When I test drove a 3IS 350 FSport with the 8 speed when buying my GS, it had the same lag/hesitation as my 4GS 8 Speed. Everything felt the same to me (power-wise).

 

I think the problem here might actually be the engine. The 8 speed is supposed to keep the rev low most of the time in order to achieve better mpg. But unlike turbo engine, our NA 3.5 just doesn't have enough low end torque to speed up while cruising which makes the gear searching become even more difficult.

 

I'm betting it's just buyer perception (8 is higher therefore better) unless the shift points are radically different. Overall ratio should be about the same.

I think a 7 speed would be perfect, get the revs down below 2k for highway cruising to save gas. Then again the 6th gear is pretty tall in the 6AT and mild inclines here will cause my F Sport to lose 3-5 mph on cruise control in 6th at 75-80mph. Car is just plain lazy on cruise, wish it would hold speed perfectly like my old G35 with a 5AT.

 

Maybe the 8-speed would work better with the ISF's V8.

 

I had the 8-speed in my IS-F and didn't like it a bit. Too much hunting for a gear. I wonder where it will all end and who will be the first manufacturer to bring out the 10-speed?

 

Oh damn.. it didn't work good for the ISF either.

Well Chrysler came out with 9-speed for their 200 model, right? So they're almost there.

 

well you would find that most ISF owners will not be using auto most of the time unless they are coasting on the freeway
i use manual mode all the time when im driving my isf and have been using manual mode everytime for the last 4 years
i really do not understand why some people are complaning about the 8speed
the 8 speed is much more fun to drive in manual mode as the ratios are shorter in each gears
the 8 speed gearbox out of the 2014 has identical gear ratios to the ISF
as an ISF owner for the last 4 years and having 2 GS350's atm
6 speed and a 8 speed and 8 speed is an improvement over the 6 speed in everyway
the 8 speed is smoother on shifting in auto and even in manual
in auto mode the 8 speed does what its designed to do
be lazy and provide slow smooth shifts
if you want abit more response and faster shift response use the sports dial and use the manual shift functions

 

I'm not talking about manual mode, this 8-speed shifts fine in manual mode. But I don't want to always drive in manual mode. If I want manual I'll buy a real manual car.

In auto, from a stop this car upshifts fine, smooth and fast. It's just that it won't downshift when u floor the pedal when moving. Yes u can downshift manually with the paddle shifter but it'll be much quicker if the car can do it by itself. Sometimes it does downshift but not always.

The 6-speed doesn't have this problem.

 

My own experience finds the 8AT 4GS has more of a hesitation than the 8AT 3IS. Not terrible, but I notice it

 

as i said
use the sports dial feature for a better repsonse
no car is perfect
and yes the 6 speed does that too
like all lexus autos
its not as sharp going into lower gears when u WOT in auto mode

 

I'm gonna drive it a little harder from now on and see if I can wake up the ECU, maybe it just need a wake up call.

 

Might be worth a try
The cars ecu does learn from your driving habbits
I think the best way would be the disconnect the battery and rest the ecu and give it a nice good run
My car responds nice as I rev my car often
In the gs im in auto mode most of the time

 

I want to put 300K 400K on this thing keep it for 10 years + might not ever have money enough to buy another car any idea which one would last the longest?

 

I doubt anyone who doesn't have some knowledge of the engineering that went into both tranny's could give a reliable answer to that. Typically more shifts = more wear and tear, and the 8 speed certainly shifts more. That said, those shifts are spread over 8 ratios vs 6, so who knows. I doubt either would last 400k without having to rebuild the tranny once personally.

 

I really got on the throttle hard on my way to work this morning (about 20 miles of drive). For most of the time it downshifts just like I wanted but there are times at it didn't, maybe this car is half awake now.

But I can tell this car really likes to be driven hard, it pulls hard from 60 and 70+ and wanted to keep going. All in Auto and Normal mode. I've forgotten how powerful this car is cause I'm so used to driving my parents around in boat-mode, and maybe this is the reason why the ECU fell asleep.

Car feels really alive when driven hard and when it shifts right.