h will be RWD, have 300+ hp, and go from 0-60 in under six seconds. The 460 will most likely be RWD, have 300+ hp, and go from 0-60 in under six seconds. Why are both of these cars necessary?
George
The GS will never outsell the RX though.
The next car-based Aviator won't be here until late-2007 (at the earliest). Yawn!
DrFill
Thanks,
Jeannine Fallon
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com
I started my "Lexus career" with an SC300 - a truly great grand tourer with long legs, great cruising capability and I commuted a round trip of 986 miles from home in FL to office in Charleston SC for two years. Kept it a total of six.
Got my wife in an RX 300 in 2000, which she loved and I thought was pretty good. Sold the SC a couple of years ago at 186,000 miles (I still look at them on the road with affection and nostalgia) and got a 1998 LS 400 which is another really great car - smooth, fast, comfortable, quiet, great stereo, navigation. Only thing that's dated is the diameter of the cup holders... oh well!
Traded the RX 300 a month ago for an RX 400h. My wife loves it and so do I. Other than a slow leak on the front left tire it has been faultless. Just came back from a 1,600 mile trip to the NC mountains and thoroughly enjoyed the car. It's amazingly fast for the type of vehicle, with tremendous mid range acceleration, and from Orlando to Cashiers it averaged 24.8 mpg (25.1 until the mountain stage) while traveling close to 80 the whole way. It now has about 4,600 miles on it and the mpg has been improving as time has passed. Doubt it will ever reach the sticker consumption levels of 29/31 - least of all with my foot on the accelerator!
The Mark Levinson sound system is one of the very best I've ever heard, the car is comfortable and quiet, except under hard acceleration when it makes a strange unaccustomed roar, since it doesn't change gears in a conventional way. The navigation is excellent, the bluetooth phone a wonder. In all I'm very impressed.
On the strength of this experience I called the dealer today and ordered a GS 450h. Sure, I've done the math, and one can't (yet, at current prices) justify the fuel consumption differential, but these are really cool high tech cars that are fun to drive, and Toyota is leading the pack by a country mile, and I believe this is an initiative worth supporting.
Ok, so now the retaliation in advance, since it seems customary for BMW and Benz drivers to attack us Lexus chaps. I'm a Brit who has had a few interesting bits of iron: several flavors of Porsche (3), Bentley (3), Shadow II, MGC and MGB (Stage III tuned), Benz 450 SLC, Cooper and Cooper S, BMW 323i (bits fell off it and it felt stodgy on the road), etc., etc. The BMW was the only car I've ever had that was taken from the front of my house on a trailer because of a total engine failure. Pathetic!
I'll go on record and say that fun though all these were I've left them all behind for the Lexus range. These are unequivocally the best built cars on the road today, with the best service support and overall ownership experience. I went with a friend who owns an MB wagon and an AMG 55S (he had the E model before) and couldn't believe how discourteously the Benz dealership treated him - and that was after the AMG was trailered in from a remote roadside with a "smoke exhalation" problem! (But he did get a nice Chevrolet Cavalier loaner, complete with cigarette ash all over the floor!) Check out the JD Power listing. Benz is somewhere between Yugo and Kia in the initial quality rating, just below Pontiac.
Gotta run home now!
That was credited to me at the time of the purchase.
The dealer was Claude Macrina at Lexus of Melbourne in Florida. He dealt with me fairly and straighforwardly and I thoroughly recommend him.
Incidentally, a friend of mine bought a Lexus SC 430 from Lexus of Melbourne when they were first released, totally hot, and most dealers were charging a premium of $8k - $10k. They charged him list and not a penny more.
Now that's an honorable dealer - quite different from the sharks further south, all of whom were charging an "Additional Dealer Fee," aka a gouge that should have had the disqualified from the Lexus dealer network, in my humble opinion.
High 20s do not excite me at this point, if Lexus can get mid 30s from 07 LSH then what the heck wrong with GSH?
However - if the NM price is somewhat close to the MSRP - it's going to be out of reach.
GS450h
Quote from press release: The 3.5-liter V6 engine employs the new D-4S fuel injection system using duel injectors with both in-cylinder direct fuel injection and ported fuel injection. In synergy with the electric motor, this provides 2.0 liter class fuel economy along with the acceleration you would expect from a 4.5-liter power plant..Another feature of the GS450h is its new transmission designed for hybrid applications. The motor power transmitted to the reduction gear has two modes: In high gear, it adds high-speed cruising pleasure, while in low gear, it controls generation of powerful torque, thereby enhancing acceleration and fual efficiency, while reducing noise.
Is it getting the economy you expected? What did you expect.
From your post, it sound like mechanical problems are not included.
DrFill
"As with all hybrids, the benefits are not merely inclusive to horsepower. The boost includes an increase in torque - a steady surge of which is available from 0 rpm. For those curious, the GS 450h really does perform like a car powered by a 4.5-liter engine (which is what Lexus is referring to when designating it with the "450" numeric name), at least according to Lexus own internal tests. Taking less than 6 seconds toreach 60 mph from standstill, it slots well into the performance range of high-powered midsize competitors from BMW and Infiniti. Like the Highlander Hybrid or RX 400h, midrange pull should be more than enough to surprise the uninitiated, particularly for passing at higher speeds. As always, the GS 450h abides by Lexus commitment to producing full hybrid vehicles, with the ability to operate on pure electrical assist or in tandem with the gasoline engine. This seems to be a trend for all new hybrid vehicles, however, with even Hondas Civic now capable of running only on electrical propulsion, and GM committed to a full-hybrid system for its next-generation HEVs."
But if it were to cost more than the V8, then a lofty power number would be more appropriate, as Lexus seems to be putting out there that Lexus Hybrids will be more about performance ability than economy.
Lexus can do no wrong here.
DrFill
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.webcg.net/WEBCG/c- arscope/2005/lexus_gs450h/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgs450h%26hl%3Den%26hs%3DcA2%26lr%3- D%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official
You get to see instrument panel, wheels, and enclosure for the HSD control system.
350: 306 hp(As with the IS)
460: 360 - 370 hp
450h: 390 hp (This is correct.)
I'm a little unsure of the 460's output, but as far as the others, they aren't subject to change.
I wouldn't buy a car that I couldn't test drive first, so that ruled out N-M. An order at a dealer is always subject to refusing delivery. I will be in Japan next month and I hope to see the car in a Lexus dealer showroom.