I don't understand these performance figures.

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
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Location
Wargrave, UK
I was just looking up the performance figures for the new Lexus GS460. It's the same car as my GS430 but with a bigger and more powerful engine.

Check these figures out and see if they make any sense to you:

Lexus GS430
1695kg
275bhp
417NM
6.1s 0-62mph

Lexus GS460
1695kg
375bhp
460NM
6.1s 0-62mph

So, with the same mass, but 100bhp and 43NM more, the GS460 achieves the same 0-62 time?

I'm wondering if this comes down to the old 280bhp Jap thing. People always said that the GS430 makes way more power than Lexus say it does. My butt Dyno always put it in the 330bhp region.
 
Different gearing possibly, I'd expect the higher power car to start putting more distance between the two as the speed rose.

Having said that, you're probably right about the power thing, it's very rare for most of the 275/276bhp cars made during the gentleman's agreement to actually only make that.
 
0-60 is all about traction and weight.

This is why a Caterham CSR more or less has the same or better 0-60 than most super cars.
 
60-something would be more interesting to look at. After all, a chassis can only do so much, regardless of how much power you put in it.
 
Is one automatic and one manual?

460 (automatic):

1st Gear 4.596
2nd Gear 2.724
3rd Gear 1.863
4th Gear 1.464
5th Gear 1.231
6th Gear 1.000
7th Gear 0.824
8th Gear 0.685

Source

430 manual:

Final Drive 3.27:1
1st Gear Ratio 3.36:1
2nd Gear Ratio 2.18:1
3rd Gear Ratio 1.42:1
4th Gear Ratio 1:1
5th Gear Ratio 0.75:1

Source

This article quotes 5.8 0-60
 
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Rilot said:
I was just looking up the performance figures for the new Lexus GS460. It's the same car as my GS430 but with a bigger and more powerful engine.

Check these figures out and see if they make any sense to you:

Lexus GS430
1695kg
275bhp
417NM
6.1s 0-62mph

Lexus GS460
1695kg
375bhp
460NM
6.1s 0-62mph

So, with the same mass, but 100bhp and 43NM more, the GS460 achieves the same 0-62 time?

I'm wondering if this comes down to the old 280bhp Jap thing. People always said that the GS430 makes way more power than Lexus say it does. My butt Dyno always put it in the 330bhp region.
Click to expand...

Are those figures from the Lexus site?

They don't tally with the press release, it should be 342bhp and 0-60 somewhere in the 5.8s area. It's got a new 8-speed box as well, so I would have thought the weight may have changed, but it's identical on the site which could be another mistake.
 
Fett said:
Are those figures from the Lexus site?

They don't tally with the press release, it should be 342bhp and 0-60 somewhere in the 5.8s area. It's got a new 8-speed box as well, so I would have thought the weight may have changed, but it's identical on the site which could be another mistake.
Click to expand...

From Lexus.co.uk

Dup said:
Is one automatic and one manual?

460 (automatic):

1st Gear 4.596
2nd Gear 2.724
3rd Gear 1.863
4th Gear 1.464
5th Gear 1.231
6th Gear 1.000
7th Gear 0.824
8th Gear 0.685

Source

430 manual:

Final Drive 3.27:1
1st Gear Ratio 3.36:1
2nd Gear Ratio 2.18:1
3rd Gear Ratio 1.42:1
4th Gear Ratio 1:1
5th Gear Ratio 0.75:1

Source

This article quotes 5.8 0-60
Click to expand...

Lexus have never made the MK3 GS with a manual box.
 
Rilot, just request a digi-brochure, the site is wrong as I suspected. The weight is also wrong on the site.

lexus.jpg


That should help.
 
Jonny69 said:
Why does a car with that much power need 8 gears?!!! :eek:
Click to expand...

Why does any car need lots of gears? Because it provides a wider option of choices to ensure the best position for the task at hand, and because it allows each gear to be closer ratio or lower ratio meaning less of a yawning chasm between gears and neither being the right choice.
 
The slushbox in the GS was in dire need of an update. It's very agricultural in my 2005 model. Not a patch on the advanced boxes in Audis, Mercs and BMWs.
If it's the box out of the new LS then it's excellent and very, very smooth.
 
Dolph said:
Why does any car need lots of gears? Because it provides a wider option of choices to ensure the best position for the task at hand, and because it allows each gear to be closer ratio or lower ratio meaning less of a yawning chasm between gears and neither being the right choice.
Click to expand...
But it has between 275hp and 375hp, it's hardly going to have such a narrow power band that it needs 8 gears. You'll just be stirring the gearbox non stop. I like the double overdrive idea for ultra low rpm cruising but even that only merits 6 gears in my head. Edit: ok it's an auto so no stirring, but still seems pointless having so many gears especially if it's got a torque converter.
 
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Jonny69 said:
But it has between 275hp and 375hp, it's hardly going to have such a narrow power band that it needs 8 gears. You'll just be stirring the gearbox non stop. I like the double overdrive idea for ultra low rpm cruising but even that only merits 6 gears in my head.
Click to expand...

It's an automatic...

A wide range of gears allows for the autobox to have a wider range of ratios to pick from which one is the best, so you're more likely to have the right ratio rather than the one that will have to do...
 
Dolph said:
It's an automatic...

A wide range of gears allows for the autobox to have a wider range of ratios to pick from which one is the best, so you're more likely to have the right ratio rather than the one that will have to do...
Click to expand...

Absolutely, same can be said for manual boxes also, especially in trucks. :)
 
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