Is there anyway to change the transmission of the IS350 to manual?

 

I don't know, but I do know that there's a manual tranny for a 250 on ebay right now

 

There's always a way....but I assume getting it to work properly would cost upwards of 10-15k.

 

Yeah i wondered this too. But we've already spend upwards of 40k for the 350. Lets enjoy it the way it is. Picking out a proper transmission and linking it up might cost you 1/3 of what the car is worth, maybe more.

 

Yeah I wash thinking the same thing
Wouldn't a 250 Manual Tranny work?

 

Even if you could get it to work mechanically, how would you handle the software issue? Wouldn't you think the engine ECU and transmission controller would be pretty tightly linked?

 

aem ems, it will solve all software issues

 

Sure. When it does CAN bus and fully understands Toyota's protocols. Not until.

 

I don't understand why Lexus wouldn't just offer it in a manual in the first place. No one can take them seriously as a 3 series fighter if they only offer their higher performance models with a slush box.

I too thought long and hard about finding a 250 manual to drop into the 350, but apparently the 250 manual is pretty rough anyway.

 

I've totally made up my mind - if I can ever get rid of my car, that 335i convert is all mine. WHite/Red. Few G's for the computer/exhaust upgrade and that thing is tight. This 350 is booorrring! ANd the lack of a stick is a huge factor in that.

 

Having driven the IS250 MT I definitely won't get that transmission in the IS350. The 250 AT feels a whole lot better than the IS250 MT.

The MT is significantly noisier and the gear ratio are not very short like i would like for them to be.

With the added power and torque of the IS 350 the clutch would be very short lived. The diameter of the FW may not permit a large clutch and may require the usage of a custom twin disc clutch for softer pedal and reducing the chance of crank walk.

IMO, this would be a bad direction to head for.

And yeah, AEM EMS can't run 6 direct injectors via 1 CAN wire in addition to 6 port injectors and stagger them for homogeneous and stratified combustion like the OEM can. Neither will the Motec or any other standalone. And thats just one of the few things. VDIM/VSC/ABS/TRAC intergation won't be possible either. Gauge control, immobilizer, smart access, security system control, etc will all be impossible. The AEM EMS can't control cams and you have 4 cams running VVT-i. That requires a cam sensor for each cam and a crank sensor. AEM can only support 1 cam and 1 crank sensor. Motec can however do more but I have only worked with the M600 VVT-i on the IS300 with 1 cam and 1 crank sensor.

-Joe

 

^^ it would be far easier to crack Toyota's ECM software than it would be to reverse engineer all the things you'd need to have to make the car run with a manual.

You've hit the nail squarely on the head with all the things nobody's ECM replacement can do today. And with the market volume as small as Toyota "high performance" these days, I doubt it will change any time soon. Unless all these rumors about new stuff at SEMA include engine management solutions. Given what I've been told from highly placed Toyota USA employees, I seriously doubt Toyota will ever give anyone (other than Lotus) access to their engine management software.

 

If Lexus ever makes a manual available for the IS350, lets hope it's better than the one they put in the IS250. I went to the dealership yesterday & they actually had one instock. The shifter is no bueno as it feels like blah. Apparently the guys at Edmund's Inside Line agrees w/me:

http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do...ticleId=121228

At least it has better slalom speeds but then again it's probably due more to the X-package than the manual.

 

You guys are over thinking this, you can pull all the computer stuffs, 3 48mm Mikuni downdraft carbs