LEXUS GS 300/430

The Lexus GS is a large saloon. Not the prettiest of lumpen beetles for those who consider themselves to have normal eyesight, but the driving experience is both satisfying and silent, in a slightly techy way.

• Comfort

  So it won't cream a BMW when it comes to drilling an apex, but it will make you painfully aware that where a 5-series winds you up by encouraging you to go faster, the GS will de-stress you with the gentle sound of silence. Run over pedestrians and you'll be isolated from their screams by superb insulation and the bump thump of jaywalkers passes under the wheels virtually unnoticed.

• Performance

  Flavours of basic GS come in two versions; the 245bhp 3.0-litre V6 and the slightly more potent 279bhp 4.3-litre V8. Both get a brilliant six-speed auto 'box that slurs gears better than a drunk slurs words. You'll be looking at a 0-62mph time of 7.2 seconds and a top speed of 148mph for the smaller engine and a sprint of 6.1 and 155mph limiter for the V8. No diesel though...

• Cool

  Respected for its tech ability, but too damn ugly to be cool.

• Quality

  Built with a wonderfully anal attention to detail. Even other premium marques look at Lexus panel gaps and wince. The GS is a car that seems to try very hard at feeling well put together, and then fails slightly for us Europeans by tripping over small cultural differences. For instance, some of the interior colour combinations look cheap and the wood is so over-processed it looks like plastic. It is also one of the few modern cars in production with a cassette player in the dash. No, really.

• Handling

  Can't hold a candle to the handling capabilities of the premium Teutons, but the GS can fling its rather lardy bottom around with surprising alacrity once you've got the hang. It's never particularly encouraging about going fast though - any car this heavy on the servo-assistance isn't that keen on making you ‘at one' with the blacktop.

• Practicality

  The GS is big, but space in the rear for larger people can get a bit claustrophobic thanks to that rotund rump. The boot is similarly weird; it's big but very long, so you almost have to climb inside to retrieve anything that's rolled to the back. Huge 84-litre fuel tank makes range very reasonable.

• Running costs

  The base model gets a reasonable group 16 insurance but only 28.8mpg. The V8 is group 17, and gets under 25mpg. Neither score well for emissions output (high tax), and there's no diesel sop to duck under. Residuals aren't great.