Car & Driver Not Sure if Serious (GS review)

mmcartalk

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mikeavelli said:
Ian!!! I cannot stop laughing!! Needed that this morning!:joy::joy:eek:_O
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The last time you probably laughed that much (if you don't remember) was about ten years ago, when I made that comment about the inventory at Longo Lexus not having to sit outside in the weather collecting bird droppings. :p But, yeah, that was a good one-liner on Ian's part.
 
krew

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krew
16-03-22-lexus-gs-350-f-sport-review.jpg


Josh Jacquot of Car & Driver has gone off-the-board with his review of the 2016 Lexus GS F SPORT.
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Bulldog 1

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I'm going to need to "test drive" one. I've been given the last gen 2015 GS as a loaner at my dealer twice and came away with the impression it was too "large" for me. Also, it was a complete gas hog. Gulped a ton of gas over 24 hours vs. my ES and my IS. But that blue in the photo....:bomb:
 
Ian Schmidt

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No bashing of the CT was intended. It's not a "traditional" Lexus in the IS/ES/GS/LS (and NX/RX/GX/LX) mold, but Lexus has done pretty well outside of that mold, too (original SC, LFA, LC...). If they could transplant the multi-stage hybrid tech into a CT F-Sport they'd have a killer hot hatch that would get new customers into Lexus dealers, and it might even turn some heads in Europe.

As far as the C&D "review", I think krew nailed it: he didn't even drive the car, he just mailed it in based on preconceptions about Lexus.
 
Joaquin Ruhi

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mikeavelli said:
I can't help but think the writer they put in charge was a bit "green" until I searched and saw he has written for Edmunds (yawn) for some time...
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For the record, Josh Jacquot isn't that inexperienced. Not only did he write for over a decade at Edmunds, but before that, he wrote for the now-defunct Sports Compact Car. Perhaps this explains his disdain for the Lexus GS. Would he have been happier reviewing the latest Honda Civic Si or Subaru WRX STI? On the other hand, it makes his putdown of the GS interior quality and materials all that more baffling and off-base. And, as Mike and others have correctly noted, this about-face harsh Car and Driver review makes no sense when their previous 2012 comparison between the Lexus GS and Audi A6 was more balanced and even-handed.
 
I

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Hyperbolic auto reviews with little substance are nothing new with written reviews. It fills up pages with a big character count. Often largely ignored at no cost. Experienced or not.
 
meth.ix

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It's not only this reviewer, but C&D journalists are almost always biased towards the Europeans in their segments. The GS is 6th in the segment, and the ES is 11th. The IS is 7th in its segment. The LS is also 7th in its segment. LX is last in its segment (10th). The RX is 6th. BTW the RX is in the wrong segment. In C&D, it is put in the same segment as the Q5, Macan, X3, and GLC-Class. That's the segment the old RX was in. The new generation is in the same segment as the GLE-Class, X5, Cayenne, etc. At least, they put the GS F third (rightfully) in its segment, ABOVE the E63, M5 and Maserati Ghibli. They are one of those people who think the German way is always the best way, and if another company doesn't follow, it's not as good, even if it's actually better.
 
mikeavelli

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Joaquin Ruhi said:
For the record, Josh Jacquot isn't that inexperienced. Not only did he write for over a decade at Edmunds, but before that, he wrote for the now-defunct Sports Compact Car. Perhaps this explains his disdain for the Lexus GS. Would he have been happier reviewing the latest Honda Civic Si or Subaru WRX STI? On the other hand, it makes his putdown of the GS interior quality and materials all that more baffling and off-base. And, as Mike and others have correctly noted, this about-face harsh Car and Driver review makes no sense when their previous 2012 comparison between the Lexus GS and Audi A6 was more balanced and even-handed.
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Yup, which is why I did some research (cough cough C&D maybe have your writers do some) on him to see if he was new or not. He is not so really there is no excuse for it.

Last week I drove a 911 Turbo S for 3 days, hopped in my LS and it almost felt like the steering was broken. I'm not going to rant how the LS has poor steering as its on par with the competition. Its a matter of professional perspective.

This isn't the first time I've caught two completely opposite conclusions in the same magazine on the same car. Obviously writers have their preferences. No one is asking Mr. Jacquot to like the GS and I'm not arguing its the best in class. Concluding handling is sub-par with a mediocre interior is just shoddy journalism at best.

