Driving Is350 Questions

[webjeff]

I have a new IS 350 and have a few questions as this is the first car I ever owned that is super fast :)

Speed off the line:

1) I don't want to hurt my lexus IS 350 :) Should I not punch it? If I do, is there anything to be careful of? Will the car redline if I don't watch it? Will that destroy the engine?

Semi-manual:

1) I noticed in automatic mode, the car will shift in different spots in RPM depending on my speed, if I'm accelerating slowly it will get up to 6th gear at around 40 MPH. If I put it in sem-manual and leave it in 4th gear, the RPM's are a little over 2k at 40 or so (give or take a few). My question is, is it better to leave it in a lower gear like that or is it worse? I would think I would get better acceleration from 40 up to 60 if I left it in 4th then shift over 3k-4k, but I don't know if thats good or bad for the car.

I currently am treating the new car like my baby until I find out a bit more of what I can do that won't hurt (damage) the car in anyway.

Let me know your thoughts

Thanks!!

Jeff.

[bartkat]

It won't hurt to punch it to full throttle and let the car shift for itself in either mode with the gear selector set to 6. If you are in a lower gear and hit redline the engine will cut off until you back off the gas and let the rpm drop. It won't allow you to over rev.

The automatic shift points depend on how far you are pushing on the gas pedal. Normal driving it will shift at the speeds you see. If you mash down on it, it will shift later at higher rpm. There's no reason to drive around in 4 as the automatic will shift to the gear it needs to be in depending on speed.

The paddle shifters are there for you to downshift and get some engine braking, or to control upshifting if you are on a hilly/curvy road and want to stay in a certain gear. Just play around with that and you'll get a feel for it.

I go up and down a 3 mile mountain road quiet often. Going down, if I am going too fast, or if I have slower traffic ahead, I'll downshift to 5 and then 4 if needed to keep the car from speeding up and not having to over use the brakes. That's one example.

[webjeff]

Thanks for the info. Cool!! I was soo worried to press on the gas a bit harder :) Even without pressing on the gas hard this thing flies!!

Thanks

Jeff.

PS, I'll post pictures soon :)