is f steering

hondansxr · August 25

hi all i have just test drove a 2009 isF {japanese import} is the steering supposed to be heavy {very weighted } without sport button on !

im used to an rc300 & an SC430 .

cheers in advance paul

Arqum · August 25

You are trying to compare chalk and cheese there. Also it depends if the tyres are of correct spec and on correct pressure. You need to compare with another ISF, not RX, SC and even not another standard IS.

hondansxr · August 25

tyres were michelin p sport

will try another isf .

DamianLEX · August 25

Steering in ISF is slightly heavier that in RCF.

RichGS11 · August 25

It shouldn't change with the sport button, but being a Japanese import there's a chance the steering ECU has been upgraded to the 2011+, which was a heavier feel to get it closer to a performance BMW feel.

If you can get the part number of the steering ECU from the seller, that will tell you more about it.

Does the car have other modifications?

hondansxr · August 26

guy selling it didn't have a clue !!!!

it was knocking on the front suspension , , he didnt know if it was limited to112 mph ??

sat nav was still in japanese..wheels scuffed , boot wouldnt open on boot button , stone chips on bonnet not even touched in .

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406221014257?sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Lexus&model=IS F&postcode=b774pl&fromsra

ubersonic · August 26

The ISF has a system called VDIM (Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management system) which among other things adjusts the weight of the steering based on vehicle speed. From memory I know that Sport Mode adjusts VDIM, backing off stability and traction control (though not disabling them) however I cannot from memory recall if it also affects the weight of the steering.

If the car is an import, has it been converted to MPH? Because a badly done MPH/KPH conversion can leave some ECUs confused to the vehicles speed and result in quirks (I.E a JDM Honda refusing to engage VTEC in 1st gear) which theoretically could result in the speed sensitive power steering applying the wrong settings, and maybe even in only one driving mode (to be clear this is an explanation of something that is possible, not a claim that this is what's happening).

9 hours ago, hondansxr said:

guy selling it didn't have a clue !!!!

it was knocking on the front suspension , , he didnt know if it was limited to112 mph ??

sat nav was still in japanese..wheels scuffed , boot wouldnt open on boot button , stone chips on bonnet not even touched in .

In fairness unless he'd been round Silverstone in it or done something highly illegal on the M6 Toll he wouldn't know for sure if it could pass 112MPH 😛

As for the Sat Nav, I don't believe from memory that you can set the JDM ones to English (somebody please correct me if wrong) nor do I believe you can straight swap them for a UK one due to differing pinouts...

Boot not opening on button could be as simple as the button in the glove box that toggles that on/off being set to off, or as complex as a fault with the system.

9 hours ago, hondansxr said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202406221014257?sort=price-asc&advertising-location=at_cars&make=Lexus&model=IS F&postcode=b774pl&fromsra

Personally I would be a bit wary of that for the price, looking at the advert I can see:

It's an import which means it probably isn't going to hold value as well as a UK car (based of historic comparisons where the JDM version of a car is lower spec than the UKDM version, I.E MK4 Supra).
The original Japanese owner didn't get the adaptive cruise option (not standard on JDM cars) which is usually desirable, and I think may also mean it has no collision prevention system either.
The original Japanese owner didn't get the parking sensors option (not standard on JDM cars) which is usually desirable.
There's no mention of the VP seal or the cam tensioner being done (two bills totalling £4-5k every ISF will face in it's lifetime).
It's 15 years old with 66k miles on the clock which is touching the bottom being "too low" for the year so you would definitely want to see and check the FSH*.
Either the original owner ordered it with base IS interior trim instead of ISF trim, or a subsequent owner swapped it out.

On the plus side though, the original Japanese owner did opt for the minidisc player option (cool), and skipped the sunroof option which means the roof is aluminium instead of steel.

*Miles being too low may sound crazy but it can be an issue with a Lexus because a lot of things like seals, etc will decay with both time and milage, this is why Lexus say to service it every year or 10k miles, whichever it comes first. You often get issues where some Lexus owners simply say "Oh I only drove 3000 miles this year, I'll have it serviced next year", etc. From