AZ08LexusES

Back to on-topic. What do you guys think of the windshield wiper controls? Can you see them? To me they are blocked by the steering wheel. I know, just set it to automatic and not worry about it, but it seems that every time I take it to the dealer they turn them off. That and the light controls, they turn them off. Then you can't see them while you're driving to turn them back on. Same with the lights, my wife had to call me to ask me how to turn the lights on, she never had to do it before!

Let's not get to what the open source Linux guys will be doing, dancing around saying they are the MS killers! Of course, only computer geeks will have their Nav with the Linux version and wires hanging out all over the place always changing this and that! This from a computer geek although I do not use Linux, that much anyway! Do you think that if we ride the transporters in our Lexus that we will have a smoother ride? And what about the creeks, will they still be there? We definitely do not want transmission problems, we'll never make it to the other side. It better be road tested thoroughly!

I had a HUD in my 2001 Pontiac Bonneville.....loved it!!! I am not sure but it still is available on some GM cars (cant remember if it was the Buick or Cadillac I looked at that had the HUD as an option). LOL on the Microsoft Sync......not only will the windows close (or lock up) and the car will crash....the screen will go to the blue screen of death or have an never ending hour glass!!! JGT - MS Sync is MS's entry into the automobile market for automated travel. I envision being able to get into my vehicle and instructing the vehicle to take me to......the car essentially becomes a chaueffer, when needed, and will take me to my final destination without my interferring - scary, but also very exciting! The Jetson's era have started :) Just imagine if there is road construction or the maps are out of date, where will your MS Chauffeur take you? Exciting indeed, but so much to work out!!! On the blue screen of death, supposedly that doesn't happen anymore with XP and beyond. Supposedly!!! Then Apple will create iNav, it will look great and much groovier, but it will only connect to iTunes and use programs that are only in Apple format... Every time you want to go to a new place you have to go to iTunes and pay $9.99 to get the iNav to get you there!

What is this clear bra I keep hearing about? A clear bra is a plastic cover applied with a sticky backing. It is sort of like that shelf paper with the sticky backing - forgot the name of it. Anyway, it is (semi)permanent and durable. Do a search of this site for posts on the good and bad qualities of a clear bra. From what I've read it is expensive and having a good installer is critical to it being applied correctly. Found some stuff on it... http://www.automotivearticles.com/Clear_Bra_3M.shtml and http://www.invisiblepatterns.com Has anybody here done it? What are your opinins on it?

I totally agree on the 4 spoke steering wheel Steve! B) I miss mine from my 01 ES. From taking quite a bit of seat time in a few ES 350's at my local dealer......I wish they would add a little more storage whether it be an extra cubby or 2 or another smart idea the engineers seem to come up with from time to time. B) Yes, definitely, a little more storage/stowage room! What great suggestions! The pursuit of perfection should start here!

Indeed baddboi, programmed/designed for soft cruises. But when you need that power, albeit latency of 1 sec or less, man does it deliver!

Our suggestions for voice recognition and the interface with the Nav are just programing changes that can be done quite easily. We would not have to get a new car for that, just update the one that we have. It would be great if Lexus would take these suggestions into account. Especially reverse engineering the Sync and others out there... But you know what they say, the Sync is a Microsoft product, so expect it to close all your windows and crash! Somebody did write all the voice commands that are avaliable, like "nearest gas station" and it will show you the nearest gas stations and you choose the one you want to go to. I printed it out once, but it's hard to read that while you're driving, lol. I have not memorized them yet. Here's another suggestion, how about giving us the ability to upgrade our system to have a hard drive installed? Then we can upload our music and not need an iPod or MP3 player hooked up. And, how about opening up the BT to allow other devices to connect to the head unit? One suggestion would be for MP3 devices or iPods to be able to transfer music in order to play it or transfer the music files to that hard drive we just installed. These are all software upgrades, except for the hard drive. But, have you seen how small they make these 40 Gig hard drives these days. And the LS has an HD. AZ - Another great suggestion regarding the HD. This is becoming a very popular feature and within 2-3 years I would imagine that you will see 250 GB or larger capacity HDs installed on all luxury vehicles as standard equipment. If Lexus/Toyota is truly concerned about driver/passenger safety, then this becomes a no brainer as a current driver can not control their plugged in AUX device from the steering wheel or head unit; rather, one must use the iPod/iPhone to navigate through the library of songs - talk about dangerous! Some other neat features being rolled out with other luxury lines include a heads up display (cast onto the windshield) and infared (night) vision displayed through the NAV unit. Funny you mention the HUD. Back in the early 90's when I was with GM in Detroit they were putting HUDs on some cars. I really liked it, but I guess it didn't catch on then. That was over 15 years ago! Also, back then they had experimented with digital gauges and people did not like them because analog gives you a better sense of acceleration, etc. That's why with any digital read out for MPH, you also see an analog like display. Infrared display, now that would be cool!

