Lexus GS unveiled – and gets world's biggest in-car TV screen

The in-car technology race has moved to the big screen.

Japanese luxury brand Lexus has released a car with the largest entertainment screen in the automotive world, positioned in the driver's line of sight in the middle of the dashboard.

The new Lexus GS350 sedan was revealed at the Pebble Beach concourse on the California coast overnight, before going onsale in Australia by mid-2012.

The wide-screen ‘driver information and entertainment display' is more than 31cm (or 12.3-inches) wide -- equal to almost one-third the width of the windscreen. It displays vehicle information, navigation maps and instructions, as well as air-conditioning and audio settings – and DVD vision when the vehicle is stationary.

The functions on the screen are controlled by a central knob with haptic technology, enabling the driver to change settings with the sense of touch.

Despite combining all this information into one area, Lexus says the big screen will aid drivers – not distract them.

"It's bigger and easier to see at a glance," said Lexus Australia corporate manager Peter Evans.

"Not all of the screen is used, 8 inches is dedicated to the navigation map and the remaining 4 inches shows other functions. So your eye spends less time searching for information or looking away from the road.

"The screen itself is also further away than before, so the driver has a smaller change in focal length compared to looking up the road."

The new GS will also be available with a ‘heads-up' display which reflects onto the lower part of the windscreen information such as vehicle speed, navigation instructions and, new for this model, gear position and engine revs.

Not all interior functions are futuristic, however. It has an analogue clock, albeit lit with tiny LEDs.

The new GS was overseen by chief engineer Yoshihiko Kanamori, who previously was responsible for the current generation Toyota Corolla, the world's biggest selling car.

"Being entrusted with the Corolla means he is held in the highest regard," said Evans.

"Most [Corolla chief engineers] go on to senior positions within the research and development group."

Lexus says the GS marks a new era for the automaker and signals its future design direction.

"This car debuts the new global face for Lexus, and the start of a re-energisation of the brand," said the chief executive of Lexus Australia, Tony Cramb.

The new GS was designed under the guidance of Japanese-based Briton Simon Humphries, who has worked for Lexus for 21 years.

Responding to comments that the production car's looks had been toned down compared to the daring design of the award-winning concept car, Cramb said: "It's not as aggressive [as the concept car] but that was designed to highlight the new styling themes."

The blacked-out, vertical ‘spindle-shaped' grille of the concept car (similar to the ‘shockwave' treatment on the nose of the HSV GTS) has been split by a horizontal, body-coloured bumper. The GS production car's tail-lights have similar L-shaped LED bars to the latest BMWs.

Cramb said the new, fourth generation GS (the third for Australia) was not designed to appeal to younger buyers, rather it is intended to broaden the vehicle's appeal among traditional luxury sedan buyers.

"We're not going to change the [age] demographic, we want to appeal to more of that demographic," he said.

The average age of Lexus GS customers and buyers in that category is 50 to 54 years old, he said.

"That market is very well established, they have a high household income, $400,000-plus is not uncommon, and they're open to [considering] us," he said.

"They typically drive Mercedes and BMWs but in many cases they've owned a few of those vehicles so they're open to something different. They don't need to prove anything to anybody."

Cramb says Lexus has higher hopes for the new model after its predecessor failed to meet sales expectations.

"GS hasn't hit the market potential that we hoped for," he said. "It wouldn't have mattered if we could have got more supply of GS [in the wake of the Japanese tsunami in March]."

Just 46 Lexus GS sedans have been sold so far this year, a drop of 59 per cent. Mercedes and BMW sold 900 and 800 of their mid-size cars over the same period.

The new GS will mark a number of other firsts for the maker's midsize sedan, including rear-wheel steering (which like the BMW 5 Series counter steers up to 80km/h and follows same direction as front wheels above 80km/h), adjustable suspension (which is available on a number of its competitors) and variable ratio steering.

The car has four driving settings, from 'eco' to 'sports-plus', which changes the sensitivity of the steering, suspension, stability control system and gearshift patterns – but does not adjust engine power.

"This car is a big step forward in terms of design, technology and driver enjoyment," said Cramb, adding that Lexus engineers did 70 per cent of their development testing on European roads, and the remaining 30 per cent in North America and Japan.

Although the distance between the front and wheels has grown by just 2mm from the old model to the new, Lexus says the latest GS is an all-new, ground-up design.

It's wider than before and has more cabin space than the old model. And although the body is slightly taller, the driver sits lower (in an 18-way adjustable seat), to feel better connected to the road.

Addressing two criticisms of the current car, the rear door openings and the boot are bigger. Indeed, Lexus says the boot has grown by 25 per cent – but the company did not release volume figures, other than being able to accommodate four golf bags instead of two. The boot in the current GS, at 430 litres, is smaller than a Toyota Corolla sedan's.

Although new aluminium suspension components trim 2kg from each corner of the car, the growth spurt, stronger body and extra technology have increased the GS sedan's overall weight by 68kg, from 1620-1688kg.

To offset the weight gain, power and performance are greatly improved. The current GS300 has a 3.0-litre V6 with 183kW of power and 310Nm of torque – but the direct injection 3.5-litre V6 in the new model has 233kW of power (up 27 per cent) and 376Nm of torque (up 21 per cent), although the latter is at higher revs (4800rpm instead of 3500rpm).

The new model retains a six-speed automatic transmission but gains shift levers behind the steering wheel, which ‘blip' the throttle on downshift in sports-plus mode. The lack of a seven or eight-speed transmission – and the increase in weight – has not blunted performance.
Lexus has slashed the GS's 0 to 100km/h time from 7.2 seconds to 6.0 seconds.

Because of the performance of the new V6, the V8 model will likely be dropped and a successor has not been planned.

"V8 is becoming increasingly irrelevant in this segment," said Evans. "Locally the hybrid outsold the V8 by a significant margin."

Meanwhile the company still rules out a diesel option, despite overseas speculation. "Lexus is a hybrid car company," said Evans.

The hybrid version of the GS will be unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show in September, followed by the F-Sport edition at the SEMA custom show in Las Vegas in November. Production of the GS starts in Japan in December, but the initial batch of cars are destined for North America.

The GS350 is likely to arrive in Australia by June 2012, about three months ahead of the hybrid version.

Price is yet to be announced but Lexus is expected to slash the GS sedan's RRP from $98,000 to close to $83,000, where Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz start their mid-size luxury sedan ranges.

"We know we have to be competitive," said Cramb.

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