Gs 450H Steering And Handling Question

[dandydons]

Are your alloys scuffed at the rim edges since air may be escaping or maybe faulty valves. ?

[irobot]

No the alloys were refurbished by previous owner and the tyres changed by Lexus, so I really doubt that something could happen. I also have not noticed any pressure drops when I was on old tyres.

The other bit I noticed- how loud is your engine reving when you accelerate? Since yesterday the pull feels slightly heavy and engine louder than I previously noticed when I floor the gas pedal. I dunno maybe I am paranoying too much, but that happened after I played around with the sports mode gear shifting, trying to slow down the car by going into lower gears.

Since I bought the car I feel all tensed, kind of can't relax, always thinking that something is wrong with the car.

[KayCee]

Hi John

I think you are reading too much into it

my car runs superb i get 33 mpg on runs regualy granted mine is gs300

round town around 27 ive had the car 2 years now and apart from servicing costs cost me nothing i feel totaly happy about the realibilaty of the car and i feel a million dollars driving it

All cars will sound a bit harsh if yu floor it

As regards to the slowing down on hills thats the auto box doing its job not allowing the car to overrun it will feel like its holding the car back this is perfectly ok. and designed to do this

Just put your paranoia on the back burner the cars are bullet proof

regarding the tyres loosing pressure a tyre and wheel are what they,are same on all vehs

go to the tyre specialist and get them to check them out

but one point there is a way to take them of because of the TPS

but they will know as they are now universal on all new cars

the shuddering on the brake pedal is the abs pump bringing up the pressure

just one further point the rear calipers due stick on sometimes especially if the braking as not been hard

just enjoy the car granted if anything major does go wrong it can be expensive but they are ultra realiable

robert

[irobot]

Robert, thanks a lot! This is helpful.

Just went on a ride again today in the morning with silence in the cabin and when I accelerate, even slightly to moderately, I hear the revs go up but the gears switch slightly later than it was before, that's why I can hear the engine revving higher than normal to my mind. I am accelerating from 10 to 40 moderately, while the sound of engine feels like I am flooring the pedal from 50 to 80, as this is when I would usually notice engine sound. I did not notice it before unless I would floor the gas pedal. It's difficult to describe the sound but it is something in between tonns of air going through a tube, and associates in my mind with the train, where there is a lot of sound, but you drive 40 mph and the sound is not crispy, but humming. That kind of feeling. Dunno whether it can be something to do with me playing with Sport Transmission couple of days ago, but generally, I noticed it after playing with Sports transmission.

This is the sound I used to get when flooring down- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DG0HSrLMzY It is crisp and bright, but now I am getting a very dull humming sound like here

Can be exactly heard on 0:24 in the second video.

Also, when engine is idle it sounds like it is still revving, not the usual idle sound, but actually I can hear it revs.

I dunno whether it's me, as I did not pay attention to that before, or it is the car, as it wasn't so obvious for the first couple of weeks I have driven it. I have also noticed that consumption has increased by 1-2 mpg. I was getting around 27mpg on average now it's late 24s.~ Again this might be caused due to the fact that I was playing with the throttle past 2-3 days trying to understand how engine revs.

[KayCee]

John

if you have had tyres fitted at Lexus and they loosing pressure take it back and get them to sort it,they will

Im not sure of the Hybrid system but round town you should get good MPG

Motoway you will be useing the full 3.5 engine so yu will use a bit of fuel

im sure someone with the hybrid 450h will chime in and tell you the fuel figures

you could probably get a tin of injector cleaner and put it in with yr petrol im sure you must have used it at sometime

also just starting car and checking this and that will make it use more fuel

Start again

just drive it like you would like to drive it and see the end result after say a fortnight

but dont forget it is a heavy car with a big engine and lots of electric goodies on if the Battery is a bit down the altenator will be going full blast which is a fuel user also air con

but in the final analysys if lexus as fitted tyres for you and loosing air they should put it right i run mine at 33 all round

450 will be different

as regards to the transmission mine changes seamlessly i cant tell it changes unless i look at the rev counter

good luck

robert

[KayCee]

John

Look here

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-third-generation-153/

[irobot]

Robert,

Thanks a lot for your input!

I have just came from Lexus service centre after having been there for 3 times in the past month I can finally see that they have done something to my car.

The air pressure in tyres- they say they have sealed the valves, so should be fine now.

Regarding engine and transmission they say all is in good condition.

They have also adjusted the steering slightly, so now it feels more secure and solid, which I like.

They have also adjusted the brake pedal. Before it was quite long, now it is much shorter and I can feel it is more effective.

The gas throttle seems to be also tighter compared to before.

On top of it- I finally managed to cruise on electric motor without loosing speed, which is awesome. I don't know what they did, but the car feels sooooooo much better compared to what it was. I was also able to get a good mpg around early 30s finally because of that, which is exactly what I was expecting, when buying this car. I also should say that I would not say, that I was driving it like a grandad as well like before.

To the boring bit- the guy at Lexus said that wheel alignment was indeed off, so they tweaked it, so it sits in the middle in their diagnostics software. Now I don't know what they have tweaked, but the car now pulls to the left. Not heavily, but still pulls, about 1-2 degrees off the normal steering wheel straight placement. Regarding this I am not sure, maybe I should leave it as is for a month and see how my tyres respond if there is no noticeable tread loss, maybe leave it as it is. Alternatively I could go to a local garage again, so they tweak it. However, I am a bit afraid, that they might damage something and I might loose the benefits, which I have finally been able to achieve regarding how the car coasts, steers and drives. I could also go to Lexus again, but having been there 3 times already with exactly the same problem, not sure that they will be able to do something else.

The other bit I noticed- although not noticeable in the steering wheel, every bump I drive over feels slightly harder and I can feel it with my bum, although I was driving it in sport suspension mode, so might be because of that.

All in all, I am quite happy now, even though the car still slightly pulls, it is a completely different drive to what it was before.