Pimp an F-Sport with Premier features

RogerP · August 28

As mentioned in the linked post below, having been on the look-out for a very late 450h Premier for probably 2 years (to become my forever car), without any success, I was smitten by a lovely blue 450h F-sport - mid 2017, 11k miles. For posterity in another new thread I'll do a report comparing the two (and I won't just reiterate the maudlin specifications!). However, to the point here:

The things I really miss that my previous model had are the remote boot opening (as opposed to just releasing the catch) and the ability to drive the front passenger seat backwards when a short a**e has left it so far forward as to impede sideways visibility. Taking these in turn, come to the car with arms full of shopping, a boot on the latch but closed is a right pain! I'm less worried about the motor to close the boot, I could do that manually (as happened fairly frequently with the Premier - there is no damage or motor stress when the boot lid is pushed to close), which means no need for a switch, just the motor and mechanism. The passenger seat is more troublesome as the bucket seats in the F sport has no placeholder/plug for the switch on the squab.

All thoughts will be appreciated.

Kijan · August 28

Hey Roger,

Im actually surprised that auto boot opener is not in your version. I have it in my 2013 Gs450h F-Sport. It fully opens and close with button on the boot panel. I assume button is not there?

Its really weird they removed that option.

Notamech · August 28

9 minutes ago, Kijan said:

Hey Roger,

Im actually surprised that auto boot opener is not in your version. I have it in my 2013 Gs450h F-Sport. It fully opens and close with button on the boot panel. I assume button is not there?

Its really weird they removed that option.

Anecdotally i hear the 2012 - 2015 versions are the best. They had better handling and more features. I think things like blind spot monitoring etc were no longer standard on 2016+ models.

bigglesfllesundone · August 29

Congrats on your almost new F sport, it will be really interesting to see your comparison with the pre facelift premier. F sport has 4 wheel steering.

Looking at the 2017 brochure, blind-spot monitor was standard in facelift premier and f sport, but not an option in the executive and luxury versions

It should be possible to fit an f-sport with some premier features.

There is a long thread on a US Lexus forum where Head-up display was retrofitted. Big job with hole cut in dash, windscreen modified and other things. Head up display is great and I could not be without it now. It was available as an option from around 2015 onward.

Retro fitting electrical items to a modern Lexus May be tricky. On dismantling and putting back together, you could cause problems. Are these things plug and play, or need coding? I have always avoided anything like fitting a new car play system in case I cause issues.

Looking at the parts diagrams of the various GS seats, there are several different ones. Whether a switch on the side of the seat could be retrofitted to an f sport I do not know, as the passenger seat is 10 way compared to premier’s 18 way. But if it could be retrofitted it would be really handy for you.

Mark Levinson sound system was an option on the F-sport, it could be retrofitted.

Fitting Wiring and switches for the premier heated rear seats may be a possible, but the switches are in the rear armrest along with remote ventilation, radio control.

Finally, Lexus stopped making night vision an option in 2013 in the GS. Parts are still available, it was fitted in place of lane keeping assist, using a different camera. Highly unlikely, as facelift display, features are different, but maybe this could be retro-fitted as a cool feature?

RogerP · August 29

Re comparison: Thank you. It will be a few days in the pipe but will get it written soon.

Re 4WS - yes that's there. Extremely subtle but felt it on the test drive (being used to the Premier helped). I was also familiar with it from a 1990s Honda Accord 2.2 4WS - brilliant car for its day (had it for ~200k miles)

Re: Blind spot monitor - yup a great feature and already integrated into my F-Sport.

No HUD - not that bothered by it to be honest (never had it). Having said that I might look at the US thread to see what's involved.

Car play etc... no interest here. I have a USB stick and that reads fine. In fact one of the attractive features for me is the fact that the car does NOT have connectivity or phone home or have the ability to do so.

