Is it possible to downshift to 1st??
09-21-11, 06:07 PM
#1
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Is it possible to downshift to 1st??
I had 99 lexus gs300 years ago now after years im going back to lexus after driving a couple of e46 bmw's and a e60 bmw. my question after driving them is i got used to being able to downshift to 1st gear and im getting a 03 gs300 which has the steering shifters and ive noticed u can only go down to 2nd. Does anyone know if its possible to make it go down to 1st? thank you
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01-10-12, 05:11 PM
#8
I am sure the ECM won't allow stupidity there (55 mph drop to first), but you can bet it will let you around 5-8 mph less than redline. At least when I tune GM cars I shoot for that ability.... 
Stock usually will.
Stock usually will.
01-11-12, 08:43 AM
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01-11-12, 08:53 AM
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i track my gs 4 fairly regularly, i would love to be able to "use" first gear. a lot of the time when i come out of a corner accelerating hard in 2nd, the trans WILL downshift into first. resulting in odd shift points and unnecessary gear shifts in the straights. the car will probably go almost 35 in first. (i have never actually looked to see) the perfect gear for a tight turn. At horse thief mile, i come out in first gear, in 3-4 corners...
can you say, T-5 ? cheapest 5 spd swap, i think.
can you say, T-5 ? cheapest 5 spd swap, i think.
01-11-12, 09:07 AM
#12
I was looking around and stumbled on a W57 and W58 5 speed, they were used in non-turbo supra's and were close ratio, but I don't know if they will handle the power of the 4.0/4.3L. But they were used in the I300 up to 2005. Don't know much about it other than what I found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_W_transmission
W57
The W57 is sometimes designated as a "close-ratio transmission"; however in its stock form it does not meet all the criteria for a Close-ratio box.
The ratio shift was accomplished by taking the W55 base ratios and changing the input shaft to intermediate shaft ratio by 7.9%, thus shifting 1,2,3 ratios higher by that amount (4th is direct 1:1).
Unlike in the W58 the 5th/overdrive gear set was changed to create a smaller rpm drop between 4th & 5th gears so as to remain close to the overdrive ratio seen in the other boxes.
The rest of the transmission remains unchanged.
Ratios:
First Gear: 3.285:1
Second Gear: 1.894:1
Third Gear: 1.275:1
Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
Fifth Gear: 0.861:1
Reverse: -3.768:1
Applications:
1983-1986 Toyota Supra MK 2 in certain non-US markets.
1986 Toyota Crown
1986 Toyota Cressida
1982-1985 Toyota Celica (21R)
[edit] W58
It differs from the W57 in its fifth-gear ratio. This transmission is popular as a replacement for weak stock transmissions in other vehicles. It came in two varieties: the original found in the 1982-1989 non-turbo Supras, Celicas and Cressidas of the early 1980s; and the later version found in Mk3, Mk 4 Supras and Lexus SC 300s.
Toyota lists a change from an alloy sandwich plate to a steel sandwich plate around 1989. The steel sandwich plate has some minor internal differences, and it is believed to be slightly stronger (some wider bearings, some wider gears, slightly different gear selection mechanism, etc.). In theory the all-alloy version of the W58 should be exactly the same strength as any other all-alloy W-Series transmission. The steel plate version is considered much harder to find and worth approximately three to five times as much as an all alloy version.
The ratios and bolt patterns remain the same regardless of the sandwich plate used.
The W58 & W57 share the highest gearing and closest ratios (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (direct)) of the stock W-Series transmissions.
The ratio shift was accomplished by taking the W55 base ratios and changing the input shaft to intermediate shaft ratio by 7.9%, thus shifting 1, 2, 3 ratios higher by that amount. This also shifted the overdrive 5th gear higher by the same amount creating a wider and taller overdrive ratio.
The W58 is sometimes designated as a "close-ratio transmission"; however, in its stock form it does not meet all the criteria for a close-ratio box.
Toyota engineers have shown favor to the W58 over the rest of the 'W' series by including it in so many models and even building a stronger version for higher powered applications.
Ratios:
First Gear: 3.285:1
Second Gear: 1.894:1
Third Gear: 1.275:1
Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
Fifth Gear: 0.783:1
Reverse: -3.768:1
Applications:
1982-1986 Toyota MK 2 Celica Supra
1986-1992 Toyota MK 3 non-turbo Supra
1993-1998 Toyota MK 4 non-turbo Supra
1986 Toyota Cressida
1986 Toyota Soarer
1982-1992 Lotus Excel
1992-1997 Lexus SC300
1998-2005 Lexus IS300 5 speed
W57
The W57 is sometimes designated as a "close-ratio transmission"; however in its stock form it does not meet all the criteria for a Close-ratio box.
The ratio shift was accomplished by taking the W55 base ratios and changing the input shaft to intermediate shaft ratio by 7.9%, thus shifting 1,2,3 ratios higher by that amount (4th is direct 1:1).
Unlike in the W58 the 5th/overdrive gear set was changed to create a smaller rpm drop between 4th & 5th gears so as to remain close to the overdrive ratio seen in the other boxes.
The rest of the transmission remains unchanged.
