EdtheBruin

Hello All,

As a 'new owner' of a '99 GS400, there is of course the option of up or down "M-Shifting" from the Steering Wheel -

How best to do this (?) For example, in the "M" Position, does the car actually go up and down through the gears normally as it does in "D" ?

Specifically I am thinking of the drive over California Highway-17 from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz. This is a curvy, windy tight 4-lane road approximately 20-miles in length with many ups-and-downs and speed reductions to 40mph on the tightest curves. One really has to stay-on-top of things, be focused and not drift-asleep driving this stretch, most especially going down-hill. Folks tend to drive this at their highest speed physically possible irrespective of the posted speed limit, which is either 50 or 55 on the straighter flat stretches through the Santa Cruz Mountains there.

It seems to me the up-and-down shifting available through the "M" position would be ideally suited to this application -

Any thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated -
Incidentally, right now I am treating the hood (...the car is Black Onyx) with Turtle Wax' "Ice Claybar" and seem to be winning, especially on removing any final hints of oxidation remaing within the paint.

Thanks in advance

tmf2004

iTrader: (15)

Welcome to CL.. lets see some pics when your done detailing...

VipDout

iTrader: (4)

well in the M position you control how you want to shift ... Lowest gear it will go is 2nd ... ... you click the thumb control on the steering wheel to change gears


Be careful doing this in curvy areas .... Your fingers will be down shifting and up shifting ... can lose position when your hands are bzy ... I was going 65-70 in turns and was under steering and worrying about that ....

I asked the original owner when I bought mine.....


welcome aboard and drive safe !

Olu

iTrader: (1)

M will shift the gears just like you're in D. When you down shift to a gear, it will not surpass that gear, but if you use enough throttle, it will down-shift to a lower gear. Drive safely.

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, be careful not to punch it thru a turn. It will downshift hard(especially with the torque of the V8) and you will spin out. It happened to me a few times when I was new to this car. Luckily I didn't hit anything during those yonder days. Even if you know how to control the car thru a slide/drift. The downshift is very abrubt and powerful. It's very difficult to maintain control in those situations. I've practiced numerous times in open parking lots and everytime it downshifted hard, the car became very unsettled and difficult to control. It was near impossible to get a controlled powerslide in those situations. My advice is to keep it in the lowest gear you plan on in that speed range. So even when you floor the pedal, it won't downshift a gear.

EdtheBruin

Many thanks for all the good advice...
- sounds like it simply relieves you of having to leave-the-steering-wheel, reach-down (...with the right hand) and down/up shift to get the engine-braking...
Hands remaining on the steering wheel to 'pinch' underneath to up-shift and/or push the "Down" button atop is the alternative -
I can see, however, that in the 'thick-of-things,' at-speed negotiating those curvy turns it can become challenging...
thanks again and what I'll probably do is use it sparingly if at all - there are a whole lot of huge, empty parking lots about...may give it a go this weekend -
Happy Labor Day to all

Iceqelliot

I got rid of the shift interlock B.S.causing to ⁷ many issues. I had a locksmith take out all the crap in the ignition and I removed all from shifter. You must not let anyone drive the car though for safety reasons,but it does not code which is a plus. I am currently trying to get a complete setup again and I will switch it back. . You have to wire a couple switches to keep them from moving, but all works fine in gs400. I don't like being stranded and my main problem is the tumblers would tilt in lock and size it up to where nothing would work. My door, the ignition and my remote doors were acting up too. Delete. But if you really want to fix, I would start with tumblers in locks then move to next on list. The tumblers locked me out of ignition and shifting at least four times and I thought it was shift interlock. It was partially ,but main issue was bad tumblers in lock.had them replaced and haven't had a problem yet.. IceQ