My Review of the Mk4 Premier

KayCee · June 21, 2019

Hi all
Well i have had the Mk 4 450h for four months now and it is growing on me every day when i first got it i was dissapointed with the headrest position but found out that the headrest adjusts with the top part of the seat so that was soon resolved.
The car runs superb i dont think its got quite the poke that my ex 450 SE L had but it is more than adequate it will soon whisk you to 100 in no time.
I like the way you can go to sport mode and changes the Battery monitor to a rev counter and in sport mode simulates actual gear changes but i mostly keep it in the normal mode anyway.

The fuel consumption is ok as well mind anyone who buys a 3.5 must know its going to use fuel i dont usually bother with the figures but my last 450 averaged about 35 ish but this one is returning 43 on a regular basis but i dont boot it ( well not often ).
One thing that did disapoint initially was the cd player its only one slot it as USB and Bluetooth and i have managed to put my libary on 2 USB sticks so that is now resolved it shows all files and folders as the old 450 had HDD 6 CD USB Bluetooth and when i think about it it was overkill really as if you put in a new CD it asked if you wanted to transfer to HDD.
The initial startup of the display is a little slow but acceptable ( I bet the facelift addressed that) the sat nav seems slightly better but contary to others found it quite acceptable but dildnt get the Connect system to work through the internet but not bothered about that.
I also found that the handling is slightly better i went round a bend few weeks ago (didnt know the road) was a little too fast but went round like it was on rails was pleased at that it as Dunlop sports on.
The mouse thingy was a little fiddly first of but i am completetly used to it now but music options can be used with steering wheel any way.
I found that the Heater Controls and lights are a bit small could have done with that panel being angled up a bit but not too much of a problem.
The HDU is a nice touch and the Blind spot monitering and Cross traffic alert is brilliant

So in conclusion anyone changing up from a Mk3 will not be disappointed
Robert

Mike Hartland · June 21, 2019

Thanks for your review, I will be looking to go from en 3 to Gen 4 in the next year and I can now do it without any worries.

i-s · June 21, 2019

Certainly very similar to how we feel about our 15 plate 450h Premier.

Handling is superb compared to our previous Volvo V70 - the GS has much better weight distribution, much less roll, grips WAY harder. The drivetrain is much more securely mounted in the car (in the volvo you could feel the engine flop about on its mounts) which gives a much more predictable feel, and when you really pitch it into a corner and the adaptive dampers do their thing... well, it's the most capable roadholding car that I've ever had (or driven, come to that).

Drivetrain is superbly refined, able to cruise @ 1500rpm at any speed. Acceleration doesn't FEEL super fast, and doesn't have the peak punch that our V70 did (twin-turbo 5-cylinder diesel, 470Nm torque), but the EV-like linearity of the acceleration means that it actually gathers speed with so little fuss and effort by comparison, and in a much smoother manner. This fools you into believing it's slower than it actually is.

Fuel consumption is as per my fuelly sig at the bottom of this post. I'm very pleased with that, as our V70 only returned 38mpg (225bhp, diesel). The 450h is 50% more powerful and petrol so to get basically the same economy is remarkable and welcome.

The CD thing doesn't bother me - our V70 was the same, and we never once used it. Our honda had a 6-disc changer which we did use, but in a world of USB I don't miss that faff at all!

The infotainment UI isn't very good. I'm not complaining about the mouse-thing - I actually think that works very well. It provides useful haptic feedback (we have it set to max strength) and once you understand that it has an absolute relationship to the position on the screen (rather than a relative relationship like an actual computer mouse) then it's a very good bridge between hand and screen. The problem is that the actual UI of how things are accessed is really awkward, taking many more presses and actions than it should. For example, when playing some music off the USB stick and deciding that I want to listen to a different artist I must take the following steps: Select right-hand screen, select music panel, send music panel to left-hand screen, select browse, select artist, select letter group (or scroll list), select artist, select album. If partway through that process I come to a road junction or whatever that requires my full attention then if I do not return to it quickly enough it will time out and I must start again.

