donkiboy

I've recently acquired 2015 GS350 AWD f sport. I've got several questions on the behavior of the 6 speed auto.

1) Once in manual mode, does it auto up-shift or bounce off the rev limiter?

2) Does the above differ depending on which setting I'm in (ex. normal, sport, sport +)?

3) Is it possible to start in 2nd gear in manual mode?

4) In certain modes, does it auto downshift when letting off the brake or slowing down to take a turn?

jonathancl

1) Yes: the car will always shift when needed to avoid engine damage at the red line.

2) At WOT, all modes are the same.

3) Not sure.

4) In Sport and Sport+, the car downshifts and rev matches on aggressive braking; it then stays in that gear and higher rpm for a time after you stop braking so the power is there when you return to the gas. It's honestly one of my favorite things about Sport mode.

bclexus

With reference to question #3, try hitting the Snow mode button on the console, which causes the car to start in 2nd gear when in Automatic mode. Snow mode should start in 2nd gear in manual mode too...but I personally don't recall ever trying it, so I cannot confirm that it does.

donkiboy

Yes, it will always shift to avoid engine damage. However It may not do so if traction / stability is fully turned off.
There's a demonstration of this on youtube where driver banged into rev limiter on the 8 speed IS350 f sport.
I was just curious if that's the case with the 6 speed as well.

er34

4) It's an auto. It always downshifts when you slow below a certain speed(e.g., you can't be in 6th gear below ~45mph). The modes alter when it makes those downshifts - the Sport/Sport+ modes keeps the revs higher to keep you in the powerband if you keep it in D.

At the end of the day, it's not the fastest auto in the world and for that reason, I prefer to use "M" mode and downshift in advance when I want powwahhh like when overtaking or have some engine braking when taking corners. If purely accelerating from a dead stop, D is the better bet.

jonathancl

The manual doesn't say anything about TRAC/VSC affecting shifting behavior. This is all it says: