Lexus GS F

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

- James Disdale

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.