2013 Lexus GS 350

2013 Lexus GS 350
Related Gallery2013 Lexus GS 350: First DriveSo Lexus wants to be taken seriously now. Certainly the brand is a heavyweight – and has been since the moment it launched 22 years ago, changing the luxury market almost overnight. It's just had trouble garnering the respect of the cognoscenti, the car enthusiast types, the sorts of people who can see a pair of taillights flash by and identify year, make and model

Lexus representatives are not shy about the issue, in part because it's hard to ignore years of critics calling your cars bland and soulless, while smirking, self-avowed "car guys" trade their BMW sedans in on new BMW sedans, even as they grumble about electronic nannies, iDrive and Chris Bangle.

That's why Lexus built the LFA supercar, say the company's flacks, who seem unnaturally willing to admit that previous models were lacking a certain something, having settled upon the word "emotion" as the politically correct way to describe what was wrong with this last generation of Lexus products. But the real reason behind such refreshing, if specious hindsight, is that the Lexus braintrust thinks it has the solution to winning over its detractors in the 2013 Lexus GS 350.

The redesigned midsize luxury sedan goes on sale in February 2012, so Lexus saw fit to invite us out to Orange County, California, to spend a few hours behind the wheel. But first it wanted to emphasize just how important the GS is to the brand, as it will be introducing the new face of Lexus to the world – in a Super Bowl spot, no less.

Yes, that pinched, hollow stare you see from the so-called "spindle grille" of the GS is, indeed, it. Serious? Yes. Aggressive? Check. Mean? Pretty much.

2013 Lexus GS 350 side view2013 Lexus GS 350 front view2013 Lexus GS 350 rear view

If the Lexus GS doesn't look like the sort of car that slows down to let you merge, that's because the self-important drivers of the competition's products probably wouldn't either. While the Lexus folks might blush at putting such a fine point on it, they describe their prototypical customer as someone who wants it all, without compromises. In other words, not the sort of guy you'd want to work for, but exactly the kind you might choose to perform surgery – or represent you in court if you want to sue the doctor afterwards.

Even if we're not sold on the new grille, the rest of its lines are smooth and elegant.
But before we get too caught up in the idea that Lexus is embracing an edgier look, let's be honest: It's not like they've gone Juggalo here. Indeed, the GS now wears a sharp and scowling face, but there's little about the rest of the GS's styling that's shocking or screams for attention. In fact, while tooling around the OC, we were ruthlessly ignored, just one more in a seemingly endless succession of midsize luxury cars.

Even if we're not sold on the new grille, the rest of its lines are smooth and elegant. You can see plenty of traces of the old GS in the new one, especially in the greenhouse and the curved forward edge of the C-pillar, which carries over since the original. But Lexus has lengthened the rear deck a bit, while sloping its sides down to meet the character line that extends forward from the front fender along the side of the car. This, combined with a two-inch increase in width, makes the new GS look lower to the ground and better visually balanced than the old model, despite being over an inch taller. The rear fascia of the GS looks more like its baby brother now, and the family resemblance will only increase once the IS acquires its own spindle grille. In total, the GS is an attractive car, and similar enough to the BMW 5 Series that nobody will mistake it for a Toyota Avalon.

2013 Lexus GS 350 grille2013 Lexus GS 350 headlight2013 Lexus GS 350 taillight2013 Lexus GS 350 exhaust tips

Inside the GS, it becomes even clearer that Lexus has been studying the Bavarians. The instrument panel – hell, the whole interior – not only resembles the 5 Series, it feels like it when you're behind the wheel. Except it's better. Everything in the Lexus is pretty much in the same place as in the BMW, from the LCD screen that dominates the center of the dashboard, to the HVAC vents and controls, to the Lexus Remote Touch Interface right where BMW's iDrive knob would be. Even the GS steering wheel seems like a Bimmer knock-off. But the cowl height in the GS is low, which allows for a seating position high enough that the driver doesn't feel buried in the cockpit and visibility is excellent as a result. We also like that the instrument panel lacks all the strange contours of the 5er.