Meth Jayasekera said:
It's not only this reviewer, but C&D journalists are almost always biased towards the Europeans in their segments. The GS is 6th in the segment, and the ES is 11th. The IS is 7th in its segment. The LS is also 7th in its segment. LX is last in its segment (10th). The RX is 6th. BTW the RX is in the wrong segment. In C&D, it is put in the same segment as the Q5, Macan, X3, and GLC-Class. That's the segment the old RX was in. The new generation is in the same segment as the GLE-Class, X5, Cayenne, etc. At least, they put the GS F third (rightfully) in its segment, ABOVE the E63, M5 and Maserati Ghibli. They are one of those people who think the German way is always the best way, and if another company doesn't follow, it's not as good, even if it's actually better.
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Well I'm not going to make blanket statements about C&D as there have been multiple times Lexus has fared well. One of the big surprises was when they picked the LFA over the Ferrari 599 GTB a few years ago. The previous GS review showed they were honest with how sporty the GS was. I assume their editors hands are full and they are trusting their writers to provide accuracy with their hints of bias and preferences.
 
Alexander Li

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The BMW 540i gets to sixty in 4.7 seconds, the Audi A6 Quattro in 4.6 seconds, the Mercedes E43 AMG in 4.3 seconds, the Infiniti Q70 3.7 in 4.8 seconds....you get the point. Every other competitor in its class is about a second quicker to 60 miles an hour. Also, other parts of the review was BS, the statement about the mediocrity of the interior, the fact that they probably been mad driving this car (seriously, the GS can pull 0.9gs and get to 60 much faster then they stated, seriously folks?). The GS is rather built for the curves on a back road, while the others seem to be built for racing at streetlights. Right car to review, laughable delivery.
 
meth.ix

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Alexander Li said:
The BMW 540i gets to sixty in 4.7 seconds, the Audi A6 Quattro in 4.6 seconds, the Mercedes E43 AMG in 4.3 seconds, the Infiniti Q70 3.7 in 4.8 seconds....you get the point. Every other competitor in its class is about a second quicker to 60 miles an hour. Also, other parts of the review was BS, the statement about the mediocrity of the interior, the fact that they probably been mad driving this car (seriously, the GS can pull 0.9gs and get to 60 much faster then they stated, seriously folks?). The GS is rather built for the curves on a back road, while the others seem to be built for racing at streetlights. Right car to review, laughable delivery.
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To be fair, the GS doesn't even have an engine option to compete with these cars, such as the A6 3.0t, 540i and the E43. The GS needs a version of the engine in the LS 500 and take out one of the turbos (I don't know much about engines so I don't know if it's that easy) so it can make enough power to compete with those engines and call it the GS 450 or something. But Lexus might not build it until the next-gen GS F comes out with more power because the power gap between the new engine and the GS F might be too small
 
Gecko

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5 Series and E Class are brand new, and Audi has done a much better job of investing in powertrain technology than Lexus has. M37 or whatever its called is a "has-been" car and the GS is far superior to it.

Lexus' delays to prepare for TNGA-L have led to some serious product lapses across the board, but we all know that already. We also know that behind the wheel and on paper, the 4GS has been a great car.
 
Benny1908

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meth.ix said:
To be fair, the GS doesn't even have an engine option to compete with these cars, such as the A6 3.0t, 540i and the E43. The GS needs a version of the engine in the LS 500 and take out one of the turbos (I don't know much about engines so I don't know if it's that easy) so it can make enough power to compete with those engines and call it the GS 450 or something. But Lexus might not build it until the next-gen GS F comes out with more power because the power gap between the new engine and the GS F might be too small
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Today it's easy to play with this modern twin turbo engines. The only thing they need to do is reduce the turbo boost a little bit.
MB will introduce the E50 AMG soon with the new inline 6 engine with 435ps, and the new Audi S6/S7 also will be 6 cylinder. I live in europe and its crazy to see this new I6, V6 engines here with soo much power, but most of the lexus lovers here are hybrid fans so i'm 110% sure that a GS500h with Multi Stage would be a winner here, instead of the 3.5 TT with reduced hp
 
mikeavelli

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Gecko said:
5 Series and E Class are brand new, and Audi has done a much better job of investing in powertrain technology than Lexus has. M37 or whatever its called is a "has-been" car and the GS is far superior to it.

Lexus' delays to prepare for TNGA-L have led to some serious product lapses across the board, but we all know that already. We also know that behind the wheel and on paper, the 4GS has been a great car.
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The new 5 series is getting really poor reviews for sport. It seems to engage like a Camry. More than ever Lexus could be the drivers car in this class. Instead it sounds like Benz is taking that lead with the E43....
 
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