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"You&amp;#039;re used to seeing spy shots of new cars, their bodywork sheathed in camouflage panels. Typically the driver wears an annoyed look as the spy photographer snaps away.   This time, though, I was the driver of a pair of 2012 Lexus GS prototypes seen both on Southern California roads as well as around an autocross circuit arranged at Santa Anita Park, a venue accustomed to a different sort of horsepower indeed.   Video window may take a few moments to load...         The plan for this restyled GS had several objectives: Bring about an evolution of its L Finesse design theme. Enhance this mid-luxury competitor&amp;#039;s interior and trunk space. And instill an added dose of the GS fun-to-drive factor.   Lexus brought along a current GS for comparison purposes, and I can report that the camouflaged GS prototypes certainly meet the second and third of these objectives. We won&amp;#039;t know about styling until the camouflage panels are stripped away at the car&amp;#039;s debut during the Monterey Weekend festivities in mid-August. (One hopes it won&amp;#039;t replicate the front-end exuberance of the Lexus LF-Gh concept car.)        Lexus LF-Gh concept    Packaging adds significantly to GS roominess, both for people and things. Compared with the previous car (which wasn&amp;#039;t cramped to begin with), front head room is a full 1.2 in. greater, rear head room 0.8 in. more. Whereas the current trunk holds a pair of golf bags, the new one holds four of them. And, driver of a pair of 2012more to my sporting (dis)abilities, the new car is easier to get in and out of as well.   Fun-to-drive aspects of the GS prototype start with a refined platform that&amp;#039;s stiffer via added gauge and additional reinforcement here and there as well as an increase in spot and laser weld points. A newly designed unequal-length A-arm front suspension both widens the track by 1.6 in. and also sheds 4.4 lb., a significant portion of this being unsprung weight (the minimization of which aids road holding). At the rear, there are separate coil spring and shock mountings; this, to optimize their functions. There&amp;#039;s also a rear-placed toe control arm that plays more than a passive role when the car&amp;#039;s optional Dynamic Rear Steering is fitted.           The two prototypes differed in tire size, 235/45R18s on the lesser one, a front/rear split of 235/40R19s and hefty 265/35R19s respectively on the sportier one. The latter also had the full-house handling package with Lexus Dynamic Handling, Variable Gear Ratio Steering and the Dynamic Rear Steering already noted.   Both of these were a hoot to toss around the Santa Anita autocross, a circuit with sufficiently wide paths to encourage more than a little lateral exuberance. This was especially so once engineers showed where a camouflaged taped-over switch accessed the full-Off of traction/stability control. Back-to-back sampling of the current car showed the degree of improved stick and control (and, Lexus, I&amp;#039;m sorry that you had to reset those pylons).           I also got to fool with Lexus&amp;#039;s latest Drive Model Select. A rotary knob on the center console gives options of Eco, Normal, Sport S and (if optionally fitted) Sport S+. The two Sport modes firm the suspension, modify steering feel, finesse the traction/stability control and affect shift schedules. If I had my dritters, I&amp;#039;d make S+ settings more aggressively recognizable. A center-mounted shifter has a left-gate slap-shift feature that&amp;#039;s also invoked (easier, I say) by steering-wheel paddles. Like the best of such systems, this one blips throttle artfully on manual-range downshifts.   As noted, the camouflage comes off these gasoline GS models at Pebble Beach during the Monterey Weekend in mid-August. The GS Hybrid makes its debut at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. Cars go on sale next spring.           "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.roadandtrack.com/new-cars/road-tests/reviews/a17446/2012-lexus-gs-prototype/>