Dave, I have my "snare drum and high hat" in my office and I am turning the big 50 in June! Uh oh, and I bought an 08 ES (probably what you paid for your 02 LS) and I play golf................omg, I am my DAD!!! When did that happen!!! Watch out nyuhsuk, it will happen to you too!!!! LOL Ack! I just took up golfing a few years back... I just may be already hurtling down the road... Don't worry, you age the most when you have a wife and kid(s). You know, you need a bigger house, buy more food, worry about keeping your job to afford all that, school (private if that's what your wife chooses), saving for retirement, saving for college. That's when you need a little bit to escape all that, some people play drums, golf, or whatever gives you a little bit of you time the healthy way. Personally I played soccer until I blew my ACL, now I'll take up cycling again. These are the activities that make you feel younger. Also, going on dates with my wife in the ES, makes me feel like a million bucks!

What is this clear bra I keep hearing about?

Our suggestions for voice recognition and the interface with the Nav are just programing changes that can be done quite easily. We would not have to get a new car for that, just update the one that we have. It would be great if Lexus would take these suggestions into account. Especially reverse engineering the Sync and others out there... But you know what they say, the Sync is a Microsoft product, so expect it to close all your windows and crash! Somebody did write all the voice commands that are avaliable, like "nearest gas station" and it will show you the nearest gas stations and you choose the one you want to go to. I printed it out once, but it's hard to read that while you're driving, lol. I have not memorized them yet. Here's another suggestion, how about giving us the ability to upgrade our system to have a hard drive installed? Then we can upload our music and not need an iPod or MP3 player hooked up. And, how about opening up the BT to allow other devices to connect to the head unit? One suggestion would be for MP3 devices or iPods to be able to transfer music in order to play it or transfer the music files to that hard drive we just installed. These are all software upgrades, except for the hard drive. But, have you seen how small they make these 40 Gig hard drives these days. And the LS has an HD.

Uh oh, you caught me! I really have an 18 handicap (I am a sandbagger!). Hey, one other thing, I don't bet on golf (one because I am really that bad, and two, I don't want to ruin the game for me! I like competing against the course not against those I am playing the round with...just a stupid quirk I have). By the way, I think you and kilrone will appreciate this. I have a buddy in my regular foursome that doesn't want to put his HIGH scores in for his handicap!!!!! What!!!??? I tried to explain to him that you want a "realistic" handicap so you can use it to even the playing field. Apparantly he wants to be able to say he has a low handicap!!!! omg!!!! He is funny though! lol That is funny, it's alright. When he does play against people who want to make things a "little more interesting," he's going to wish he counted all his scores. Unless he likes to give money away. A long time ago I have played for big stakes, nothing in the Michael Jordan range, but you know, $50 to $100 might have exchanged hands. That definitely made the game interesting but nerve racking. Now I like to play where the most you can loose is $18-$20. Then there is something riding in every shot, but it doesn't hurt as much when you screw up.

