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| The 2016 Lexus GS-F. |
No, of course that is not what GS-F stands for. What we have here is essentially the Lexus GS sedan, which
we have reviewed many times as the GS 350, given the full Lexus F Performance, as opposed to F SPORT, treatment. F SPORT is a package that, depending on the Lexus model it is applied to, brings cosmetic enhancements and/or refinements and improvements to the car's handling capabilities.
F Performance brings power. More than you'll find in any other non-F Perfromance Lexus.
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| 2016 Lexus GS-F. |
A GS350, even in F SPORT trim, has a 3.5-liter, 306 horsepower V6 under the hood. The GS-F exchanges that for a 5-liter 32-valve V8 which makes 467 horsepower. Mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, the all-natural V8---no turbo, no supercharger---is capable of going from 0 to 60 in 4.3 seconds and doing the quarter-mile in 12.7 seconds. That is a number---along with the EPA estimate of 16 mpg city/24 mpg highway---that would shame most 60s-era muscle cars, but it is actually a shade slower than some luxury sedans stuffed with supercharged and turbocharged engines that can knock a second off of each number with 550, 600 or more horsepower under their hoods.
And so, Lexus plays to its strength. Luxury.
The objective of the GS-F is to create a car that is blisteringly fast in its own right, without punishing the driver with a race-car ride or creating a car so powerful as to be treacherous. And so, the rest of what makes this GS a GS-F is involved in making all that power useful and not a threat to life and property: A dual-wishbone multi-link suspension with Sachs-sourced shock absorbers, Brembo ventilated disc brakes with high-friction pads and a torque-vectoring differential.
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| 2016 Lexus GS-F interior. |
Inside, the GS-F interior trim says sport and business as much as luxury, with smooth leather-trimmed F Spec sport seats (10-way power adjustable for the driver, 8-way for the passenger), a leather-wrapped steering wheel, water-repellent front door window glass, Alcantara trim for the doors, armrest and upper instrument panel, F exclusive scuff plates and sport pedals, rain-sensing automatic wipers, a power tilt and slide moonroof, auto-dimming inside and outside rear-view mirrors, power folding exterior mirrors, a 12.3-inch color screen for navigation and audio, the Lexus Enform app suite, a single CD/DVD player, a color heads-up display and carpeted floormats.
The price for the power and the features: $84,440. Our test vehicle had only two options, an upgraded 17-speaker, 835-watt Mark Levinson audio system, which was well worth the additional $1,380 expense, and a carpeted trunk mat for $105. With $950 delivery processing and handling fee, the as-tested price came to $86,875.
Whether the GS-F is for you depends on your pocketbook and your assessment of whether Lexus has the balance of power, predictability and luxury right. But one thing is clear: Those who rule Lexus out as anything other than a maker of cushy luxury cars are working from an old script.
