By Steven D. Gatt, Editor-in-Chief
Lexus wants to be king of the world. Not happy with the performance of the previous GS300, Lexus went back to the drawing board and came up with an entirely new car. The new GS300 and GS 400 are going after the Germans--namely the BMW 5 Series and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, with value, performance and the Lexus name.
With the all-new GS Lexus they may hit their mark. This 300 hp rear-drive sedan has more interior room than the Mercedes and is larger than the original Lexus LS 400. Lexus claims that the new GS 400 is the fastest automatic sedan in the world; hard to believe but this car can go 0-60 mph in just 6.0 seconds. Also noteworthy is the 'E-Shift' steering wheel-mounted controls for the transmission. In this mode you can manually shift through the gears at a touch of a button, unfortunately our test drive didn't allow us enough time to become used to this system.
During the short preview ride and drive opportunity I found the Lexus GS 400 to be an excellent luxury sports sedan. Overall I have to say I like the exterior styling though I'm still getting used to the odd-looking C-Pillar. The interior is comfortable but I did not like the dash. It has a 3-hole design for the gauge package and I didn't have enough time to become acclimated to the available touch-screen controls of the GPS system or the HVAC controls.
During the day with Lexus they also previewed their new advertising campaign for the GS 400. I particularly like the 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' ad slogan for the new GS 400. The base price for the GS300 is $36,800; for the GS 400 it is $44,800. The difference between the GS 300 and GS 400 is size of the engine. The GS 300 features a 3.0L V6, while the GS 400 has a 4.0L V8. According to Lexus this is a price reduction of $11,000 to a comparably equipped 1997 GS300 and $8,700 less than a Mercedes-Benz E320.
The 1998 model year is just getting under way so I look forward to driving the GS 400 for a full week-long test drive and see how wicked it is.