2014 Lexus GS350: 8AT, Siri, Climate Concierge and more!
09-26-13, 07:47 AM
#46
Guest
Posts: n/a
Awesome updates! Would be nice to have but would not trade in the first years experience. 
Steve I'm with you on 6 vs 8 especially when its time to shift for yourself. I have to really remember I have 2 more gears to play with. I've had no issues with Lexus of BMW 8 speeds.
Steve I'm with you on 6 vs 8 especially when its time to shift for yourself. I have to really remember I have 2 more gears to play with. I've had no issues with Lexus of BMW 8 speeds.
09-26-13, 09:11 AM
#49
Pole Position
Plenty of engineers are on record in technical publications saying that the laws of diminishing returns kick in past "6 or 7" forward gears. 8 and 9 is really all marketing. I've had plenty of seat time in newer BMWs with the ZF 8-speed, and while it's a fine transmission it really is overkill. Do you really need gears spaced every 500rpm? If 8th gear wasn't providing enough pull to go up a grade or make a maneuver, 7th wasn't either and it was actually hitting 6th on me. Gearing could have easily been 1-2-3-4-6-8, skipping 5th and 7th. In other words, just spread out 5th and 6th on a 6-speed automatic a bit more and you have the same thing, minus the overkill. On higher powered cars like the BMW 550i, 1st gear is pretty pointless and you can actually get better 0-60 times starting from 2nd gear since there's so much power and you save the time for a shift. If you're in manual mode, it's also annoying having to manually click through so many gears. Manual shift from 8th to 4th is a lot more annoying than getting from 6th to 4th. Anyways if you've got an 8-speed it's nice and entertaining in a way to hear the engine wind up and wind down so quickly as it goes through all of the gears, but no big loss at all if you're not really gaining much performance (either acceleration or fuel economy) and 6-speed automatics don't hunt as much and are easier to keep track of mentally in manual mode.
09-26-13, 10:47 AM
#51
I'm holding out for the 2023 GS. LOL
09-26-13, 12:02 PM
#52
Plenty of engineers are on record in technical publications saying that the laws of diminishing returns kick in past "6 or 7" forward gears. 8 and 9 is really all marketing. I've had plenty of seat time in newer BMWs with the ZF 8-speed, and while it's a fine transmission it really is overkill. Do you really need gears spaced every 500rpm? If 8th gear wasn't providing enough pull to go up a grade or make a maneuver, 7th wasn't either and it was actually hitting 6th on me. Gearing could have easily been 1-2-3-4-6-8, skipping 5th and 7th. In other words, just spread out 5th and 6th on a 6-speed automatic a bit more and you have the same thing, minus the overkill. On higher powered cars like the BMW 550i, 1st gear is pretty pointless and you can actually get better 0-60 times starting from 2nd gear since there's so much power and you save the time for a shift. If you're in manual mode, it's also annoying having to manually click through so many gears. Manual shift from 8th to 4th is a lot more annoying than getting from 6th to 4th. Anyways if you've got an 8-speed it's nice and entertaining in a way to hear the engine wind up and wind down so quickly as it goes through all of the gears, but no big loss at all if you're not really gaining much performance (either acceleration or fuel economy) and 6-speed automatics don't hunt as much and are easier to keep track of mentally in manual mode.
when i had my ls460l, and recently driving the ls460 fsport and is350 fsport, i always get very confused what gear i am in
09-26-13, 01:09 PM
#53
Lexus Test Driver
Plenty of engineers are on record in technical publications saying that the laws of diminishing returns kick in past "6 or 7" forward gears. 8 and 9 is really all marketing. I've had plenty of seat time in newer BMWs with the ZF 8-speed, and while it's a fine transmission it really is overkill. Do you really need gears spaced every 500rpm? If 8th gear wasn't providing enough pull to go up a grade or make a maneuver, 7th wasn't either and it was actually hitting 6th on me. Gearing could have easily been 1-2-3-4-6-8, skipping 5th and 7th. In other words, just spread out 5th and 6th on a 6-speed automatic a bit more and you have the same thing, minus the overkill. On higher powered cars like the BMW 550i, 1st gear is pretty pointless and you can actually get better 0-60 times starting from 2nd gear since there's so much power and you save the time for a shift. If you're in manual mode, it's also annoying having to manually click through so many gears. Manual shift from 8th to 4th is a lot more annoying than getting from 6th to 4th. Anyways if you've got an 8-speed it's nice and entertaining in a way to hear the engine wind up and wind down so quickly as it goes through all of the gears, but no big loss at all if you're not really gaining much performance (either acceleration or fuel economy) and 6-speed automatics don't hunt as much and are easier to keep track of mentally in manual mode.
09-26-13, 01:24 PM
#54
09-26-13, 04:38 PM
#58
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Do you really need gears spaced every 500rpm?
do you really need lots of wood, or carbon fiber trim, or panoramic roofs, or massive brakes, or huge rims, etc., etc.
Gearing could have easily been 1-2-3-4-6-8, skipping 5th and 7th.
3/5 were fun if i wanted to wind it out a bit, but not 'needed'. if anything the 6th was still not tall enough.
If you're in manual mode, it's also annoying having to manually click through so many gears.
it's just for control freaks who think they know better than the software. as for gear hunting when in auto, with small spacing of gears, the car can make more choices in fuel economy vs. responsiveness. i drive a 7 speed infiniti g37 coupe fairly often, and i'm in awe of how great it shifts and how it blips the rpms on downshift to match and make it seamless. harder to make it smooth with fewer cogs. yes, the lexus 6 speed is excellent (as was the 5 speed too), but part of that is the honkin' torque converter that smooths things out.
anyway, for a luxury car, i'll take all the cogs i can get thank you.
how about the new 7 speed manual on the new 911? isn't needed either.
09-26-13, 04:52 PM
#60
Lexus Champion
I'm sure the engineers at the companies using 8+ speed transmissions could make a case for the benefits they provide. The good news it's up to the consumer to decide many speeds they want.