Hi, I'm new to the forum. Looking to get a fast and reliable car like the IS350 but the only automatic tranny really deters me from getting it. Does anyone know if Lexus will release a manual stick shift is350 in the near future or the is350 will only come in automatic.

 

I haven't heard anything about a manual 350 coming out, but it would be nice. I was initially turned off by the automatic too (especially since I've been driving a stick for the last 14 years) but I've come around and learned to love it.

 

No official word, but my guess/hope will be that they'll have a manual for the 350 when the coupe and convertible come out. I think the coupe will appeal to the driving enthusiasts more than the sedan.

 

i think that's a good educated guess

 

not holding my breath . . .

 

I was close to getting an IS250, and tested a stick 250 and an auto IS350.

Honestly, I am very picky. To be blunt, I'm a snob. I won't own an automatic, and feel the 250 is a bit underpowered. So, I'm holding out to see if Lexus takes my opinions to note, as I have written them advising I love the look and feel of the new IS series, but I must have a stick and the 250 is underpowered for my tastes.

 

i was told that the manny and coup will olny be offered in the 500

 

Well, we all just have to get over the clutch thing. F1 has had the clutchless shift for years, the new BMW M-5 has no clutch and can shift faster than a human can. I LOVE my IS 350 and the paddle shifters. On the Speed Channel review of the car, Team Lexus racing said, "the auto and paddle shifters are so well done, we are going to race it, with a larger motor under development..." The Speed Channel tester said, "this shift setup on the wheel is now better than ANY current other car, including Ferrari, and sets the new standard.."
I'd test drive the 350 before I'd reject it due to the automatic...

 

IS350 shifts very well despite being an automatic, tried out many cars with sport shift but the 350 shifts much faster, impressive. Obviously DSG and SMGs are better but those are pricey

 

Tommy Kendall said the paddles, not the tranny, was better. And just because F1, Ferrari, BMW, Audi, etc. call it a clutchless shift, that doesn't mean it doesn't have a clutch. They are all some form of electro-hydraulic actuators to operate the clutch for you. That's a lot different than the IS's automatic.

One of the few things that turned me off during the test drive was the auto tranny. I was in the middle of a turn and went to get back on the throttle after braking. The tranny kicked down a gear, revs shot up without doing much for a split-second, and upset the car. The tranny is definitely better than any auto I remember driving, but that's not saying much. Personally, I want the control. If I want it to stay in a gear, it should stay in a gear. If I want it to shift, it should shift (BTW letting off the throttle when I shifted worked pretty well and I don't really mind that). Now I'm all for preventing over-revs during downshifts and that kind of stuff. But until auto trannys can offer AT LEAST the same kind of control, if not the performance, as a manual or one of the manual-based semi-automatics, I think there should be at least an option for a manual (or semi-auto) in any car considered sporty.

And I wonder, just wonder, if the tranny isn't the reason why Team Lexus missed Sebring... I am very curious to see what they have in the car come their first race.

 

I haven't seen any confirmed statements coming from Toyota/Lexus about putting a manual in the IS350 unfortunately. Hopefully we'll see something in the next year or two.

Now that we know the GS350 will be replacing GS300 within the next 12 months, I am seriously thinking that we may see the IS line being refreshed in a couple years, with an upgrade from IS250 to IS300. As far as i know, the 3.0 V6 in the GS300 is a brand new direct injection motor not used in any previous Lexus. Why'd they develop that to only use it in the GS for a year or two. A 245hp IS300 with 6-manual would be an awesome and very well balanced car... and a good value for 30,000. Considering there is currently a 100hp gap between the two variants, they have plenty of room to upgrade the IS250 up in power... while still giving the IS350 a 60hp advantage.

 

I love the control that you have with a stick. There is nothing better than heel toe downshifting on the track to get the car in the right gear (when you do it correctly of course) for the next turn and keep the brakes from overheating. It's also gratifying to do it on the street and power out of a corner.

I'm coming from a 6MT G35 as a daily driver (the rx stays at home most of the time) and have a long commute with some stop and go. I still love the stick.

With that said, the only real time I'll miss the stick on the 350 is when I'll take it out to the track. It downshifts very quickly and the fact that it may stay in a lower gear even when a higher gear is selected isn't a real concern out there.

The point above about downshifting mid turn is a good one. However, I look at it as another aspect of throttle control (to either keep it in the higher gear and try to get just the right amount of acceleration or let off the throttle as it downshifts to keep it smooth) that one has to learn/master.

Can't wait to get some lightweight wheels, a couple of suspension mods and see what it can do out there.

 

If it down shifts coming out of a corner, then you may not have it in the right gear entering the corner. Just like a stick, you have to anticipate what gear is appropriate for the corner speed and down shift to it in the braking zone.

If you regularly heel and toe in a stick, the process is similar in a "tiptronic" type automatic. You have to drive a car pretty aggressively to test out the tranny fully, which I admit I haven't fully done with my new car, but a dealer test drive is tough to evaluate how good or bad it works. From the testing I've done on my dad's IS300, a friend's IS350 and my new one, it seems to work better than any automatic I've driven especially with the ECT on.

It's still not a stick or even better a motocycle tranny but pretty good.

 

The new M5... as well as all BMW's with SMG, Audi's DSG, Ferrari/Maserati's F1... all have clutches... the audi actually has 2 of them. There is just no clutch pedal that a human has to modulate, as the car does the clutch work itself. These are actually manual transmissions... the IS350's paddles (as with most of the automatics with some sort of shift feature) shift no where near as fast as these sequential manual gearboxes. The only automatic with optional gear selection that I hear shifts pretty quickly is the Mercedes 5-auto that they put in their beasts (55 AMG, 65 AMG, 600).

 

Yes, I agree with you both larsdenner and al503. I think with practice the IS's tranny will work for me and in most situations. If not, I wouldn't be on this forum or looking to buy a 350 after we close on our house (if it ever gets finished!!!)

Having said that I wasn't really driving the car at 80-90% on my test drive either. If was driving harder through the turn I wouldn't have been able to add so much throttle to cause it to shift down or maybe with more experience in the car, like mentioned, I would have been in a lower gear. BUT it is that feature that I really don't like. In a manual if I would have been in too high a gear it would have bogged down maybe, but the car wouldn't have pitched like it did with the auto. I guess that's part of what the VDIM is there to protect but something just seems wrong with the whole scenario. For me it would be more acceptable if the auto in sport mode just stayed in the gear that is selected unless it goes below a certain rpm in case the person forgets they're in sport mode or something like that.