Lexus Has Cancelled the GS Sedan

[emptystreets130]

They are RWD but not really premium at the time. The Cressida was not cross shopped with the C class etc.

As the Land Cruiser moved upscale then it became a Lexus. That was 1995 or so.

I don’t think the Supra shared platforms, just engines but I could be wrong.

The MKVI supra actually shared the SC\Soarer platform or vice versa. Actually to think about it. The SC came out in '91. The Supra in '93.

 

[mikeavelli]

The MKVI supra actually shared the SC\Soarer platform or vice versa. Actually to think about it. The SC came out in '91. The Supra in '93.

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[LexsCTJill]

They are RWD but not really premium at the time. The Cressida was not cross shopped with the C class etc.

As the Land Cruiser moved upscale then it became a Lexus. That was 1995 or so.

I don’t think the Supra shared platforms, just engines but I could be wrong.

So I agree that the Cressida was not cross-shopped with a Mercedes, but it was 100% premium Toyota. For example, depending where you lived, it was possible to get a Cressida with a I6, or a I6 with a turbo, or even a supercharged I6. It was RWD as well. The Avalon was the replacement for the Cressida. When Toyota phased out the Cressida, it was the Camry V6 XLE that helped cover the price point, as well as the new ES250 at the time. The Cressida lived alongside Lexus in the early 90s in the US

Another thing some people do not recall. Toyota's AVS adaptive variable suspension was around long before Lexus, the 80s Supra was the first I remember seeing it.

 

[ssun30]

The USDM Cressida was a stripped out JDM X70/80 Mark II, basically what they used for driving schools and taxicabs, with a bigger but less sophisticated engine.

The X80 Mark II was the best selling car in Japan at the peak of the Bubble Era. It could be had with TEMS 'adaptive suspension' (however, TEMS is a manually-adjusted 3-mode semi-active system, to say it's like today's fully adaptive 650-level AVS is going too far), satellite navigation, CD player, power adjustable seats and a turbocharged 1JZ-GTE or supercharged 1G-GZE. Even with such unimaginable equipment level for even early 2000s, it was considered a 'pleb car' in Japan. At that time all college graduates get a car as part of the benefit package, and getting a Mark II means you underperformed in college and got an uninspiring clerk job. Imagine USA where every college graduate gets a 3-series for free. That tells you how crazy the Bubble Era was.

The saddest thing is even in its golden age, Lexus wasn't the best Toyota could build. Their habit of keeping all the best within their borders is exactly opposite of Germans who use every opportunity to demonstrate their engineering superiority to the world. I've said before that had they kept the Mark II/Aristo/Celsior line with 90s standards, Lexus would be a completely different brand compared to today. Yes the Lost Decade was painful, but they should have exported their wonderful technology to the international market and maintain the momentum.

 

[bogglo]

Damn! now to get a GS F will be a bigger pain in the butt.

 

[yosafbridge]

I absolutely support your purchase and in regards to the car's handling, I don't know if you have seen Matt Farah's review of the GS F, but in that video, he praises the Handling almost non-stop. That is why I mentioned it. I agree that numbers aren't everything and sometimes the best things about cars are the things you can't explain with numbers or a graph. But in my very humble opinion, the GS F should have cost 20k less, and it should have been a competitor to the E53 AMG, M550i, S6, and not a competitor to the M5, RS7, and E63 s. Once again, I have no doubt that the GS F is the best handling vehicle amongst its competitors, and I would still say it is my favorite car amongst the mid-performance luxury sedans. However, when you look at price, performance, and the age of the vehicles, the German competitors are the better value (not considering reliability, lol) The GS F is best in white by the way, and I am highly jealous. Sick car my dude! 👍

Here is Matt Farah's review, please watch it, I don't want you to think I am oblivious to non-number related aspects of cars.

The GSF should have just been a GS500. That would reduce its base price significantly and made it a much better value proposition.

Those hardcore enthusiasts should then be allowed to add on plus-cost handling upgrade options either as factory add-ons or official warranty aftermarket parts.

Essentially the GSF as it exists right now is a fully specced out GS500 with a body kit and a complete Fsport handling/track upgrade.

