Anomaly alert! Anomaly alert! The luxury-sport Lexus has a new base 3.5-litre V6 engine that's more powerful than the 4.3-litre V8 in the GS 430. The new V6 is rated at 303 horses, 13 more than the V8, though the latter does generate 16 percent more torque. Not only is the new V6 a big advance on last year's 245-hp 3.0, it also comes wrapped in a GS 350 Special Edition package that MSRPs for thousands less than last year's GS 300. The 3.5 is also fitted to the GS 350 AWD. Aside from its more relaxed power delivery, reasons to buy the GS 430 include its advanced technologies such as Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management, Automatic Variable Suspension, and active variable-ratio steering.

Lexus refinement with BMW performance

Not quite a BMW when the road gets curvy