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First drive: Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.

First drive: Lexus GS 250
Smaller engined Lexus GS begs for a diesel powerplant for Euro acceptability.

   



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| First Drive | Kitzbuhel, Austria | Lexus GS 250 |

Overall rating: 3 3 3 3 3

V6 petrol powered Lexus GS 250 packs a lighter punch than its hybrid relation, and is outclassed on the road by European rivals. A bit-part player then, especially in a marketplace utterly dominated by small capacity, high economy turbodiesels.

Key Facts

Model tested: Lexus GS 250 Luxury
Pricing: £35,995
Engine: 2.5-litre V6
Transmission: rear-wheel drive, six-speed automatic
Body style: four-door saloon
Rivals: Audi A6, BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class
CO2 emissions: 207g/km
Combined economy: 31.7mpg
Top speed: 164mph
0-62mph: 8.6 seconds
Power: 207hp at 6,400rpm
Torque: 253Nm at 4,800rpm

In the Metal: 3 3 3 3 3

Lexus admits that the GS's design borrows heavily from other models in its range, citing the front of the CT as inspiration. There's a good deal of IS in there too, the GS smartly if somewhat unobtrusively styled. A bit more flair wouldn't go amiss, though the flat flanks do give it a solidity and scale greater than many of its European rivals. Naturally shut lines are obsessively tight, and the lights front and rear neatly detailed.

That obsessive detail isn't as apparent inside as it once was in Lexus. Some areas jar, the mess of sensors and exposed wire behind the rear-view mirror in particular, while the fussy switches, rather cheap feeling centre air vents and upright dash look a bit old fashioned. That's despite housing a screen big enough to grace the wall in your front room and more equipment than your average Currys outlet.

Driving it: 3 3 3 3 3

The GS might have a low hip point situating you down inside the car, but a driver's car it isn't. Clearly aimed at a different audience than its European rivals the GS isn't about clipping tight lines through bends and rearward biased power; instead it's a big, soft cruiser. That's obvious from the steering, the nice big wheel offering nothing in the way of feel or feedback except the tactile surface of the covering itself, giving you little incentive to explore bends in the GS. It's backed with a chassis that's biased towards comfort, the suspension soaking up with aplomb what few bumps were apparent on the Austrian roads we drove it on. In contrast, if you give the 2.5-litre V6 everything it sounds pretty damned good, even if the rousing cacophony it produces isn't supported with much in the way of performance.

Just over 200 horsepower here feels overwhelmed by the GS's weight, the engine needing the very last millimetre of the rev-counter's sweep before it really feels like it's delivering anything. Then there's the need to shift gears: the automatic transmission is smooth, though not particularly quick. Pop it into manual for full control and it doesn't get much better. A sixth gear, foot-to-the-floor accelerator push at 60mph results in glacial progress and reveals the engine's relative lack of torque. Surprisingly, when doing so the automatic does not kick down for more go. Even in manual mode most rivals will drop a cog or two when pushed through the last portion of pedal travel, so those drivers used to the sort of effortless mid-range of even modest turbodiesel engines in this class will be flicking frantically and rather impotently at the wheel-mounted paddles for more go in the GS.

Get over its relative lack of real-world performance and relax into it and the GS does comfy and big pretty well, but its rivals all do driving a lot better.

What you get for your Money: 4 4 4 4 4

This new generation is bigger, even more comfortable and better equipped than before. And that's the draw for many. The GS is pleasingly leftfield; even if it doesn't appeal as a driving proposition the fact it's not a 5 Series, E-Class, A6 or XF is enough to create interest. So too is the standard equipment, which in the GS 250 includes automatic bi-xenon headlamps, leather upholstery with ten-way electrically adjustable front seats with heating and ventilation functions, dual-zone climate control and a DAB audio system with Bluetooth and USB/aux-in connection.

Worth Noting

You want economy in your Lexus? Then you'll need the 450h, as this GS 250 model has an official combined economy figure of 31.7mpg, which is comparable to its petrol rivals in the class. It'd be futile not to point out that an automatic 520d offers better performance and nearly double the economy for much the same money - though massively less equipment.

Summary

You'd have to really, really want to be different to buy the GS 250 over its established rivals in the UK and Lexus' lack of diesel power in this segment will forever hamper any chance the GS has of serious volume sales. That's perhaps part of its appeal, but it's a car that's difficult to recommend.


Kyle Fortune - 7 Jun 2012



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2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.



2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 

2012 Lexus GS 250. Image by Lexus.
 






 

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