Back in the last century when the RX300 was in the design stage (96..??) it was decided that the Camry engine and transaxle could be used economically if the transaxle could simply be made a little more robust. To make room for the larger components the ATF pressure holding/sustaining accumulator was dropped from the design. As many posters will testify that led directly to lots of premature transaxle failures for the 99 and '00 RX300 because there was no accumulator for sustaining ATF pressure should two gear changes be required in quick sucession, back to back. There is a TSB for the '03 Camry that adequately decribes a few of the circumstances wherein a driver should expect to encounter the 1-2 second transaxle downshift delay enfored via firmware control of the DBW throttle system. With this change the ATF line pressure no longer needed to be, supposedly, held at 2-3000PSI and that meant a slight improvement in FE. Regretably before Toyota and Lexus realized their design mistake the idea was adopted across the entire FWD and F/AWD product line. Up to this point the solution, beginning with the '03 Camry, was to adopt DBW, E-throttle, to "protect the drive train". Basically DBW was adopted to prevent the engine torque from rising until enough ATF pressure could be built up to accomplish the second QUICK shift, all with the engine at idle. The latest "fix", NCF (New Car Feature), announced for the '08 Avalon is to have the engine/transaxle ECU module "watch" the rate at which you release foot pressure on the accelerator pedal after a period of (light?) acceleration. The thought behind this seems to be that a quick release would indicate a wish to slow the vehicle whereas a slow and easy release would indicate a desire to simply enter cruise mode. I would assume if the Avalon "trial" is successfull and drivers are able to learn and adapt to this new feature the technique will be adopted next year for the entire product line. So, begs the question.... Why not simply leave the transaxle in the lower gear just being used for acceleration for a few extra seconds until it becomes definitive as to the driver's intention. SAFETY & FWD or F/AWD In the "wrong" roadway conditions the level of engine compression braking on a FWD or F/AWD resulting from remaining in the lower gear just used for acceleration can quickly turn HAZARDOUS. Ford has a patented technique used on the Escape and Mariner hybrids, FWD or F/AWD, that involves a significant reduction in the level of regenerative braking to be used should the OAT be below or near the freezing level. The second aspect is to disable regenerative braking entirely the INSTANT ABS activates during actual braking. With adverse, slippery, road conditions regenerative braking for recharging the hybrid battery, just like actual compression braking, can not only lead directly to loss of directional control of itself, but might interfere with ABS to such a level to make it completely non-function. Take a test drive in the BMW X3 or X5, accelerate lightly then lift you foot quickly from the gas pedal and "feel" the level of engine compression braking that results. Now do the same thing with a Toyota or Lexus F/AWD vehicle. Since there is no serious detriment, potentially, to engine compression braking with the BMW's rear biased AWD system the level of engine compression braking on it will be substantial in comparison. Oh, Ford, with the introduction of the F/AWD Edge, has adopted a variable displacement ATF pump so the pump can be adjusted to provide high flow volumes even with the engine at idle. Not really a Ford fan any more, but.... In other words, if you too much of this you sacrifice that, and vice-versa. I am in the software business and as precise as you can make the software, we are dealing with an inherently inprecise world that is mechanics. One can make thresholds infinitessimal and try to control as much as you can with software, but the hardware, in this case the drive train (transmission and engine) have non-digital controls. You can tell a transmission that it needs to downshift with software, but as described above you may not have built up enough enough ATF line pressure to get the instantaneous response. Also, one of the biggest issues with digital (using software) and analog (mechanical) is handling the tweeners. When a calculation puts you in between one and another. An example to use about this is say you are 145 yards from a green. You know you can hit a 9-iron 140 yards and an 8-iron 150. You don't have an 8.5-iron, you need to either hit a hard 9 or a soft 8. Which do you do? It depends on you (most people would do a hard 9 and come up short!). Of course there are other factors as is it downhill or which way the wind is blowing, but that is the idea. A computer, if I were to program it, excluding those external factors for simplicity sake, would make you hit the 8-iron because I know that 80% of the time that would be the right club. So, it's the same here, your software monitors are saying that you should be between 3rd or 4th gear, but which one should it go to. There probably is a whole lot of intelligence and logic measuring external factors that goes into deciding that. But most of the time you are going 20 you do not need to go 60 instantaneously. So being in fourth is OK. Our transmission tries to learn your driving habits and keeps a running log of your latest behaviors to better guess, but sometimes, that guess is wrong. To change the software to put you in 3rd everytime because you may need a surge is not what the ES is about. My guess is that they are using the 80/20 rule. You do something that will be right 80% of the time. This is not as technical as what wwest says, and it may even be wrong, but this is what my common sense tells me whenever I drive an automatic. If you would like to learn more about how software handles tweeners, look up discussions on sampling and over-sampling and why these techniques are done. Music in digital format is the best example of analog to digital conversion. Once you record music and then put it on the CD, it will never sound like the original. A lot of what people may be experiencing here is that before cars only had 4 gears including over-drive. Now, we have 6. Even though the difference is more gradual, sometimes the tranny needs to up or down shift 2 or more gears where before it would be only one or two.

Good choice!!! Welcome and fire out some questions. We are eager to help... Although, I have seen you out here before...

Looks like a great deal, make sure you post a picture of it, I want to see!!!

I agree with most of what people have mentioned here. Definitely the overhead buttons could have been lit and the seat temp controls better placed. As for the ash tray, I pulled the box out and it makes for a perfect place for my cell phone when it is out of the holster. So how about making a cell phone holder that is padded so it will not rattle? Everybody has a cell phone... Also, I know not everybody has an iPod, but something that will interface the sound system with an iPod, not just an 'Aux'. To be able to control it from the sound system. There is an aftermarket one that seems to work well, but I have to order it then have it installed. Also, for voice recognition, how about some shortcuts. Just say, "Call home," or "Call wife." The way it is now it seems like alot of steps and prompts. "Dial by name." "Dial by name has been chosen, when...." "Home." "Home. Please press on the off hook button to complete your call...." It takes too long! Is the glove compartment too small for the rest of you? Owner's Manual barely fits. But the list of things I love are far too numerous to list! Maybe in another thread...

