Moving from my old toyota celica stick shift, to my new/used '99 GS300 automatic, I have problems maintaining low speeds. Seems the car always wants to be in 5th gear, even at 35 MPH.

I find myself having to almost remove my foot from the pedal to drive in residential areas. Yesterday, was caught in a lunchtime speed trap, nothing major, but not 35MPH. I always keep the Power button on.

Is my only work-around to drive in 3 or 4 (vs D) to have better control of speed at low speeds? Since I just bought this used, would reseting the ECU help? Advice?

Dave

 

here is what you do......
1. go under the hood and unplug 3 spark plug wires.

That outa slow you down.

 

How fast you go (and how fast you get there) is directly proportional to how far down you push the right pedal. I've got a 430 with a wee bit more torque and hp than your 300 and I seem to have no problems.

Sorry about your ticket, but doesn't sound like your vehicle has a defect..........

And the POWER button just controls shift points (both up and down). It doesn't make any more power.........

 

Fair enough, I understand the right pedal concept, but it seems so sensitive when in 5th. just milimeters depressed to keep my speed when in 5th at 35MPH (1000-2000 RPM).

wrt the Power button, I would expect it to shift at higher RPM. This works fine when flooring, the car shifts at higher RPM, and accelerates real well, but even at slow accelleration from stop, the car is still looking to get iitself nto 5th gear, shifting at lower RPM.

If I am driving a stick, I wont be using 5th gear when driving at 35 MPH...

Maybe I need to check into nerve dammage in my foot.

Dave

 

dhardy, you're exactly right, the Lexus transmission likes to get to fifth as soon as possible (to keep noise down and fuel economy up I presume). This is why I drive using e-shift all the time (I don't think the 99 GS300 has that though) and drive in M-3 or M-4 a LOT. I only use M-5 on the highway now. Because that makes the engine rpms a bit higher, there's more 'engine braking' when you take your foot off the gas (which I want). Because like you said in fifth, the car coast so effortlessly I find myself riding the brakes more because I catch up to cars in front even with NO pressure on the gas pedal, so I prefer to be in 4th or 3rd. You can do that with the stick.

 

dhardy, re-read my post, and it sounded a bit more sarcastic than gently humorous. Sorry if I gave offense thereby.

Bitkahuna's explanation of the Lexus autobox is correct. It loves to upshift quickly even in POWER mode, mostly for mpg purposes (CAFE requirements suck in many ways, this being one); since I've driven mostly manuals and most recently a 5 spd SC300 (for 7.5 yrs prior to the GS), I tend to gateshift (both up and down) with the stick. So, I usually avoid that almost freewheeling feeling you get in 5th by manually downshifting. More or less the same strategy as sensei-bit, but I have less of a tendency to drive in 3rd or 4th than he does.

fyi, gateshifting produces no more wear than either e-shifting or allowing the tranny to shift for itself (except we probably shift more often than Lexus programs) since it is electronically controlled either way, meaning you won't over-rev if you accidentally drop it into, say, 2nd at 75 mph.

Again, sorry for the ticket. And welcome to CL.

 

I have the same "problem" -- I tend to drive well over the limit when the vehicle is in DRIVE. Have not had that problem since I manually [steering wheel buttons] shift all the time now. Per this thread, manual shifting is not only for performance but speed control as well.