24 Hour Lexus Test Drive

[Tulpen]

Rudy lives in the (beautiful) wilds of Argyll. He would need a 24 hr test drive just to get to his nearest Waitrose :)

[derryuk]

<lay the iPad on the central armrest and measure away>

Ideally it wants to be at the same level as your ears. Microphones can also be directional.

<The lower the profile the more the tyre noise. Run-flat are even worse.>

Tyre noise is now published by the manufacturer. It is the first thing that I look at when buying tyres. Be cautious though because it is something called, I think, "drive by" noise not cabin noise. ie it's external noise.

Remember also that the decibel scale means that the aparent difference to our ears means that 80dB sounds twice as loud as 77dB. A 3dB change means twice as loud or half as loud depending on which way it is going.

Adding another noise tale, just ove a year ago I was looking for something new to replace my Scenic and tried a Honda CR-V. I liked the car until it came to driving it; first impression was it was gutless, as bad as my old Scenic; secondly IT HAD A LOT OF ROAD NOISE, SO MUCH SO THAT I SHOUTED AS MUCH TO THE SALES PERSON AT THE TIME. SHE SHOUTED BACK 'YOU CAN ALWAYS TURN THE RADIO UP.'

Derry.

[Lexmanic]

Waitrose huh? try driving it to Aldi tomorrow :)

No I won't but i'll be visiting our local Lidl. After all they did win Grocer of the Year 2015 even beating Aldi who held the crown previously. I too have seen very expensive motors in Lidl even a new Bentley. We often shop at Waitrose to buy their Tuna as its caught legally by hook and line rather than huge nets that catch everything including Dolphins

[donald-trump]

Thats five days past now and still no call, e-mail, smoke signal, nothing.

[Lexmanic]

Thats five days past now and still no call, e-mail, smoke signal, nothing.

That's terrible Where do you live?

The attached is the 24 hr loan si300h which I returned 4pm Sunday

[ambermarine]

Tulpen

You could not be more off the mark In your assessment of Rudy's location to Waitrose, he is in fact twenty minutes away.

[Chris Skelton]

What! A Waitrose in Argyll? (-:

As rare as an LS 400 I bet.

[Ruud]

Indeed the nearest Waitrose is 20 minutes away in Helensburgh :)

There are at least 3 Ls400s in Argyll - 2 of them are mine :)

EDIT: Make that 4 LS400s. There's another member from Argyll on here.

[Tulpen]

I'm happy to be proved wrong. Argyll is beautiful, though :)

[Ruud]

It sure is Brian. Our house is only a 30 second walk away from the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond :)

[Tulpen]

Rudy,

I'm over in Scotland for a couple of months and had dinner at Cameron House last week. Since I've been here, I've seen a few 200s but not one other LS.

[Ruud]

Ah Cameron House is about 10 minutes from me.

I use the A82 a LOT so you can easily run into me :)

[Cotswold Pete]

Ah Cameron House is about 10 minutes from me.

I use the A82 a LOT so you can easily run into me :)

I would suggest running into one another might not be a good idea, that would be two less LS 400s on the road.

Can I suggest just winding down the window, waving politely and saying 'toodle-pip old chap', just like they used to in the 1950s

[Ruud]

Just 1 Ls400 Pete :)

Brian drives a Ls460.

460 vs 400 - Who will have the most damage? :)

[Tulpen]

I know who would suffer the most expensive damage - me!

However, if we do pass each other I will show impeccable good manners. Because of the 'seniority' of your 400, I will stop and salute you.......just like the AA patrolmen used to do :)

[Ruud]

Ah well but I might be in the '99 Celsior. Still old just not that old :)

[Cotswold Pete]

I know who would suffer the most expensive damage - me!

However, if we do pass each other I will show impeccable good manners. Because of the 'seniority' of your 400, I will stop and salute you.......just like the AA patrolmen used to do :)

And I hope you have your pipe clenched in teeth and wearing plus fours at the same time just to top it all off.

[Lexmanic]

Back in August I rang Lexus Swindon to ask for an IS300h for test drive the following Monday. This was arranged immediately and on Monday I picked up the car. As soon as we got onto the M4 heading west we realised it was too noisy - I couldn't hear my wife speak. We made some sound measurements at steady 70mph and recorded levels between 75 and 80dB. The noise was tyre roar. I could not hear the engine. We took the first exit and went back. I don't think anyone had ever taken a car back because of noise before. It was on 17" rims and the low-profile though not run-flat tyres are noisier than tyres on 16" wheels. (The added noise though the speakers was off.)

