Are there anyone here who prefers their Lexus to be manual transmission?
03-15-18, 01:48 AM
#1
Intermediate
Thread Starter
Are there anyone here who prefers their Lexus to be manual transmission?
I know all Lexus cars are currently sold only as automatics (to me, automatics aren't engaging and fun). In my opinion, this drives a few auto enthusiasts away from Lexus and into German brands (like BMW, Porsche, Audi). Maybe that's why Lexus lose a fraction of market share from the Germans, possibly...
If Lexus sold cars with a manual transmission option, would you consider to buy it? Those who currently drive a German manual transmission car, would you buy Lexus if it has this option?
If Lexus sold cars with a manual transmission option, would you consider to buy it? Those who currently drive a German manual transmission car, would you buy Lexus if it has this option?
03-15-18, 02:34 AM
#2
For what Lexus offers now, I would not buy one with a manual transmission. They just don't offer anything that engaging or sporty IMO. Plus automatic transmissions aren't the dogs they used to be back in the 80's/90's, technology now days makes them faster than a manual transmission and makes it to where they are always in the right gear if they are programmed correctly(some automatics are, some are not and just needlessly upshift to conserve fuel).
That being said, I do own a Lexus with a manual transmission. Its a 1992 SC300/5 speed combo. Main reason I bought it in 2012 was the 60k miles on the odometer, mint leather interior, everything on it worked, mint 100% original pearl white paint, laser straight body, no rust, but the cherry on the top that made me bid high on ebay was the 5 speed manual. Had complete service records dating back to 1992. Condition was stupid mint. At the time it was by far the nicest SC I had seen for the past few months on ebay for sale.
I mean nobody ordered the manual on this car.
I can kind of see why though, the clutch is a bit heavy for a luxury car, but hell to that, this is the easiest stick shift car I've ever drove. It isn't a bother in stop/go traffic, lots of down low torque. Main thing is that 2JZ-GE inline six is velvet smooth. Glad this car has a tach on it, cause if you have the music cranked and can't hear the engine, 2000rpm feels exactly like 5000rpm, velvet smooth. Its not what I'd call "fast" but I'd say its "powerful", wide powerband, lots of torque.
That being said, I do own a Lexus with a manual transmission. Its a 1992 SC300/5 speed combo. Main reason I bought it in 2012 was the 60k miles on the odometer, mint leather interior, everything on it worked, mint 100% original pearl white paint, laser straight body, no rust, but the cherry on the top that made me bid high on ebay was the 5 speed manual. Had complete service records dating back to 1992. Condition was stupid mint. At the time it was by far the nicest SC I had seen for the past few months on ebay for sale.
I mean nobody ordered the manual on this car.
I can kind of see why though, the clutch is a bit heavy for a luxury car, but hell to that, this is the easiest stick shift car I've ever drove. It isn't a bother in stop/go traffic, lots of down low torque. Main thing is that 2JZ-GE inline six is velvet smooth. Glad this car has a tach on it, cause if you have the music cranked and can't hear the engine, 2000rpm feels exactly like 5000rpm, velvet smooth. Its not what I'd call "fast" but I'd say its "powerful", wide powerband, lots of torque.
03-15-18, 05:13 AM
#3
Lexus Test Driver
Germans no longer offer manuals except for very few BMWs and Porsches.
New M5 is auto only, next gen 3series and M3 are rumored to drop manual option as well. Then you just have M2 and 2series.
New M5 is auto only, next gen 3series and M3 are rumored to drop manual option as well. Then you just have M2 and 2series.
03-15-18, 05:36 AM
#4
Lexus Fanatic
Yeah I would definitely prefer my LS430 to be a manual. There was a conversion to manual on YouTube,. but I believe it was the entire powertrain.
I have a friend who owns a transportation co. All the new trucks are 100% automatics (they have like 50 rigs on backorder, what a booming industry--they can't open an operation until the trucks are delivered), we're talking rigs that cost well over $150k all day long with the 15.6l DD16's. There is a shortage of drivers, and they noticed around 6 or 7 years ago, that no new drivers would even consider taking a job if the rigs were manuals. Pathetic if you ask me, the old timers (35 and up) can change gears without the clutch.
I have a friend who owns a transportation co. All the new trucks are 100% automatics (they have like 50 rigs on backorder, what a booming industry--they can't open an operation until the trucks are delivered), we're talking rigs that cost well over $150k all day long with the 15.6l DD16's. There is a shortage of drivers, and they noticed around 6 or 7 years ago, that no new drivers would even consider taking a job if the rigs were manuals. Pathetic if you ask me, the old timers (35 and up) can change gears without the clutch.
