How come everyone says the 8speed auto is "silky smooth"?

I can feel every gear change easily. and i think the accord v6 has a much smoother shifts.. even my ES350 loaner shifted more "quietly"...

 

It depends on your driving style.

It does jump once in a while with aggressive driving, but the LS wasn't really made for that.

Otherwise, it should be "silky smooth" while cruising around town.

 

I have driven everything under the sun, and it is the smoothest shifting car EVER!!!

With normal driving, you can barely feel anything at all. Under more spirited driving, you will feel it, but it is still very refined.

 

I dont know about your driving habits, but I know for my GS400, the transmission isn't smooth out of the box. It's only when I drive for at least 10 minutes (when my tranny warms up) that the shifts are silky smooth. Smooth that you dont even notice the shifts!

 

that's what i awnt to feel.. i still think 8 gears is unnecessary..
i think 5 is enough.. MAYBE 6.. only if the 6th gear is used past 70 mphs~

 

i still think 8 gears is unnecessary..

They're not necessary, but they improve your gas mileage.

 

You should be glad that you do not have an ES350. Have a gander at their forum to see all the transmission problems associated with that model.

 

yea.. i saw that... that's sad...
well we have the wind noise! YAY!

 

When I drive with a **very** light right foot the shifting is kinda jerky. When I drive normally (i.e. half pedal travel down) the shifts are very smooth. When I floor it they jump but who cares, if I floor it it better jump.

BTW the fastest I've gone so far was 120mph (193Km/h) on a stretch to an on-ramp - the car got to that speed pretty fast, I'm impressed.

 

ok..that must be why.. i usually am VERY LIGHT footed..

 

I have 7,000 miles on my LWB and I agree with the other posts in that once the transmission has warmed up a little it does get smoother. Also, I too have found that driving it with a lighter foot shifts worse than it does with just a little more.

In my opinion there are a few things like this that the car will teach the driver about which will make your shifts more enjoyable.

The brakes for one was something to get used to. When I first got the car, my braking was also a bit jerky... not any more.... I am sure the transmission will be the same for most of you who own this car. The car didn't change... How I was driving it did.

 

I have had about 5 instances where transmission hesitated at the stop sign (similar to ES350 problem) and have also had issues with it shifting from 3rd to 4th gear on the ramp to highway. RPM's would go as high as 6 - 7k but transmission would not shift and it got even worse if I switched to POWER mode. I finally took it back to the dealer and asked them to look into it. They told me they have been able to reproduce this problem and re-flashed the computer. It's been a week already and I have not had any more issues so far. They've also told me that they have performed a TSB on the Cooling/Heating system. This was done because I kept hearing a running water sound from the right side under the dash. I was told that this was a problem on GS's as well.

Dmitry

 

cant wait for a 21 gear car until then I will still use my road bike

 

Lexus is coming out with a service bulletin for a computer flash for the transmission. To speed up the delay when pulling away from a stop. I know some people on the board have complained about it. The other day, my transmission felt like it was slipping. The dealer thought it was searching for a gear. The RPM's went up and it felt like it was in neutral. They told me to let them know if it happens again. This was under light acceleration. It's happened twice...

Craig