arentz07

There's no such "S3" or similar mode in the IS. It's closer to a true manual mode than in some other Toyota/Lexus products, such as the ES, which as that "S" mode you're referring to.

In the IS, in manual mode, you can floor it in 5th gear, at 40 miles per hour, and it won't downshift. It will stay in 5th. If you turn off traction control fully, it won't upshift when it hits redline, either.

Edit: A point of clarification. The paddles act like range limiters if you're still in "D" drive. You have to move the gear selector to "M" to get manual control. A lot of car reviewers don't realize this. Most other cars allow manual control using paddles without engaging a separate drive mode.

GrandSedanFan

iTrader: (1)

Just stumbled across this thread while doing some research on OEM replacement shocks for our 2014 IS350 AWD Base. I have been unhappy with the rear rebound damping, or lack thereof, for years.

Excellent writeups, and your experiences mirror my own. A couple of notes though.

We switched to Michelin Pilot A/S3+ a few years ago and never looked back. However, they are LOUD and they actually cost about 1mpg on the highway. Worth it. The car still understeers, thanks to the factory staggered tire widths and the extra weight up front, but the limits are now high enough that you really have to commit to approach them on the street.

For me, the mark of a good automatic transmission is the quality of the commanded downshifts. The 6 speed automatic is decent but only if you are driving it correctly. In sport mode, left to its own devices, you should pretty much always find yourself in the right gear if you are driving in anger. However, in manual mode, if you are shifting below 3,000rpm the transmission takes about a year to respond, virtually regardless of throttle input. Where the transmission really shines is at high rpm, 4,000rpm or above, where the line pressure is nice and high. While it will never be as responsive as the ZF 8HP or the Aisin AA80E, at high rpm I get very smooth, well blipped, well matched, and nearly immediate downshifts on command. Meanwhile, when I ask for the same shift at 2,500rpm pulling up to a light in traffic, I get a bit of a delay and a lurch.




If you are not particularly attached to your powertrain warranty, RR Racing has a tune that unlocks the remaining "-50" of your detuned IS350 engine.

https://www.rr-racing.com/RR-Racing-...ig3xxtne02.htm

GNS

Thanks! Late reply but I picked up a '19 IS350 3 weeks after that post. In D mode, the paddles seem to select the gear you want to be in and it stays like that until after a certain amount of time + throttle input, or if you come to a stop. I mostly use it to downshift going down a hill or coming to a stop. Sometimes I'll use it to downshift 1 or 2 gears in anticipation of needing more speed and soon.

GNS

This is what I've noticed as well - using the manual shift mode in normal everyday driving is pointless, the transmission shift logic seems to be programmed to avoid making jerky shifts if you're going slow (driving normally).

When I really open it up in M mode, the shifts happen as quickly as I want them to be. They're not dual clutch quick, but they happen quickly enough that it hardly matters.

I've found one scenario where the transmission (in D mode) falls flat on its face even if the drive mode selector is on either of the Sport modes. Say you're driving up to an intersection and the transmission is in 2nd gear because you're slowing down to make the turn. The car hasn't come to a stop, and you're still going just fast enough that it doesn't downshift to 1st. You make the turn without stopping at anywhere from 12 km/h - 20 km/h (give or take a few), then floor the gas pedal and it feels sluggish because it's in the wrong gear and (rightly) doesn't want to downshift to 1st at those speeds otherwise it would feel like it's jerking / bucking.

If I want to accelerate fast in the above scenario, I hit the brakes to get down to like 15 km/h or less, hit the left paddle to go into D1 (knowing the transmission wouldn't let me shift to any gear that is unsafe) and then floor it after straightening onto the intersection.

I wonder if anyone else has encountered this?

arentz07

Thanks! Yeah I've heard similar complaints about those Michelins being loud, which is part of the reason I didn't go for those. The BFGs I've got are honestly perfectly suited to this car. They could be ever so slightly quieter on the highway, but the grip and turn-in response is fantastic.

Manual shifting is clearly only intended for use in hard driving. That's what I've concluded after owning this car for now 3+ years. But, in that scenario it is just fine.

Yeah it gets about awkward right there around 10 MPH or so. 2nd gear is too long, but if you downshift into first, it's jerky.

Bottom line, if I really want first gear, I'll just go into M mode and select it.

HOMER350

I use that function nearly everyday, great option opposed to switching over to manual and back.

The idea is your choosing the maximum allowed gear for the car, telling it not to shift pass that gear. Although it will allow me to shift up as well when rpms are holding high in sport mode.

I've counted 4 seconds of pushing the throttle before it disengages the drive-manual mode (forget what Lexus calls it). Or come to a complete stop like you said.

pngo

I have the 8-spd, but fully agree that manual mode does not work well at all for the daily commute.

Ditto on the shifting abruptness coming out of low-speed turns.

EZZ

I found that just letting the computer shift for you and changing it from Normal to Sport to Sport+ illicited the response I wanted. The issue with normal was throttle response. I think my minivan has better throttle response it was much improved in Sport mode though. Sport mode drank all my gas though

arentz07

I wish Lexus would get rid of the horrible throttle lag. There's a good 1/4 to 1/3 second delay when you press the pedal to when the car responds.

I think the actual throttle response itself is good, just delayed.

EZZ

It was really just annoying from a stop. In other situations it was fine. The Sport mode was necessary for getting the best response though. The only other issue is bad understeer once you get past 8/10ths driving. An underappreciated trait of the car is the fantastic turning radius. Best turning radius of any car i've ever owned. I don't remember once doing a 3 point turn

arentz07

Yeah, that is true, the turning radius on it is actually about the same as my wife's subcompact! It's really good.

And yeah throttle response while moving doesn't seem to be subject to the same degree of lag. One theory is Lexus is internally using a moving-average filter to smooth out the throttle input when taking off from a stop, so you don't have any jerkiness.

EZZ

If you ask me, it didn't have enough power to really be jerky from a stop. The power builds very slowly until 4k rpm then goes bam. If you could keep it in that 4k+ powerband, you can keep up with some fast cars. I played with an SRT Durango pretty well at highway speeds (of course that thing is a brick). My 7 month old Tesla has more rattles than My IS350 at 60k miles...such good build quality

Mattstermh

What are some long lasting all season tires you would recommend? I am not trying to change tires as frequently as some others.

arentz07

For this car, I am honestly not sure. I would think the Continental DWS06 would be decently long-lasting, but @sunamer would probably tell you they don't last too long at all.

My BFGoodrich tires have held up pretty well. 15,000 miles in, and I've had to replace both of the front tires due to potholes, but the rear tires are still at 7/32". The front-right tire was at 5/32" two weeks ago when I replaced it. So they will probably last a little longer than OE, perhaps not... if anything, they have been wearing more evenly.

ABGLexus

Do all season tires get better tread life or summer tires? I only care for tread life and since I'm in southern cali, it never snows or hardly even rains.