The materials in the GS are much improved, with lots of stitched leather upholstery and new mood lighting. That said, some of the metal-look plastic in the GS is, indeed, plastic – likely a price that engineers felt was worth paying to achieve an overall 10 percent reduction in the weight of the interior trim. You won't notice any skimping elsewhere, however, as the car is as quiet and comfortable as you'd expect of a Lexus. Optional 16- or 18-way adjustable seats seem like overkill, until you climb out of them and sit in the standard 10-way seats. Yes, we really have become that spoiled. We expect an on-board chiropractor next.

2013 Lexus GS 350 interior2013 Lexus GS 350 front seats2013 Lexus GS 350 menu display2013 Lexus GS 350 shifter

Lexus says the new GS tips the scales at exactly the same 3,795 pounds as the outgoing model, and while the length and wheelbase of the GS have not changed, the new model does have a 1.6-inch wider front track and a two-inch increase in the rear. Lexus claims the torsional rigidity of the GS has been improved by 14 percent thanks to the use of high strength steel and new welding processes. We'll take all this – and a redesigned multilink rear suspension that enables four-wheel-steering – as a down payment on further evaluation.

The F Sport carries quite a bit of equipment not offered on the other models.
During our day with the GS we were mostly stuck puttering around So. Cal., without much opportunity to test the dynamics. To complicate matters, Lexus will be selling four different trim levels that carry some radically different equipment, not to mention an all-wheel-drive option and the GS450h hybrid. We're going to write up the hybrid separately, as it's truly a different car altogether – although we could almost say that about the F Sport model.

Positioned as the halo of the range, the F Sport carries quite a bit of equipment not offered on the other models, including 19-inch wheels, 14-inch front brake rotors, a firmer suspension with a special calibration for its adaptive system and a variable gear ratio steering system. It's also the only way you can put your hands on the optional Lexus Dynamic Handling System, which is how you get the rear steering actuator, capable of turning the wheels up to two degrees to improve turn in and handling.

2013 Lexus GS 350 wheel

The base GS, Premium and Luxury trims are more similar than they are different, with the Luxury package getting the adaptive part of the F Sport's trick suspension, but not the rest. A whole host of safety equipment is available, including a collision mitigation system with an infrared camera mounted behind the steering wheel to scan the driver's eyes. Lexus has also seen fit to introduce a head-up display that's functionally identical to the system General Motors has been using for years in such vehicles as the Chevrolet Corvette and Cadillac CTS. The company's Enform telematics system is also offered alongside an optional navigation system with a massive 12.3-inch screen.

Certainly, Lexus has loaded up the GS with a whole bag of new tricks, but its core is largely carryover. The optional V8 engine is gone – nobody bought them, apparently. So the 3.5-liter V6 remains, improved to make it a bit more powerful. It's now rated at 306 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque, an increase of just three horses and three lb-ft. However, Lexus estimates a fuel economy improvement of two miles per gallon on the highway and one combined when compared to the 2011 GS. The new car's 0-60 mile-per-hour time remains at 5.7 seconds. The 2013 GS uses the same six-speed, sequential-shift automatic, but with paddle shifters in addition to a standard shift lever. Shifting with the paddles is fast and satisfying, and we like that they are small and well positioned unobtrusively behind the wheel.

2013 Lexus GS 350 engine

Complementing the paddle shifters is a new three- or four-position Drive Mode, selected by a knob that sits below the shifter on the center console. This allows the driver to select either Eco or Sport S mode, in addition to the default normal mode. Eco mode attempts to save fuel by decreasing throttle response, while Sport mode does pretty much the opposite. The fourth setting, Sport S+, is tied to the adaptive suspension system that's standard on the Luxury and F Sport models, and optional on other trim levels.

Driving even the base car in normal mode feels more engaging than past Lexus models, with good road feel and feedback through the steering wheel. We'll mention that Lexus seemed to have all the cars on hand equipped with at least 18-inch wheels, despite spec-ing undersized 17-inchers as standard. The brakes slow the car with authority and the pedal feels nice and firm. Throttle response is great, and the sound under full-bore acceleration is sonorous. A new Helmholtz resonator in the engine compartment and a revamped muffler produce some pretty nice music, and it is refreshing to see Lexus embrace the idea that its cars can be quiet and loud at the same time – just as long as the noises are the right ones. Really, Lexus has hit on all the right notes (ahem) with its redesign of the GS.

