Is 6 Gears Too Many.are They Too Short?

[illusivedreams]

I have no had my MY09 for two weeks,

an notice it does not stop shifting gears.

That is its very smooth and nice but I woul prefer it hold gears longer. You canbe doing 45km/h in 5th gear? I think its a little too optomistic.

Also do we really need six gears. I think 5 slightly more spread out would do just fine,

Would hate to be in an ISF with its 7spd box

[FrankyX]

Firstly, the ISF is 8spd auto.

Anyway, you can always change to the PWR mode which should give you a higher rev throughout the gears or use the paddles. I have no complaints, I think it's quite good and keeps the fuel usage low.

[DANSLEX]

Depends how you drive it. 5th gear at 45 km/h I presume you are rolling slowly in traffic or something. If you floor it then it will obviosly be in a lower gear, 2nd I presume. Can;t generalise it like that. I think having six gears is good, sometimes it will shift straight to six from 2nd if I let go of the gas. Good for economy.

And it does hold gears for long as well. Try this: say you are crusing at 60 or 80. Floor it so it downshift, then let go... it won't upshift till a couple of seconds later. Unless something changed in the MY09... It comes in handy when you need to let go for a moment, and then floor it again, it will stay in the gear and you won't be losing time for the tranny shifting the gears all over the place. No downshift = instant power :)

[Sapphire Cam]

Yep - selecting the PWR mode will see gears held for a bit longer. The Lexus 'philosophy' is to find the highest gear as soon as it can, for economy and noise reasons. However, the IS has a 'sports undertone', unlike the Lexus 'saloons'.

So switch into sport mode and drive "manually" via paddles or gear shift. I drive that way all the time around town and love it - can hold the gears so much longer, and given the very quick shiftdown (in relation to say an Audi or Merc with sports shift) its far more responsive.

[illusivedreams]

Sorry didnt realise it was an 8spd.....:(

About the fuel,,,Well I didnt buy a lexus to worry about fuel prices nore is it my commuter.. For that I would have bought the Prius....

In so It would be nice if it held on to the gears a little longer. as i sad 5th at just over 45 is a little excessive...

Apart from a few creeks which are a little annoying the car is great :)

[Peter]

You should have got the 6 speed manual! I found my is250 manual to be brilliant and very enjoying to drive. There are not many 60K+ cars that pair a manual with a V6. I am so glad Lexus still have this option, I wont buy it otherwise. I read reviews saying the is250 is better suited to a manual gearbox.

[DANSLEX]

Surprisingly it is more economical with the automatic, by up to 1 l/100k...

Wouldn't mind having a drive in a manual IS once for comparison. generally manuals are more enjoyable to drive, as long as you're not stuck in traffic lol!

[illusivedreams]

You should have got the 6 speed manual! I found my is250 manual to be brilliant and very enjoying to drive. There are not many 60K+ cars that pair a manual with a V6. I am so glad Lexus still have this option, I wont buy it otherwise. I read reviews saying the is250 is better suited to a manual gearbox.

I would have to agree,

The reason for the automatic is the wife, Otherewise it would not be my pick...

The auto is ver conservative. Better suited excutive class. The car does not feel as Lively as it should because of it.

Even putting the car in the power mode does little to nothing in terms of car holding on to gears insted of skipping the entire gear box by the time you are at 50+.

Yes it is smooth ,yes it is fuel saving no it is not nice to drive in my opinion. Its like the gear box is not ready when you need to accelarate...