bigmemory

Our GS are very nice rides .... they breath solidness, they have predictable road manners, and they smooth bumps like only the $100k BMWs and Mercedes can smooth ...

HOWEVER. the GS are not enthusiastic driver's cars, they are luxo cruisers that handle well when they have to, but slightly reluctantly. My BMW 7 series was worlds more fun, and even my Mercedes S series was measurably better in the curves.

But there are 2 things the Lexus does well ... acceleration and braking. In particular the GS's rear wheel drive teamed with its heavy duty transmission is one of the finest engine brakes I have ever used.

I can engine brake from 80MPH to 10MPH with such silky smoothness my passengers dont even know you are using 90% engine brake, and 10% disk brakes.

Does anyone else get a little kick out of engine braking in their GS?

carbongs

iTrader: (13)

yeah i occassionally do but i hear that it isn't the greatest thing to do to the car

bigmemory

Nah, engine braking is fine, always has been, since the beginning of automobiles... I've been engine braking since i started driving in the '70s.

Check your owners manual, Lexus tells you thats the whole purpose of the manual gearshift option on the GS. It saves major wear on your brakes, and your actually supposed to use it instead of brakes, on long steep declines....

kit cat

iTrader: (6)

bc the stock brakes on GS aren't enough!

TAMR_GUS98

I don't have to worry about that now.

I felt robbed by Lexus the day I found out the first gen IS300s had the same exact brakes as our second gen GSx00s.

SP GS

what is cheaper engines or brakes, this is a no brainer!

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Bleh, I replace/rebuild my motor every so often. I mean how many people with a '05 GS with 20k miles are replacing their engines with a new one?

I engine brake, and drive the hell out of it as hard as I can and as often as I can. I tell ya...the car is a tank, I was trying to break the motor these last 2 months before my new engine went in, but it wouldn't let go! Set boost at 20PSI one time just for the hell of it and it pulled very nicely. Went to the drag strip and everything too!

IAGS400

It's not the engine you should be worried about, the transmission is what is taking the beating when you do this.

bigmemory

I think your mistaking this with a manual transmission, which will let a driver blow the engine and grind gears.

A correctly designed automatic transmission will never shift unless its within its design parameters to safely do so. Manually downshifting is still only a "suggestion" to our Lexus transmissions, and it should cause no more wear than letting it decide when to downshift.

For example, my GS300 rarely shift into 1st gear at the moment i put the shifter into 1st, it generally waits for the car to slow down a little more.

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

I usually engine brake near my house because I can coast to the driveway while hearing my exhaust

IAGS400

Please note, I "engine break" my GS at least once every day.

No, I am talking about automatics. An automatic shifting up or down at higher rpms puts MORE wear and tear on the clutches than at low rpms.

It may be safe for it, but it will cause more wear and tear.

I believe a automatic transmission that is manually downshifted (at a higher rpm that what it would do on it's own) will NOT last as long as one that was never manually downshifted.

This thread was going in the direction of discussing if it was bad for the engine and I was just stating you should be more worried about the transmission than the engine when engine breaking.

pingu

I'm with you IAGS.
Pads are a lot cheaper then a rebuild.

bigmemory

Keep in mind that your Lexus transmission and engine are designed to go 300k+ miles without failure... and your Lexus brakes designed to be replaced about every 30-50k. Why is this the case? Because your drivetrain is given excellent cooling systems that dissapate heat and energy continuously. And you brakes are given almost no help in dissapating heat and energy, they rely on direct air cooling. In fact, if continuously used, brakes will heat up and fail, every time.

I myself would rather rely on the superb durability of the Lexus drivetrain, as much as possible, rather than the less expensive but guaranteed failures of brakepads.

JeffTsai

iTrader: (1)

Keep in mind the GS has a lockup clutch system in the transmission. When you engine brake the lockup activates, thus no slippage and no wear. Basically like a straight shaft into the engine when everything is locked up.

Bigmemory, Firefly FTW!

IAGS400

The "lockup clutch" you are talking about is in the torque converter, not in the transmission.

Whenever the transmission shifts gears the clutches in the transmission slip a little.