2013 Lexus GS 350 rear 3/4 view

Introducing a new design direction for the brand on the GS is pretty gutsy on the surface, because if there's one market segment where the pursuit of perfection has caught nothing but scorn, it would be this one. In 2009 and 2010, the GS was the worst selling sedan in the Lexus lineup, with sales of just over 7,000 per year. By comparison, the one-size-smaller IS sells about five times that number. Yet Lexus thinks it can move about 24,000 units of the new GS each annum, gung-ho on wooing buyers from other luxury marques. Lexus officials are claiming they expect about half of GS sales to come from the competition, which to hear them tell it means Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

Perhaps this bold new Lexus is actually vintage Toyota.
Trebling sales would seem to require a historic European emigration, even if the segment grows some five to seven percent next year, as Lexus predicts. The good news is that there are plenty of customers out there: Mercedes and BMW combined to sell over 100,000 E-Classes and 5-Series last year. By that measure, perhaps this bold new Lexus is actually vintage Toyota – in other words, pursuing a conservative strategy designed to test the waters on a lower volume vehicle before applying the face paint to the more lucrative parts of the lineup, like the ES sedan and RX sport utility.

While we can say with some certainty that the GS has the right aesthetics and a pleasant enough cabin to compete with its European adversaries, the hardware is what's really going to make or break the new model. From our initial impressions, Lexus is right there, offering a compelling package with enough serious go-fast bits to warrant consideration from all but the most slavish fans of Teutonic motoring. Now we just need to find the right roads.

Tired of Turkey? Here's 22 minutes of Porsche 911 GT3 RS rally footage



If you need a little assistance getting through your annual 80-course meal and various NFL games, may we offer you some GT3 RS à la Rally? Some kind chef has cobbled together 22 minutes of footage of the Porsche that loves to get dirty doing slides and Scandinavian Flicks and making rooster tails.

This choice bit of German dessert awaits you after the jump.

Chevrolet Corvette redefines curb rash during autocross

Chevrolet Corvette autocross crash
Autocross critics are quick to tell you that the pastime is a good way to learn bad habits behind the wheel. We say that, while it may be true, caning a vehicle around a parking lot while dodging a few cones is a good way to have a lot of fun behind the wheel in a fairly low-risk environment. Most autocross courses are designed to keep the speed down and the technicality up, which keeps both drivers and their vehicles safe from any real damage. Or at least, that's how its supposed to work.

A driver behind the wheel of a Chevrolet Corvette recently found out just what can go wrong when there isn't enough runoff around a cone slalom at a Speed Ventures autocross. According to YouTube, the driver had just returned from a break, meaning that both the track and the vehicle's tires were cold as he came into the esses. The vehicle's rear breaks lose in a slow, drawn out slide that culminates with the entire passenger side of the vehicle getting cozy with a nearby curb. It's gut-wrenching at best. Hit the jump to check out the carnage for yourself.

Mercedes-Benz killing Maybach in 2013, replacing with S600 Pullman


Related Gallery2011 Maybach range

According to an unnamed Mercedes-Benz source speaking with AutoWeek, the German automaker is killing off its Maybach line in 2013.

The unsurprising news comes after the brand was resurrected in 2002, but failed to meet sales expectations with its two core models, the Maybach 57 and 62. Further solidifying its fate, a deal with Aston Martin to aid in the development of future Maybachs fell through earlier this year.

According to the AutoWeek insider, the plan is to continue to sell both Maybach models through the end of 2013, after which the fifth-generation S-Class will go on sale. When that happens, three new variants of the S-Class will be available, including an all-new, range-topping S600 that brings back the Pullman moniker and may be better suited to competing with the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce.

Europe's Toyota GT 86 sports car revealed

2012 Toyota GT 86
Related Gallery2012 Toyota GT 86

It's no secret that the Toyota FT-86 will finally make its production-spec debut next week in Tokyo, and ahead of that, the automaker's UK office has released the first official photos and some initial specs. In Europe, the car will officially be called the Toyota GT 86.

