AlBoston

I have a 2002 IS300 with a 5 speed manual and I find that the transmission is sometimes very difficult to shift. If I am trying to accelerate very quickly in 1st and try to shift at 6000 rpm the shifter is hard to move out of 1st gear. This is my first manual vehicle but I have driven manual a lot before and have never felt this. It is also difficult to go in Reverse when left overnight and makes a clunk when shifting from 1st to second.

WannaIS300

I have a 2002 IS with 900 miles on it. I have noticed that the shifter has softened a bit with time and is shifting smoother. It is not as smooth as any of the following: Porsche 993, Miata, Integra GSR. I am considering changing the tranny fluid to synthetic as that has helped people in the past. The clunks are all supposed to be normal. Problems engaging certain gears from rest has to do with how the teeth of the gears sit at rest, I think. All of my cars would do it if you caught them just out of alignment. Usually letting out the clutch and depressing it again does the trick, or engage a different gear and then the one you are after.

Matthew_McNally

I was told to give my gearbox 2 - 3k miles to settle down.

I'm on 1700 miles at the moment - gearbox has been and down - but is smoothing out.

Prepared to wait for now - its usually very nice, just the odd stiff change

kschiu

I don't know whether this is coincidence or it is the characteristic of the Lexux manual. I test drove it 2 weeks ago and it is also hard to shift and feels very inprecise. Not impressed at all. Not really a first class manual gear box like the S2000 or the M3.

007

[QUOTE]Originally posted by AlBoston
I have a 2002 IS300 with a 5 speed manual and I find that the transmission is sometimes very difficult to shift. If I am trying to accelerate very quickly in 1st and try to shift at 6000 rpm the shifter is hard to move out of 1st gear. This is my first manual vehicle but I have driven manual a lot before and have never felt this. It is also difficult to go in Reverse when left overnight and makes a clunk when shifting from 1st to second. [/QUOTE

you may already be doing this but different cars have different clutch pressures.. when i was in high school i had a Mustang GT 5.0 and you had to fully engage the clutch to shift properly, if not shifting out of first and going into reverse would give you that same problem you experienced. I had to have my seat in a certain position if i planned to do speed shifting or if i was tired. So try to position your seat forward and push the clutch to the floor.. all the way.

I say this cuz my friends or family who drove the 5.0 had trouble cuz in their cars you could push the clutch in half or 3/4 way to the floor and everything is okay...