Is that one of those hangers that you hang on one of the headrest posts in the back of the driver's seat?

Uh Oh AZ, maybe kilrone is the ringer!!! I would say I shoot in the 80s, but I would mean temperature not score!!! lol. I am about a 16 handicap....mid 90s (not temperature, score). Still, we would have some fun! Ok I think I blew it now; you guys are going to tell me the LOC TWDS Annual Golf Outing is in Texas while you two play in Arizona...yeah that's it. AZ is a 9 handicap and kil is a 12....I am doomed. You will have me at some muni while you play at a tpc!!! LOL FORE! That's what handicaps are for, to even the playing field for things like betting games. Now that we have evened the field, what kind $$$ are we talking about? Will I have to hit the range and prepare for you guys so I don't lose my shorts and the car keys, uh FOB? BTW- ringers like to inflate their handicap to make it look like they are not that good and have an unfair advantage over the competition. JGT, you are giving us this false sense of comfort, you dog! I almost fell for it!!!

Actually, I am surprissed at how well the tranny downshifts when I let go of the gas andticipating a surge in acceleration. But, when you are cruising at a certain speed, the tranny will shift to its most efficient gear. So, yes, you will get that lag while it downshifts when it needs that surge. But, I do not know what your experience is with automatic transmissions, but that is the disadvantage of it. That's why people who really want performance cars get a manual or a way to switch to manual. You can do this, switch to manual and put it in the gear you want. There will be no hesitation then.

Not so much into the rap, but hip-hop is alright. I have some of it on my iPod. But, I just shuffle all the music and I'll get anything from the 50's to 2008! It's funny, go from Beatles "P.S. I Love You" to Soulja Boy "Crank It". Anyway, enjoy your new wheels, "'cause this is how we roll!"

Congrats RJT! I hope you will love your car as much as I love mine. It's a sweet ride. Do heed the advice JGT gave about the LOC and take good care of it.

Looks like Scottsdale will be 87 today, and so will Tucson... Kilrone, you guys should plan coming down to Tucson and trying out the Gallery, where the Accenture World Match Play took place. What a beautiful course with desert valley and mountain views! You can catch some Spring Training games as well... Hey AZ, you sound a bit too anxious and you are referencing a great course (of course all course in AZ are great). Watch out kilrone, I think AZ is a ringer!!!! One of those guys that gets you on the course (and says he is an ok golfer) and then kicks your (and our) butts!!!! That's him there kicking our butts---> :chairshot: haha Funny you should say that. I once was playing in one of those scramble outings by the company I used to work for where we only had three people and one of our mates said he had a friend that could join us. He told us that he says he shoots 87. Well, that's not bad, it could definitely help. Then he came out and could barely hit the ball. I guess when somebody tells you that they shoot something like an 87, they mean that is their best score ever! The moral here is that better golfers just say they are alright and they understand that it is relative to the audience they are talking to. Depending who asks you, 87 may be great or horrible! I am not alright, I am OK. The best I have gotten my slope was about a 9, but that was a while ago. Currently, with as little as I get to play, I am more of a 12-14. But on a scramble, look out! I have ringers on my speed dial!!! I can call them and talk through the BT in the car. Depending on the rules, LOC members only? If so, I better hurry up and tell them to sign up!

I picked up my dry cleaning today...lol. Couldn't help but think of this thread!

You are probably right there TomWoodLexus....but I have to tell you, I looked hard at the GS350 before I bought my ES. I just didn't see the "best value" for the additional monies. It wasn't about being able to afford it either, it was that the room in the ES (interior and trunk) which was much better than the GS. I liked the outside and inside styling more in the GS but it wasn't worth it to me. Now, maybe the GS460 is better but if it had all the AWD stuff (like less trunk space and the hump in the driver's well), I still wouldn't get it. Now, the LS is a different story...maybe that will be my next car...not sure though! Need to make more money because that would be an affordability issue! Yes, the LS, I want it to be my next car too! Someday...

Looks like Scottsdale will be 87 today, and so will Tucson... Kilrone, you guys should plan coming down to Tucson and trying out the Gallery, where the Accenture World Match Play took place. What a beautiful course with desert valley and mountain views! You can catch some Spring Training games as well...

To be honest, I wish I had the hooks... The lights are nice too, I guess you can't have it all without a major re-design!