New Gearbox

[Koenardinho]

Sorry if I'm repeating something that was already posted here (in that case just delete this thread).

Had my car in for 30K km maintenance yesterday.

They gave me a free replacement car for the day (standard procedure here).

Mine is a standard SE, the replacement was a luxury edition (called Executive here).

When I drove off, I immediately felt the difference in gear ratios.

It was not a Sport model, so it SHOULD have had the same ratios.

But I could easily use 6th at 120km/h (which is - my guess approx. - 80mph?)

Afterwards, they told me that in the new version of the Executive (LE) they put in a different gear box from now on. But not in the standard (SE).

[Gareth]

This is the second mention I've seen of the 2007 SE-L having different gearing.

Since I'm getting a 2007 SE-L very shortly (next thursday I can have it), I'm extremely excited by this.

The gearbox was one of the biggest attractions to the sport, and if the SE-L has that then I'd be very happy indeed.

I can't imagine that they've go so far as to come up with a third gearbox, so I'm assuming it would be the Sport's one.

Can anyone confirm if this is true in the UK?

I've asked my friendly lexus dealer for confirmation too.

G

[Matus]

Gareth, see my post in fuel economy fixes.

that confirms that europe has different cars than UK

[Gareth]

Matus,

Yeah, I just replied.

What exactly makes you so sure the final drive is different?

Usability compared to your car?

G

[Matus]

What exactly makes you so sure the final drive is different?

Usability compared to your car?

I borrowed the car just to try the different ratio :) thats why.

In my car when I go bit over 30km/h (~20mph) I have around 1000rpm on 3rd, the sport ratio had around 1400rpm (don't remember exact number, but it was different)

[Gareth]

Very interesting.

[FinLex]

Been reading this forum for a while now and thought I'd throw in my 2 cents...

For 2007 Luxury version (SE-L ?) there is an option for the shorter final ratio. No extra cost. This is the information I got reading the local Lexus site and talking with a sales person a couple of months ago. Not sure if this stands for Brits though.

Matus, you wondered in another thread about the different fuel consumption on Luxury vs. standard. With the normal gearing the consumption is the same, the difference comes with the "sport" final ratio.

[Matus]

Matus, you wondered in another thread about the different fuel consumption on Luxury vs. standard. With the normal gearing the consumption is the same, the difference comes with the "sport" final ratio.

I know that Lexus states it as you wrote but...

I was thinking - what influences the consumption (except the driving style)? Used revs, weight, tire type and size.

Revs - ok, the sport ratio makes the revs higher, but when? In urban driving (at 50-60km/h)? No.

Extra urban driving (at 100km/h)? No.

It doesn't matter if I go 100km/h on 5th with 2000rpm or 6th with 2000rpm. It's the same.

The difference would be just by higher speeds, when "normal" ratio has about 2600rpm by 180km/h and sport ratio has about 3000rpm. But the presented consumption by Lexus is calculated only for urban and extra urban driving.

weight - I am sure that the base equipment will be lighter than luxury, as luxury as more toys, lether etc.

tyre type and size - Lux has 17" 245 at the back. This means more rubber on the ground. We had some discussion here about this and guys seriously calculated, that wider tires shouldn't rise the consumption, but from experience of my friends, the larger tire rises the consumption at about 0,2 litres per 1cm. Maybe it is not because of the wider rubber, but ususally with larger diameter and larger width the softer compound is used. And - wider tire probably rises the wind resistance.

Maybe I am wrong...

[FinLex]

What comes to the official figures, I'm sure the difference between the two is too big. The numbers come from an official test, but the problem is that the standard test is driven the same way with every car. When you own a car, you can adjust your driving to the character of that car to get the best fuel efficiency possible. The standard test can't do that because the test is... well, standard. Now, the question is: Did Lexus optimize the standard gearing to get a low official figure, thus sacrificing usability and fuel consumption in real world driving? Then they decided to offer sport gearing for those who want a more involving drive. Thinking about the nature of these drivers, Lexus then didn't put much thought to the official figures of this sport version, which shows in the results. After Lexus noticed that the shorter gearing had a lot of people on it's side, they decided to offer the same gearing to the Luxury version. This is how I see the scene.

I'm sure that the official fuel consumption tests haven't been done to all of the versions. The different gearing is a big enough change to justify the tests, but otherwise they just used the same figures.

[Scarlet Pimpernell]

In the UK, there are 2 sets of figures i.e. Sport and non-Sport. See here: http://www.lexus.co.uk/lexus_cars/is_new/i...UEL+CONSUMPTION

I still believe that Lexus tried to show that they could trounce the opposition by building an economical and at the same time powerful diesel. They sort of got both, and in some ways failed both.

The Sport here is better to drive, IMHO. The final drive changes make it behave and feel more like a "normal" diesel and cracking to drive on any road, but especially A roads. The non-Sport on the other hand is better for the motorways - typical sales rep gearing, and the taller gearing should make it more economical.

Other than gearing, what is the spec difference of the LE compared to the SE Matus?

[Matus]

18" wheels with 255 on the back, sport suspension and some differences in interior.