Lexus GS test drive since 2012 sedan

Lexus GS 450h. A businessman with character

Well, how else, if the business is serious! But judging by the appearance of the previous Lexus sedans, it was difficult to say something about the nature of their owners. In addition to the fact that they have a money.

Lexus GS 450h. Price: from 2 625 000 p. On sale: since June 2012

Stanislav Shustitsky, journalist, 58 years old, driving 27 years, travels to the Chevrolet Lacetti.

But is it possible to judge the character of a person at all by looking at his car? The creators of the current, already fourth generation Lexus GS believe that it is not only possible, but also necessary.

When the president of the French Football Federation Jules Rome decided to realize the idea of \u200b\u200bworld championship, then, of course, he thought about what a prize for the victorious team should be. The task of the jeweler, to which Monsieur Rome turned to, was brief: the cup should be expensive and at the same time reflect the most important thing in football.


To do expensive is not a problem, I will take a couple of kilograms of gold, and the task is solved. But what is the most important thing in this of your football? The jeweler asked. Thinking for a second, Jules Rome answered: Victory! So in the World Cup appeared the Jules Cup, better known as the Golden Goddess. The business with business class cars is about the same: classical performance, comfortable and tastefully made salon, reliable modern units. But so that for the soul the same flight of the goddess Nicky Ai, throw these cars for business people. Demand in Russia for cars of the premium segment is growing, and the prognosis of sales for 2012 is very optimistic of more than 175,000 cars. As for Lexus, the Russian representative hopes that by the end of 2012, Russia in the European market will take leading positions in terms of sales. True, by virtue of the road and climatic component, the SUV segment cars are better sold than cars, but there is a tendency to level interest. However, this is so, a retreat.


Outwardly the 250th differs from the hybrid with open pipes of the release system

At the beginning of this year, a new generation of Lexus models GS 250 and GS 350 with all -wheel drive appeared on the Russian market. It should be noted that the latest version is sold only in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. And now in Russia GS 450H sales with a hybrid drive begin, and the sales plan for this year is about 330 cars. The figure is not bad, and therefore the interest in the GS 450H test drive (and at the same time GS 250), which took place on the roads of Germany and Austria, was special. As for the exterior of the novelties, the designers went to a fairly bold step, deciding to revive the appearance of the car. Agree that working on the other side of the face of respectability and, if you want, snobbery is very difficult to avant -garde here is not very welcome. All strokes should be very accurate only from a 2 -kilogram ingot of gold, you can create a goddess Nick. And if we talk about the appearance of the GS, then it turned out to be fame: elegant and moderately aggressive. The second is already for the soul. And in order for the very soul to finally turn around, there is also a F-Sport body kit. Rather, a body kit, rather for the eyes, but for the soul but more on that later. In general, it turned out both expensive and stylish. At the same time, the aerodynamic component is carefully worked out in the new version of GS. At the same time, the designers sought not only to improve stability during movement, but also to provide comfort by minimizing the noise caused by air flows.


GS 450H is equipped with a second, modified generation of a full hybrid drive system

Salon. As always exquisite. The skin with a spectacular stitch, aluminum, the veneer of the noble species of trees and to talk about what is comfortable in it, just trite it is Lexus. Nevertheless, the work was carried out here. The enlarged body height and a large number of front seats adjustments allowed to add 30 mm vertically from head to roof, and for the rear seats 25 mm. By reducing the thickness of the backs of the front seats, the rear row passengers received an additional two centimeters of the expanse in the knees. The steering wheel has a finish made of natural bamboo combined with nubok. The idea is clear: a hybrid car, environmental protection and beautifully. But personally, I would more like a perforated skin in the places of the grip. In general, you do not lay in the hand of an expensive steering wheel. But the display of the multimedia system with the management of the joystick Remote Touch is simply amazing. 12.3 inches! The largest in the world! But only top versions are equipped with such beauty. In the base of an 8 -inch display. The same applies to the volume of seats. For example, in the configuration with the F-SPORT package there are as much as 16, including adjusting the level of lateral support. You can also limit yourself to the basic (very high -quality!) Audio system, or you can optionally establish a simply amazing creation of Mark Levinson with the highest level of volumetric sound.


