Paddle Shifters?
Since it takes about that long to shift.
CL Community Team
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,715
Likes: 344
From: NJ
Where did you read that? In Lexus marketing material (brochure, website, etc.), they refer to them as "race-inspired steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters". Considering how the marketing material waxes poetic about "birds-eye maple trim", "soft leather-trimmed shift ****", etc., it's hard to believe they wouldn't mention "titanium shift paddles" if they were in fact made of that exotic and extremely expensive material.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,101
Likes: 2
From: Candyland
Where did you read that? In Lexus marketing material (brochure, website, etc.), they refer to them as "race-inspired steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters". Considering how the marketing material waxes poetic about "birds-eye maple trim", "soft leather-trimmed shift ****", etc., it's hard to believe they wouldn't mention "titanium shift paddles" if they were in fact made of that exotic and extremely expensive material.
That is what I thought exactly. I need to find the article and scan it and post it. I am willing to believe it is simply an alloy and not titanium as titanium is too expensive and pointless to use on a car of this class.
Advanced
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 589
Likes: 32
From: AZ
I'm not great with computers (copy/paste). But the following is from the Automobile.com website. This is from an older article.
"Grab the beefy steering wheel of the IS350 and your fingers almost automatically curl around a pair of hard plastic shift paddles artfully crafted to look and feel like brushed aluminum. Alas, Lexus hasn't developed a sequential manual gearbox like BMW or Audi, nor does the slick-shifting six-speed automatic do the Infiniti blip-on-downshift thing. Then again, with 277 lb-ft of torque available at 4800 rpm, who cares?"
"Grab the beefy steering wheel of the IS350 and your fingers almost automatically curl around a pair of hard plastic shift paddles artfully crafted to look and feel like brushed aluminum. Alas, Lexus hasn't developed a sequential manual gearbox like BMW or Audi, nor does the slick-shifting six-speed automatic do the Infiniti blip-on-downshift thing. Then again, with 277 lb-ft of torque available at 4800 rpm, who cares?"
Pole Position
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 267
Likes: 0
From: NV
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 6,101
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From: Candyland
I am willing to bet that the article was old and potentially misleading. The marketing department probably did not want to give an illusion that it was titanium, but did not specify a simple titanium color rather than the utilization of the expensive metal itself for craftsmanship. Thus, they pulled it from print. Since all this paddle shifter talk makes me wonder, does anyone know what the IS-F is constructed of, those paddle-shifters look like chrome?
Driver
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: CA
I don’t use them at all. When I’m in the mood to drive in a performance way, I am holding the wheel with a proper 2 hand setup and the shifters aren’t even in the right spot. Worse when the wheel is actually turned. I rarely even use the auto shift mode. I have actually learned quite well now how to manage the cars RPM and gears in sports mode. It does an amazing job of shifting up on braking on its own for street use. Drop into a corner and prepare to apex, hit the brakes hard as usual before the corner (and release before turning into it as you start hitting the gas for the corner) and the auto will shift down low and drop the RPM's up pretty perfectly for the corner depending on your speed and such. Weakest link I have found in this senario on my IS350 is the brakes. They just dont stabize the car well (as say compared to the Brembo's on my old Sti or the stock brakes on my S2000's)
CL Folding Freak
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 519
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From: Wa
Y2KS2K, you mentioned the brakes aren't stable, is it the original brakes with the high friction pads, or are they the replacement pads (TSIB version)? I am interested to know how people feel about the performance of the high friction brakes (in terms of driving in the hills/track, not everyday driving)
I traded my Sti in for the IS350 and noticed the brake weakness strait off but the Sti brakes were phenomenal. I typically brake hard and short a lot and doing that cause instability in my IS350 most of the time, especially at freeway speeds.
Gotta admit though, Iwas at the LExus dealer today and the IS-F brakes are HOT
Pole Position
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 315
Likes: 2
From: California
Factory pads (not TIB) the kind that create tons of brake dust (which I expect them to, they aren’t half as bad as my Sti Brembo's)
I traded my Sti in for the IS350 and noticed the brake weakness strait off but the Sti brakes were phenomenal. I typically brake hard and short a lot and doing that cause instability in my IS350 most of the time, especially at freeway speeds.
Gotta admit though, Iwas at the LExus dealer today and the IS-F brakes are HOT
I traded my Sti in for the IS350 and noticed the brake weakness strait off but the Sti brakes were phenomenal. I typically brake hard and short a lot and doing that cause instability in my IS350 most of the time, especially at freeway speeds.
Gotta admit though, Iwas at the LExus dealer today and the IS-F brakes are HOT
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=340134
Lead Lap
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 745
Likes: 1
From: California
The manual shifters are added for convienence. I use it in slow traffic when constant stop and go persist. THat way, my transmission won't keep shifting.
But the best way to use them is to hit when you hit the redline, if you're really gunning it. Otherwise, it's almost pointless to use the shifter unless you want to control your breaking or just need that hard pull to get going.
But the best way to use them is to hit when you hit the redline, if you're really gunning it. Otherwise, it's almost pointless to use the shifter unless you want to control your breaking or just need that hard pull to get going.
CL Community Team
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 5,715
Likes: 344
From: NJ
I use snow mode when I'm crawling in stop-and-go bumper-to-bumper traffic. Seems to work even better than the paddles for smoothing things out and preventing unnecessary shifting.