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The new facelifted Lexus GS300 is already on sale in Malaysia, right after the facelift was unveiled at the 2008 Detroit Motor Show just earlier this month.
What’s obvious is the exterior changes and the minor interior change (button relocations, etc) as previously highlighted in the facelift announcement blog post, so I will highlight some other technical enhancements in this blog.
- Increase in steering rigidity for improved direct road feel.
- Improved front suspension bushings for comfort and road holding.
- Underbody reinforcement for increased body response to steering input.
- Underbody aerodynamics improved for more stabler highs peed driving.
- 330W 14-speaker Mark Levinson Premium Surround System with in-dash 6-CD DVD player now has aux input for your iPod and other music players.
- Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management which uses input from various sensors to anticipate an impending vehicle instability such as a skid, and uses a combination of brakes, throttle and steering control to avoid a mishap.
Another interesting change is that the dashboard fonts have been changed to a new standard Lexus font. This is for branding and a “family feel”, which is important as Lexus establishes its identity in a market filled with luxury automakers that have very long histories and heritage.
Lexus has sold a total of 83 units of the Lexus GS300 last year. The new 2008 facelifted Lexus GS300 costs RM408,800.00, OTR without insurance.
More photos after the jump.
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After dabbling for years in the IT industry, Paul Tan initially began this site as a general blog covering various topics of personal interest. With an increasing number of readers paying rapt attention to the motoring stories, one thing led to another and the rest, as they say, is history. An avid electronic gadget aficionado as well as big-time coffee lover, he's also the executive producer of the Driven motoring TV programme.
Those model look much better then the car… the car look just a little bit better then the old one…
nice models : )
Damn……….what a beauty….those chicks is hot man………
looks like a very expensive camry, i’ll have the 5 series thank you
nice girls!……..the car…just ok for me!!
RM408,800.00, OTR without insurance…wahhh!! Errr…company car??
worth to buy! better than BMW 5 series, Merc E class and audi A6. if i have 400k, i will consider it!
Looks like they sold more than I had expected.
Good for them….good showing for people that know to look beyond the badge.
Sadly for enthusiasts like us, this new one no longer has the previous generation’s gung ho handling but in place is this new matured and comfy based suspension based setup.
That said, this model has enjoyed far better sales then the previos one, due to the fact that people who are still into a great handling large executive car would still favor the 5 Series and as such i think Lexus was smart enough to pull away from that game and focus instead on rivalling the E-class instead in the ride and comfort department, something which they set out to do much earlier in the first 2 batches of the LS Lexae.
Sales of this GS 300 in Malaysia has been pretty good though for the GS300 is cheaper than the 5 and the E while it’s packed with heaps of features.
the car is hot.. the models hotter.
but.. at that price… i would take BMW instead of this ..
and it still ‘toyota’ btw….
a 408k lexus that looks like a camry in my opinion.
Izit a new concept of facelift or what. Let me guess the name. Ahaa very straight forward…its cari-benda-tersembunyi (CBT)facelift
I wonder how many of the 83 cars they sold were to private customers. Most of the people I have heard of with a Lexus(not many anyway) are using company cars.
ok lah this car, nothing bad about the design and well equipped, but i prefer a 5-Series though……
Truly Luxurious…. Makes the hair on my hands stand… BUT sorry no money…
give it to me for a week and i will smile for the whole year.
the car of course,…. what else do you think???
For Lexus, either you go for IS or LS. GS is not that salable even in Japan or US. As the same segment is concern, i’ll go for the 5 series Beemer though..
so fast ?
Woowww……
What a nice car..Tomorrow i will book this one..
but the problem is….
I don’t have enough money to put down payment
exterior…i dunno still look like camry…not luxurious enuff to be a luxury car…but on the inside..wow cool interior…like those front seat so much…like seat on first class flight….dun like the steering wheel for 403k its look cheap…nice meter panel and center console…simple and dont have to many button or switch ( that cool rather then full of button and switch like a plane console)…but if i have 403k…i will go for beemer
Cost nearly half a million, most people who can afford will go for european made
Yes, brand is everything. Come out with 408K car, and people would rather choose a beemer 5 series or an equivalent merc. Reading from the new upgrades, can you say that the old GS is dangerous to drive? Lack stability, lack feedback, and more body roll?
just an overpriced camry to me…. I’ll take the 5-series anytime.
RM408k, nice price, good price…not sure when we can see cheaper car…still too expensive to most of us…
still the same nothing great to shout about
If I am in a position to buy a RM400K car, it would be the GS300, I agree it's near Camry looks, but this car is ultra super reliable, smooth gearbox, and properly maintain no worries about oil leaks here here and there. Use it for the next ten years, then compare it to the BMW 5 series or E class, then make a comment
stop being a marketing victim by looking only at the brands, think about how you are served at the Lexus showroom at least; if you've not driven all the rivals, how can you comment really?
if you are comparing the european rivals closely now, not much point owning them anymore as they no more holding the prestige by far
In my opinion, if we spent so much money to buy a car, we should let a car to serve us, rather than we serve the car. As I know, if UMW Toyota able to serve few hundreds thousand toyota cars which is on the roads now, I am very much confident that LEXUS can provide excellent service to their exitisng 1,100 customers in Malaysia (as per Jan 2011). Therefore, I strongly believe LEXUS GS300 with3.0L V6 engine is my preference. Hi Lim, if you are the LEXUS sales advisor, maybe we can meet up one day soon! Hopefully,my dream will come through before end of 2011!