The GSF would have succeeded as a GS500 F-sport. The real GSF should have been a fire breathing TTV8 making 550+hp with intelligent AWD.

 

[LexsCTJill]

The GSF should have just been a GS500. That would reduce its base price significantly and made it a much better value proposition.

Those hardcore enthusiasts should then be allowed to add on plus-cost handling upgrade options either as factory add-ons or official warranty aftermarket parts.

Essentially the GSF as it exists right now is a fully specced out GS500 with a body kit and a complete Fsport handling/track upgrade.

The GSF would have succeeded as a GS500 F-sport. The real GSF should have been a fire breathing TTV8 making 550+hp with intelligent AWD.

Great post and idea.

 

[maiaramdan]

RIP GS

Lexus Blames Slow Sales For Killing The GS | Carscoops

Last year, the Lexus GS grabbed only 0.88% of the mid-size luxury segment

www.carscoops.com

it's official now!
at least by carscoops

 

[Carmaker1]

RIP GS

Lexus Blames Slow Sales For Killing The GS | Carscoops

Last year, the Lexus GS grabbed only 0.88% of the mid-size luxury segment

www.carscoops.com

it's official now!
at least by carscoops

Carscoops is utter crap and I have warned the owner John Halas, to never publish any information/content from me or I will sue him in UK court. He banned me of course.😏

They stole a tidbit on the 5LS I reported on 4 years ago, as well as my watermarked rendering I paid for without credit. They are not official in the least, as Toyota Global JP and many other entities reported on it already. Really terrible, clickbait site that takes advantage of other people behind the scenes. Everything that's wrong with automotive news today. (My advice to everyone)

 

[Carmaker1]

I remember this article pretty fondly, because this generation almost didn't happen (Prior to TLE being started)

How Lexus execs rescued GS

Eighteen months ago, Toyota had all but scrapped its plans for the redesigned Lexus GS 350 sedan that was unveiled here last week. Toyota Motor Corp. President Akio Toyoda had put the GS on the chopping block, but a last-ditch effort from U.S. and European executives saved the car. In the...

www.autonews.com

The timeline for that is off regarding recall crisis and sounds like someone was misquoted big time. I have many photos of the L10 development process and from what I can observe. much of the major physical development work on the design for that car took place in 2008 and 2009.

The first person to mention this car's development in real time, was in fact @mikeavelli back in February 2010. From what he mentioned back then, he positively talked about interior sketches.

Akio Toyoda came in towards the end of the design process in June 2009, as 2009 is when it all wrapped up with Katsuhiko Inatomi's Spindle Grille coming into play.

You can see in this 2009 photo (again), it hadn't yet been created. It was more like early CT200h.

They started L10 GS development in early 2007 and usually don't like spending more than 2 years designing a car.

1998 S160 GS was designed from May 1994 to November 1995, despite being an all-new platform. Earliest talks happened in 1993 for it.

Due to L-finesse being inaugurated midway through design process, S190 GS ran a bit longer than planned. Late 1999 early discussions began, most early work began in 2000, and in 2001 L-finesse was created. I believe the 3GS design freeze came by the end of 2002, intended for MY 2005 slipping to an early 2006 model in spring 2005.

Original GS was initiated in 1987 after internal creation of Lexus brand in 1986 to support F-1 (LS 400) required a coupe, entry level car, and midsize sedan by 1991.

1988 was when Italdesign won the design process, but for some reason GS arrived very late to market in spring 1993. They wanted to space out new model launches, after 2 new cars in 1991 and updated 1LS in 1992.

 

[maiaramdan]

wow, thanks a lot for this info.
as they're from my top ten regarding the auto news

 

[Carmaker1]

wow, thanks a lot for this info.
as they're from my top ten regarding the auto news

They were once my top website too, until John Halas felt he was above constructive criticism (misleading reports) and quality of reporting went south. Plus taking from me and sometimes this site, took the cake. @krew does a fine job of keeping it credible as possible.

I am very, very unpopular on Disqus or car news site comment sections, as the atmosphere is very dirty compared to here and virtually a troll fest.

