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Car And Driver 2013 Gs350 Vs 2012 Audi A6


The G Man

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It looks like Lexus is a fan too, they like the new GS' front end so much, they made a SUV out of it. I am not sure I like the direction of this new exterior design, but I think they are on the right track with the new interior.

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i own a 2013 Lexus GS 350 F-Sport. i've read all the reviews. i've test driven the Audi A6, Bmw 535i and the Mercedes Benz E350. The lexus beat both of those vehicles in performance, exterior look and the interior. The 2013 GS4 F-Sport is a great car and fun to drive. handling is superb,it's quiet and smooth. performance wise........could use more low end torque. and that's it. have no other issues with this car.

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toosic - Congrats on the new 2013 GS. Post up a pic when you have a chance. I saw a white F-Sport last weekend at my local country club, looked great in that color combo.

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i own a 2013 Lexus GS 350 F-Sport. i've read all the reviews. i've test driven the Audi A6, Bmw 535i and the Mercedes Benz E350. The lexus beat both of those vehicles in performance, exterior look and the interior. The 2013 GS4 F-Sport is a great car and fun to drive. handling is superb,it's quiet and smooth. performance wise........could use more low end torque. and that's it. have no other issues with this car.

Congrats on the new GS, please post some pics.

I got the same impression of the GS as you after my test drive, handling is superb, accelaration need more low end torque. The interior is world class, the exterior design is subjective. The only thing I dont agree on is the ride being smooth, the GS350 had the roughest ride out of those 4 cars and I didnt even test drive the F-sport.

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I wonder if the one you drove maybe had tires that were over-inflated?

Its been a long time since I've driven a 5, E class, or an A6 but the GS350 I drove surprised me by how comfortable and well damped the ride was given things that I had heard. I would say it was almost as smooth as my ES...

As an aside, I stopped by my dealer this afternoon to get some new wiper inserts for the ES and I sat in a couple. I have begun to *really* like the car. I sat in one with the "Flaxen" interior which I originally didn't care for, but I really liked it in person. Very different which is a plus, I liked the corresponding flaxen colored stitching to the dash top as well as the steering wheel, shift knob, and shift boot (which are all black). I also sat in one with the grey interior which was also very sharp.

If I didn't know I'd take it up the pooper so bad on the ES I'd be tempted. Only bummer for me is the car equipped how I would equip it doesn't have the luxury package, and that car has a matte wood trim and no wood/leather wheel like I'm used to. You have to move up to the luxury package to get glossy trim and a wood/leather wheel and that makes a $55k car a $61k car which is more than I want to spend. It would take some getting used to...that and theres a pretty significant rear seat room penalty over the ES, which can be an issue for me from time to time.

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I wonder if the one you drove maybe had tires that were over-inflated?

Its been a long time since I've driven a 5, E class, or an A6 but the GS350 I drove surprised me by how comfortable and well damped the ride was given things that I had heard. I would say it was almost as smooth as my ES...

The ES is one of the smoothest riding sedan in the Lexus lineup, I am sorry, but the GS doesnt even come close. Some thinks that the ES rides even better than the flagship LS460. Did you take the GS on any rough road?

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Splitting hairs on ride quality in this class of cars (premium mids) is so subjective it's meaningless and largely individual baseless preference. Even C&D put numbers of 9 and 10 on ride quality in their subjective numerical chart. Tires and tire pressure make a significant difference, especially on less than perfect roads.

Thankfully C&;D does provide some factual instrumented test data in road test for comparison purposes.

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I wonder if the one you drove maybe had tires that were over-inflated?

Its been a long time since I've driven a 5, E class, or an A6 but the GS350 I drove surprised me by how comfortable and well damped the ride was given things that I had heard. I would say it was almost as smooth as my ES...

As an aside, I stopped by my dealer this afternoon to get some new wiper inserts for the ES and I sat in a couple. I have begun to *really* like the car. I sat in one with the "Flaxen" interior which I originally didn't care for, but I really liked it in person. Very different which is a plus, I liked the corresponding flaxen colored stitching to the dash top as well as the steering wheel, shift knob, and shift boot (which are all black). I also sat in one with the grey interior which was also very sharp.

If I didn't know I'd take it up the pooper so bad on the ES I'd be tempted. Only bummer for me is the car equipped how I would equip it doesn't have the luxury package, and that car has a matte wood trim and no wood/leather wheel like I'm used to. You have to move up to the luxury package to get glossy trim and a wood/leather wheel and that makes a $55k car a $61k car which is more than I want to spend. It would take some getting used to...that and theres a pretty significant rear seat room penalty over the ES, which can be an issue for me from time to time.

SW, how much does the price differ between the standard package and one with the luxury package, 6k? If the presence and finish of the wood trim is the only issue, keep in mind that a wood steering wheel is around $200 on ebay, and it wouldn't be that hard to turn the matte finish into gloss! ;) Plus you could pick the wood color! I'd do it for you!! Lexus usually gets more profit with the "luxury" packages because they charge more for wood trim etc. than what it's really worth. The catch is that there's usually just "one thing" you're looking for in the package, and they throw in a lot of other stupid stuff you don't even want (which raises the cost).

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The ES is one of the smoothest riding sedan in the Lexus lineup, I am sorry, but the GS doesnt even come close. Some thinks that the ES rides even better than the flagship LS460. Did you take the GS on any rough road?

I know, I've had two LS's and two ES's. I drove the car on a back country road in Annapolis, and out on a concrete-expansion jointed highway. I thought it rode well, and I remember wondering what people who said it rode poorly were talking about...

cduluk, Oh yeah, I wouldn't spend $6k just for the wood finish. Thanks for the offer! I might just take you up on that if I get one ;)

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The ES is one of the smoothest riding sedan in the Lexus lineup, I am sorry, but the GS doesnt even come close. Some thinks that the ES rides even better than the flagship LS460. Did you take the GS on any rough road?

I know, I've had two LS's and two ES's. I drove the car on a back country road in Annapolis, and out on a concrete-expansion jointed highway. I thought it rode well, and I remember wondering what people who said it rode poorly were talking about...

cduluk, Oh yeah, I wouldn't spend $6k just for the wood finish. Thanks for the offer! I might just take you up on that if I get one ;)

Awesome! I'd be delighted. ^_^ I hope you'd pick the maroon shade, like on your 03 ES! I wish Lexus would offer that color on more current models. I think they offer it on the LX and GX, but i think it'd look nice in the rest of them!

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The matte wood trim is a reddish type color, comes in a bamboo color too which is hideous.

i wonder when Lexus is going to realize how ugly the yellow wood is... I LOVE the birds-eye maple in the 02-05 SC430, but it's different from the birds-eye maple they used in other Lexus models (which was more of a "yellow" color than the "milky yellow" in the SC430). I wonder if Lexus has ever surveyed owners about preferences?

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Overall, the quality of the Lexus wood is not what it use to be. I remember my first Lexus, it was a LS430, the wood trim on that thing was world class quality and workmanship. The wood trim in the new Lexus almost looks plastic.

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