just bought a 98 gs 400 and need some help!
When I shift into "D" Drive, I notice there is a spot for M-D, and below that two other spots also.

What are those gears for exaclty?

Unfortunately, I did not get a manual with my vehicle purchase.

I also noticed there are buttons on my steering wheel..... buttons that say "down" & "up"........what do these do ??

alex
mar vista, ca

 

you can tap the shift **** to the left... when at the D just tap it left and you are in E-shift (M-D)... the buttons on the steering wheel (down and up) are used to shift up and down while driving.. (like panel shifting? on a ferrari...).. have fun with that...

 

you mean paddle shifting , and yes it can be quite fun.. its like a manual transmission car without the clutch.

 

well, actually, no......the ferrari actually has a real clutch, which functions in conventional fashion but electromechanically actuated..........we still have a torque convertor (and our electronics don't match revs, eg "blip the throttle" on downshifts, either) slush box.

 

yeah, if you put it on m, you will be able to shift byt youself except from 1 to 2. try it for yourself!

it's explained in the manual as well

 

there was a thread floating around about getting free manuals. ith ink you go onto the lexus website and register your car or something like that using the VIN and they send you a free manual.

 

oh yeah, i forgot to say in my post. you register with lexus and you can requst another one

 

Yeah, thats right! I laugh every time I see someone on ebay selling lexus owner's manual for $15-20 plus shipping. If you request one from Lexus you get a brand new set of manuals still in the shrink wrap and they don't charge a penny, not even for the priority postage. You'll have it in your hands in just a couple days and its absolutely FREE!! How can you beat that?

 

oh come on now, i was thinking about selling the manuals down the road on ebay!

anyway, yes, i really like lexus on this. honestly a lot of people "forget" about the manuals when they sell/buy cars. lexus is really considerate

 

Does the manual explain why e-shift doesn't allow 1st gear?

 

nop i don't recall reading anything about that. but i think it's to avoid any major wear coz' in 1st gear i assume it can rev up too fast? just wondering

 

Oh, it allows first gear, it just won't allow you to stay in first gear while you rev the engine past the redline, the car will automatically upshift to 2nd and stay there until you shift again to 3rd and so on.

 

Sigh, I covered this maybe 30 times . E-shift is from 2nd -5th gear. Lexus did not include 1st to prevent cold start damage. With 300hp and 310lbs torque, you would redline very very quickly.

Now downshifting is the top buttons, bottombuttons upshifting. If your in say 3rd gear doing 90mph and try to downshift to 2nd, you can't. You will hear a beep beep. This signals you cannot go down a gear. Blown engine would occur. You don't want that.

Also, if your in 3rd gear, which at the rev limiter is about 95/96 mph, if you DO NOT upshift, the engine will just rev and you will hit the fuel cut off. The car will chug along very hard. This is NOT good either. But that is why the fuel cuts off. Or you would possibly blow the engine.

Myself, I used to take the ECU out all the time to reset my driving habits. I could drive in the red line. The car got used to my aggresive driving.

 

i can understand the engine damage part, but when i drove the 04 ls430, i was really surprsied coz' it allowed 1-2 shift manually