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I've just got myself an IS250 SE-L auto and when I am going along in "Drive" I have been watching from the display what gear the vehicle is selcting as we go along.

The worrying thing is that all I need to be doing is 40 mph and the car goes into 5th gear, and it will go up to 6th gear at anything from 45 mph upwards!

Surely this is far to low a speed for these gears to be automatically assigned - I don't want to be going round a 30-40 mph gradual bend for example in 5th or 6th gear - it may run away with me!

Is this normal for the car or do you think I have a fault?

Any views/expereinces would be gratefully received before I call Lexus.

Many thanks

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perfectly normal!!!! and dont forget your ECT switch to the left of the steering column,It changes the way the gearbox behaves and will hold in each gear if your floor it.Be happy you have one the smooothest boxes and engine around!!!!

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Howdee,

Same on the GS, and is perfectly normal.

However if I choose to drive with gusto in the wet I tend to use the gears manually to eliminate the possibility of unexpected kickdown on bends. (happened once on a roundabout with my old GS, sideways several times in different directions at 60mph isn't recommended.

What makes me laugh is that just in case you weren't aware that you were going sideways, the car beeps loudly at you LOL!!!!

Enjoy!

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As above, it's perfectly normal. I'm confused what you think the fault is though, even in a manual if you're cruising you'll shift into as a high a gear as possible, keeps revs low and saves fuel.

What do you mean it'll run away with you if you do 40mph in 6th?

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As above, it's perfectly normal. I'm confused what you think the fault is though, even in a manual if you're cruising you'll shift into as a high a gear as possible, keeps revs low and saves fuel.

What do you mean it'll run away with you if you do 40mph in 6th?

Thanks for all the replies, I'm suitably reassured.

Re the "running away" comment, in a manual car if you take a sweeping bend in say, 3rd or 4th gear you have the speed in check because of the limitation of the gear range but if in the same manual car you were in 5th or 6th on the same bend you would not have the limit of a lower gear making sure the car didn't "drift" round and start going faster than you would like if you know what I mean. Thats why I was worried seeing 5/6 gear displayed even on bends! In other words keeping it in a lower gear gives more speed control on a bend. I know it makes no difference on straight run and is better to be in high gear then, as mentioned in one of the above posts.

I know I can always use the manual overide in my automatic on such bends but it seemed a bit daft to have to do that. Anyhow, if you all think it won't be a problem that's great.

Thanks again

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don't worry about going round corners at that speed, i assure you the car won't run away with you, it is one of the best handling cars i have owned or driven. i regularly drive down country roads and have pushed mt 250 se-l at lot harder than 40 to 50mph without so much as a twitter, unless you have really bad tyres lol.

just relax and let it do its thing, it is far more capable than you will ever need :)

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Re the "running away" comment, in a manual car if you take a sweeping bend in say, 3rd or 4th gear you have the speed in check because of the limitation of the gear range but if in the same manual car you were in 5th or 6th on the same bend you would not have the limit of a lower gear making sure the car didn't "drift" round and start going faster than you would like if you know what I mean.

Ahh right, I see what you mean, and yes that won't be a problem at all, you'd have to be going pretty fast to get in trouble - personally I'd probably run out of guts before the car ran out of grip! In any case you can just press the brakes - with the stability control and all braking midcorner isn't really dangerous anymore :)

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don't worry about going round corners at that speed, i assure you the car won't run away with you, it is one of the best handling cars i have owned or driven. i regularly drive down country roads and have pushed mt 250 se-l at lot harder than 40 to 50mph without so much as a twitter, unless you have really bad tyres lol.

just relax and let it do its thing, it is far more capable than you will ever need :)

I have to say I don't agree so far, my old IS220d was much more stable. Taking bends at higher speed in the 250 feels like I am in a boat! Tyre pressures are correct, maybe it is just a soft suspension but I don't have anything like the same confidence in the 250 as I did in my 220d unfortunately, and it is certainly less fun! No doubt the 250 is built for civilised comfort only...?

Re the previous post, as an Advanced and "response" trained police driver I do know how to take bends but (just for example) in the "quick flowing series of fast bends" type roads which usually suit and allow continuous on/off throttle control mid corner it just does not feel right at all, as I say the car is rocking like a boat and does not feel glued to the road like other cars I drive, maybe it is just a characteristic I need to get used to or maybe a sporty Beemer would suit my driving style better (I'm not a mad boy racer though, always drive to the car and conditions - honest!)

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How old is the car and how many miles. If it feels like that it doesn't sound right. You should be able to drive "keenly" on any type of road.

It is 2007 (56 plate though), 29500 miles. I think I will take it to Lexus for a check in light of what you say. Thanks.

