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AUTO REVIEW
2016 Lexus GS-F
By Steve Schutz, MD
The Germans have the upper hand in the To their credit, Lexus realized years ago turbo four-cylinder engine, a 3.0 turbo V6
U.S. luxury car wars these days. When it that those bonafides were important but not is rumored, and they’ve launched two BMW
comes to sales volume, Mercedes is first, sufficient to hold the wandering eyes of cus- M/Mercedes AMG-esque F cars, the RC-F
BMW second, and Audi is fourth and mov- tomers, who have noticed that the Germans coupe and GS-F sedan.
ing rapidly toward possibly taking over the (and the Americans and Brits) have also
number three spot from former number learned how to make reliable vehicles that Thank you Lexus! We all understand that
one, Lexus. And don’t forget Porsche, which don’t creak and rattle. So Lexus changed, the Japanese, like the Americans and Eng-
is riding a wave of success driven by their first with more assertive exterior styling, then lish, don’t have autobahns and therefore can’t
two popular SUVs, the Cayenne and with better tech, and now with improved really compete with the German manufac-
Macan. powertrains. turers in that arena. But hey, give us some-
thing, which Lexus is now doing.
So Lexus is doomed right? Not by a long OMG finally! While Mercedes/BMW/
shot. They actually had a big 2015, with Audi/Porsche have been wowing us for years OK, on to the GS-F, which is a nice car
344,601 sales, a 10.6 percent increase over with turbos, double-clutch transmissions, but not really a direct BMW M5 or Mer-
2014, and they’re poised for a similarly diesels, hybrids, and even more turbos, cedes E63 competitor. Why not? It has less
strong 2016. A broad lineup of SUVs and Lexus countered with, umm... more hybrids, horsepower — 467 versus 560 and 550, for
crossovers — including the best-selling lux- but that’s kind of it. At the exact time that the M5 and E63 respectively — and much
ury vehicle on the market, the RX crossover gasoline became cheaper than bottled water. less torque, resulting in slower 0-60 mph
— is the main reason Lexus can’t be counted Not good timing. times (4.4 sec compared with 3.7 and 3.4 for
out, but unbeatable build quality, robust re- the M5 and Merc). The reason for that dis-
sale value, and excellent customer service Naturally, Lexus knows all this and are crepancy is that, instead of a cutting edge
certainly help. working diligently to correct the problem. twin turbo V8, Lexus is going with a nor-
Two years ago they introduced a 2.0 liter mally aspirated 5.0 liter V8 coupled with an
44 San Antonio Medicine • September 2016