Lexus GS F 2016 Long-Term Test - 4

Lexus GS F Long-Term Test (Update #3)

It’s nice to know that you will still be able to get a big rear-wheel drive V8 once the Australian car manufacturing industry ends at the end of 2017.

That it’s a Lexus might be a bit of a surprise, that it’s north of $150,000 on the road probably isn’t.

Here’s the latest instalment in our long term test of the chest-thumping – and ass-shaking – GS F.

Damn we have devoted some cyberspace to the Lexus GS F at motoring.com.au this year.

Personally, I have written the launch review and a road test while various colleagues have compared the car with HSV’s ClubSport R8 SV Black Edition and even authored updates for the long-term tester that’s the subject of this yarn.

If there is an overall theme that emerges from all that experience it is that the GS F is a very nice car … the only problem being not everyone wants ‘nice’ from a $150,000-plus V8 rear-wheel drive sports sedan.

To be honest, I think I am in that group. So Lexus, either dial this sucker up and have a real crack or wind back the aggro and deliver us a traditional high-performance saloon.

Perhaps key to achieving both those things in the one package is adaptive damping. The GS F really could benefit from being able to click around to a more compliant setting for everyday driving and then dialling up the firmness for the fun bits. So much else is adjustable about this car it’s puzzling the shockers have been left alone.

You can turn the eight-speed auto from slushmatic to feral, you can fundamentally alter the behaviour of the torque vectoring differential, you can retune the weight of the electric-assist steering (although that variance is less detectable to me).

You can even change the appearance of the dash depending on the drive mode that has been selected. But changing the suspension tune? Nuh-uh. Odd. As it is the GS F rides along every quietly – it is a Lexus after all – but too firmly on motorways and country highways.

Yet take the detour on the longer, more interesting roads, and the car doesn’t feel sharp and focused enough to do the job in a convincing manner.

Look, it’s not a million miles away. But as our recent comparo against the much cheaper HSV ClubSport R8 SV Black Edition demonstrated, if you’re being out-done by a car half the price then you might as well be.

Having missed the bullseye when it comes to the core objective, the GS F still has some appealing attributes.

The 5.0-litre naturally aspirated engine is strong and enjoyable – if a little quiet – and the Brembo brakes massively effective.

To that the GS F adds a dumptruck loads of gear, beautiful seats and outstanding interior quality. But then it goes off kilter again with the most complex, confusing and – when it comes to the mouse controller in the centre console – most irritating set of controls that I have dealt with in living memory.

Too many, too complex, too much drilling down and a lack of intuitiveness makes the GS F a frustrating car to interact with.

So love the concept of the GS F, but have problems with the execution.

I’ll look forward to the next attempt thanks.

2016 Lexus GS F pricing and specifications:

Price: $151,490 (as tested, plus on-road costs)
Engine: 5.0-litre eight-cylinder petrol Output: 351kW/530Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 11.3L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 262g/km (ADR combined)
Safety Rating: N/A

Also consider:
>> Audi S6 (from $170,716 plus ORCs)
>> BMW M5 Pure (from $184,715 plus ORCs)
>> Mercedes-AMG C 63 S (from $155,615 plus ORCs)