Seats (in top versions) have 16 adjustments

I began acquaintance with the new GS generation with a version equipped with a 2.5 -litrous engine. And this is right, since then it allowed to more a greater extent to evaluate all the charms of the hybrid version. GS 450H is equipped with a 3.5 -liter gasoline engine with a capacity of 215 liters. With. and a 200-horsepower electric motor with nickel-metallological batteries with a total capacity of 345 liters. With. and the maximum torque of 352 nm. The gasoline engine works in the Atkinson cycle, which is ideal for a hybrid drive. The displacement of phases of gas distribution allows both the engine efficiency and reduce the temperature of exhaust gases. A certain disadvantage of this scheme is that the engine at low speed has a small torque. But in a hybrid installation, this deficiency is compensated by the fact that only an electric motor operates at the start that has a high torque at low speeds. The elasticity of the operation of the gasoline engine is also ensured by the use of the D-4S injection system, combining direct and distributed fuel injection. Given the foregoing, the acceleration of GS 450H is 5.9 seconds to hundreds of a passport. And the consumption of fuel does not have to talk in a mixed cycle is a little more than 6 liters per 100 km. There were more on our measurements, but we must consider that the cycle of our movement was already very mixed: the route ran through small Austrian towns, and through unlimited German autobahns, where the two -ton Lexus accelerated to maximum speed. And if we are talking about a car with a hybrid power plant, then its environmental friendliness should be noted. The numbers are: CO2 release in the city cycle is 156 g/km, and in suburban 129. For example, the GS250 indicators are 288 and 160 g/km, respectively.


But these are only numbers, albeit confirmed by sensations. And now about what was done by the designers of the new Lexus generation for the substance of the intangible, for the same soul. In order to not only move in space surrounded, if not luxury, then certain prosperity, but also enjoy driving. To begin with, the hardness of the body for twisting was increased, then the suspension was seriously processed. В передней подвеске использованы новые верхний и нижний рычаги увеличенной жесткости, изготовленные из кованого алюминия, увеличен угол наклона и оптимизированы характеристики амортизаторов в режиме отбоя, изменены характеристики стабилизатора Полностью переработанная задняя многорычажная подвеска не только улучшила комфорт и повысила стабильность автомобиля при движении, но и, Due to the compactness of the design, it made it possible to increase the volume of the trunk. The fact that the engineers managed to be realized, I was convinced even when I got behind the wheel of GS 250. The suspension is unobtrusively working out the irregularities, the car holds the course perfectly, the rolls are minimal in the turns, the steering wheel equipped with an electric power, informative (battered, but is beaten, but very accurate expression). And all this in a comfortable mode of Normal suspension settings. True, I would like a better response to the work of the accelerator pedal, and there is not enough pickup in the lower engine speed. But the 6 -speed automatic transmission works just excellently. By the way, if you do not have enough drive, you can put the selector wheel to the Sport S+mode, and you will get everything you want: the system will change gear ratio in the steering and slightly increase the force on the steering wheel, hold the shock absorbers, and the engine will become more responsive to pressing Gas pedals. As for the hybrid Lexus, here everything is in order with the dynamics and on the action of the pedal of the accelerator motor (sorry, the tandem of the engines) speaks instantly ...


