Lexus Ideas Engine Extended: A Message from Andrew Kirby

Hey Krew, I didn't know another way to tell you this but did you see, the Lexus HS is officially off the website. Lexus.com 

Andrew - Love the Ideas Engine concept and love the new Lexus cars coming out! Keep up the good work. It would make it a lot easier to keep track of comments and responses on the Idea Engine site if it notified us whenever someone commented on our idea or an idea we commented on. That way, we could keep the conversation going a little bit better! Thanks!

I sent them an idea, and they wouldn't even post it, so F-that....... BD

They should review the ideas faster and should really take the ideas seriously.

My 2 cents : Build a GS-F already! Even if it is a poor seller, the halo effect of the GS-F will help the lesser GS variants (ie GS250, GS350, GS450h) sell better. And this GS-F should be comprehensively better than the M5/E63AMG/S6 benchmarks in order to shake up the image of Lexus as boring cars. I'm thinking 600+ hp, active anti-roll bars, DRS as standard, superlightweight body with lots of CF reinforcement, some kind of trick AWD like Honda's system without a physical drivetrain between front and rear axles so as to save weight--perhaps a partial AWD hybrid battery driving the front wheels, that only activates in low grip situations. This GS-F should have much more than 1G of skidpad grip, totally demolish the M5 on the slalom but still be a liveable day-to-day driver. And yes, it has to be appreciably cheaper than the M5, perhaps 550i pricing. 

In essence, the new GS-F should be a 4 door Nissan GTR but with a much more luxurious interior and the ability to switch to a much more comfortable suspension setting for daily city driving.

BMW vs LEXUS GS350F I feel it is great Mr. Kirby is reaching out to the consumers for more rubber on the road insights. I hope the Lexus Brass also take time to view the online reviews for more info on how to improve for the future. Coming from a BMW 550I I had massive buyers remorse once I bought the new GS350F. It took a while and some customization to subside that feeling. Placing all the interior and exterior comparisons aside, the two major areas I feel the Lexus 4GS is inferior to the BMW are the seats and the torque. 1. The first sense of feeling your body and soul is exposed to when you get into any car is the seat. The BMW "Comfort Seats" are the best in the industry. Hands down the side bolsters and the degree of tilt up, down and through the upper back available in the BMW Comfort Seat package is far superior to the Lexus seats. For example, I had to attach a back head rest to my new Lexus because of the uncomfortable angle of the head rest that cannot be adjusted. This along with the inability to move the upper back panel separately creates uncomfortable to no neck support. All around the degree of angle available in the Lexus seats are extremely limited in every way compared to the limitless angle you can achieve from the BMW Comfort Seats. I would suggest Lexus to study the BMW Comfort Seats for their line up. This could be a big draw for consumers in the future. 2. The BMW is known as the "Ultimate Driving Machine." Lexus is known for reliability and luxury. I sold the BMW for its unreliability. I do not miss that aspect. I do miss the power however. I feel the new GS350F is very comparable in handling to the BMW 5 series. Lexus did quite a good job this time around with limiting body roll, one reason I sold my Lexus GS 300 some years ago. However, for Lexus to truly compete with BMW sport sedan customers they must study the HP to Torque ratio. Torque is the other component that hands down sells the car to the sport sedan consumer. The BMW is an even 300 HP to 300 Foot Pounds of Torque which enables a driver to feel the G force of the car once you hammer the pedal. From 0-60 or hitting the pedal on the highway at 65 for that get away feeling, Torque is what separates the men from the boys. Unfortunately the Lexus set up is 300 HP to 278 Foot Pound of Torque, so your "get up and go" off the line is mediocre at best and so is your "G force" acceleration at high speeds. If I had my wish the next GS350F would have these two additions. It would make all the difference to so many sport sedan driving enthusiasts out there.  Thanks for your consideration and your time!

 To login-in to the LIEP, an account at one of the "data-octopussies" is required, which is not something everybody has/likes. Any chance an Open-ID login or a possibility to post an idea without the need to log-in will be supported ?