Yes the front passenger seat has fewer options on this F-Sport than the one on the 2012 Premier. No memory buttons on that side of the car either so fewer options for central (or CANBus) integration I suspect. My thoughts are to add a relay or two attached to the underside of the seat with a dual channel IR receiver to activate them one at a time for fore and aft - and to stick the 2-button transmitter down by the gear lever. However, I hope there is a more elegant way.

Mark Levinson is on this one. It sounds crisper than the ML on the 2012 one with tone controls all in neutral. Perhaps the tweeters in the 2012 one were a bit dusty?

The rear centre armrest in the F-Sport is just another cubby hole - no controls there at all (although the wiring loom may well be present under the plastic). However, I'm not too worried about that feature. Of the climate control the one thing I suspect I'll miss most is the HEPA filter. Not sure how well the auto-recirculate works in this - it was brilliant in the 2012 Premier.

You've intrigued me regarding night vision. Never heard of it on the GS before. You're not confusing it with the in-board IR are you? My 2012 did have an infra red camera atop the steering column facing inwards to monitor the driver's posture for slouching and if detected it would activate the stick-shaker (ie make some beeps and give the steering wheel some jerks). I tested it with the help of a passenger to steer while I "nodded off" in the early days - very effective. Thankfully it never cut in in anger. This facelifted F-sport monitors lane discipline instead and flashes up a cup of coffee on the dashboard. Around here the country lane optimised positioning is so very different to the white lines I get that cutting in gratuitously!

RogerP · August 29

16 hours ago, Kijan said:

Hey Roger,

Im actually surprised that auto boot opener is not in your version. I have it in my 2013 Gs450h F-Sport. It fully opens and close with button on the boot panel. I assume button is not there?

Its really weird they removed that option.

I agree most weird. No button - but it does have the key fob button which springs the latch allowing one to push it open without fumbling for a keyhole. Furthermore, the soft close part is still built in - close the lid to "first latch" - and a few seconds later the bootlid makes another little click and goes the final eighth of an inch.

RogerP · August 29

16 hours ago, Notamech said:

Anecdotally i hear the 2012 - 2015 versions are the best. They had better handling and more features. I think things like blind spot monitoring etc were no longer standard on 2016+ models.

Blind spot monitoring was present on my 2012 Premier, but cross-traffic monitoring - which is on this F-Sport - was not. I don't think it had been pioneered in 2012 as a feature.

RogerP · August 29

I've just done a bit of "brochure" homework on motorised boot opening - and found that all are silent on the point. Quite amazing.

bigglesfllesundone · August 29

This is I think a 2017 brochure for GS. Motorised trunk is specified in Premier.LexusGS300h2017 - copy.pdf

Notamech · August 29

8 hours ago, RogerP said:

Blind spot monitoring was present on my 2012 Premier, but cross-traffic monitoring - which is on this F-Sport - was not. I don't think it had been pioneered in 2012 as a feature.

Yeah i think on the top most variant things remained the same or improved e.g. radar cruise control as standard vs regular cruise control on the older models. But as someone pointed out the lower trim levels lost things like BSM as standard. Also i think the post 2015 models have the new vulnerable CANBUS design.

bigglesfllesundone · August 30

On 8/15/2024 at 7:28 PM, Duggie B said:

Today I received a phone call from customer relations (pleasant lady) who was extremely apologetic for having given me the wrong information regarding GS/ GS F vehicles.

She had, upon reading my reply with a screen shot of the official Lexus list showing vehicles at risk, gone back to the Technical Team who checked again (apparently due to both cars having cherished plates they checked against vin numbers this time) and have agreed that the GS F cars are at risk but the hybrids are not due to being built on the different global architecture.

The good news for me because of this being wrongly informed, as a good will gesture they will fit a tracker and geo fence to the 300h as well as the F.

So to clarify.

GS F is sanctioned for security upgrade.

Hybrids are not sanctioned (except for mine).

Apparently dealers are aware of the models concerned and GS F owners should book in with their preferred dealer to get the ball rolling for fitment of the security enhancements.

