http://www.lexus.com/2007gsh_preview/index.html

Additional specs that Lexus has not yet made official but are essentially gaurenteed:

3.5L direct injection GR-series V6 w/ hybrid electric system - ~350 horsepower, gas milage comparable to a 4-cyl.
Instead of the 6-speed auto that's in the other GS models, this one will have a CVT. I found this particularly interesting because it's the first use of a CVT in a higher end and more powerful type of car. I also found it interesting because Toyota and Lexus especially seems to be timid toward new untested forms of technology. So either they're becoming less timid and risking some reliability here by putting this CVT in, or they're confident that it will stand the test of time and this may be the first of many successful implementations of CVT in modern day high powered vehicles.

Also kinda neat/odd is that due to the CVT there will be no tachometer. In its place will be a kilowat meter showing how much energy the electrical system is putting out at any point in time.

The only downside I can think of is price.
This car will come fully loaded just over 60k. And if it's anything like the RX400H when it came out, it will become some big hot topic trendy item among the wealthy, thus causing dealers to refuse to budge at all below sticker and for there to be a waiting list 6 months out. So the rest of us just gotta sorta watch and wait for it to not be the big trend anymore and pick one up used.

Also coming out at the same time will be the GS460, with the new 4.6L V8 making about 350hp and roughly in the same price range, too. So they'll have the GS350, GS450H, and GS460. I can understand the GS350 as it'll be priced in the mid to low 40 range, but if the 450H and 460 are both in a very similar price and power range it seems like they might canibalize each other's sales? (moreso the 450H taking the 460s though, I'd guess)

 

The GS460 will be more reliable over time. What does the 450 in GS450 stand for?

350HP is for both engine combined? 300HP gas + 50HP electric. Isn't that kind of false advertising saying 350HP? It would be like advertising a 6GHz Pentium 4 PC that really has two 3GHz CPUs in it.

Should be an interesting car, can't wait to read some reviews.

 

Probably not a belt type or toroidal type CVT, but rather a planetary gearbox with the electric motor allowing it to operate as a "CVT". I believe this is how the current generation Prius works, as well, and it makes sense for hybrids to use it.

On a planetary gearset, there are three components to each planentary: The sun gear, the "planet" gears (and their carrier), and the ring gear. The ratio of the gearset is determined by which element is driven and which element is held fixed (with the third element becoming the output). For example, if the input shaft drives the sun gear, and the ring gear is held, the output of the gearset will be the planetary carrier. If the planetary is held with the sun being driven, the ring gear becomes an output, at a different ratio. If one is driven and two are held fixed, the gearset is locked. If none are held fixed, the gearset is basically freewheeling.

Anyway, you can create a "CVT" out of a traditional planetary gearbox by, for example, allowing the "held" or "fixed" member to move when necessary. So, in the first scenario, with the sun gear being driven by the input shaft/engine, and the carrier serving as the output, instead of fixing the ring rear completely still (by using a clutch to hold it to the transmission case), you could let it range from stopped to moving at certain speeds with the electric motor. By varying the speed that the ring gear moves, you can create an "infinite" number of ratios within a given range.

I'm guessing that is how the Lexus hybrids are setup (even the RX400h). That is also basically how the big hybrid city busses from GM/Allison do their thing. The electric motor between the engine and the planetary automatic allows the transmission to behave like a CVT when needed.

 

450H stands for hybrid with an equivalent power output to a 4.5L motor. I think it's dumb, they should just call it 350H, but that's also why they call it the RX400H instead of the RX330H.

I don't think it's false advertising though. The poweroutput to the wheels is derived from a full 350 flywheel horsepower. Same as any other 350hp motor. It's really no more of false advertising than saying the Mustang Cobra should only claim its motor horsepower and then claim its supercharger horsepower seperate.

Two Pentium 4 3.0 GHz do not act as a 6 GHz processor because they each have to focus on their own seperate thread. In other words if you're playing a game that's demanding all the processing power it can get, it's only gonna get 3 GHz, not 6.

 

GM ruined me for the CVT, never will i own a CVT tranny until they're so standard that its impossible to get a normal automatic, and then i'll just get a manual car.

 

I can see where you're coming from. They're iffy at this point and I'd be hesitant to own one, even if it was backed by a company as concerned with their reliability as Lexus. But once they become common place and all reports say they're as or more reliable than automatics (plus inherently cheaper to fix, I can only imagine), I'd be comfortable with it.

 

I dunno about all this other stuff but my head positively HURTS from the alphanumeric names. I admit I'm certainly no Lexus die-hard but my goodness....

 

I admit it's hard to keep track of, especially if you follow the stuff that is out now as well as the stuff that's going to replace it.

However IMO it's easier to keep up with numerically seperated cars than it is cars that just have things like LX, GTS, GT, SRT, V, etc to designate various trim models. At least this way I know for sure which is the higher end model and which is the lower end model as well as their respective displacements and whether or not they're hybrid.

 

Is it possible to get 100% output from both engines at the same time? That is the only way to ge that peak HP rating. I got a feeling they just added the 2 #'s together like Honda does. Is electric used at full throttle?

 

Threxx, by similar measure, a game that is designed to take advantage of multiprocessor machines can deliver performance equivalent to a 4 or 5 GHz CPU if running on two 3 GHz cpu's.

This Lexus nomenclature is the same as what AMD uses... They name their processors with numbers that are "equivalent" in MHz to those of Intel. So AMD 2200 is actually a 1400 MHz CPU that delivers performance equivalent to Intel 2200 MHz...

So, the question is, is it truthful? In some bizarre way it is. But Lexus bases their model nomenclature on the size of the engine, and now to throw it off like that?

 

No I agree with you there; this car should be called the GS350H... far less misleading than the GS450H. But the power output rated @ 350hp is accurate. There's no reason why they should give a "motor only" rating and not include the hybrid system. Power to the wheels is power to the wheels no matter what technology is used to derive it.

 

Yes, the electric motor adds to the power output 100% at WOT as well as in stop and go easy acceleration. Pretty much the only time it's nothing running is cruising on the highway, it will engage and disengage as power levels allow. SAE II ratings, which all Lexus models now conform to, will not allow you to add the two together if they don't make power at the same time.

 

Wasn't Audi the first luxury moniker with a CVT?

 

I think so. They put it in the entry-level 2003+ A4 which is the luxuried up version of the VW Passat. ~170 horsepower, 165 torque.

 

Yes, Audi did (does?) have a CVT. In that case, it was a traditional (mechanical) CVT, not a hybrid that allowed CVT behavior from a planetary gearbox like the Prius, RX400h/Highlander, and (I assume) this new GS450h.

The A4 had it; I don't remember if the A6 did or not. It was closer to 200 hp, not 300/350 hp like the hybrid Lexus setup.

I don't know of anyone putting a traditional CVT behind a 300 hp engine. I think the Nissan Murano is among the bigger/heavier/more powerful vehicles with a CVT, and I think it is a toroidal type (not the link/belt type).

With 6 speed (and even 7 speed) autos becoming pretty common, I don't think the traditional CVT has much of a future... I guess we'll see.