Salesman told me that there is no E-Shift on newer GS because of the gas guzzler tax(whether its true you decide).

 

I'm buying a 2001 GS430 and the manager of my dealership told me that the car wouldn't have gotten ULEV emisssions status with the push-button shifter, which is more important to sales and prestige in Japan than here.

 

The reason is definitely the ULEV issue. When the 430 was first announced all of the car mags printed that as one of the items. Not gas-guzzler tax. Don't you just love the sales guys who talk out of their a$$ thinking that you (the consumer) won't know any better.

 

I thought one of the issues w/e-shift on the 430 was engine related, that it wouldn't gear as well as they would have liked it to, making the acceleration a little rough ?

 

nope....ULEV status only (as far as all published reports that I could find.........the downside to the increasing popularity and sales numbers for Lexus is that there has been an increasing presence of typical automotive sales idiots and, unfortunately, dealerships, too).......couldn't get all the work done to get it certified in time for 01 model yr........I'd expect to see it back.

blame very convoluted EPA rules regarding emissions certifications.

 

I wonder if it would be possible to add a pre-2001 steering wheel, with the buttons, and hack the ECU to add e-shift to a 2001+ GS.. Any thoughts??

 

I want to try this with my 98 GS300!! Any thoughts? I think all you would need is the wiring for the e-shift.

 

the reason that my dealer gave me, true or not i am not sure, is that the 430's have on electronic throttle control instead of the wire throttle control in the 400. this could be a load of bs- thats just what they told me

 

Electronic throttle control? I seriously doubt he meant to compare it to "wire" control. Hehe.. The throttle plate is still opened by a wire. What I think he meant to say is that the 430 engine monitors throttle position and immediately adjusts the amount of fuel that's delivered to the engine, if it detects a significant change in the position of the throttle plate. This is something that the 400 engine has as well! Most (older) engines use the MAF (mass air flow) sensor to adjust fuel delivery. This results in a "mini-lag" which lasts about 1 second (or so). Here's what happens: by the time the throttle plate opens (when you floor the gas) and air begins rushing into the engine, the MAF sensor detects more air coming in, and THEN delivers more fuel. This process takes about a second. With newer engines, fuel is delivered immediately to the heads as soon as the throttle plate is opened. Thereby, resulting in an immediate throttle response.

Engine experts (engineers) correct me on this one if I'm wrong.. But I think I got it nailed just right.

In either case your dealer is wrong. E-shift was eliminated due to the fact that e-shift equipped cars burnt a lot more gas than non-e-shift cars, since drivers would "manually" shift at higher RPM.

 

Drive by wire = electronically controlled.

The GS400's throttle valve is driven by an electric motor, electronically controlled, the good 'ol mechanical cable linkage is still there as a backup system.