Since I have very lack of knowledge about our F's Auto tranny I was hoping you guys could help me understand......Does anyone know if using specific one gear more than other gears will shorten life of its gear?

in another word, continuous of using 3rd gear while spirit driving will wear out faster/more than 6th or 7th gear that we most likely use less?

sorry if my words arent clear.....and thanks for your inputs

 

No.

not sure if this is even a serious question..

 

I don't think a gear would wear out faster, but city driving (i.e. a lot of stop and go) puts more stress on the tranny than highway driving.

 

I see....sorry it may not look like serious question to some of you but last week I went for spirit driving with my friend at the bear mountain and I was riding mostly hard on 2nd and 3rd gear, so I just got curious if i was putting more stress on those gears......if not its all good.....I just wanted to know what others think....~_~

 

There are only 2 known trans failures on the forum, 1 in the US and another down under. IIRC, niether stated they abused the car/trans and both were replaced by Lexus. The F has a damn good track record so far! Biggest issue was the water pump leaking which was taken care of by Lexus under warranty.

Drive that thing!!!

 

As one of the survivors of a transmission failure (Lexus replaced it under warranty), I can tell you that it is a very rare problem. I was the only IS-F in Australia to EVER experience such a problem, it is so rare that they had to get a IS F expert from Japan to consult.

However, one piece of advice is not to rev the **** off the car in first gear (e.g. on a skid pan). The lock up clutch doesn't engage until 2nd gear, so if you keep the car in first gear and drive like a madman, the constant slipping might cause issues. If you want to drive hard, shift to 2nd gear first. First gear allows some degree of slippage so that the launches are smooth and Lexus-like.

Don't rev too hard in first gear for an extended period of time, keep an eye on your transmission temp and your transmission should last you a very long time.

 

I saw the title and was going to say "just check for an adam's apple." But then I read your question.

 

I saw your reply and was going to say "What are you talking about?" But then I read the Title, and Then I was like "Oh! Good one!"

 

damn was just about to post this!

 

Hello...I hear you're talking about potentials of damaging transmissions and I happen to be an expert at this so I decided to post...here I am.

 

Not true. Don't power brake, it's the real enemy. Revving in 1st gear is no more damaging than any other gear, and all the torque converter is going to do is heat up the ATF. That's why power braking is bad news. It severely heats the ATF and can overheat it very quickly. Spinning the tires isn't the killer, wheel hop is the real killer once your foot is off the brake, and wheel hop causes driveline shock enough to kill everything in the driveline.

To the OP - driving in 3rd or 4th is most of what I do at a track weekend. It has had no impact as measured by Blackstone's analysis of my ATF.

 

This tranny is pretty bulit proof. I used to rebuild Honda trans Luke it was my job and the F rockets down the drag strip with 600 horse.... No problems in 4 years

 

Can you elaborate further on this? Like other owners I want to make sure my driving style maximises the longevity of the transmission. So if I am slowing down to come to a stop at the lights and I'm driving in manual mode, I should just use the brakes and not use engine braking (downshifting)?

 

^^^^ Transmissions are for going, brakes are for stopping. brake pads are cheaper than transmissions....

 

He is talking about putting your foot on the brake, mashing the gas, and then letting go of the brake. I downshift a lot when coming to a stop but nothing crazy (usually will shift when it will go to 2000rpm or so) and I don't think that is going to cause too much stress because of the rev matching. I could be wrong though ..