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don't worry about going round corners at that speed, i assure you the car won't run away with you, it is one of the best handling cars i have owned or driven. i regularly drive down country roads and have pushed mt 250 se-l at lot harder than 40 to 50mph without so much as a twitter, unless you have really bad tyres lol.

just relax and let it do its thing, it is far more capable than you will ever need :)

I have to say I don't agree so far, my old IS220d was much more stable. Taking bends at higher speed in the 250 feels like I am in a boat! Tyre pressures are correct, maybe it is just a soft suspension but I don't have anything like the same confidence in the 250 as I did in my 220d unfortunately, and it is certainly less fun! No doubt the 250 is built for civilised comfort only...?

Re the previous post, as an Advanced and "response" trained police driver I do know how to take bends but (just for example) in the "quick flowing series of fast bends" type roads which usually suit and allow continuous on/off throttle control mid corner it just does not feel right at all, as I say the car is rocking like a boat and does not feel glued to the road like other cars I drive, maybe it is just a characteristic I need to get used to or maybe a sporty Beemer would suit my driving style better (I'm not a mad boy racer though, always drive to the car and conditions - honest!)

I have a 2006/56 IS250 AUTO SE and the conditions you have described is what it feels like for me. I used to have both this and a IS220d SE as well and your right; the drive, the feel, the holding and ability to having confidence putting your foot down is definitely in the IS220d!

I've been to Lexus Leicester a number of times, first few times they said nothing is wrong with it. The next time I went for a drive with them and they the guy said it doesn't feel right. When I got the car back, felt exactly the same. They couldn't even comment on what work took place!!

It still suffers from it, and now I'm out of warranty!

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don't worry about going round corners at that speed, i assure you the car won't run away with you, it is one of the best handling cars i have owned or driven. i regularly drive down country roads and have pushed mt 250 se-l at lot harder than 40 to 50mph without so much as a twitter, unless you have really bad tyres lol.

just relax and let it do its thing, it is far more capable than you will ever need :)

I have to say I don't agree so far, my old IS220d was much more stable. Taking bends at higher speed in the 250 feels like I am in a boat! Tyre pressures are correct, maybe it is just a soft suspension but I don't have anything like the same confidence in the 250 as I did in my 220d unfortunately, and it is certainly less fun! No doubt the 250 is built for civilised comfort only...?

Re the previous post, as an Advanced and "response" trained police driver I do know how to take bends but (just for example) in the "quick flowing series of fast bends" type roads which usually suit and allow continuous on/off throttle control mid corner it just does not feel right at all, as I say the car is rocking like a boat and does not feel glued to the road like other cars I drive, maybe it is just a characteristic I need to get used to or maybe a sporty Beemer would suit my driving style better (I'm not a mad boy racer though, always drive to the car and conditions - honest!)

I have a 2006/56 IS250 AUTO SE and the conditions you have described is what it feels like for me. I used to have both this and a IS220d SE as well and your right; the drive, the feel, the holding and ability to having confidence putting your foot down is definitely in the IS220d!

I've been to Lexus Leicester a number of times, first few times they said nothing is wrong with it. The next time I went for a drive with them and they the guy said it doesn't feel right. When I got the car back, felt exactly the same. They couldn't even comment on what work took place!!

It still suffers from it, and now I'm out of warranty!

Hmm. Interesting.

I've had both as well. My 250 handles every bit as well as the 220 I had - well, it did up until I changed the tyres recently. On the new tyres (Dunlop Sport Maxx as per the originals) it feels like it's all over the place and it now tramlines in a way it never did before. Bloody horrible. I suspect it's the tyres but also wonder if the front is out of alignment after hitting a pot hole or ten recently. The only other thing I've noticed is that the fronts are ZR rated as opposed to R rated originals (both the original and new sets of rears are R rated). Would this make such a difference?

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for this, I'm taking it to Lexus tomorrow for a check - I will update on here with news of anything they find (or don't find!)

Lexus said the tyres were very soft, so I shelled out £450 for four new Dunlop Sportmaxx and thie has certainly improved things, though it is still not as sure footed as my old IS220.

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Thanks for this, I'm taking it to Lexus tomorrow for a check - I will update on here with news of anything they find (or don't find!)

Lexus said the tyres were very soft, so I shelled out £450 for four new Dunlop Sportmaxx and thie has certainly improved things, though it is still not as sure footed as my old IS220.

Apart from a possibly variation in weight distribution, the 220 and 250 roadholding should be similar. I haven't noticed any difference with the 220D's and 250's I've driven as courtesy cars. No comparison of either to mine though :whistling:.

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