Rick Ko

I've had many questions from friends of mine asking how my new S4 compares to the Lexus GS400 I also own. I figure others may want to know so here are my insights into the two cars.

As you may know the GS400 comes with an all aluminum V-8 making 300 hp. Mine is lowered with BLITZ exhaust and Intake so maybe another 15 hp or so. The sound is very aggressive on the throttle and can outrun the E36 M3 after 120 mph...(trust me, we tried on the way to Chicago with my friend's Dinan M3!) The car is really not in the same class as the S4 because of the weight and the auto 5-speed tranny. The car is very heavy thus weight is tossed around quite a bit. With the traction off, the car is quite a handful in the wet. Handling is very good though for such a large car. With the 2" lowered stance, the car corners almost as good as the S4 on dry surfaces. The car rides on 255/40/ZR17 tires right now but we plan on staggering it with 285/35 in the rear and 245/40 in the front.

The S4 is so much more agile for daily street driving. The GS requires lots of brakes around town since the auto doesn't always downshift. For pure acceleration, the S4 wins hands down but I don't know about top speed runs since my S4 only has 900 miles on it right now. I can tell you that my previous 97 Eclipse Turbo can easily outpull the GS all the way to it's top speed of roughly 140 mph! I think the S4 should be able to take the GS in the quarter mile but not by much since the GS runs it in the low 14's. Of course, this is assuming a stock S4!

Hopefully this helps shed some light on the matter. If I had to pick one car though, the S4 gets the vote for obvious reasons. If you want to see the pics of all 3 cars, go to my website at http://icdweb.cc.purdue.edu/~kor/welcome.htm

My S4 pics are not up yet...

Bill J

You said in your post that the GS400 is much heavier than the S4. I checked the weights on Edmunds and they show that the S4 is only a little over 100lbs. less than the GS400. Are these numbers correct and if they are does 100 lbs. really account for the difference in the way the S4 and GS400 feel?

rickp

S4 twin turbo reaches peak torque at 1850 RPMs!

Ron O

better milage , about 26 on a 300 mile 1 day trip, I took as a demonstration and it is more comfortable I liked the transmittion on the wheel better than the Audi's , I don't know why really -- + it does not have the poor Audi dealer network. They have Cappicino in the waiting area , DVD movies and really kiss up. I know for certain 'caus I had a LS 400 for 3 years. + The cars are bullet proof -- never had a thing wrong with the 400 for 36k miles.

Rick Ko

You may be right. I was talking more from a driver's feeling standpoint. The Gs400 just doesn't seem as firm as the S4 but it could be because of suspension setup or other factors.

el jefe

What's a Eclipse Speedster? Do you mean Spyder?

Rick

Actually, I gave the car that name after seeing a concept version at the auto show 2 years ago. The Eclipse is a hardtop GS-T turbo with a 5 speed tranny. Mods were quite extensive making the car quite a thrill ride!

KJK

No, that's German v. Japanese "feel" (nt)