The G Man

2012 RX450h, 0-60 in 7.5 seconds and the 2007 Rx400h, 0-60 in 7.2 sec. Not as much difference as you might think. Again, both numbers are from Edmunds. Sometimes a car can make you feel like you are accelarating faster.

I think the GS350 had the F-sport package vs the A6 with the sport package. You really need to test drive the new A6, it does not drive front heavy at all and it drives like a much smaller lighter car, very agile. I found this one article for long term testing on the A6. In 40000 miles, the A6 had 5 unscheduled visits, mostly minor issues, beating out the Acura TL's 8 unscheduled visits. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2005-audi-a6-32-quattro-long-term-road-test

Lexus made some improvment in the RX450h, instead of the RX400h's 25 MPG on the highway, it is now 28 MPG for the RX450h. We can pretty close to 28 MPG if we drive around 65 MPH.

.... Just wondering, what country are you from? We seem to have a communication problem.

I think if you want to read up on reliability, you are better off with Consumer report than Car and Driver. Althought I do remember the C6 A6 was on top of the CR's most recommanded list a year or two ago in the mid size luxury car catagory. I had a 08 GS350 AWD that spend more time in the shop than any of my German cars, so its no guarantee than Lexus will always be more reliable than the German cars. In general, Lexus is more reliable, but the industry as a whole have improved on reliablity. The modern day German cars are actually very reliable if you compare them to the German cars from 10 or 20 years ago. Despite Audi's extra mass, front heavy balance and spongy brakes, it still beat the GS in braking distance, 0-60 MPH and the slalom.

cduluk, I tried to be consistant and gather all my data from Edmunds. 0-60 in 5.5 sec. is right up there with the Audi A6 and actually faster than the BMW 535i and the MB E350. Much like you, I am not sold on these so called performance hybrids. For me, its one or the other.

This is the 1st direct comparison I have found on the new 2013 GS350 by an auto magazine. Although the GS350 came in 2nd, it was very close. The GS350 did a lot better than I though against one of the segment leaders. As suggusted in the article, the GS line was almost killed off until a few passionate supporters inside Toyota’s North American operations made a case for another chance. This may be the GS' last chance, its do or die time and the GS came out swinging. As some of us pointed out earlier, the GS' busy front end is a disappointment to the reviewer as well as usually numb Lexus steering. The GS' new interior is superb and the handling is world class. Of course with the improved handling, the ride a bit too stiff. The A6 has the advange in ride quality as well as accelaration. http://archive.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/12q1/2012_audi_a6_3.0t_quattro_vs._2013_lexus_gs350-comparison_tests

Not quite, its more like asking a bunch of computer engineers to compile data from other professional farm equipment reviewers. All US news did was collect the date.

Those high performance bulbs burn hotter, so they burn out fasters, there is no way around it.

Why not find a good stereo or accessory shop and have them do it.

Its a 35% improvment over the 2012 GS hybrid. 2012 has a combined MPG of 23 and the 2013 is up to 31 MPG. Also, the 2012 goes from 0-60 MPH in 5.5 sec while the 2013 does it in 5.6, so they are basically the same. Those numbers are a good indication of the advanes that Lexus had made over the years in their hybrid system and weight reduction.

Putting aside the technical Mumbo jumbo, the cold hard facts remains that the RX hybrid gets 12 % better gas mileage than the RX350 on the highway. One must really have a good understand of how the Lexus hybrid system work before making any conclusion. The Lexus hybrid system is a parallel system meaning the electric motor can run at the same time as the ICE, therefore, help to increase gas mileage, even at high speed.

The 1st set is oem, you will have to find a way to disable the auto leveler and aim the light. The 2nd set is aftermarket and for halogen bulbs, so there is no leveler but you cannot use oem bulb, you will need to use re-based HID kits. Also, the projector is design for halogen so the beam pattern will be off a bit, but it is not a big deal.

Dont you think your tone is a bit condescending? I ask you if you know for a fact that the RX350's ECU program only try to advance after a fill up? and you went on about shifting gears in a RX350 with manual transmission.

If you look at their rating system, they dont rate the cars themself, they use reviews from other credible third-parties. Therefore, it could be that one reviewer for the GS350 and another for the GS450h. The catagories are not weighted evenly, if you add up the scores and take the average, it doesnt equal to the overall score. The biggest laugh I got was the the 5 series scoring below a Hyundai. I know that the new 5 series does not perform as well as it use to be, but come on, it cannot be worst than a Hyundai :)

He should have said it was Lexus second gen GX SUV, the last gen was a GX 470. The GX does have a lot of off road capacbilities, like different terrain modes and a low range gear box, but I cant imagine too many owners taking the GX off road. Gas milage is horrible, a friend of mine has one and he get about 13 MPG around town.

US News top 14 Luxury sedans and the new GS350 is pretty low on the ranking :( http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/rankings/Luxury-Large-Cars/

Its all time and money as far as the dealer is concerned. If I remember right, the seat belt chime will reactivate if the battery is disconnected, at least it did with the last gen RX.

I have no idea just what might happen with lugging the engine due to the failure of the driver downshiftng appropriately with a manual transmission. Maybe a CEL indication or maybe even "you deserve the results you get if you're that stupid". What ???????

I think Lexus' leather is a bit too soft. Dont get me wrong, I like soft leather, but I like leather than doesnt wrinkle more. The leather that Lincoln and Audi use is somewhere in the middle, they are somewhat soft to the touch and wears very well. The MKS was on my top 5 list before I test drove it, it drives heavy and did not handle well. I agree with you that its a good looking car except for the grille. I also agree with you that the new Lexus GS350's front end needs work, it just doesnt look like a $60000 from the front. What I dont agree with you is that the interior of GS is as bad as the 5 series. The materiial is better in the GS, the standard seats are more comfortable, the gauges are nicer and the mouse controller blows the I-drive out of the water.

The MPG computer always starts out high and as it takes more sample, it gets a more accurate reading. Try doing the MPG calculation by hand, its much more accurate.

For that kind of money, I would not fix it. It sounds like they are very minor leaks, I would just keep an eye on the oil and transmssion fluid level. Nothing last forever, rubber boot and gaskets do degrade when they get old and will have minor leaks. Although your car is not that old, it just have high mileage.

The BMW leather will still look good after a year or two, that more than I can say for the Lexus leather. Honestly, comparing the GS to the BMW's interior is aiming too low. The 5 series have one of the worst interior in the industry in my opinion. I check out the MKS briefly when I was shopping for a car, the ugly front grill and the built quality issues kept me away.

Yes, that is a factory HID setup, not a rebased HID in a halogen relector housing. Like cduluk said, lexus have switched to a projector HID setup years ago because it projects a much brighter and better focus beam than a reflector.

Well, considering the old GS350 only gets 23 MPG combined, Lexus had no place to go but up. The new GS is suppose to have a combined gas mileage of 31 MPG, which is very good for a car that does 0-60 MPG in the mid 5s.