WASHINGTON — Spring break for parents means one of two things: Find something fun to do with the children for a week, or simply hand them off to the grandparents to be spoiled.
We went with option No. 2. And luckily the $59,742 Lexus GS350 was available for the six hours of Pennsylvania Turnpike driving and other boring stretches of road, and saved me from the family SUV. I knew that back roads with no traffic awaited, making the GS350 a smart choice with a payoff of fun driving at the end of the ride.
I know a luxury, midsize sedan and back roads don’t sound like they go together. But the GS350 AWD model with the F Sport package was well equipped for it. The F Sport package has a different look outside with large 19-inch wheels and a front grill that looks more menacing than regular GS350 models. A suspension upgrade with adaptive suspension lets you choose from a knob on the console if you want a luxury ride or a sporty ride ready to tackle back roads.
The F Sport package doesn’t ruin the luxury car ride when you don’t dial up the Sport mode. After six hours of rain, trucks and construction with no work being done, the GS350 was comfortable and quiet like a Lexus should be, allowing two sleeping children to stay asleep. The V6 is very smooth when you’re on the highway and around town. If you want to play, you need to really push the gas pedal to motivate the 306 horsepower to move the big sedan. If you don’t mind revving the V6 and selecting the Sport Plus mode, you will be rewarded with a good-handling sedan that begs to be pushed for more. I do wish the GS350 had a larger fuel tank so I could have made the trip on one tank. But it seemed a little more than 300 miles was the range. The fuel economy was 23.5 miles per gallon of premium fuel for the week and 787 miles, with many on the highway.
The GS350 has a very nice interior with excellent fit and finish. It still looked new inside despite the 26,000 miles on the odometer. The heated and ventilated front seats and the driver’s seat with 16-way adjustments made for easy tuning for comfort. The rear seats are for real adults or two child seats with plenty of room for a person in the middle for short trips. The heated steering wheel was a nice touch and needed in April. The neat, water-repellent, front-door glass was a luxury on a rainy highway at night. A large $1,735 optional 12-inch screen for navigation and the audio system was easy to see. But the mouse-like controller is very touchy to use and can be a little distracting until you are used to it. It always went past what I wanted it to do. Other than a touchy controller, this was a handsome upscale interior with nice trim and rich-feeling materials.
The Lexus GS350 AWD with the F Sport package is a comfortable midsize luxury sedan. With just one turn of a knob, it’s transformed into a four-door sports car that likes to play in the twisters. And you don’t have to sacrifice what a luxury sedan should be because it’s equipped with a high-quality interior and quiet cabin that make long trips or short commutes a pleasure.
