Normal for engine to start when you power on?

[RichyRich]

Definitely bigger car so imagining it would feel slow compared to the IS. Rear wheel steering sounds insane but interesting. Just passed a Mercedes not sure what model whilst out on my road bike and reminded me how smooth the Lexus Hybrid engine is at stopping and starting, no noise starter motor to crank up every time you stop at lights or a junction ☺️

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[marrat]

7 hours ago, rayaans said:

Ive not found the F-Sport uncomfortable either - rides better than my RX F-Sport anyway.

Id pass the 300h on the GS though, too small for the car. The 450h is where its at and with that incredible rear wheel steering its insane! Goes around corners better than an IS TBH

Yep,the more I read about it the more it seems to be a gimped version of the GS450H. I'll stick to the IS and maybe jump on the GS450H later.

[RichyRich]

Same :)

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[Eire Lexus]

Recently had a GS300h on 48ht test drive. Felt fantastic and super comfortable. Is very slightly slower than IS. Go drive one it'll surprise you.

[Steve44]

Real world, there is very little in it performance wise between GS and IS 300h. Economy wise probably  5% less on GS too. F SPORT GS comes with AVS as standard though, so ride should still be good o  19" rubber bands. Tight B roads in a GS were IMO more fraught, it is a bigger feeling and driving car than the IS!

[capese21]

I went from an IS300h FSport to a GS300h Lux. I found the firm suspension on the IS tiresome. Very little difference in performance. The GS is quieter & more comfortable. It seems more solid & better built to. 

Ed

[DanD]

I had the opportunity to drive a pre-facelift GS300h some months ago, and it felt anything but slow. It's a very nice car to travel in, and to some extend more refined than the IS as it is quieter. The only criticism I had was that it looked rather bland and boring for a car of that price... but this was corrected with the facelift.

[RichyRich]

Hmm is the Face lift GS available?

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[rayaans]

16 hours ago, RichyRich said:

Hmm is the Face lift GS available?

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Yep, very few on the market though. They have an even bigger grill, the F-Sport gets new 3D effect trim (looks and feels awesome) and of course the new lights and wheel options. 

[RichyRich]

Do you work at Lexus by the way?

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[capese21]

18 hours ago, RichyRich said:

Hmm is the Face lift GS available?

Yes. The facelift GS  front end is similar to the IS and different design rear light clusters which are interchangeable if you wanted to update. I prefer the pre face lift rear though. Very little changes to the interior just a few switch moves to the steering wheel.

The GS is great, very refined even more so then my previous IS.  Extras like ambient lighting in the door panels and excellent standard equipment on Luxury spec.

 

I viewed a few Jag XE`s and the salesman looked blank when I said I wanted HID lights ,auto folding mirrors, blind spot warning, rear view camera, proximity sensors front & rear, heated & cooled seats, leather electric memory seats both sides, keyless entry & start. DVD player. 

 

  No used XE`s with a spec even close. Just about possible if you spec up a new one adding mega money to the price.  All standard on the GS Luxury which isn't even the top spec.

 

Ed

[Eire Lexus]

This is the luxury facelift

[RichyRich]

Don't like black.  Is the front end more pronounced?  

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, RichyRich said:

Don't like black.  Is the front end more pronounced?  

Yes its much more pronounced. You wont really miss it, especially if you go for Azure blue!! UK cars get the triple LED headlights as well which aren't shown here.

Oh and the trim in the F-Sport looks and feels great!

[RichyRich]

Still not sure on the shape of the rear, just sticks out a bit too much. Inside looks great and why I would seriously consider a GS but for now the IS is just fine

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[DanD]

I like the rear and the twin exhausts - I wish these were available on the hybrid version, same as I wish the exhausts tips of the 200T were the same on the IS300h.

Especially since you have visible exhaust tips on the RC300h...

[RichyRich]

Agree 👍

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[marrat]

I took a day off and drove the IS300H Luxury, GS300H F-Sport and the GS450H (pre-facelift). I thought I'd write down my thoughts, maybe someone can find something useful in the future. I drove the IS300H F-sport earlier btw.