Another example is that it is not possible to cancel the navigation when it is giving you instructions - we have been a couple of times to a shop where the postcode doesn't quite align, so pulling into the car park the sat nav is constantly re-routing and trying to direct. Every time it does this it blocks you out of the menu to cancel the route navigation. And why are postcodes (the PRIMARY method of destination entry in the UK) on the second page of the nav screen? We once tried voice commands to cancel navigation with totally hilarious (and depressing) results - completely useless.

Now, in fairness most car infotainment UIs are awful - our volvo was limited and tedious (for example, choosing an artist from USB required scrolling through a list - could not jump the list using the physical number/letter group keys, and every time you went to the list it started from A). My Leaf is extraordinarily annoying (Doesn't give a list of Artists, but instead the complete list of Albums, sorted in Artist order.... Then don't get me started on its interpretation of finding charging points (Start a journey with a full charge, ~90 miles range. Put in destination 150 miles away. Warns you that you won't make it on your current charge, and offers to find a charge point for you - guides you to nearest charge point which you will arrive at with 95% Battery remaining and still won't make your destination)).

In other words.... the Lexus system has its annoyances and idiosyncrasies (and idiocies), but so do most others.

Another issue is the spray of buttons and some settings buried in menus. I spent 10 minutes looking through the menus one time because the mirrors weren't folding in when locked. Gave up, and 5 minutes later noticed that the "auto" button on the door mirror control panel did not have the little green tell-tale LED lit. Similarly the auto-wipers are only indicated by a little green tell-tale on the wiper stalk, that is obscured behind the steering wheel (our volvo had a similar tell-tale, but it also put an icon up in the instrument panel - and the wipers defaulted to off every time you started the car (sensible because it meant it wouldn't try wiping while you were deicing the car, clearly an important consideration for volvo)). How many buttons and telltales are there in the car marked "auto" (one on the mirror panel on the door, one on the wiper stalk, one on the headlamp stalk, two in the HVAC controls, one on each seat heater control, one on the rear climate panel, one on the rear view mirror....)

The build quality is excellent, although the paint isn't particularly good (we have a couple of patches of crazing, and it's soft, picking up scratches easily). The most remarkable aspect of build quality to me is the way that when you shut the doors the noise of the outside world is so comprehensively drowned out - my Leaf has very thin glass and lets a lot of noise in, whereas the GS does not. Noticeably quieter than our V70.

Seats are generally very good.... but I have a funny shaped back and I just can't quite get the lumbar to work for me, even the 2-step lumbar in the Premier. The problem that I have is that even the higher lumbar control isn't quite high enough up the seat for me (and I'm only 5'7). It's a shame that despite super-many-way-adjustable seats, the Premier does not have a proper 2d lumbar (ie in/out, up/down) but rather 2 separate 1d controls (lower in/out, upper in/out) - the lower is so low as to be useless for anyone, and the upper one is not high enough for me but may suit others. I love the adjustable bolsters and thigh support, but the memory functions are weird. It's extremely annoying not being able to recall the memory position whilst the car is moving or even stationary but in gear, and the passenger memory does not recall the thigh support position. On the plus side, the ventilation and heating are great, and I love being in the front passenger seat, set the thigh support out, recline a bit.... way too comfortable.

Visibility is excellent! The A-pillars are designed exactly right in terms of size and angle. The V70 wasn't great in this regard, but the Leaf is truly appalling (you can literally lose a van in the A-pillar blind spot). There's a few little things you don't notice at first about how lexus designed the vehicle to improve this - the windscreen bonding overlap is moved as far outboard as possible, so the windscreen covers the front of the A-pillar, and with minimal masking applied on the screen, so there's not 1/2 inch of visible (from the inside) black masking at the edge like other cars. Then the A-pillar trim is angled to not project into that space, and the door overlap is also slightly carefully designed. You can see a similar overlap on the rear screen on the C-pillar, that the rear screen is wider and overlaps further onto the C pillar than other cars, making the view from inside wider. Really lovely piece of design work.