Cutting right to the chase, here are the specs that are now official, from the Toyota UK announcement. Obviously, there's more to come:
  • 2.0-liter boxer with D4-S injection (direct and port injected)
  • 197 hp @ 7,000 rpm and 151 lb-ft (205 Nm) @6,600 rpm
  • 6-speed manual or automatic transmissions
  • 17-inch wheel/tire package standard
  • 4,240mm (167 in.) long, 1285mm (50.6 in.) high, 2,570mm (101 in.) wide
  • 53:47 front-to-rear weight distribution
  • 475mm (18.7 in.) center of gravity
As demonstrated in the photos, everything is basically in line with what we've seen so far in the various leaked materials. So, start getting excited. In addition to the sharp styling outside, the interior looks the business, and the "86" fender logo is just plain cool. The GT 86 goes on sale in the UK next June.

We'll be on hand in Tokyo for the official reveal at the end of the coming week, with plenty more then. In the meantime, peruse the photo gallery and hit the jump for the full press release.

Geneva 2011: Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4

Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4

Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 - Click above for high-res image gallery
Lamborghini's fifth generation V12 supercar made its official debut in Geneva, and while we've already detailed every aspect of the Aventador LP700-4 in our in-depth article we published yesterday, today we finally had the opportunity to get some first person impressions of the latest Raging Bull.

Lamborghini had three Aventadors on display, ranging from the bright orange example we first saw in the studio photos to a more subtle grey and a stunning matte white. The white, in particular, shows off the various styling elements of the exterior, especially the muscular creases on the front and sides. Despite having more complex lines, the Aventador still manages to have a cleaner look than some of the later generation Murcielagos. We snagged a few minutes inside, and the quality of materials is proof that Lamborghini is continuing to benefit the Volkswagen Group's influence.

You can see our live photos of the Aventador LP700-4 in the gallery below, and be sure to see our in-depth coverage of the car in case you missed it the first time around.

2012 New Mercedes-Benz S400 Hybrid




Mercedes S400 Hybrid is powered by 3.5 liter V6 has 295 HP power. Fuel consumption is claimed to be the highest class reached 30 miles per gallon (12.7 kilometers per liter) and is the first Mercedes car that uses lithium-ion battery.

Mercedes cars























Ryan Dunn Tribute

Extreme, General, Videos. Tagged: Bam Margera, Jackass, Jackass The Movie, Johnny Knoxville, Ryan Dunn, Ryan Dunn Tribute Video. 1 comment
The very funny and emotional Ryan Dunn tribute video that was shown at his memorial service to honor him

Lamborghini Murcielago 2002


A roadster version was introduced in 2004, followed by the updated LP 640 coupé and roadster and limited edition LP 650-4 Roadster. The final variation to wear the Murciélago nameplate was the LP 670-4 SuperVeloce, powered by the largest and final evolution of the historic Lamborghini V12 engine. Production of the Murciélago ended on November 5, 2010, with a total run of 4,099 cars. Its successor, the Aventador, was released at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show.
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
In a continuation of Lamborghini’s tradition of naming its cars after stars from the world of bullfighting, the Murciélago was named for a fighting bull that survived 28 sword strokes in an 1879 fight against Rafael “El Lagartijo” Molina Sanchez, at the Coso de los califas bullring in Córdoba, Spain. Murciélago fought with such passion and spirit that the matador chose to spare its life, a rare honor. The bull, which came from Joaquin del Val di Navarra’s farm, was later presented as a gift to Don Antonio Miura, a noted local breeder; thus began the famed Miura line of fighting bulls, and the name for one of Lamborghini’s greatest designs.
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002 Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002 Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
The Murciélago is an all-wheel drive, mid-engined supersports car. With an angular design and an exceptionally low slung body, the highest point of the roof is just under 4 feet above the ground. One of the vehicle’s most distinguishing features are its scissor doors. which lends to the extreme image. First-generation Murciélagos, produced between 2001 and 2010, were powered by a Lamborghini V12 which traces its roots back to the company’s beginnings in the 1960s. The rear differential is integrated to the engine itself, with a viscous coupling center differential providing drive to the front wheels. Power delivered through a 6-speed manual transmission. The Murciélago suspension uses an independent double-wishbone design, and bodywork features carbon fiber, steel and aluminum parts. The rear spoiler and the active air intakes integrated into the car’s shoulders are electromechanically controlled, deploying automatically only at high speeds in an effort to maximize both aerodynamic and cooling efficiency.
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002
Lamborghini Murcielago 2002 Lamborghini Murcielago 2002v