The luxury and exclusivity of the salon emphasize the analog clock with the LED indication in the all -metal case

Once again, I catch myself on the fact that I am talking more about dynamics and accuracy of control than, say, about the smoothness of the course or decoration of the salon. But this is a premium car, not a sports car. But the creators of the new generation GS did not think standardly. It is no coincidence that they talked about the need to draw attention to GS 450H and young buyers (it is clear that young for the possession of Lexus) aged 3540 years. And not only they said, but also prepared a F-Sport package, which can be installed on all three Lexus GS models. At the same time, only the athletic image, which creates a very aggressive body kit, was also confirmed by internal content. Here, the settings of the adaptive suspension and the steering power steering are more than in the civilian version, sharpened for fast driving. In addition, the GS 450H with a F-Sport package can be equipped with a rear suspension with a dynamic control system, coordinating steering (up to 2) of the rear wheels and the operation of adaptive steering. Assessing the speed of the car and the angle of rotation of the steering wheel, the dynamic control system determines the optimal rotation angle of all four wheels and the gear ratio in the steering mechanism. At speeds below 80 km/h, the front and rear wheels turn in opposite directions, at a higher speed in one direction. In general, the GS 450H with a f-sport package is the respectability of the representative of the E-Primeum \u200b\u200bsegment and the adrenaline of the sports car in one bottle. And it is no coincidence that at dinner colleagues-journalists who talked the charges of the GS in a suit from the F-Sport first discussed all the subtleties of slipping on the turn of the turn, and only then moved to the discussion about the location of all sorts of buttons there. It is worth saying about the brakes. Their work is absolutely transparent, the response to press the pedal is fast, and the load, in accordance with the slowdown of the car, is easy to dose. And the F-Sport specification also increases the diameter of the front brake discs 356x30 mm instead of 334x30 in the standard version.

Now about sad. Well, they always say that at the time of parting with bloody earned. GS 450H in the Premium configuration, including an adaptive suspension with a selector of selection of traffic modes and a navigation system with a hard drive, will cost 2,625,000 rubles, and Luxury equipment, in addition, the LED headlights of the near and high beam, a trinos climate control and ionizer air, 3,118,000 rubles. If you are the same successful average 36-year-old man, then God himself ordered you to choose Luxury with a f-sport package worth 3,160,000 rubles.

 
Our verdict
It would seem that it is easiest to evaluate the new GS 450H in comparison with competitors. or not?
but is it true, is it worth comparing how close to controllability to the five BMW or dynamics to the Audi A6? In fact, this car is among its own, but with its own charisma. And this is important.
 
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
+
A great combination of comfort, dynamics, handling and even economy. And for a real drive there is also a f-sport package ...
-
Perhaps the largest minus GS 450H can be the price that will surely affect sales.

Driving
Both the reactions to the gas pedal is excellent, and the GS 450H control is good.

Salon
You can discuss the nuances, in general everything is fine. And not only because it is Lexus.

Comfort
And here it is a sin to complain. Moreover, in favor of comfort they did not sacrifice controllability.

Safety
Both 10 pillows and a dynamic control system ... True, not the entire set of preventive safety options will be available in Russia.
Price
It is clear that Lexus cannot be cheap by definition.
But still ... even despite the possible options for completion.

We do not love
Healthy
A lot of information is displayed on the graphic display: speed, navigation, eco -meter readings ...
Comfortable
To activate any of the four traffic modes, it is enough to turn the switch to the console in the right direction.
Controversial
Using the Remote Touch controller of the multimedia system was not always convenient. Especially during the movement of the car.

SPECIFICATIONS
Dimensions 4850x1840x1470mm
Base 2850 mm
Equipped mass 1900 kg
Full mass
2325 kg
Clearance 141 mm
Trunk volume 465 l
The volume of the fuel tank 66 liters
Gasoline engine. 6-cylinder. 3456 cm3, 292/6000
mIN-1, 352/4500 Nm/min--1; Electric 147 kW
(200 hp); The power of the hybrid system is 345 hp
Transmission machine. , unavailable., rear drive
Dynamics 250 km/h; 5.9cdo100km/h
Fuel consumption 6.1 liters per 100 km
Competitors Audi A6 Hybrid, BMW Active Hybrid 5,
Infiniti M35H, Mercedes-Benz E-Class
 

Source: Magazine 5 wheel [August 2012]