IS250 F-Sport Build Thread

[dougie175]

Yeah its a fair size, really light and easy install and shift about though, ideal for a wife with lots of cloths and a baby who needs a pram! Getting the Thule load and Go luggage bags for my birthday too, they make the most of the room! Even down to a specific shaped nose bag!

[Neil E]

Now that is smart. Not sure it would look too clever on an SC430 but I do like things that are designed well. 

[dougie175]

I like the Gtechniq wheel armor so much I decided to try a couple more of their products in the form of G1 Glass protection and C4 Trim protection, will be applying them both early Saturday weather permitting as they must stay dry for 12 hours once applied.

Will update with how it gets on and let you know if I feel they are worth applying. I am hoping the trim application works well on the underskirt kit which despite being dressed regular always looks dry and dirty after a couple of days fingers crossed this keeps it look better and hopefully stops the dirty sticking as easily!

[Guest]

On 24 July 2017 at 10:47 PM, dougie175 said:

Yeah its a fair size, really light and easy install and shift about though, ideal for a wife with lots of cloths and a baby who needs a pram! Getting the Thule load and Go luggage bags for my birthday too, they make the most of the room! Even down to a specific shaped nose bag!

I actually had that set of bags and the bag they go in,got the roof box(display model)  for £100 on sale from Halfords and got the bags on line,it did seem really good quality but alas never got to use it in the end as she who has to be obeyed refused to have anything on the roof so i sold it all last year.

[dougie175]

4 minutes ago, Eame64 said:

I actually had that set of bags and the bag they go in,got the roof box(display model)  for £100 on sale from halfords and got the bags on line,it did seem really good quality but alas never got to use it in the end as she who has to be obeyed refused to have anything on the roof so i sold it all last year.

Yeah they actually arrived yesterday, was my Birthday on Sunday so treated myself to a set, cant see the Mrs using them in all honesty as she likes a drag along suitcase, however I will be using the very front one and one behind then she can put her normal suitcase behind and as my little girl gets older she I should still have enough room for her stuff

Just the idea was to use the nose and front area of the roofbox that are difficult to fill and leave the rest of the space for those who bring lots of clothes! 

[Farqui]

Belated  Robb

[dougie175]

My boot struts just turned up as well today!

I took a bit of a risk on a company I have previously had a bad experience with, SGS Engineering, I cannot fault them this time however I dealt with someone called Thomas Rhodes and he was fantastic to deal with and the turn around was amazing, I remove the struts Friday night and they are back in my hand re-engineered today!

The reason is because I have added extra weight to the boot with my smoothed spoiler the boot wasn't opening very well, bit too heavy to lift and slammed shut, after speaking with Thomas he suggested adding an additional 25% extra gas to my struts.

I haven't fitted them yet but should be fitted by the end of the day and I will report back if this corrects the issue!

[Farqui]

Excellent, let us know if they're an improvement.

Up-rated rams on a hatchback can give a serious upper cut if you're not careful   That's not likely on our small trunks tho eh, unless you're vertically challenged 

[dougie175]

6 minutes ago, Farqui said:

Excellent, let us know if they're an improvement.

Up-rated rams on a hatchback can give a serious upper cut if you're not careful   That's not likely on our small trunks tho eh, unless you're vertically challenged 

Will do!

I'm a short ar*e yeah but even I wont get clobbered by the boot on an IS hehe

[dougie175]

Got 2 minutes free on my lunch break so fitted the boot struts, massive improvements just like original again now so over the moon.

Was impressed with SGS this time so can recommend them if anyone wants to uprate their original struts to allow for additional weight

[Neil E]

Thanks Robb, I better get on to them as my struts can't cope with the extra spoiler weight in anything but the warmest weather.

 

[dougie175]

8 hours ago, Neil E said:

Thanks Robb, I better get on to them as my struts can't cope with the extra spoiler weight in anything but the warmest weather.

Yeah I suggest emailing FAO Thomas Rhodes as he was a pleasure to deal with and provided top service. Its great to get the OEM feeling back again, I had got quite used to helping the boot shut so it doesn't slam, but it worried me every time someone wanted something from my boot I had to jump up quickly to help them with the boot so they didn't either take their fingers clean off when closing it or just slam the boot down!

They charge sensible money for uprating the original struts too, just PM me if you need details

[dougie175]

Yesterday I got the chance to do a bit more protection work on my black trims and plastics around the vehicle and glass in the form of some Gtechniq G1 and C4, both seem like fantastic products, both require a lot of n to make sure the surface is perfectly clean before applying the protection, but according to the manufacturer and a lot of reviews this should last for up to 2 years.

It just started raining here so nipped outside to take a look and the car now beads top to bottom on every possible surface and type of material including the glass and black trims

I have been really impressed with the Gtechniq products so far, my alloys, glass and exterior trims are all now treated with Gtechniq and I'm starting to feel like a bit of a walking talking advert for them but I'm half tempted to try their T1 tyre and trim as well. Also very interested how their Crystal Serum compares to Fusso Soft 99 which has really impressed me too

[dougie175]

Just as an experiment I drove like a granny for a bit just to see how economical the 2.5 V6 could be, obviously this engine was never really designed to be amazing on fuel, however over the last 20 odd thousand miles has delivered me 32mpg average without making any attempts to conserve fuel.

After the granny driving the car returned just over 40mpg which to me seems amazing from a petrol V6 and just backs up what I was already thinking that even doing decent mileage every year around 15k it isn't worth me moving back to a diesel to gain 10-15mpg which would save around £1000 a year but comes at a cost to driving refinement and more importantly leave me worried about the next bill that could crop up at any moment.

