MRM350

When going down a small hill (maybe 25 degree incline) on a road near my home the car will refuse to shift as the car gains speed. This starts when I'm going about 35 mph and up to 45 mph. The rpm's will go up to around 3k before I start slowing the car down, but who knows how high it will take the engine if I kept accelerating instead. Has anyone heard of this kind of problem or had a similar issue? The car is a 2009 IS 350.

SC400slide

iTrader: (11)

On the IS350, the transmission jumps into 4th or 5th, depending on the speed when the brake pedal is depressed going at a high rate of speed, its a safety feature to assist in slowing the vehicle down quicker.

I think its annoying, but whatever.

WhatYaGot

Same here on my 06 IS350. It's been like that since new.

Brian7

iTrader: (2)

Yeah I'm not a huge fan of the car automatically downshifting when you touch the brakes. I've found if I leave it in manual mode or paddle shift mode, it won't downshift for you in those situations. I tested this out getting on the freeway coming home from work, I'll put it in manual mode which defaults to 4th then get on the freeway onramp which has a downgrade for about a mile and a half, I'll manually shift it to 6th and cruise until I hit an uphill and the car will shift normally. If I get on the freeway in full auto, it will stay in 4th or 5th until I hit an uphill, then it will go into 6th but I usually see rpms in the 3k range before hitting that uphill. Point being, keep it in manual mode or just deal with it. Really it helps the car slow down faster by creating more vacuum for the brake booster (I think) and on top of braking power you get engine braking power.

MRM350

Thanks for the responses, helps to put my mind at ease. But I agree it's fairly annoying, especially living somewhere that gets a good bit of traffic.