You won’t tell by looking, but Lexus’s high-performance saloon curio has been treated to a refresh. It’s still no class leader, but there’s definite appeal
LEXUS – IT’S A BIT OF AN ODD ONE. For the best part of three decades it has been turning out sybaritic saloons and heart rate-lowering hybrids that are beautifully built but as entertaining as chartered accountancy exams. Yet every now and again Lexus takes leave of its senses and rolls out cars such as the M3-rivalling IS F, the unhinged LFA, the LC and this, the GS F, which has been treated to amid-life refresh.
The changes are very modest and in a line-up you’d struggle to pick out the latest GS F from its predecessor. The updates have been made under the skin, where you’ll now find adaptive dampers, or Adaptive Variable Suspension in Lexus speak. This set-up delivers up to 30 levels of damping force across four pre-set modes (Eco, Normal, Sport and Sport+) to provide greater suspension compliance for the daily drive, but tauter responses when you’re hustling.
The rest of the GS F remains largely the same, which means it bucks the current super saloon trend for downsized turbocharged engines, four-wheel drive and twin-clutch gearboxes. The Lexus’s combination of big capacity naturally aspirated V8, rear-wheel drive and torque-converter auto is refreshingly old school. It’s an impression that’s reinforced once you’re on the move.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2018 من Evo.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 2018 من Evo.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?
