I own a 2nd gen IS 350 - more specifically a 2010 350C, not that it matters. Our automatic transmissions are basically retarded. Sure, they downshift fast and responsively but the upshifts are horrid. I can put the car in sport mode, but when I upshift, the car *Might* upshift if it feels like it, rather than on command. Are there any hacks or ways to get the transmission to just to what the hell I tell it to do?

 

Sounds like there's a problem with the tansmission.. In "S" (manual) mode, it should upshift snd downshift pretty quickly. You are using the gearshift and not the paddles?

 

you have to know that "sport mode" is not manual so it's normal. it's basically just gear allowance not mean it will shift when you want.
UP AND DOWN mean that the gear range that you would like to allow the car to drive with not mean what gear you want it to be on.
EX: You put the gear select to 3rd that's mean the max gear allowance is 3rd not mean stay on 3rd for all the time like STICKSHIFT!!!
Hope it help

 

Lexus is not a performance car. It is a luxury, reliability, and durability car. Sure the IS looks like a sport car but it will not perform like a BMW or Audi. The difference is, owning a Lexus you'll spend 1/10th of the cost to maintain and repair versus owning any German car. That's just how the transmissions on these cars are, trying to mess with it will only risk running into pricey issues

 

Whitebeast is right; the shift control is nothing more than a top gear limiter. Selecting a higher gear than the one that the car is currently in will allow (but not compel) an upshift.

 

I know this is the case with the paddles, but with the "S" mode at the shifter also???

 

Yep. There is absolutely no way (yet) to make it 100% manual.

 

It's an automatic transmission.

As above has stated:

putting it to the gear is allowing the car gear range to be at that maximum gear, NOT putting it into gear. You will never have full control on the transmission in an automatic... well because... it's an automatic!!

Automatic transmission is chipped/electronic so perhaps when somebody comes out with a transmission flash/tune, you won't be able to shift like a manual transmission.

 

For what it's worth, the paddles and the shifter do the exact same thing.

Jeff

 

That makes sense but the shifter always felt different to me.

 

kyng got the gist of my question right, most of you missed the question.

I've owned IS variants for a long, long time. I know the "manual mode" is retarded and essentially a 'max gear' setting. What I was asking about is in bold. Anybody know if this has been done successfully?

 

No it has not been done yet. Nobody has came out with a transmission tune. There has been rumors that OVtune is working on a transmission tune but who knows.