2010 Lexus GS
 |
 |
VEHICLE HIGHLIGHTS
The 2010 Lexus GS is largely unchanged. This is the sportier of Lexus' two premium-midsize cars. The GS lineup starts with the GS 350, which has a 303-hp 3.5-liter V6 engine and 6-speed automatic transmission. It's available with rear- or all-wheel drive. The GS 460 has a 342-hp 4.6-liter V8 and an 8-speed automatic. Also available is the gas/electric hybrid GS 450h. The GS 450h teams a gasoline V6 engine with an electric motor for 339 hp total. Like other Lexus and Toyota hybrids, it can run on one or both of its power sources, depending on driving demands, and requires no plug-in charging. The GS 450h has a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The 460 and 450h are rear-drive only. Available safety features include ABS, traction control, antiskid system, curtain side airbags, front side airbags, rear side airbags, and front knee airbags. Also standard are leather upholstery and keyless entry and engine start. Many control functions are via a dashboard touch screen that also displays an available navigation system and rearview camera. Other available features include steering-linked headlamps and Lexus' Pre-Collision System, designed to automatically cinch seatbelts and apply brakes if an unavoidable crash is detected. This report is based on evaluations of the 2009 Lexus GS.
COMPETITION
Consumer Guide Automotive places each vehicle into one of 18 classes based on size, price, and market position. Premium Midsize Cars sport interior dimensions similar to Midsize Cars. Premium Midsize Cars offer more luxury, performance, and prestige when compared to Midsize Cars.
Our Best Buys include the Cadillac CTS, Infiniti G37, Jaguar XF, and Volkswagen CC. Our Recommended picks are the Audi A6, Lexus ES 350, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Volvo V70.
New or significantly redesigned models include the BMW 5-Series (Gran Turismo), Infiniti G37 (coupe and sedan), Lexus ES 350, Lincoln MKZ, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The Cadillac CTS gains a 4-door wagon body style for 2010.
The 2010 Lexus GS is largely unchanged. This is the sportier of Lexus' two premium-midsize cars. The GS lineup starts with the GS 350, which has a 303-hp 3.5-liter V6 engine and 6-speed automatic transmission. It's available with rear- or all-wheel drive. The GS 460 has a 342-hp 4.6-liter V8 and an 8-speed automatic. Also available is the gas/electric hybrid GS 450h. The GS 450h teams a gasoline V6 engine with an electric motor for 339 hp total. Like other Lexus and Toyota hybrids, it can run on one or both of its power sources, depending on driving demands, and requires no plug-in charging. The GS 450h has a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT). The 460 and 450h are rear-drive only. Available safety features include ABS, traction control, antiskid system, curtain side airbags, front side airbags, rear side airbags, and front knee airbags. Also standard are leather upholstery and keyless entry and engine start. Many control functions are via a dashboard touch screen that also displays an available navigation system and rearview camera. Other available features include steering-linked headlamps and Lexus' Pre-Collision System, designed to automatically cinch seatbelts and apply brakes if an unavoidable crash is detected. This report is based on evaluations of the 2009 Lexus GS.
COMPETITION
Consumer Guide Automotive places each vehicle into one of 18 classes based on size, price, and market position. Premium Midsize Cars sport interior dimensions similar to Midsize Cars. Premium Midsize Cars offer more luxury, performance, and prestige when compared to Midsize Cars.
Our Best Buys include the Cadillac CTS, Infiniti G37, Jaguar XF, and Volkswagen CC. Our Recommended picks are the Audi A6, Lexus ES 350, Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and Volvo V70.
New or significantly redesigned models include the BMW 5-Series (Gran Turismo), Infiniti G37 (coupe and sedan), Lexus ES 350, Lincoln MKZ, and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The Cadillac CTS gains a 4-door wagon body style for 2010.
2010 Lexus RX
   |
Few vehicles have done more to establish a genre and define a brand as much as the Lexus RX. Introduced over a decade ago to suburbanite real estate agents and their Napa-weekending friends, the original RX300 helped boost Lexus sales by 60% when it hit dealers in late 1998. Over the ensuing years, Lexus' posh people mover slowly evolved to include a hybrid drivetrain, a refreshed exterior and tasteful appointments that helped solidify its success. For 2010, the RX plays the same tune but adds a few more instruments, a new backbeat and reworked crescendo.
2010 Lexus IS Convertible
Lexus is throwing another dart at the blue-and-white bull’s-eye that is BMW. Toyota’s luxury division knows that 30 percent of BMW 3-series sales are coupes and convertibles, and it wants a seat at that buffet. Introduced nine years ago and well into its second generation—Toyota doesn’t act without exhaustive study, apparently—the entry-luxury IS sedan finally gets an additional body style: a hardtop convertible.
In dealerships by the end of May, the two-door, four-seat IS250C and IS350C feature an aluminum hardtop roof that relies on 15 electric motors and 37 sensors to crack into two panels and seamlessly belly-flop into the waiting trunk. The process takes 20 seconds.
In most other respects, the IS convertible varies not a nanometer from the established Lexus path. Although every exterior panel and molding on the IS C is unique to the convertible (except the hood), it looks to untrained eyes like a sedan that has met a hacksaw. The engine choices—a 204-hp, 2.5-liter V-6 and a 306-hp, 3.5-liter V-6—are identical to the IS sedan’s. So are the transmission choices, which mean a six-speed manual is available in the IS250C and a six-speed automatic in both models. As expected, the IS convertible features Lexus fit and finish and, somewhat less appealingly, Lexus dynamics.
In dealerships by the end of May, the two-door, four-seat IS250C and IS350C feature an aluminum hardtop roof that relies on 15 electric motors and 37 sensors to crack into two panels and seamlessly belly-flop into the waiting trunk. The process takes 20 seconds.
In most other respects, the IS convertible varies not a nanometer from the established Lexus path. Although every exterior panel and molding on the IS C is unique to the convertible (except the hood), it looks to untrained eyes like a sedan that has met a hacksaw. The engine choices—a 204-hp, 2.5-liter V-6 and a 306-hp, 3.5-liter V-6—are identical to the IS sedan’s. So are the transmission choices, which mean a six-speed manual is available in the IS250C and a six-speed automatic in both models. As expected, the IS convertible features Lexus fit and finish and, somewhat less appealingly, Lexus dynamics.