 

[J Henderson]

I've seen many people complaining that they run out of G1 before they manage do the whole car including the recommended 3 coats on the front screen. I imagine you had no such issues with the C4 as there's not a huge amount of plastic on an IS. Gtechniq products are definitely great but those tiny little bottles are what puts me off buying any of their stuff!

I have my glass sealed with this stuff and it's very impressive.

[Farqui]

Impressive that you can get such an improvement by taking it easy.

Just out of interest, is that over a mix of town/country lanes?

What do you get on a steady motorway run?

[dougie175]

2 hours ago, J Henderson said:

I've seen many people complaining that they run out of G1 before they manage do the whole car including the recommended 3 coats on the front screen. I imagine you had no such issues with the C4 as there's not a huge amount of plastic on an IS. Gtechniq products are definitely great but those tiny little bottles are what puts me off buying any of their stuff!

I have my glass sealed with this stuff and it's very impressive.

No I had plenty of G1, you use these products very sparingly and they spread forever about 12 drops covers the whole screen no problem!

Also no issues with the C4 I do have quite a bit more plastic than most having the underline kit on my car but even so more than enough to go round.

Dont be put off by the price if they do last they are fantastic value and give great results so far!

[dougie175]

1 hour ago, Farqui said:

Impressive that you can get such an improvement by taking it easy.

 

Just out of interest, is that over a mix of town/country lanes?

 

What do you get on a steady motorway run?

Its a mix of town county lanes and a bit of dual carriageway average speed of 35-40 overall roughly

Stick cruise control on 70mph on a motorway 3 hours later I will have averaged 40-43mpg 

[dougie175]

Just a quick initial update on the G1 it is amazing on the rear screen and side glass, my last few cars have annoyed me not having a rear wiper and this stuff pretty much cures that issue after 2 seconds of driving above 45 mph.

However as for the front screen yes it does sheet water very well and you can easily drive at 60mph and above without wipers even in very heavy rain like we have had here this evening, but do I prefer it to using the wipers? I'm not 100% sure at this point, even more strange to be is actually turning the wipers off when driving, I usually just leave them on auto and let them look after themselves!

[Guest]

I use carnauba wax. It is cheap and dead easy to apply. Water beeds off at any speed and it seems to last really well. I do clay the glass first.

 

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk

 

 

[rayaans]

On 8/7/2017 at 6:42 PM, Comedian said:

I use carnauba wax. It is cheap and dead easy to apply. Water beeds off at any speed and it seems to last really well. I do clay the glass first.

 

Sent from my STV100-4 using Tapatalk

 

 

I did try this back in the day when I was a fool!

It made a smeary mess.... and was removed the next day

[dougie175]

Just now, rayaans said:

I did try this back in the day when I was a fool!

It made a smeary mess.... and was removed the next day

Must say I am not far off the same situation with G1 to be honest, haven't given up quite yet until I have tried 1 more thing to rectify the issue which is apparently supposed to cure the issue "Bar Keepers Friend" but will update the tread on my view of Gtechniq and products once I have had chance to sort the screen!

[rayaans]

34 minutes ago, dougie175 said:

Must say I am not far off the same situation with G1 to be honest, haven't given up quite yet until I have tried 1 more thing to rectify the issue which is apparently supposed to cure the issue "Bar Keepers Friend" but will update the tread on my view of Gtechniq and products once I have had chance to sort the screen!

Thats why I use a "light" glass sealant like Powermaxed rain off. Beads very well on side and rear windows but tones down on the front after wiper use so it makes visibility better but can still use the wipers! 

On a side note, you're right about the lambswool brush - its now used for interior dusting!

But, Lidl have a wheel cleaning brush - its basically a little noodle mitt in very stiff but flexible metal. The metal is all covered and it works extremely well and is very sturdy.

Cost a grand total of £2.50

[dougie175]

1 minute ago, rayaans said:

Thats why I use a "light" glass sealant like Powermaxed rain off. Beads very well on side and rear windows but tones down on the front after wiper use so it makes visibility better but can still use the wipers! 

On a side note, you're right about the lambswool brush - its now used for interior dusting!

But, Lidl have a wheel cleaning brush - its basically a little noodle mitt in very stiff but flexible metal. The metal is all covered and it works extremely well and is very sturdy.

Cost a grand total of £2.50

I knew I should have asked for a bit of advice from yourself before jumping in an buying further gtechniq products! I have a feeling I will need to remove this G1, also bought some Gtechniq G5 which is a much less permanent solution but sounds like it may work better for me

Sounds like good advice on the wheel brush I have actually just taken the plunge and bought some genuine wheel woolies though, had £32 worth of Nectar vouchers to use so bought some on eBay for £45 delivered. Its very expensive but at least I know I'm getting something that will work... hopefully!

[rayaans]

9 hours ago, dougie175 said:

I knew I should have asked for a bit of advice from yourself before jumping in an buying further gtechniq products! I have a feeling I will need to remove this G1, also bought some Gtechniq G5 which is a much less permanent solution but sounds like it may work better for me

Sounds like good advice on the wheel brush I have actually just taken the plunge and bought some genuine wheel woolies though, had £32 worth of Nectar vouchers to use so bought some on ebay for £45 delivered. Its very expensive but at least I know I'm getting something that will work... hopefully!

I think Barkeepers friend is one way to remove these coatings and certainly the only way thats worked for me in the past.