03-15-18, 05:42 AM
#5
Lexus Fanatic
For what Lexus offers now, I would not buy one with a manual transmission. They just don't offer anything that engaging or sporty IMO. Plus automatic transmissions aren't the dogs they used to be back in the 80's/90's, technology now days makes them faster than a manual transmission and makes it to where they are always in the right gear if they are programmed correctly(some automatics are, some are not and just needlessly upshift to conserve fuel).
That being said, I do own a Lexus with a manual transmission. Its a 1992 SC300/5 speed combo. Main reason I bought it in 2012 was the 60k miles on the odometer, mint leather interior, everything on it worked, mint 100% original pearl white paint, laser straight body, no rust, but the cherry on the top that made me bid high on ebay was the 5 speed manual. Had complete service records dating back to 1992. Condition was stupid mint. At the time it was by far the nicest SC I had seen for the past few months on ebay for sale.
I mean nobody ordered the manual on this car.
I can kind of see why though, the clutch is a bit heavy for a luxury car, but hell to that, this is the easiest stick shift car I've ever drove. It isn't a bother in stop/go traffic, lots of down low torque. Main thing is that 2JZ-GE inline six is velvet smooth. Glad this car has a tach on it, cause if you have the music cranked and can't hear the engine, 2000rpm feels exactly like 5000rpm, velvet smooth. Its not what I'd call "fast" but I'd say its "powerful", wide powerband, lots of torque.
That being said, I do own a Lexus with a manual transmission. Its a 1992 SC300/5 speed combo. Main reason I bought it in 2012 was the 60k miles on the odometer, mint leather interior, everything on it worked, mint 100% original pearl white paint, laser straight body, no rust, but the cherry on the top that made me bid high on ebay was the 5 speed manual. Had complete service records dating back to 1992. Condition was stupid mint. At the time it was by far the nicest SC I had seen for the past few months on ebay for sale.
I mean nobody ordered the manual on this car.
I can kind of see why though, the clutch is a bit heavy for a luxury car, but hell to that, this is the easiest stick shift car I've ever drove. It isn't a bother in stop/go traffic, lots of down low torque. Main thing is that 2JZ-GE inline six is velvet smooth. Glad this car has a tach on it, cause if you have the music cranked and can't hear the engine, 2000rpm feels exactly like 5000rpm, velvet smooth. Its not what I'd call "fast" but I'd say its "powerful", wide powerband, lots of torque.
When I bought my 1998 Maxima SE in March 1998, there were like 17 cars in stock, and huge discounts (if memory serves me $6,800 off list, why buy used?). But only 2 were sticks.
When I ordered my 335i coupe in Oct. 2006, every single dealership had zero cars to sell, but 2 to drive--one stick, one auto. So sticks were not done in the 2007 model year, at BMW. Try to find one used today...it's people like us who either snatched them up, or won't give them up. I think carfox says my 335i is worth $8k? lol At that price, you'd have about as much chance of getting it from me, as you would have in taking Obama's BlackBerry away when he entered office. it's in showroom condition!
03-15-18, 06:46 AM
#6
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
manuals are almost dead in the u.s.
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03-15-18, 07:22 AM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
The 2nd pic explains a little (not in Ontario), but not the first. The first would be like saying I prefer NHL 2018 with special xbox joysticks, than actually playing with other people, because in the former I don't sweat at all, and in the latter, it hurts when people hit me....It's what you like. When I was a kid, as far as I remember (my memory could be wrong), there was bumper to bumper standstill traffic on the GW/Lincoln/Holland, yet a good portion of cars were manuals. For Porsches, almost 100% (the 928 was an anomaly). And yes, they had electricity when I was a kid. Even had cds (there are people in the office who have never used one)...
Last edited by bitkahuna; 03-15-18 at 07:42 AM.