BSM is good, ACC is ok - not as good as a VW hire car I had recently though (66 plate touran. It was the only good thing about that car). The ACC tends to pick up vehicles in adjacent lanes on curves as obstacles (which the VW was much better at), and the ACC is only a guide (the VW, I quickly discovered, allowed you to use it as a virtual bumper - once it was locked onto the car in front you could floor the throttle and it wouldn't move, which was a nice way of driving - felt like there was something the car was pushing against). AHB is totally useless - it works for a minute or two, then gets confused, doesn't dip for oncoming cars and then goes into a sulk and never turns high beam on ever again. I've not really played with LKA.

LED headlamps (I know, a VERY rare option in the UK) are excellent, but confusing. Excellent in that they provide extremely wide, bright coverage, although in common with many high-power flat-beam systems they don't project as far down the road (in order to avoid dazzle) as a good halogen dip-beam setup (but that is very dim by comparison). The optic design isn't great, with extremely strong chromatic aberration at the cut-off (blue-red-yellow). The confusing element comes from them turning with the steering (which the xenons on our V70 did also). They turn much faster than the volvo and that works fine - I just don't understand why bother? The LED lights project light SO widely (pavements on both sides of the road well illuminated, pool of light extends out almost perpendicular to the motion of the car) that what's the point of turning them? You don't see any better over that way because it was already lit over that way. I understood the purpose with much narrower projected Xenon and Halogen lights, but it's just a totally unnecessary complication on the LED lights.

So, I know it sounds like I'm focused on the negatives... I'm not - I just don't indulge in blind fanboyism with any car. I love the car and it's easily the best car we've ever owned (but I might not be saying that anymore once my Leaf is replaced with the Tesla). It's brilliant for what we do with it, and if you live your life on the motorway I can't think of a car I'd rather have. It feels special to be in and to drive.

Nico72 · June 23, 2019

Thanks for sharing your experiences driving your GS car.

Mine is simply just awesome. I have been driving mine for over 6 months now and I am in love with it! I have been appreciating this car so much that I simply cannot wait to drive it again and again. After driven Mercedes cars and BMWs, Lexus is something else, way above the previous cars I have had. I love the way it drives in such comfort and luxurious way, so quiet at times when EV quicks in. The mileage consumption is very good for 3.5 V6 petrol engine, I get on average 29mpg driving in town (doing an average 20-30 mph) and on the motorway I can easily get 38mpg. The car is so composed and the suspension is soft enough to make the journey so enjoyable. They have done a remarkable job building this car. Driving on the motorway is so smooth and relaxing and yet the power is there when I need it. It really feels awesome.

I feel like I am going to keep this car for years to come without a doubt. Now, I get to understand why Lexus drivers keep their cars for a long time. It feels really special to be part of this brand and the quality interior is by far the best I have seen from all previous cars I have had...

KayCee · June 24, 2019

Nic

yes totaly agree this is my third lexus and they have all been great but this one is the pinnacle it is subtle and not imposing i am loving mine and i feel very confident in it (mustbe the snob in me) but seriously i cant sing its praises too much

Robert

Nico72 · June 24, 2019

5 hours ago, KayCee said:

Nic

yes totaly agree this is my third lexus and they have all been great but this one is the pinnacle it is subtle and not imposing i am loving mine and i feel very confident in it (mustbe the snob in me) but seriously i cant sing its praises too much

Robert

Glad there are others sharing such a positive experience. I had to have my GS at a workshop as an UBER driver slightly hit the side of the front bumper when my car was parked on the main road (luckily I witnessed the incident) - so the driver admitted full liability and through the insurance I was given a replacement car for a week and it was Jaguar XF 2018 - The car looks great from outside but the moment I stepped inside, it was a reminder how much I wanted to be back with my Lexus and was missing it awfully. Quality interior of the Jaguar was disappointing - too much plastic around. The engine (2 Litre diesel) had a lot of punch (too much in my opinion) but too much for my liking as the rear tyres were spinning like crazy from standing at traffic lights and I was not racing and the engine sound was dreadful (diesel, what can you expect).

