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Whining Cvt


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Having just taken delivery of my new IS300h I am a little worried about the gearbox. At all speeds it is quiet and smooth and there is none of the whine or mooing that the reviews speak of. Is something wrong with it? Does anyone else have this problem?

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As you probably guessed this was a very tongue in cheek post, after reading a lot of reviews that complain about the CVT but are totally wrong. The box is as good as any auto I have driven and yes Steve44 much better than a rattling diesel!

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You're right, it doesn't unduly whine and is a nice place to be. Unfortunately, the pro German automobile journalists (that's everyone including Evo, AutoCar, Auto Express et al have the car for an hour or so and rag the backside off the car and then complain it whines and isn't as dynamic as a BMW 3 series. They fail, all the time, to consider the extras Lexus has, the customer service, lower running costs and general smoothness and quietness of living with it. I sometimes wonder what chuffing planet they're on!

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You're right, it doesn't unduly whine and is a nice place to be. Unfortunately, the pro German automobile journalists (that's everyone including Evo, AutoCar, Auto Express et al have the car for an hour or so and rag the backside off the car and then complain it whines and isn't as dynamic as a BMW 3 series. They fail, all the time, to consider the extras Lexus has, the customer service, lower running costs and general smoothness and quietness of living with it. I sometimes wonder what chuffing planet they're on!

Spot on. Anyway who wants to drive a German car, ther are too many about. I have only seen one IS300h since I had mine last July. Maybe too many people read the mags you quoted.

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Mine is just about silent and the way the stop/start just ticks in compared to the Audi's great big rattle and bang is a delight..

My passenger yesterday (about to order the same as me) could't detect the changeover..

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it is just incompetent reviewers, the CVT itself isn't really audible. The noise under acceleration is the engine at a constant high rpm, but that is reasonably well contained in the IS. The CT is a little more noisy.

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How do they make the stop start so unnoticeable? We have a VW Sharan with stop start and there's a noticeable starter motor sound and vibration when the diesel gets going. On the Lexus you only notice the engine start under hard acceleration, under modest loads it is virtually impossible to detect. Does the engine actually stop or just go into tickover?

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if it can the engine will completely stop - I think at speeds below 40 mph, when going faster it will just idle.

The engine isn't started with a traditional starter motor so you don't hear it being turned over. Also the larger the engine the less noticeable it is - on the CT you can tell if the engine is running, one the LS you have virtually no idea unless you are accelerating.

The difference between electric and diesel is too great in terms of noise and vibration, this is one reason why Toyota haven't done a diesel hybrid.

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On the motorway in the demo IS I had, the energy display appeared to show the engine as off when lifting off ( what I would call the overrun, old school) at 70mph. Under very light throttle application it appeared to show the electric motor doing the accel even at motorway speeds.

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I think you are correct, the electric motor will be the first port of call, with the petrol engine coming in as soon as it is needed. So at 70 mph a little touch of the throttle and the electric motor will be enough to give the energy/power required. As soon as the demand increases, e.g. an incline, greater acceleration or if the Battery drops to 20%, then the engine (or regeneration unit as Clarkson called it when driving some hybrid supercar recently) kicks in. That's what I think anyway and stand to be corrected!

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On the motorway in the demo IS I had, the energy display appeared to show the engine as off when lifting off ( what I would call the overrun, old school) at 70mph. Under very light throttle application it appeared to show the electric motor doing the accel even at motorway speeds.

What the display shows you and what is happening may not be the same thing and the display is really showing you if the engine is providing power, not if it is running or not.

For example the following is from the hybrid operating description on the 400h.

  • If the vehicle decelerates from a higher speed, the engine will maintain a predetermined speed without

    stopping, in order to protect the planetary gear unit.

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