General Driving
When it came to driving the GS 450h, I couldn’t find a thing to complain about. Unlike previous hybrids that I’ve driven in cold weather, the GS 450h actually went to electric power a couple of times. This makes me think there have been changes in the controller software, although Lexus will neither confirm nor deny this.
Once you put the electronically shifted and controlled automatic into drive, you actually have a couple of choices to make. Choice number one is that you can select a sport mode which significantly alters shifting points, how long the tranny will hold a gear and part throttle downshifts. Your other choice is a snow setting that throttles the aggression way back, almost as if someone got out and unplugged three of the six coil packs.
Braking
Regenerative braking also takes a bit of getting used to. Like other systems, once you are used to what it will do, everything is normal. That bit of extra braking you need to adjust for means that you often stop a bit sooner and more sudden than you had planned. In winter, this may tend to make you activate the ABS brakes when you hadn’t intended to. I found that I took about two days to get used to the different pedal feel that regenerative braking gave to the car.
Winter Driving
After all the unusual sensations of driving have been adjusted for, the GS 450h handles our colder climate quite well. Out on the highway, it was so quiet that we could hear the freezing rain hitting the windscreen. In town, the electronic controls made it seem as if we were just going in slow motion when coming to a stop. I actually had the tail come out during a lane change because the centre was slipperier than I thought. Nanny kept things under control to the point where no one except me knew what had happened. The others thought we had hit a bump or small pot hole.
Conclusion
For all of this, the only sacrifice to luxury that had to be made was trunk space. The GS 450h has a trunk that is about half the size of a regular version. You might get two hockey bags in or one set of golf clubs. If you can live with that trade off, this may be the luxury car for you.
When it came to driving the GS 450h, I couldn’t find a thing to complain about. Unlike previous hybrids that I’ve driven in cold weather, the GS 450h actually went to electric power a couple of times. This makes me think there have been changes in the controller software, although Lexus will neither confirm nor deny this.
Once you put the electronically shifted and controlled automatic into drive, you actually have a couple of choices to make. Choice number one is that you can select a sport mode which significantly alters shifting points, how long the tranny will hold a gear and part throttle downshifts. Your other choice is a snow setting that throttles the aggression way back, almost as if someone got out and unplugged three of the six coil packs.
Braking
Regenerative braking also takes a bit of getting used to. Like other systems, once you are used to what it will do, everything is normal. That bit of extra braking you need to adjust for means that you often stop a bit sooner and more sudden than you had planned. In winter, this may tend to make you activate the ABS brakes when you hadn’t intended to. I found that I took about two days to get used to the different pedal feel that regenerative braking gave to the car.
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| The GS 450h has a trunk that is about half the size of a regular version. (Photo: Charles Renny/Auto123.com) |
Winter Driving
After all the unusual sensations of driving have been adjusted for, the GS 450h handles our colder climate quite well. Out on the highway, it was so quiet that we could hear the freezing rain hitting the windscreen. In town, the electronic controls made it seem as if we were just going in slow motion when coming to a stop. I actually had the tail come out during a lane change because the centre was slipperier than I thought. Nanny kept things under control to the point where no one except me knew what had happened. The others thought we had hit a bump or small pot hole.
Conclusion
For all of this, the only sacrifice to luxury that had to be made was trunk space. The GS 450h has a trunk that is about half the size of a regular version. You might get two hockey bags in or one set of golf clubs. If you can live with that trade off, this may be the luxury car for you.
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