gstois

Help me out here. The last leg of my commute to work is downhill on the freeway (a decent grade). I have noticed that as soon as I tap the brakes, the transmission does a quick downshift, either from 6th to 5th, or 5th to 4th, and holds that gear for quite some time. I happen to like the fact that I don't have to ride my brakes, but it is such an unusual feeling compared to my '01 GS.

Is there some form of downhill assist on the IS, or is this just a sensitive trannie, or is this a bad trannie, or what?

XeroK00L

All newer Toyota and Lexus vehicles are designed to do this. Like you said, this helps ease the effort going downhill.

jlin101

wow, that's a smart transmission. Sure beats manually disabling overdrive, which is what people should do when they go downhill anyway.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

wow i didn't know that. that's indeed a pretty smart tranny

rdrunner

does that burn more gas when it down shifts? higher rpm = more gas no?

knihc2008

iTrader: (1)

no, just plain old engine braking. changing gears puts the engine at higher revs, but no gas is being pumped in to accelerate. if anything, i believe engine braking is usually preferred over braking while slowing down downhill.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

correct. that used to be the beauty of stick shift, full control

but i guess now auto tranny is just as smart

GFerg

hmm...didnt know that. Now I dont feel so bad when I downshift in my car.

amy011079

wow that is too cool! I learn something new about this car everyday! well today there was two things! this, and i also read where the front two side windows are water repellant.

Zephyr

iTrader: (1)

Yea I noticed this too, I live on a hill and when I'm comming down it seems to do this...saves brake pads!

kensteele

didn't my acura cl 2001 do the same? going down hill it [engine] brakes for you as necessary...is this something different/new?

XeroK00L

I don't think it's anything new. My '00 Celica had it too. I kinda freaked out too when I first discovered the mad revving when going downhill.

caha14

Yes, it's been around for some time. It's a pretty neat feature, isn't it?

Honda calls it "grade-logic control", and it was very sensitive on my TL. It is also very sensitive on my GX, but somehow, it is not so on my Accord. I actually have to tap the brake pedal a bit harder for it to engage.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

oh yeah, as long as you don't make the rpm jump crazy to red line, it's a good method to slow down the car

Celsior Master

wow my gs doesn't do that at all... driving downhill on the way to san jose for eos, my gs almost felt like it was shifting up by itself haha