 

[Will1991]

@Carmaker1 , in your opinion, what's the best website for car news and scoops? Similar to @maiaramdan I also see it regularly

 

[Carmaker1]

One thing that people haven't picked up on is, the GS is the only family sedan of 2 total on New N platform. No Toyota badged vehicles have used that platform, just like GA-L.

I'm actually mind blown I never picked up on that until a few days ago. So basically, New N is solely GS, IS, and RC. S210 Crown and Mark X rode on old "N" platform like XF40 LS and S190 3GS.

GA-L is currently LS and LC. GA-N is the narrow application of GA-L. LC and LS have very wide stances, that won't work with IS on GA-L I imagine.

For being so-called modular, A90 wouldn't work with largesse GA-L. The GS hasn't shared its platform with the Crown nor ANY Toyota since 2011, yet so many people reported like it was fact! These have been Lexus cars inside out with no direct relation to Toyota brand outside of some components!

(Edit: Horrible keyboard/VTT on Device)

 

[Carmaker1]

@Carmaker1 , in your opinion, what's the best website for car news and scoops? Similar to @maiaramdan I also see it regularly

Automotive News by Crain, Motor1 (maybe?). For Lexus? Stick to the Japanese lol. Auto Bild and Auto Motor und Sport for German stuff.

Carscoops relies on too many dashcam videos and some of the content is often taken out of context or regurgitated nonsense full of errors.

However, Josh Byrnes at Carscoops is the real deal. Very gifted artist with his renderings and excellent temperament.

 

[Will1991]

I tend to go from time to time to Mag-X, but sadly an English version isn't available as it seems a worthy magazine to buy and my Japanese goes only as far as Google translate allows it! ahahah

 

[yosafbridge]

One thing that people haven't picked up on is, the GS is the only family sedan of 2 total on New N platform. No Toyota badged vehicles have used that platform, just like GA-L.

I'm actually mind blown I never picked up on that until a few days ago. So basically, New N is solely GS, IS, and RC. S210 Crown and Mark X rode on old "N" platform like XF40 LS.

GA-L is currently LS and LC. GA-N is the narrow application of GA-L. LC and LS have very wide stances, that won't work with IS on GA-L I imagine.

For being so-called modular, A90 work with largesse GA-L.

Then what platform is the current S220 Toyota Crown on?

 

[Carmaker1]

One thing that people haven't picked up on is, the GS is the only family sedan of 2 total on New N platform. No Toyota badged vehicles have used that platform, just like GA-L.

I'm actually mind blown I never picked up on that until a few days ago. So basically, New N was GS, IS, and RC. GA-L is currently LS and LC. GA-N is the narrow application of GA-L. LC and LS have very wide stances, that won't work with IS on GA-L I imagine.

For being so-called modular, A90 work with largesse GA-L.

Then what platform is the current S220 Toyota Crown on?

GA-N

It might be the first time in 8 years, the IS shares a platform with a Toyota badged vehicle. It's so crazy how I didn't pick up on that until recently. New N is separate from N and GA-N

 

[yosafbridge]

So considering all that you've said, and hearing rumors that the IS is going up half a size, it seems like the new IS might be GA-N, sharing platform with the new S220 Crown. Basically new IS is a slightly shrunken S220 Crown in Lexus livery.

 

[Levi]

The GSF should have just been a GS500. That would reduce its base price significantly and made it a much better value proposition.

Those hardcore enthusiasts should then be allowed to add on plus-cost handling upgrade options either as factory add-ons or official warranty aftermarket parts.

Essentially the GSF as it exists right now is a fully specced out GS500 with a body kit and a complete Fsport handling/track upgrade.

The GSF would have succeeded as a GS500 F-sport. The real GSF should have been a fire breathing TTV8 making 550+hp with intelligent AWD.

That is exactly what I thought when the GSF came out. The previous generation GS had the GS 460. This one should have been the GS 500 F Sport. It is not that I do not like the looks of it, but the GS F looks like a 650 PS monster. I would have preferred a more understated look, as the previous Genesis G80 with its NA 5.0 420 PS V8. Such an engine would also be nice in the new LS along the V6 Turbo, but the LS is much heavier than the GS.