SA Road Tests

Welcome

This is the home of automobile road tests in South Africa. We drive South African cars, SUVs and LCVs under South African conditions. It also just happens that most of the vehicles we drive are world cars as well, so what you read here probably applies to the models you can get at home.
*To read one of our road tests, just select from the menu on the left.
*Please remember too, that prices quoted were those ruling on the days I wrote the reports.


Beyond luxurious, 2012 Lexus GS is a driver’s car too. We wanted to know more.

Pics supplied

This is a launch report. In other words, it's simply a new model announcement. The driving experience was limited to a short drive over a prepared course chosen to make the product look good. We can therefore not tell you what it will be like to live with over an extended period, how economical it is, or how reliable it will be. A very brief first impression is all we can give you until such time as we get an actual test unit for trial. Thank you for your patience.


Definitely not just another Toyota

Published in The Witness Motoring on Wednesday June 6, 2012

“Give me passion,” Toyota chairman Akio Toyoda told his designers and developers. “The Germans are gaining ground in the U.S. and we are losing. Fight back!” Lexus, once a proud supplier to the then-world’s wealthiest man, William Henry Gates lll (you know him as Bill), wanted its hard-won market share back and engaging prospective buyers emotionally was the way to do it.

After four years of intensive development under design chief Yoshiko Kanamori, the LF-Gh concept vehicle was unveiled at the New York International Motor Show in April 2011. August of that year saw the final product revealed at Pebble Beach’s Concours d’ Elegance in California. It has a subtler version of the concept car’s spindle grille, while overall exterior dimensions are almost identical to those of the previous generation. L-shaped LED front daytime running lamps and rear LED lamps are a new design feature.

Upon debut, this fourth generation model was shown in rear-wheel drive GS 350 form, powered by a V6 engine linked with six-speed automatic transmission. Up to four driving modes are featured, ranging from fuel-conserving Eco to Sport and Sport+ which facilitates more sporty transmission shifting and engine throttle settings, as well as damper and steering adjustments. The chassis has been redesigned and overall mass reduced. To reduce unsprung weight, the new GS utilises aluminium for all its suspension components. The GS 450h F-Sport adds rear-wheel steering for improved handling.

While basic dimensions remain as before, the choice of engines has changed, with 2,5- and 3,5-litre V6s borrowed from iS 250 and 350 respectively and the Atkinson cycle 3,5-litre engine with electric motor soldiering on in both GS450h models. The pair of non-hybrids share EX trim, while GS450h F-Sport and GS450h SE each enjoy their own. Gearboxes are six-speed ECT-i (electronically controlled transmission – intelligent) torque converter units on the conventional cars, while the hybrids use CVTs.

Equipment levels are comprehensive. “Look beyond the sticker price,” says Lexus SA vice president of marketing Glenn Crompton, “and work out how much money it would take to get a competitor’s product up to the same standard.” Beyond the usual kit expected at these levels, GS 250 and 350 boast eight and ten airbags respectively, HID automatic headlights with automatic levelling and washing, seat heating and ventilation and10-way electrical adjustment with lumbar support for driver and passenger, 12-speaker sound system with MP3, USB and iPod integration, HDD navigation with traffic data and voice control, three-way drive mode selection, reversing camera with guidance monitor and Bluetooth with voice command.

The F-Sport gets its own front bumper (Darth Vader is back), dark metallic 19” wheels, a special rear bumper and boot spoiler, aluminium interior trim, 16-way adjustable sports seats with four-way lumbar support and an additional function on the mode controller – Sport +. This dials in adaptive variable suspension (AVS) that works with its own version of the range’s retuned suspension setup to enhance body control and steering response even further. Combined with up to two degrees of rear-wheel steering, the system can independently manage both front and rear wheel steering angles to help improve turn-in response, rear grip, vehicle control and overall agility when cornering. The front brakes are larger too; 356 x 30mm ventilated discs with two-piece aluminium rotors.

SE specification for the flagship GS 450h adds a moon roof, a third zone of climate control, a 17-speaker Mark Levinson sound system, 18-way seat adjustment, walnut trim, semi-aniline seats and blind spot monitoring in the side mirrors.

Familiarisation drives in 350 EXs and 450 F-Sports revealed spacious and luxurious cars with excellent road behaviour, overtaking acceleration ability and handling. The boots are bigger than on previous cars too, with petrol-only models boasting 530 litres and the hybrids losing 65 to the battery, but still respectable at 465 litres.

Many South Africans have an unfortunate habit of dismissing things they don’t know without bothering to see for themselves – “Just another Toyota,” they say. They couldn’t be more mistaken. Ask Bill Gates.

The numbers
Prices: GS 250 EX – R494 400, GS 350 EX – R564 900,
GS 450h F-Sport – R753 700, GS 450h SE – R771 700
Engines:
1) Toyota 4GR-FSE 2500 cc, DOHC, 24-valve dual VVT-i, V6
Power: 154 kW at 6400 rpm
Torque: 253 Nm at 4800 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 8,8 seconds
Fuel consumption (claimed): 8,9 l/100 km
2) Toyota 2GR-FSE 3456 cc, DOHC, 24-valve dual VVT-i, V6
Power: 233 kW at 6400 rpm
Torque: 378 Nm at 4800 rpm
Zero to 100 km/h: 6,3 seconds
Fuel consumption (claimed): 9,4 l/100 km
3) Toyota 2GR-FXE, 3456 cc, DOHC, 24-valve dual VVT-I, V6 plus electric motor
Power: 213 kW at 6000 rpm (252 kW combined)
Torque: 345 Nm at 4600 rpm (add 275 Nm)
Zero to 100 km/h: 6,1 seconds
Fuel consumption (claimed): 6,2 l/100 km
Warranty: 4 years/100 000 km
Service and maintenance plans: EX – Lexus distance plan plus, Hybrids – Lexus distance plan complete

To read a review on the GS 450h F-Sport, click here

To read a review of the GS 350 EX, click here

What We Do

This is a one-man show, which means that road test cars entrusted to me are driven only by me. Some reviewers hand test cars over to their partners to use as day-to-day transport and barely experience them for themselves.

What this means to you is that every car reviewed is given my own personal evaluation and receives my own seat of the pants judgement - no second hand input here.
Every car goes through real world testing; on city streets littered with potholes, speed bumps and rumble strips, on freeways and if its profile demands, dirt roads as well.

My articles appear every Wednesday in the motoring pages of The Witness, South Africa's oldest continuously running newspaper, and occasionally on Saturdays in Weekend Witness as well. I drive eight to ten vehicles most months of the year (press cars are withdrawn over the festive season - wonder why?) so not everything gets published in the paper. Those that are, get a tagline but the rest is virgin, unpublished and unedited by the political-correctness police. Hope you like what you see, because there are no commercial interests at work here. As quite a few readers have found, I answer every serious enquiry from my home email address, with my phone numbers attached, so I do actually exist.

I am based in Pietermaritzburg, KZN, South Africa. This is the central hub of the KZN Midlands farming community; the place farmers go to buy their supplies and equipment, truck their goods to market, send their kids to school and go to kick back and relax.
So occasionally a cow, a goat or a horse may add a little local colour by finding its way into the story or one of the pictures. It's all part of the ambience!

Comments?
Want to ask a question, comment or just tell me you thoroughly disagree with what I say? That's your privilege, because if everybody agreed on everything, the world would be a boring place. All I ask is that you remain calm, so please blow off a little steam before venting too vigorously.