Lexus is 300h cvt shift pattern problem.

[roces777]

Hello!

I own a Lexus Is 300h and lately almost always I've been using the Sport mode combined with manual shifting and starting to like it too much since it's holding higher revs and making the car more responsive. BUT, the problem is when i am using the Normal mode or Sport without manual shifting, I sometimes downshift (-paddle) to have more power and higher revs, but almost always i feel like i need to downshift 2 times (2 "virtual" gears) or more to get to the optimal revs. Is there a way to RE...program the shifting pattern so that the car will not DESPERATELY pick a very high gear ratio immediately after it gets in motion. For example, the equivalent to a normal gear box, it feels like in the city the car picks the 4,5,or 6th speed which is very frustrating since i only need gear 2 or 3 maximum.

[ColinBarber]

In a word, no.

The car wants to ideally be in one of two modes - either low revs, in conventional terms the highest gear possible, or at high revs to allow the engine to be at peak power. Outside of one of those two options is less efficient. The virtual gears on the IS300h isn't a great experience, better than nothing which previous hybrids had but really only useful to prepare for overtaking rather than manually driving the vehicle.

With each hybrid generation this improves, but the IS300h is now two generations behind that latest designs.

[roces777]

thank you, you are right.

[wharfhouse]

33 minutes ago, roces777 said:

thank you, you are right.

If you read the manual it explains more. If you want the simulated gears to act more like a "normal" gearbox (so going up and down the sequential gears like a normal gearbox) then you need to be in Sport mode and S (rather than D) on the gear selection for best simulation. In Normal or Eco modes the simulated gears are only really there to hold engine revs such as using higher revs for engine braking on long descents. In Normal and Eco the simulated gears are not programmed to act like "normal" sequential gears but for these more demanding conditions than the e-cvt might do otherwise.

[roces777]

18 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

If you read the manual it explains more. If you want the simulated gears to act more like a "normal" gearbox (so going up and down the sequential gears like a normal gearbox) then you need to be in Sport mode and S (rather than D) on the gear selection for best simulation. In Normal or Eco modes the simulated gears are only really there to hold engine revs such as using higher revs for engine braking on long descents. In Normal and Eco the simulated gears are not programmed to act like "normal" sequential gears but for these more demanding conditions than the e-cvt might do otherwise.

thanks. sadly, after almost one year of owning this car, it has been the most frustrating driving experience i have ever had.

[Brechin Slate]

29 minutes ago, roces777 said:

thanks. sadly, after almost one year of owning this car, it has been the most frustrating driving experience i have ever had.

Surely not worse than your IS220d??

[roces777]

5 minutes ago, Brechin Slate said:

Surely not worse than your IS220d??

a lot worse than my old is 220d...

[wharfhouse]

46 minutes ago, roces777 said:

thanks. sadly, after almost one year of owning this car, it has been the most frustrating driving experience i have ever had.

I've played with all the options but in all honesty leave it in D and Eco for 99% of the time and let the car do what it does best - waft along at a sensible pace in near silence... only if looking to overtake on single carriageway roads I tend to use Sport and very occasionally might use the simulated gears to get everything ready for a quicker overtake. 

[Mr Vlad]

Blimey if you're not use to the CVT in your is300h after nearly a year then I'd get rid and get a different auto box car. I'm not sure if the is200d was auto or manual but you definitely need to get rid. I went from decades of manual cars to an is300h and a few weeks later I got rid because I couldn't get to grips with the CVT. After a year with a proper auto I got another is300h and loved it to death. Want to go fast? Floor the loud pedal. Let the car do the rest. That's why it's a genuine 50mpg car. 

[paulrnx]

The CVT gearbox in a Lexus hybrid isn’t to everyone’s taste. There are times when I still get frustrated by it even now after four hybrids. Lots of open road driving on fast roads with plenty of incline show it at its worst. Long motorway inclines too. I can understand why some never like it or get used to it.