For those who prefer their Lexus F to have four doors instead of two, the premium brand has just the thing: The 2016 GS F [Live photos now available – CA].
Under the bonnet, one will find a naturally aspirated 5-liter DOHC 32-valve Atkinson V8 producing 467 horsepower and 389 lb-ft with a redline of 7,300 rpm. Power goes to the back via an paddle-shifted eight-speed automatic with manual shifting. Four driving modes are available depending on preference, from the fuel efficiency-minded Eco, to the track day-ready Sport S+. Firmer suspension, torque vectoring, wide 19-inch alloy wheels shod in Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires, and 15-inch front rotors with 6-piston calipers round out the performance aspect of the GS F.
Inside, occupants can enjoy Alcantara trim, the optional 17-speaker Mark Levinson Premium Audio system, Active Sound Control for those who prefer the sound of the V8 over the strings of Vivaldi, lateral support for all in front and back, and an analog clock.
Other features include: radar cruise control; pre-collision warning; LED headlamps; carbon fiber rear spoiler; 12.3-inch central dashboard monitor; and blind-spot monitoring.
Whoo-hoo… black fishnet! I can see its bumper through that!
I just realized how clever this comment is, and I applaud you.
Yeah, well, I applaud you right back :)
Needs more grill.
Can I switch it out of Atkinson mode for those special times when I don’t give an ‘F’ about efficiency?
Also: that is one tasteless looking face.
I believe it does so automatically. I understand the variable valve timing is *highly* variable.
Wow, look at all that body cladding. I wasn’t aware Lexus hired Pontiac’s old designers.
And I’m sure all the folks who hated on the ATS-V’s boy racer styling touches will REALLY vent their spleens on this design…
Not real attractive. Still, it’s better than that Cadillac CTS-V in the next article.
You must be blind. Lexus copied the hell out of Cadillac’s mesh grill design. It doesn’t matter though, all the owners of the GS F will be looking at the taillights of the V. Nothing like showing up 180 HP and 200 torques short to a fight!
Too bad that rocker molding has to curve around the wheel well or it would make a great hockey stick when it cracks off in the cold.
This is god-awful. And the seats still look very out of place. As does an F trim on such a vehicle.
This might poach some C-Class AMG customers! It’s just as tacky.
Those seats are ridiculously, insanely comfortable. Fit like a glove, some of the best I have ever sat in.
I don’t doubt they’re good. My mom was very impressed with the seats in my prior GS when she got in for the first time.
“Wow, these are nice seats!!” As she sat in the front.
Say what you will about Cadillac but at least they didn’t show up to the performance luxury sedan gunfight with a knife. I appreciate the intention but this will drink gas like a truck and be fair game for anyone in a Golf R.
Who buys these things and actually races them? It has enough power to satisfactorily push the driver back into his seat, so the buyer will be happy enough.
When you drop 75k on a car and the main competition drops the mic’ on you everytime at a light……yeah, you care.
I guess I’m a weirdo. I like it. I only hope that pricing stays in line with the 550i and V-sports of the world.
I can appreciate where Toyota is coming from with this. Japanese sedans like the Lexus GS and the Infiniti M are sucking wind. So much so that Toyota, up until now, put the kibosh on the V8 GS. So why put more time and energy into over-engineering a motor for a car that they’ll only manage to push a few thousand of?
Many criticized Nintendo for not keeping up with Playstation and Xbox in terms of muscle. Yet the Wii does fine. Maybe for some the CTS-V, the Hellcat and the next M5 maybe be a bridge too far.
Not me though. I want a Hellcat Charger.
I admit it. I’m a GS fanboy (2000 GS400) I’ve gotten over the grille, but was always cheesed they didn’t offer the V8. Still cheesed you have to buy a whole new model/trim to get the V8. The V8 should be avaialble on the premium trim-level and the AMG/M-series fighter should have had an LFA-derived V-10. Then there would be no debate about who has the top-dog, mid-size, executive-class, performance car.
The take rate on the V8 was just entirely too low. I can understand why they dropped it. Plus with the loss of the SC430, they’re making lots fewer passenger car V8s these days.
Bringing a knife to a gun fight.
Alfa-Romeos are less pretentious to my eye…
I went to look at the new Lexus NX for my mother last week which by the way is a great vehicle and the salesman practically forced me to test drive the new RC350 and that is a truly great car. It looks great inside and out, especially inside, the seats are super comfortable and the fit and finish are great. I found the performance more than satisfactory for real world everyday driving so I doubt the F model of the RC or the GS should have any problem performing well. The reality is you can’t do 200 mph anywhere so that is a worthless stat, you can’t or won’t go around doing 0-60 in 3.whatever so pretty much another worthless stat. The reality is that you really don’t need much more than 400-450 horsepower. The Lexus will be great too because it will have all the finery of a Lexus and will drive trouble-free for 10 plus years and have excellent resale value.
The GS-F should come in at about $80,000 which will be $20K or so less than the E63 or M5 so it is not really competing with them so it should be just fine.
I wish BMW and Mercedes would tune their regular v8tt cars to be more special, discount M5/AMG, Lexus beat them to it.
Meanwhile the CTS-Vsport costs 20k less and will be just as fast if not faster with the best chassis in the segment.
YOU ALWAYS NEED MORE POWER!!!!!!!!!!!