- IS300H Luxury: the drive is smoother than the F-sport, but I didn't feel that much of a difference. The car was on 17" wheels as opposed to 18" on the F-sport. I still think the F-sport is the one to get since I really missed the digital dash and the body of the F-Sport. The digital dash sounds like a gimmick on paper, but I think it adds a lot of premium feel to the car. This luxury model was fully loaded though, especially the adaptive cruise control I'd miss since I have it on my Prius.
- GS300H: I liked the bigger interior. It's only a few centimeters, but I guess it's enough to make it feel bigger. The car doesn't exactly feel slow, but it's a lot less nimble compared to the IS. I didn't really feel that much of a difference in build quality, I wasn't exactly sure what I should've paid attention to though. The ride is more relaxed than the IS, but you do get the feeling you're driving a very heavy car (which it is obviously). There's less noise, but I doubt the difference between the GS and IS is very big. I really liked the big screen, but it's still a very archaic looking GUI. Amazing how a car with such a price tag can have such a GUI. In an ideal world they'd just update it, but I guess Lexus doesn't care or the hardware can't handle it. Is the roofing fabric different in the GS compared to the IS? It felt different, better.
- GS450H: Wow, what a car. 1800KG moving in 6 seconds to 100KM/h, very impressive. After driving this car, I didn't quite understand the purpose of the GS300H. The GS body needs this power I think, thinking back to the GS300H it felt very lazy (I can't find the proper word for it). The body is the same as the 300H model of course, so you still feel like you're driving a boat, but a lot is compensated by all the raw power of the engine. 

In short, if only the IS body had a 450H engine, it would've been a monster. As it is now it's a choice between IS300H and HS450H. Going for a 450H qould mean waiting another year though, I wont pay that much for a car. 

[Zotto]

I traded my previous 2008 GS 450h  with a 2014 GS300h, and agree for the monster GS 450h in power, but  the main reason for a 300h is to have less maintenance and better mpg, at least in my country; may be in UK taxes are lighter than here.

[marrat]

I didn't check the maintenance costs, but I assume they're higher for the 450H yes. As for better MPG, every review I've read states the fuel consumption between the two is exactly the same. That's why the GS300H gets burned in professional reviews. 

[Zotto]

In real life it's not the same: my  GS 300h makes 16 km/l while a friend of mines with a GS 450h Fsport does 13.5. Not such a big difference indeed, but it's so.

Besides, with my previous 2008 GS 450h I made 12.

Of course, having 115 HP less makes difference, but here in Italy we have to pay every year an extra tax (they call "superbollo") 20 € for each KW of thermal engine power exceeding 185 kW,  so while with GS 300h it costs 343 Euros, with 450h it is near 1000 ! A robbery that made me decide to trade 450h with a newer 300h. Probably now there is a happy driver with my GS 450h  somewhere in East Europe .

[capese21]

My GS 300h does an easy 45 mpg with a mix of normal everyday journeys. The 450h is around 12 mpg less and is in a higher VED band around £150 the GS300h is £20.  

I test drove my GS expecting it to be slow and under powered but it wasn't.

 12 mpg may not sound loads but in practice it makes quite a difference. I get paid work mileage the same rate no matter what size car or engine so basically more money in my pocket! 

[ganzoom]

Its not really a surprise a V6 engine is going to pick up better than a 4 cylinder unit. 

What I was surprised by in a brief test drive of the new RX450h was the mpg. My old modifed 400bhp 3L twinturbo BMW 335i returned about the same efficiency!!  

[marrat]

15 hours ago, Zotto said:

Of course, having 115 HP less makes difference, but here in Italy we have to pay every year an extra tax (they call "superbollo") 20 € for each KW of thermal engine power exceeding 185 kW,  so while with GS 300h it costs 343 Euros, with 450h it is near 1000 ! A robbery that made me decide to trade 450h with a newer 300h. Probably now there is a happy driver with my GS 450h  somewhere in East Europe .

Wow, I thought taxes were bad here in the Netherlands. We pay tax based on weight and petrol/diesel here, so someone considering a GS might as well get the 450H. The price difference isn't big between the used models, probably because the GS450H devalues faster.

I'll go for the IS300H though, I doubt I'd use that much power on a daily basis. I guess we'll have to miss the raw power and the V6 roar.

[Zotto]

If you have the chance, try both IS300h and GS 300h, my GS is the Luxury version with 19" wheels, and may be the big difference is made by adaptive dampers, comfort and refinements in interiors. If I had to choose an IS, I' d go for a Fsport version.