TopKnife

Got my GS 2 weeks ago. Been happy with the quality of the interior but not so impressed with the driving characteristics. In particular, there is a coarse, grainy engine noise, mostly heard when first starting the engine, idling, and slow driving such as driving in an indoor parking garage. The annoying noise seem to disappear at 3-4K RPM. Does anyone have this problem?

Also, the automatic transmission is indecisive, especially when decelerating, as if it is not sure what gear it should go into.

Maybe I got a lemon?

SW17LS

The coarse grainy engine note when idling cold is normal, thats a characteristic of the direct injection. Once mine warms up the engine feel and note at low RPM's is fine, is that not the case with yours?

My transmission shifts fine, does it get better when you put it in Sport or Sport S+?

TopKnife

Thanks for the response. It's reassuring!

It does seem to improve once the engine is warm. I am however uncertain if that's because I have turned up the music to drown out the annoying noise or it's really gone. I will check it when I get off work.

The mode, whether it's eco, normal, s, or s+ makes no difference. The transmission is smooth when I punch the throttle, but hesitate left and right when I try to drive in an environmentally friendly manner.

1111GS

I remember driving at high 70s and had to step on the brake. The sudden change caused the vehicle to down shift and stuck there too long. As you mentioned "indecisive" may be the better choice of word. I was actually scared as I was in the middle of heavy traffic. Stepped on the gas pedal but the vehicle refused to respond as fast as I expected. RPM went up to high 4Ks but the vehicle wasn't speeding up. Most owners here say it's normal but I don't think this is normal at least for average drivers. It's freaking scary and unsafe. This is one thing that I don't like about this vehicle. I tend to drive less in S+ mode now.

sydtoosic

you were doing 70+ in heavy traffic . if you hit the gas a little harder than normal at that speed, then yes the car will downshift when in S+ mode. i only hit the brake when i get to a tricky curve, and love when the car downshifts. i will coast through the corner and when i come out of the curve i'll hit the gas and take off and the car upshifts as i hit the gas. there's a learning curve. i think i figured it out.

TopKnife

For me the problem is not at cruising speed or when driving aggressively. My car seems to have problem when going slow. Maybe it doesn't like to go slow, just like its owner?

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

The engine noise is normal so nothing to worry about, just takes time to get used to it...

Unless I am wrong the other concern is your cars ECU learning your driving habits. This will also improve as you continue to drive the car more. I would monitor and allow some more time and if things do not change for the better then stop in to your local Lexus dealer.

yardie876

Guess I'll chime in too. The engine noise isn't graceful when cold but like others have said its a byproduct of the direct injection. About the transmission, I have seen some weird downshifting but I find it only happens in sport on rare occasions when you hit the brakes then immediately accelerate after. I feel the ecu can't determine if you need a lower gear or not. In normal mode however the car drives cvt smooth. I have almost no detectable downshifting in normal or Eco.

sydtoosic

problem arises when going slow. that's a new one, haven't heard that one yet. i've never had that problem. let's see what these guys come up with.

TopKnife

Yeah! That's the right word! Not "graceful". Not what I would expect from a 50K car.
Already called up Lexus dealer. I was told similar thing as you've all said. Looks like I'll just have to live with these.

bentleymp2

Our engines sound like **** in lower gears and I hate it!
I sound angry but I've gotten half way over it. It still sucks though!

Here is my thread about it:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-sounding.html

T4Fun

someone mentioned without the direct injection, its just a camry v6 engine.

i would take the camry engine over the gs if thats how bad it really sounds. you should hear the 4runner and what it sounds like in idle. horrible compared to a gx

that being said, direct injection engines requires regular cleaning maintainence vs a fuel injection engine. i wonder wtf lexus was thinking here? they should have put a 3.7 fuel injected vs 3.5 direct injected engine.

that being said, if engine sounds that bad, that would be a big turn off for getting a gs. perhaps will wait for the new IS to come out.

natnut

You've only the partial truth and are mistaken about the engines in the 4GS requiring regular cleaning.

The 2GR-FSE engine in the GS has BOTH fuel (port ) injection and direct injection. Lexus designed this dual injection system to prevent carbon buildup and the need for regular maintenance cleaning that most other direct injection-only engines would require.

FYI, the 2GR-FSE engine has been awarded Ward's Top 10 best engines several times, has been in production since 2006 and is basically considered bulletproof in terms of reliability.

dseag2

Unless I've missed something, Lexus doesn't have a 3.7 fuel injected engine to put into the car, and I'd rather go with something that's tried and true, and reliable. I don't find the engine noise that coarse, and the performance certainly makes up for it. I doubt they will put a 3.7 fuel injected engine into the new IS either, so good luck with that.

jtrue28

Rack what dseag2 said.