I'll be receiving my IS 250 F sport AWD in a couple weeks. When I test drove the F sport that was at the dealer the sales rep told me before the test drive that if I use the manual mode I must shift because the car does not override at a pre set RPM so you don't damage the motor. He told me I could blow the engine if did not shift the car when using manual mode?

I can't believe the car would have a feature that would allow you to damage the engine? It should have some kind of protection like a rev limiter or something like that? Not that I would ever shift at such a high RPM, it just didn't sound like he knew what he was talking about or wasn't totally informed.

Those of you that already have your 3IS what is the real story?

 

it has rev limiter... as much as i know, it will shift at red line anyway, but that was maybe in pre-production cars only that reviewers get...

in any case, nothing to worry about

 

It would be good if it doesn't auto shift , I would like to know if doesn't auto shift too !
I have Mazda 3 which doesn't auto shifts on manual mode and its actually good since I shift in the red zone and this gave me a little advantage ( a distance of a car when shifting in the red zone ) . Also I can drive on 2nd from stand still ! ( it would be great if the Lexus can do the same ).
Anyway this feature didn't heart my car , but if you go in e.g. 2nd and you step on the gas for 5 min thats going to heart your car .

 

I was a little disappointed that in M mode it will still downshift automatically. I thought the whole point of M mode is everything manual. It's a step above S mode from 2IS but still not full manual.

 

The way one salesman described it to me, even in manual the 3IS will automatically shift out of first and second. That's to prevent you from harming the engine. But, he said, it will stay in third gear forever if you don't shift up manually.

 

A rev limiter/fuel cut off is there precisely to prevent engine damage through over-revving. You can hit the rev limiter all you want and it would not damage a thing in the engine. That is the thing most of these sales people don't understand that rev limiters are put in place as a safety mechanism to protect the engine.

I have hit the rev limiter in my 6 speed manual car bazillion times in every gear at no less (sometimes, even accidently stuttered at the rev limiter for a few split seconds before I got the next shift) than 8400 rpm and even after 170,000 KM, the engine is as smooth as butter at idle.

 

It wont down shift itself in Manual mode

 

It wont shift at red light itself in Manual mode.

 

thats only because you have awesome engine.

 

Yes it does.

http://www.lexusfforum.com/forums/ar...php/t-282.html

 

it ABSOLUTELY down shifts and up shifts for you in manual mode when restrictions apply.

1. when the speed drops dramatically (down shift only)
2. When the ATF of engine coolant is low
3. when the ATF is high
4. When the needle of the tachometer is in the red zone (when it exceeds the allowable revs of the engine)

And you won't be able to manually shift in M mode when these restrictions apply

• 1st gear when road is too slippery
• the vehicle speed is low(no upshifting)

this is all in the manual.

 

When I test drove I did red light at 6,6k rpm it did not shift itself . it will shift itself when you hold the throttle longer or it has to be pass the red zone?It did not happen to me .

 

This isn't a bad thing either. Lowering the gears in order to come to a stop is one of the more annoying things with a manual transmission. And if it didn't auto shift at redline, people would be roasting their engines and then crying when their warranty claim was denied.

The bigger question is does it autoshift in manual mode just because it feels like it, or does it allow the driver to "have at it"?

 

It has a good range of "have at it" -ness. But there's a babysitter-esque management to it, which is a good thing. It tries to protect the engine as much as it can.