E-shift behavior with '02 IS300

External Since: Jan 25, 2004 Posts: 13

Why is it that whenever you put an IS300 in 'M' mode for manually shifting
gears with the E-shift models, they only gear down to '2'? Also, I've
noticed that on extremely cold mornings, mine will only gear down to '3'.
After the vehicle has been driven for a while and gets warmed really well,
it will indeed shift all of the way down to '2'. Why don't they shift down
to '1' on the instrument panel gear display? Anyone inquired about this with
Lexus service reps/techs?

External Since: Jan 27, 2004 Posts: 1

On Sun, 25 Jan 2004 20:26:40 -0500, "J. Perry"
<j_perry.RemoveThis@musicians.net> wrote:

>Why is it that whenever you put an IS300 in 'M' mode for manually
>shifting gears with the E-shift models, they only gear down to '2'?

I have a 2002 IS300 E-shift as well with the same behavior. I
think it is intentional, my guess is that they did because
their over-revving protection feature can't kick in that fast
since it's a pretty short gear. It doesn't really bother me
because I mainly use the E-shift for engine assisted braking,
and down to 2nd gear is fine for that (it's like ~10-20mph).

>Also, I've noticed that on extremely cold mornings, mine will
>only gear down to '3'. After the vehicle has been driven for
>a while and gets warmed really well, it will indeed shift all
>of the way down to '2'.

I rarely notice this since I have a garage at home, but I
have noticed it a few times when leaving work in the winter.
Perhaps it's to prevent the car from over-revving before it
is really warmed up.

>Why don't they shift down
>to '1' on the instrument panel gear display? Anyone inquired
>about this with Lexus service reps/techs?

I don't think it's just not displaying, I don't think you have
control over first gear. I haven't inquired about it since it
doesn't bother me. I'd be curious to know whether all the
other electronic shifting cars around (say BMW 3series, Acura
TL Type-S, Infiniti G35, etc) let you shift to first.