03-15-18, 07:47 AM
#9
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
Johnhave430 - we can always do the "back in the day..." posts but the reality is there's almost NO DEMAND or interest in stick shifts.
for cars like porsches that used to sell with manuals a lot, people got the manual to extract the most performance out of the car and feel involved/connected to it, vs. slow shifting and dumb auto transmissions back then. they went out of fashion as the power levels went up (lots) and auto transmissions went from 'worse performance' (than a stick) to 'better performance' and thus pretty much a no brainer except for the 'entertainment factor' of a stick shift, which a lot of people don't actually find entertaining. i knew my stick days were over when i moved to atlanta and had to sell mine. for a couple of years i did briefly return to stick with a miata here in rural florida and it was fun and that to me is the best scenario remaining for a stick - a vehicle that's light without a ton of power. but everything else, no thanks.
for cars like porsches that used to sell with manuals a lot, people got the manual to extract the most performance out of the car and feel involved/connected to it, vs. slow shifting and dumb auto transmissions back then. they went out of fashion as the power levels went up (lots) and auto transmissions went from 'worse performance' (than a stick) to 'better performance' and thus pretty much a no brainer except for the 'entertainment factor' of a stick shift, which a lot of people don't actually find entertaining. i knew my stick days were over when i moved to atlanta and had to sell mine. for a couple of years i did briefly return to stick with a miata here in rural florida and it was fun and that to me is the best scenario remaining for a stick - a vehicle that's light without a ton of power. but everything else, no thanks.
03-15-18, 08:18 AM
#10
even in europe, manuals are for cheap cars as price of good automatic is expensive - easily adds between $2k and $4k to the price of even cheap vehicle, thus making it 20% more expensive.. You also have to have a bigger engine for automatic, so many small cars are manual only... but for something like A6 and 5 series, manuals are so hard to sell used and get rock bottom prices when you are selling... basically nobody wants these.
03-15-18, 08:38 AM
#12
Lexus Fanatic
Johnhave430 - we can always do the "back in the day..." posts but the reality is there's almost NO DEMAND or interest in stick shifts.
for cars like porsches that used to sell with manuals a lot, people got the manual to extract the most performance out of the car and feel involved/connected to it, vs. slow shifting and dumb auto transmissions back then. they went out of fashion as the power levels went up (lots) and auto transmissions went from 'worse performance' (than a stick) to 'better performance' and thus pretty much a no brainer except for the 'entertainment factor' of a stick shift, which a lot of people don't actually find entertaining. i knew my stick days were over when i moved to atlanta and had to sell mine. for a couple of years i did briefly return to stick with a miata here in rural florida and it was fun and that to me is the best scenario remaining for a stick - a vehicle that's light without a ton of power. but everything else, no thanks.
for cars like porsches that used to sell with manuals a lot, people got the manual to extract the most performance out of the car and feel involved/connected to it, vs. slow shifting and dumb auto transmissions back then. they went out of fashion as the power levels went up (lots) and auto transmissions went from 'worse performance' (than a stick) to 'better performance' and thus pretty much a no brainer except for the 'entertainment factor' of a stick shift, which a lot of people don't actually find entertaining. i knew my stick days were over when i moved to atlanta and had to sell mine. for a couple of years i did briefly return to stick with a miata here in rural florida and it was fun and that to me is the best scenario remaining for a stick - a vehicle that's light without a ton of power. but everything else, no thanks.
With that being said, my first hockey stick was hand carved out of a block of wood (giant rather gigantic), and weighed 48 lbs. I still managed to carry it to school, uphill in both directions, and we managed. Our slap shots probably were no better than 8 to 12 mph.
Besides shifting, personally, I like how manuals last forever. Maxima is over 250k, original clutch
03-15-18, 08:40 AM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
Dunno if you've gotten your LS stuck yet, it will pretty much show how useless the snow button is. That is not to say it would not be stuck with a stick as well, but there would be some degree of control in getting unstuck, whereas in the former, there isn't any control whatsoever
03-15-18, 09:08 AM
#14
Lexus Champion
If my GS had been available with a manual, I would have bought it, but it wasn't enough of an issue to drive me away from buying the GS. My truck is a manual, so I have to get my manual kicks out of driving that.
03-15-18, 03:51 PM
#15
i am probably one of the very few that prefer my lexus' manual. I daily drive a 92 SC300 factory 5 speed with 260,000 miles and climbing that I've owned it coming up on 10 years. i live in sunny southern california. my other 2 lexus', an 06 GS430 w/ 74K on the odo and a project 93 SC300, are garage queens. my dd takes a beating everyday dropping off my kids and in my 60 mile commute in stop and go socal traffic day in day out. And, it does so gracefully, reliably, smoothly, hiding its age. if I'm not driving it, to this day there's just something about it that keeps me thinking about driving it. if i were to try to pinpoint it, here are the reasons why i like driving it so much (in no particular order):
-fun factor in driving a manual
-reliability
-smooth shifts
-smooth revs
-smooth ride
-lowkey
-2+2 seat configuration
-fun factor in driving a manual
-reliability
-smooth shifts
-smooth revs
-smooth ride
-lowkey
-2+2 seat configuration