Pebble Beach we finally have our first good look at the 2013 Lexus GS350—we previously drive heavily camo’d prototypes—and, with it, the future look and styling direction of the Lexus brand. The company also let drop that it would unveil the inevitable hybrid version at September’s Frankfurt auto show. About a month after that, the company will show the F-Sport version at the SEMA show in Las Vegas.
The new GS350, the fourth generation of the company’s mid-range sedan, will be the standard-bearer of Lexus’s new, more “passionate” approach to the premium-car market. Our first driving experience in camouflaged examples of the car, in both standard and F-Sport versions, bear out that oft-repeated passion claim.
The GS350’s styling is considerably, and thankfully, more subtle than the frankly hideous LF-Gh concept car from this year’s New York Auto Show. The ’13 GS sits on a two-inch-wider track, giving it a more planted look. It is, as is the fashion, festooned with LEDs front and rear. Its one truly distinctive visual signature is a new front grille shape that Lexus calls “spindle” shaped. Okay. It looks something like a large square grille that been cinched in about two-thirds of the way up either side. Expect to see a lot of this shape in the coming years.
When the GS350 goes on sale in February of 2012, it’ll be powered by a largely carry-over 3.5-liter V-6, which uses both port and direct injection. The engine makes 306 hp at 6400 rpm (a bump of 3 hp from the last GS350) and 277 lb-ft of torque at 4800. The car carries a six-speed automatic transmission. It will be available in rear or all-wheel-drive versions.