We got back in our 1998 GS300 and continued west. On the same stretches of M4 at same speed the GS measured 70 to 75dB. The old GS was also more comfortable! I do have hearing problems so noise is an issue.

I guess I am the wrong demographic for an IS. I should have asked for a GS and indeed I now have a 2007 450h which is even quieter than our old GS. I don't have dB measurements yet as I've not been down that bit of M4 since.

J

80 dB is ridiculous, it is the first action level under the Noise at Work regs, at which hearing protection must be provided. Noise is a killer for me, and I once sold on a Skoda Octavia Scout very quickly because of road noise. I would not have expected it to be a problem in a Lexus, and must be careful when I change my car not to make assumptions based on my LS experience

Thats odd, I have an IS300h, not much road noise at all - only slightly louder than my RX. Its running on the 18" with 225 front and 255 rear so not exactly small sizes

During my test drive last Saturday-Sunday I measured the sound levels The tyres/road noise read a constant 80db + more at times even on smooth roads such as the A35 much of which has recently been resurfaced. Not acceptable I'm afraid. Everything else was/is great, noise levels being the great let down. Such a shame. I have screen shots and when I figure out how to download them I'll post them here

[Steve]

Back in August I rang Lexus Swindon to ask for an IS300h for test drive the following Monday. This was arranged immediately and on Monday I picked up the car. As soon as we got onto the M4 heading west we realised it was too noisy - I couldn't hear my wife speak. We made some sound measurements at steady 70mph and recorded levels between 75 and 80dB. The noise was tyre roar. I could not hear the engine. We took the first exit and went back. I don't think anyone had ever taken a car back because of noise before. It was on 17" rims and the low-profile though not run-flat tyres are noisier than tyres on 16" wheels. (The added noise though the speakers was off.)

We got back in our 1998 GS300 and continued west. On the same stretches of M4 at same speed the GS measured 70 to 75dB. The old GS was also more comfortable! I do have hearing problems so noise is an issue.

I guess I am the wrong demographic for an IS. I should have asked for a GS and indeed I now have a 2007 450h which is even quieter than our old GS. I don't have dB measurements yet as I've not been down that bit of M4 since.

J

That doesnt sound right.. are you sure you did not have the ASC on? This will produce more sound.

The Yoko tyres these are quiet and nowhere near the sound you are getting. even on an old road.

[OldTrout]

The ASC was definitely off. I don't know what tyres were on the IS.

I don't claim that my readings are absolute but the comparison will be valid. i.e. the new IS300h was 5dB louder than the 1998 GS300.

I did discover something about the 24 hour test drive offer which nobody has mentioned. There was a limit of 150 miles during which you pay petrol of course. After 150 miles you pay 15p/mile plus VAT as well as the petrol. (This was down in the small print - I'm pretty sure it was 15p but I could be mistaken.) When I queried this 150 limit because I was just about to do ~350 the sales executive agreed to waive the charge.

J

[ColinBarber]

I don't think there is any doubt here, the IS is noisier than a GS which itself is worse than an LS.

[Spacewagon52]

I wonder how an old LS 400 compares with new IS and GS models? Interesting comparison?

[ColinBarber]

Provided it is in good condition then it would be much quieter and much smoother. Handling, equipment etc then the LS is outclassed. A GS450h is also faster but an LS would outrun an IS/GS 300h.

[IS200D]

<lay the iPad on the central armrest and measure away>

Ideally it wants to be at the same level as your ears. Microphones can also be directional.

<The lower the profile the more the tyre noise. Run-flat are even worse.>

Tyre noise is now published by the manufacturer. It is the first thing that I look at when buying tyres. Be cautious though because it is something called, I think, "drive by" noise not cabin noise. ie it's external noise.

Remember also that the decibel scale means that the aparent difference to our ears means that 80dB sounds twice as loud as 77dB. A 3dB change means twice as loud or half as loud depending on which way it is going.

Adding another noise tale, just ove a year ago I was looking for something new to replace my Scenic and tried a Honda CR-V. I liked the car until it came to driving it; first impression was it was gutless, as bad as my old Scenic; secondly IT HAD A LOT OF ROAD NOISE, SO MUCH SO THAT I SHOUTED AS MUCH TO THE SALES PERSON AT THE TIME. SHE SHOUTED BACK 'YOU CAN ALWAYS TURN THE RADIO UP.'

Derry.

That reminds me of my ct200h 24hr test drive. Upon declaring after the test drive that my main problem with the car was the ride, my salesman while taking me on a spin to demo the spped camera warnings(which are useless), kindly explained that if you drive slower over speed bumps etc you hardly notice them.