So, again Lexus gives you the great power but in a much more control way, it is more linear power and gradual, which is exactly what you want for such a big car, not trying to skidd from still position like the Jaguar... Just goes to say how special Lexus is.

KayCee · June 27, 2019

"For example, when playing some music off the USB stick and deciding that I want to listen to a different artist I must take the following steps: Select right-hand screen, select music panel, send music panel to left-hand screen, select browse, select artist, select letter group (or scroll list), select artist, select album. If partway through that process I come to a road junction or whatever that requires my full attention then if I do not return to it quickly enough it will time out and I must start again. "

On Mine if i give file button a 1 2 second press it will go to the next album a short tap will change track wether its on the side display or the main display and this takes no time whatsoever.

Not sure how to do the Quote

Zotto · June 27, 2019

Giving a vocal command "play artist XXX" ?

KayCee · June 28, 2019

On 6/27/2019 at 9:21 AM, Zotto said:

Giving a vocal command "play artist XXX" ?

Thats seems the only downside mine doesnt understand me

Must be my broad Yorkshire

i-s · June 28, 2019

Ours doesn't understand voice commands either - neither my accent (RP English, reminiscent of 1970s open university videos) nor my husband's (NW USA). My Leaf is also hopeless.

I'm vaugely curious as to what accent actually is required for it to work.

Ala Larj · June 28, 2019

Japanese I imagine!

Hangie · June 28, 2019

It does work for me from time to time with Eastern European one. More east you came from more chance you got to be understood 🙂

i-s · July 9, 2019

On 6/27/2019 at 7:38 AM, KayCee said:

On Mine if i give file button a 1 2 second press it will go to the next album a short tap will change track wether its on the side display or the main display and this takes no time whatsoever.

Thanks for that - that works, useful tip!

On 6/27/2019 at 9:21 AM, Zotto said:

Giving a vocal command "play artist XXX" ?

First time it's ever understood me! However, it's still not brilliant. This is how that went:

"Play Artist Thea Gilmore"

"Play Artist Thea Gilmore. Was this correct?"

"Yes"

"There are multiple albums. Please select one from list"

"Fourth"

"There are multiple tracks. Please select one from list"

"Play"

<wait 5 seconds>

"Pardon?"

"Play"

*starts playing*

It's still extremely slow and cumbersome. I'll experiment some more, as I'll probably drive the GS a bit more in the next week or two (my Leaf is going away on Saturday, and who knows when my Tesla will arrive...).

Simplicity in UI design has been lost in many places sadly. Tesla seem to have done the best job in a car system (there's generally only one place to find anything, everything is placed logically and there are some shortcuts that are very quickly learned (eg you don't have to tap the volume up/down icons on the screen - just swipe across them (or use the steering wheel roller)). However, one of the greatest UIs I ever used for dealing with the artist/album "problem" was the Slim Devices Squeezebox 3:

This was the early days of streaming audio, with the SB3 released in 2005 (long before people were thinking about using tablets or phones to control such things, since there were no tablets or smartphones), and the control logic was beautiful in its simplicity and effectiveness. It started with a long list of artists, through which you could jump with the number keys (remember the old way of texting, where each number had 3 letters on?), tap right to go into a list of albums, tap right to go into the list of songs, or just hit play on any of those levels. The display could be set with big enough text to read from across the room (unlike its successor, the Squeezebox Touch - I found the Touch UI significantly worse than the SB3 UI), and with a little practice you could be at your desired track within seconds. So to go back to the above example, on the SB3 I'd have hit 8 (for "T"), down arrow a few times to Thea Gilmore, right arrow, 4 (for "H" - Harpo's Ghost, name of the album), Play.