Ratios:
First Gear: 3.285:1
Second Gear: 1.894:1
Third Gear: 1.275:1
Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
Fifth Gear: 0.861:1
Reverse: -3.768:1
Applications:
1983-1986 Toyota Supra MK 2 in certain non-US markets.
1986 Toyota Crown
1986 Toyota Cressida
1982-1985 Toyota Celica (21R)
[edit] W58
It differs from the W57 in its fifth-gear ratio. This transmission is popular as a replacement for weak stock transmissions in other vehicles. It came in two varieties: the original found in the 1982-1989 non-turbo Supras, Celicas and Cressidas of the early 1980s; and the later version found in Mk3, Mk 4 Supras and Lexus SC 300s.
Toyota lists a change from an alloy sandwich plate to a steel sandwich plate around 1989. The steel sandwich plate has some minor internal differences, and it is believed to be slightly stronger (some wider bearings, some wider gears, slightly different gear selection mechanism, etc.). In theory the all-alloy version of the W58 should be exactly the same strength as any other all-alloy W-Series transmission. The steel plate version is considered much harder to find and worth approximately three to five times as much as an all alloy version.
The ratios and bolt patterns remain the same regardless of the sandwich plate used.
The W58 & W57 share the highest gearing and closest ratios (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th (direct)) of the stock W-Series transmissions.
The ratio shift was accomplished by taking the W55 base ratios and changing the input shaft to intermediate shaft ratio by 7.9%, thus shifting 1, 2, 3 ratios higher by that amount. This also shifted the overdrive 5th gear higher by the same amount creating a wider and taller overdrive ratio.
The W58 is sometimes designated as a "close-ratio transmission"; however, in its stock form it does not meet all the criteria for a close-ratio box.
Toyota engineers have shown favor to the W58 over the rest of the 'W' series by including it in so many models and even building a stronger version for higher powered applications.
Ratios:
First Gear: 3.285:1
Second Gear: 1.894:1
Third Gear: 1.275:1
Fourth Gear: 1.00:1
Fifth Gear: 0.783:1
Reverse: -3.768:1
Applications:
1982-1986 Toyota MK 2 Celica Supra
1986-1992 Toyota MK 3 non-turbo Supra
1993-1998 Toyota MK 4 non-turbo Supra
1986 Toyota Cressida
1986 Toyota Soarer
1982-1992 Lotus Excel
1992-1997 Lexus SC300
1998-2005 Lexus IS300 5 speed
i track my gs 4 fairly regularly, i would love to be able to "use" first gear. a lot of the time when i come out of a corner accelerating hard in 2nd, the trans WILL downshift into first. resulting in odd shift points and unnecessary gear shifts in the straights. the car will probably go almost 35 in first. (i have never actually looked to see) the perfect gear for a tight turn. At horse thief mile, i come out in first gear, in 3-4 corners...
can you say, T-5 ? cheapest 5 spd swap, i think.
can you say, T-5 ? cheapest 5 spd swap, i think.
01-11-12, 09:10 AM
#13
Just found this: http://www.retrotech.co.nz/Tech/Toyota-boxes.php
The R154 is beefier than the W55/W57/W58, so that is why people don't swap in a W box and use the R154 box.
The R154 is beefier than the W55/W57/W58, so that is why people don't swap in a W box and use the R154 box.
01-14-12, 08:58 PM
#14
i track my gs 4 fairly regularly, i would love to be able to "use" first gear. a lot of the time when i come out of a corner accelerating hard in 2nd, the trans WILL downshift into first. resulting in odd shift points and unnecessary gear shifts in the straights. the car will probably go almost 35 in first. (i have never actually looked to see) the perfect gear for a tight turn. At horse thief mile, i come out in first gear, in 3-4 corners...
can you say, T-5 ? cheapest 5 spd swap, i think.
can you say, T-5 ? cheapest 5 spd swap, i think.
. Any Ideas?
01-15-12, 10:31 PM
#15
No external trans cooler installed yet? I would if I was doing track work. Get a big one, but install it before the radiator trans cooler. This results in a very consistent temp transmission, and one that warms up well when cold. Some do it after the radiator cooler, but that puts undo stress on the cooling system and can make the car run much warmer in harsh conditions.
The GS4's trans controller and trans aren't the fastest shifting by any means, so allowing manual control in 1st with the short gears is a recipe to bounce off the rev limiter, which isn't healthy either.
The GS4's trans controller and trans aren't the fastest shifting by any means, so allowing manual control in 1st with the short gears is a recipe to bounce off the rev limiter, which isn't healthy either.
Hmmm.... the track must have some slow turns for you to need to use 1st gear. I think it will overheat the transmission pretty fast having running it in low gears. At least this happens to me, when I'm tracking my GS4. There are 3 turns where I need to be in 2nd, but after a few hot laps the computer wont allow me to shift down to 2nd from 3rd. And it does create some instability in the car coming out of turns, as it will shift down on its own while accelerating, but not when I need it, before taking a turn. Also, one cannot compare a BMW's manual SMG to a Lexus auto trany. BTW, I have hard shifting problem now in my Lexus 2 to 3rd . Any Ideas?
. Any Ideas?