the car weighs in over 3800 pounds. She's needs a little more to get going

 

This... right here...

IMHO my car never felt slow, but you really need to pour on the gas at the beginning to "feel the juice. ". These cars don't have a ****load of low RPM torque, so if you want it to take off, you gotta step on it. If I feel like I need to get moving, ill just put it in M1, stomp it, and
let it upshift when it redlines. Or if I'm on the highway and I really want to pass, I'll force a downshift before stepping on it....


-Mike

 

If you're not mashing the pedal down on this car on at least a semi-regular basis, you're going to be very disappointed with it, ill leave it at that. It won't hurt it. Hell there's even a detent switch at the end that, IIRC, under some
circumstances, will force a downshift. (you'll feel a little click when you push the gas all the way down.).

-Mike

 

Why not? What do you think will happen? I'm not being facetious, BTW. The car will be just fine. I have a 2014 that I romp on all the time - like I rarely get over 18MPG between this stop and go traffic and the fact that when I see an open space I take it. It's definitely slow off the line, but between 50-90 it is a blast. Step all the way on it till you hit the kickdown switch and it will boogie just fine.
These cars are built to last, it's not like you're taking it off any sweet jumps!

 

I've had this engine (2GR-FSE) in two cars now, my 2014 IS350 and my 2015 GS350. Both cars are a bit leisurely in their throttle response - I think there's too much dead space at the beginning of the pedal travel. It's worse in the GS than it was in the IS, though.

What I've really noticed that was different between the two was that I felt like the engine in my IS always performed the same - on hot and cold days, when warmed up or when first started, whereas on the GS there are big differences.

In the GS, I feel that car feels more powerful and responsive on warm days, and always better once warmed up. On some days I am completely satisfied with its performance, whereas other days the car just feels a bit slow to me. Not sure if it's my imagination or what.

Still a fantastic car, and an engine with a lot of character.

 

They have probably tuned the computer to take it easier on the cold motor. It is best to allow the oil to warm up before doing harsh things. Once in a while won't hurt too much but repeated cold motor redlines aren't good for cold oil flowing to the vital parts like rods and crank journals.

As for throttle response, being a throttle by wire car, the different modes changes the linear response a cable actuated car normally has to something more akin to the logarithmic curve, low to start then progressively steep.

My old Tundra was my first throttle by wire vehicle. I was pissed that a V8 wouldn't even spin a tire if you stomped the floor board. I learned that you had to ease into it about half way and it would fry the rear tires. Going to the floor was overridden by the computer, presumably as a drive train sparing event.

My last two daily driver vehicles were both Hondas and I find the throttle response acceptable. Even in Eco mode I can lay someone back in the seat and impress them with the power. My other car has 500HP and 550lb/ft of torque so I am fully aware of what power is and how it feels.

 

For sure. I would never redline (or even come close) a cold engine. But nonetheless, it feels different when cold versus the same engine in my previous IS.

Agreed. Definitely better in Sport S+ than normal or eco. But it's still there.

 

 

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It just tells the transmission to immediately downshift to the lowest gear possible as determined by the ecu for the most powerful acceleration.