2017 Lexus GS 350 F Sport Review

The 2017 Lexus GS 350 F Sport is a full-size sedan that delivers luxury features and a comfortable interior with a sporty ride and aggressively stylish looks.

Lexus positions the GS 350 F Sport to take on Audi, BMW, Cadillac and Mercedes with a rear wheel drive sports sedan that can haul your family around and yet still also haul ass.

After spending a week with the 2017 GS 350 F Sport in sun, snow, rain and everything else Ohio has to offer, this is what we learned.

2017 Lexus GS 350 F Sport Review Summary

There’s a special place for practical sedans that you can use as a daily driver, confidently carrying your passengers and cargo, and that can also turn a road trip into an adventure with the turn of a dial.

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The GS 350 F Sport is very similar to the 2016 model. Lexus now includes the Lexus Safety System+ as a standard feature and a new Smokey Granite Mica color option. Lexus now offers an optional limited slip differential on the RWD GS 350 F Sport.

The 2017 Lexus GS starts at $50,695 and you can upgrade to the GS 350 F Sport easily with a starting price of $54,810. Our GS 350 F Sport review model came with the limited slip differential, four wheel steering, park assist, a heated F Sport steering wheel and premium paint for $60,055. If you’re already looking into the Lexus lineup, or for a luxury sports sedan, this is the right ballpark.

The Lexus GS 350 F Sport works great as a daily driver and the interior is comfortable with minimal bolsters on the seats. The Lexus GS F offers higher performance in a sedan but drives the price up to $83,940 and is more similar in performance to the Lexus RC F.

2017 Lexus GS 350 F Sport Performance & Driving

One of my favorite things about the Lexus GS 350 F Sport is that you can choose how you will drive this car every time you get in. The normal drive mode is perfect for daily driving when you want a more comfortable ride. This is great when you have passengers or cargo.

Toggle the controls over to Sport or Sport+ and you unlock a more thrilling driving experience. This is where the fun starts. Sport mode adds more dynamic throttle mapping so you can take advantage of the power under the hood. In Sport+ mode, the GS 350 F Sport tightens the suspension and increases the steering response, giving you more control and a more engaging driving experience. In both Sport and Sport+ the shift points change going into and out of corners for more accentuated acceleration.

Sport mode is an excellent option for a more spirited drive around the city. When you switch into Sport+ the Lexus GS 350 delivers more fun, but you also need to pay more attention to your driving. If you mash the accelerator on a turn there’s a good chance the rear end is going to swing around. That’s not going to happen in Normal mode.

When it comes to fuel economy, you can switch into ECO mode to get better fuel economy thanks to reduced throttle response and engine power. We drove mainly in Sport mode, with some driving in Normal and Sport+ fairly aggressively, and averaged 20.8 MPG combined. You can easily get better fuel economy with less spirited driving.

2017 Lexus GS 350 F Sport Design, Luxury & Interior

The Lexus GS 350 F Sport interior is inviting, luxurious and still quite comfortable.

Let’s start with the seats. Soft leather with a very small bolster and lots of padding make this car very comfortable for the driver and passengers. Both seats include heated and ventilated options to keep you warm or cool — which we needed during a temperature swing that delivered 70 degrees and sun… and then snow in the same week.

On the driver side, you can adjust the front edge of the seat out and you can even move the bolsters for a closer fit or a more comfortable wide-open feel.

The interior is appointed in soft touch leather wrapping around from the armrest to the center console where a sliding lid reveals a small storage area, USB and headphone connections. The Naguri Aluminum trim is beautiful and really accents the black leather. It’s a more modern luxury look than wood provides, and it fits in perfectly in the GS 350 F Sport.

Lexus offers more than enough headroom in the rear seat, but legroom is limited. The doors open wide so it’s easy for an adult passenger to get in and out, but on longer trips, the front seats will need to move way up to accommodate adult passengers.

2017 Lexus GS 350 F Sport Technology & Safety

We love the huge 12.3-inch display that allows you to split the information you see and the standard safety features in the Lexus GS 350 F Sport, but we still aren’t a fan of the joystick controls for using the screen. Although better than the touchpad options in some other Lexus models, the joystick is tough to use while driving. There is no support for Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, which are coming standard on many other cars.

We do love the Mark Levinson sound system that fills the cabin with clear, rich music from the Satellite radio, Bluetooth or a USB connection to your device.

From a safety standpoint, the GS 350 F Sport includes the Lexus Safety System+ standard. This includes:

• Pre-Collision System (PCS) with Pedestrian Detection
• Lane Departure Alert (LDA) with Steering Assist
• Intelligent High Beam (IHB)
• All-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control

We especially love the dynamic radar cruise control that will slow you down to keep you back from the car in front of you on a highway without the need for you to constantly change the cruise control settings or tap the breaks. Lane departure alert with steering assist will help keep you in your lane using cameras that detect road markings with alerts and help steer.

Intelligent high beams automatically switch to low when a car approaches. Both low and high beam LED headlights to deliver very good visibility at night and during bad weather. We did not need to test the pre-collision system, but it can detect cars and in some situations pedestrians to alert the drive and start automatic breaking.