I

This post is from the F club forum, thread ; GS 300h 2018 & GSF 2019 CANBUS theft risk. It appears hybrid GS models are not vulnerable to CANBUS theft risk.

Mike Hartland · August 30

7 hours ago, bigglesfllesundone said:

This post is from the F club forum, thread ; GS 300h 2018 & GSF 2019 CANBUS theft risk. It appears hybrid GS models are not vulnerable to CANBUS theft risk.

I realise that we are going a bit off topic but it seems that Lexus / Toyota are backtracking on the statement that Colin posted on 16th March. That is indeed good news for those of us with the GS h.

rsdave · August 30

Hi Roger, a warm welcome to the exclusive low miles GS450h club! Mine's also a 2017 and it's just gone over 5000 miles.

RogerP · September 1

Thanks for that brochure, John (biggles) - missing from my collection and indeed confirming that the motorised bootlid is only present on the Premier after the facelift. I wonder if this removal was due to the annoyance of occasional phantom pocket key presses opening the boot wide for a rainshower? Other brochures do not have the line item at all.

Dave - nice.

Notamech - my 2012 Premier was a rare one - tooled up with ADFS, ACC, LKA and a sunroof. Perhaps I should have kept it. When I first bought it I budgeted 250k miles and expected one set of replacement batteries. However, the opportunity to get one with so few miles overtook the logic with counterlogic. I must get on with my comparison report.

bigglesfllesundone · September 12

Two more features that could be worthwhile retro fitting are the Premier’s heated steering wheel and the manual sunshades in the rear windows.

The premier has a wood steering wheel with heated leather areas on each side. This is handy as the wood can get pretty cold in winter! The switch is by the right knee. Wheel on Amayama seems to be about £1080.

I have never used the powered rear sunshade, standard in the f-sport and the premier, however my passengers often use the sunshades for the rear side windows. These shades appear to be relatively cheap, however you would need to ensure that they fit in the door.

RogerP · October 1

On 8/29/2024 at 6:39 AM, bigglesfllesundone said:

Congrats on your almost new F sport, it will be really interesting to see your comparison with the pre facelift premier. F sport has 4 wheel steering.

Just the briefest of notes to say this is underway - might be too long for many, but I'm writing it as much for anyone as myself. I may do a precis and post that first - but we're a little way away from that. Keep the faith!

GMB · October 1

My F-sport has just pimped itself! I have no idea why, when it turned past 40K miles last month, the car is going so much better. It is not my imagination but the car is now going like a rocket. What has happened? I have no idea. A real kick in the backside acceleration and quiet as a mouse too. I just don't get it. IS200t - yes, the one that everyone hates😁. It's a really good car! Honest!

It's going in for its full service at the end of the month, I hope Lexus don't spoil it.

Notamech · October 25

On 10/1/2024 at 1:02 PM, GMB said:

My F-sport has just pimped itself! I have no idea why, when it turned past 40K miles last month, the car is going so much better. It is not my imagination but the car is now going like a rocket. What has happened? I have no idea. A real kick in the backside acceleration and quiet as a mouse too. I just don't get it. IS200t - yes, the one that everyone hates😁. It's a really good car! Honest!

It's going in for its full service at the end of the month, I hope Lexus don't spoil it.

Do you think its the weather perhaps? Cooler air = more dense = more acceleration. I was on a month long vacation and when i came back middle of oct it was considerably colder and my IS 300h drove much smoother and better than i remember it being i put it down to the colder weather.

Notamech · October 25

On 8/30/2024 at 4:07 AM, bigglesfllesundone said:

This post is from the F club forum, thread ; GS 300h 2018 & GSF 2019 CANBUS theft risk. It appears hybrid GS models are not vulnerable to CANBUS theft risk.

Wow. If this is true that is such a relief. I just reserved a face-lift GS300H premier and was worried about how to protect it.