chiefguy

I thought they would put the 8 speed transmission in the AWD GS but I just noticed it still has the 6 speed....not sure why they didn't put the 8 speed

RoiteTrom

The same reason why they didn't put the 8 speed in the Lexus IS AWD.. it wouldn't had fit. At least, that's what most of the IS members said.

chiefguy

The RWD GS has the eight speed transmission.....why not the AWD GS?

1111GS

What is it about the 8 gear that you like?

ls430lover

probably likes 22mpg instead of 19 thats why i don't have a gs350

RoiteTrom

More gears means shorter gear ratios which leads to faster shifting.. the 8-speed transmission is from the IS-F, famous for shifting in 0.1 second. Much faster then the slouchy 6-speed. Also it gives better gas mileage.

On another note, there is probably no 8 speed in the AWD versions because the 8 speed goes better with RWD for a sporty driving feel. The main purpose for AWD is to drive through snow and rain with ease, not sporty driving. So why put a transmission that's meant for a sports car in a AWD?

dseag2

Slouchy 6-speed? Funny you say that, because most owners who have driven both the 6-speed and 8-speed prefer the 6-speed for its more aggressive shifting.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...pd-tranny.html

maddave

please give me a 16 rwd with a 6speed.. pleasseee. i hate my 8

RoiteTrom

Many people say different things lol. I only read up on the 3IS forums on 8 speed vs 6 speed. Also, I didn't mean slouchy as in very slow. Just meant it as slower then the 8 speed. Sorry.

Edit: Here's a comparison review from a clublexus member. He drove and compared the Lexus IS350 AWD and RWD.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ort-rwd-2.html

Transmission Performance and Behavior in Routine Driving Conditions
In full automatic mode both transmissions exhibit supremely smooth shifts - hardly noticeable, really, with the downshifts slightly more so. There really is very little difference between them in routine driving. Both are geared and programmed to keep the engine speed between 1,500-2,000RPM when puttering along at city speeds (25-50MPH), and both keep the engine spinning at or just above 2,000RPM on the highway. Any advantage the RWD model has in gas mileage is probably due to extra drivetrain loss in the AWD model than anything. This transmission was clearly designed for keeping you in the engine's sweet spot at higher RPM's with improvements in gas mileage an afterthought, if that.

Once you put the transmissions into manual mode, however, the differences become more apparent.

Engine breaking is one such area. In the middle gears (3, 4, 5) the effect feels more pronounced with the 6 speed. Down shifting into 3rd at 35MPH with the 8 speed is relatively uneventful, but results in pretty significant engine breaking with the 6 speed. I don't pretend to know enough about the inner workings of these things, but it may have to do with the closer gear spacing of the 8. Engine breaking in first and second gears feels slightly more pronounced with the 8 speed; it is significant with both transmissions.

Shift response is certainly a bit quicker with the 8 speed. By this I'm referring to the transmission's reaction time, not the actual shift time - the time from when you first pull the paddle to when the transmission initiates the shift. The 6 speed is no slouch - it reacts more quickly than most electronic automatic transmissions and puts the 5 speed auto in my Subaru Legacy GT 2.5 to shame - but there is a brief pause between the pull and the actual shift. It is near instantaneous with the 8 speed. Comparing the actual shift times will have to wait until I can get into more spirited driving with the new car.

Shift points are naturally going to be different between the two. Based on my scientific approach of eyeballing it, below are the lowest speeds the transmissions will shift/allow you to shift into each gear. Which brings me to another thing the two share - the nannying that nearly all electronic automatic transmissions engage in. Both transmissions will downshift into lower gears if you stray too far from the comfort zone of whatever gear you were cruising along in. And both will limit how far ahead you can get (IE, you cannot shift into 4th gear at 10MPH).

SW17LS

I gotta tell you...I am not a fan of these higher gear transmissions.

I have not driven a GS with the 8 speed, but I've heard many people who went from the 6 to the 8 say they thought the 6 felt peppier and shifted better. I have the 8 speed (the original 8 speed transmission BTW) in the LS, and I thought my 6 speed LS430 and 5 speed LS400 shifted better, as did my 6 speed GS350. I had an 8 speed in my 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it shifted better than the 5 speed in my 2011 Grand Cherokee but only because that 5 speed had very tall gear ratios for better fuel economy, the 8 speed in the 2014 Jeep hunted for gears, struggled to downshift multiple gears for passing power, etc.

These higher speed autos are coming out for one reason...fuel economy...not sportiness.

So in short...I'd rather have the 6 speed.

Im2bz2p345

I own a 13' hybrid with a 6 speed, but unfortunately that weren't any hybrids on dealership lots when I was looking for my car.

The closest that I could get to experiencing the same thing was the GS350. I had test driven the 2013 GS350 RWD (6 speed) extensively by visiting various dealerships.

After take ownership of my hybrid, I went to go test drive a 2014 GS350 RWD (with the 8 speed) to see what types of improvement came with the next model year.

Trust me, the 6 speed is miles better for anyone looks for a more sporty transmission. The 8 speed will "hunt" for gears and take longer to actually ENGAGE the next gear. Also, down shifts are much better on the 6 speed because you'll actually "feel" the car slow down whereas with the 8 speed you'll need to downshift TWICE to be able to get the same feeling.

Frankly, this car doesn't need 8 gears. The car doesn't have as much torque at the lower rpm band and I can be cruising at highway speeds in 5th or 6th gear without have rpm needle go too far above 2K rpm.

Just my opinion though. There are numerous other fairly length topics discussing this exact same thing:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...mission-3.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...-8-cogs-3.html

Hope that helps,

~ Im2bz2p345

SW17LS

Your GS450h has a CVT, not a 6 speed.

peteharvey

I'm confused on this matter.

Does GS450h use a true CVT, or a conventional 6 speed etc that has been programmed to behave like a CVT?

Someone like Hoovey or someone else posted somewhere years ago, that the GS450h's gearbox is not a true CVT, but a conventional gearbox that behaves in a CVT-like way?????

SW17LS

The GS450h uses Toyotas eCVT, as do all Toyota/Lexus hybrids. There is no such thing as "a 6 speed programmed to behave like a CVT", the difference is not programming, the physical transmission hardware is completely different. They program CVTs to feel like traditional transmissions but not the other way around. This is the case in the GS.

Toyotas CVT design is different from what say Nissan uses, but it's still a CVT.

Im2bz2p345

True - but is has a limitation of only 6 "gears" that are artificial in nature. In other words, I cannot put it in manual and somehow reach to gear 8 (even though theoretically, they could have allowed even 100 gears in the hybrid. lol)

In manual mode, it behaves similar to the 6 speed GS350 in manual mode, which is a different feeling than the 8 speed GS350.

Appreciate the clarification,

~ Im2bz2p345