2013+ IS250 dropped the manual transmission option?
#1
2013+ IS250 dropped the manual transmission option?
Has Lexus axed their 6-speed manual transmission option on the 250 for good? I see it appears to have been dropped for 2013 models. Does anyone know if this is a permanent change or just cost-cutting before the new IS models are released?
#2
you can get MT by talking to your dealer. It takes something like 90 days to deliver though. But you can no longer order it online, which is a bummer.
#5
That's a shame. Thanks for confirming, guys. I do wonder, however, if they still offer it in the European market? I'd be surprised if they didn't. Seems like a very simple thing to keep on the option list but they did the same with the SC300 late into its life cycle.
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#8
Lead Lap
iTrader: (2)
All my cars being manual and i must the IS was the worst. i got the short shifter/Quick shifter installed over the weekend that made a big difference. Although i have been complaining how tired i am of driving manual i think if the 350 came with manual transmission i would definitely go for it.
#11
This is primarily because people today who generally afford Ferraris, performance Porsches and Black Series Mercedes generally have never driven a real high performance car before or for whatever reason don't feel that operating a manual is their thing. It has nothing to do with the craftsmanship and operation of a well designed driver interface. Offering an expensive product to someone with the means but lacking in experience serves the same purpose as before manuals went on the decline: maximizing sales.
If you're going to look at shift times and racing environments then that's different-- dual-clutch electronic manuals are superior in that they will produce better lap times by taking far less time to change gears, but we aren't talking about primarily track-oriented cars.
There is nothing "antique" about a three-pedal manual transmission and hand operated stick. Hey, some people even argue that the entire concept of a driver-operated car is an antique relic of a bygone era. That doesn't make the assertion right... it just makes it a trend.
Marketing has largely determined the fate of traditional manuals. Not every car needs one any longer but for those of us who aren't trying to beat Nurburgring lap times and just like an engaging driving experience, manuals are far from comparable to a crank-start engine or horse-drawn carriages.
How do you draw such drastic comparisons? It's a transmission that allows the driver to control the engine's power band by hand versus a computer doing it for you, not a holdover from the bronze age.
Last edited by KahnBB6; 02-27-13 at 12:29 PM.
#12
Keeping it Real
iTrader: (1)
It's a personal preference. Like the manual transmission or not, it's a dying breed and less and less cars are coming with them. Lexus no longer offers a single car with a manual transmission.
I like it, but people aren't buying them, so what are companies supposed to do?
There are more modern ways of allowing a driver to control the gear the car is in. DSG, or the auto in the IS-F/FR-S/'14 IS F-Sport are prime examples. That is Kurtz's point, not that selecting your gear is antiquated, but doing so manually with a third pedal is. Personally I find a great deal of enjoyment driving a manual transmission that just isn't there when I use a paddle shifter, but that doesn't mean it's not a dying option. For Lexus, it appears it is dead.
Jeff
I like it, but people aren't buying them, so what are companies supposed to do?
Jeff
#13
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (1)
It's a personal preference. Like the manual transmission or not, it's a dying breed and less and less cars are coming with them. Lexus no longer offers a single car with a manual transmission.
I like it, but people aren't buying them, so what are companies supposed to do?
There are more modern ways of allowing a driver to control the gear the car is in. DSG, or the auto in the IS-F/FR-S/'14 IS F-Sport are prime examples. That is Kurtz's point, not that selecting your gear is antiquated, but doing so manually with a third pedal is.
Jeff
I like it, but people aren't buying them, so what are companies supposed to do?
There are more modern ways of allowing a driver to control the gear the car is in. DSG, or the auto in the IS-F/FR-S/'14 IS F-Sport are prime examples. That is Kurtz's point, not that selecting your gear is antiquated, but doing so manually with a third pedal is.
Jeff
exactly right
That's why the porsches with the PDK are crushing the ones with the antique clutch pedal on tracks, even with professional drivers.
It's not that people aren't good enough drivers to use a clutch in a manual car, it's that it is a demonstrably inferior, slower, less efficient way to control a transmission.
F1 realized this many years ago, they didn't switch to paddles because the drivers "have never driven a real high performance car before"...now the tech is just finally becoming common in more "regular" cars.
#14
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