Is 300 Overdrive

[Baggerchris]

My wife recently bought a 2005 IS 300, with auto tranny. When going down the freeway doing 70 MPH, the tach reads 3000. Is this normal? Our Tacoma reads 80 MPH when going 3000, and our son's Mazda reads 2500 rpm's when going 70.. We are wondering if we are getting the overdrive, or whether the car is just geared a little bit lower than we are used to, and everything is in fact normal.

Thanks;

Baggerchris

[SKperformance]

If you are ever wondering ,take the shifter out of o/d and watch the rpms fly up.

3000 is not high to me , also by pressing the gas slightly and seeing it only slowly raise with the speedometer alos will confirm its operation.

[Rx330driver]

uhh i dont think the IS300 comes with an OD button...as you can see the shifter is very narrow on the stick part. lol. the last time i checked...yesterday. 3000 is not high, its just always like that in the car. thats why the engine is so hot afterwards. Oh, and when i was driving 90 it was practically at 5000 lol(exagerating)

[bartkat]

IS300's are geared that way. 3000 RPM at 70 MPH is normal.

That's one advantage of the 06 IS. It has a 6 speed trans so top gear is higher and it turns lower RPM at equivalent speeds. That's one factor in the better highway mileage figures.

[steviej]

uhh i dont think the IS300 comes with an OD button...

nobody said anything about a button. simply moving the shift lever out of D and to the next position (4) will take a gated shifter out of OD.

steviej

[Rx330driver]

the one next to D is the M mode which lets you use the shifters on the steering wheel.

[Baggerchris]

I just wanted to thank everyone for the kind replys. Yes, I think we have it figured out now. No overdrive button. 3,000 rpm's is just fine at 70 MPH.

Thanks Again!

Chris