I can understand what you feel about the "Automatic", but remember, 7th and 8th are an overdrive gears. They do drop more than a few hundred RPM's.
IMO....It's really no different in "D" than it would be driving a manual. If you want to immediately downshift to gears 6 or even 5, it's just a tap on the left shift paddle for instant response. With a 6 speed manual car you would have to downshift for fast acceleration and it would be even slower in response times by shifting manually! That's why Lexus advertises the World first and fastest shifting production car made....It's really bulletproof technology!!!8 gears are great especially when just cruising on the highway. It really yields the best gas mileage. But I do have to agree that when putting the car in just "D" mode (or even with the sport button on), 8 gears is a bit much for the car to decide what gear to be in. If I am cruising in 8th, then floor it, it takes a moment for the car to kick me down to the gear I really should be in. It's a bit frustrating. But if in Manual and in Sport mode, this car is great! Very responsive, quick... but I'm making the decisions.
When I made my comment, I'm talking about just leaving it completely in D. I realize you can still downshift in D manually, but what if you were going 65 and needed to cut over and you pressed your accelerator. It takes time to go from 8th gear to whatever gear that would be optimal. In the IS350, if you kept it in D, it responded pretty well. From 6th to 4th in the IS350 it happens pretty quick, from 8th to 4th in the IS350 takes a while. Yes I realize I can downshift, but I was talking about having just the automatic transmission logic work by itself.IMO....It's really no different in "D" than it would be driving a manual. If you want to immediately downshift to gears 6 or even 5, it's just a tap on the left shift paddle for instant response. With a 6 speed manual car you would have to downshift for fast acceleration and it would be even slower in response times by shifting manually! That's why Lexus advertises the World first and fastest shifting production car made....It's really bulletproof technology!!!
I think this was my original point. Pressing down even slightly on the accelerator causes a gear change. Why? Because the ratios are too close together. Why? Because it has 8 gears instead of 6. This engine has more than enough torque to efficiently pull the car in any gear at any speed. The additional 2 gears just seem superfluous.I find that even in drive mode, if you press down slightly on the accelerator it will begin to downshift, however with spirited driving it works fine for me.
Old$parts
Answer to your comments:I think this was my original point. Pressing down even slightly on the accelerator causes a gear change. Why? Because the ratios are too close together. Why? Because it has 8 gears instead of 6. This engine has more than enough torque to efficiently pull the car in any gear at any speed. The additional 2 gears just seem superfluous.
Perhaps the the "World's First 8 Speed Tranny" because others have decided that 6 Speeds more than suffice.