Zotto · July 10, 2019

Vocal commands in GS (and RX too) are NOT AI based like in cell phones, but are quite limitate to only few provided phrases, so if you say "I would like to listen a Nirvana's song" the system does not understand. If you don' t want to read manual, you can see the list of commands saying "Help" and appears on screen the commands list. To complicate the matter, once you pronounce the right command you have to confirm if system has understood , answering yes to questions or also a number to choose if it asks for alternative choices.

This not only for audio commands, but also to select a navigation address, where the protocol is quite strict, at the point I usually set an address manually, even if a command like "find nearest restaurant" should work.

i-s · July 10, 2019

I know, but it quite often doesn't pick up the commands like "Yes" or "Play". Then there's the 5 second pause while it tries to figure out whether you said "Yes" - it's this long pause that makes it feel especially clunky.

I think the best use for it is to get into something, like this morning I used "Play Artist Pink Floyd" and then use the mouse to select album/track. It can get you past the annoying secondary screen/primary screen muckabout you have to do otherwise.

KayCee · July 10, 2019

Another tip that may be useful if you transfer the MP3 files to yr Disc or Memory stick they do not go on in the same order as the original disc.

There is a way round this to make them same as disc Download a free program called drivesort .exe and this small program will sort them for you .

It as to be run on the disc /memory stick after you have transfered them to the memory stick.

The program resides on your main Drive

Hope this helps

Robert

i-s · July 10, 2019

Thanks Kaycee - that's a problem I've come across in the past, but I solved by using a program that renames the files from the tags so the filename is prefaced with the track number - that resolves the write-order issue (except in the case of multi-disc albums, if you use a single folder - it will then play the two track 1s, followed by two track 2s, etc. Did it to me on Dylan at Budokan, and RHCP Stadium Arcadium.)

One annoyance I did notice today (and a failing of almost all modern streaming players, but something that the SB3 that I mentioned above could do) is that the GS doesn't do gapless playback (ie there is a pause between each file, which is noticeable on an album like Pink Floyd - The Wall where tracks run into one another).

KayCee · July 11, 2019

yes I i totaly agree with you but i just make the Album Name Bob Dylan Live 1 and Live 2 but we get there in the end and i too am a fan of Dylan i caught the bug from my son. who is dylan mad.

thanks for your reply mate its much appreciated

Robert

i-s · July 11, 2019

Yes - I suffixed them with Disc 1, Disc 2, but kept them in a single folder. It would easily be resolved by simply putting them in two folders, maybe I'll get around to it when getting the music into the Tesla.

I caught the Dylan from my Mum. We went camping in Tintagel when I was 5 or 6, and the only two tapes I remember us having in the car were Nashville Skyline and Oh Mercy, both of which (maybe controversially among hardcore aficionados) remain among my favourites. Thea Gilmore (mentioned a few posts ago - another of my favourite artists) actually did an entire Dylan album cover, of John Wesley Harding.

superatticman · July 12, 2019

On 6/21/2019 at 7:22 AM, KayCee said:

Hi all
Well i have had the Mk 4 450h for four months now and it is growing on me every day when i first got it i was dissapointed with the headrest position but found out that the headrest adjusts with the top part of the seat so that was soon resolved.

Robert

This was my big dilemma regarding the Mk4 GS. I adored the car from the off and had decided that this was going to be my next purchase. However, the headrest simply felt intrusive and being 6'4 this was potentially going to be a deal breaker. It actually got me to the point of giving up on the car. However.....I then realised with a slight adjustment backwards I felt like I was sitting in a big armchair as opposed to a torture device.

A really comfortable and classy car

Adam

KayCee · July 13, 2019

Adam

that was my exact reaction i picked the car uo from Sidcup and drove the 200 miles to doncaster and when i got out i was stiff as a board i had been tryinmg to adjust seat all way home to no avail the headrest was shoving my neck forward I stopped at a service area and tried to shove headrest back but wouldnt move. so i thought i have dropped a clanger here.

I had a good look round at home then a couple of days later i dound the the upper back switch and voilla that was it /

It is now very comfy indeed

Robert