Looking To Get An Is200, Just Wanted Opinions From Owners

[Chris_EK9]

Hey guys

Im currently a Civic owner

This is my civic

Im looking to change to a more comfortable car thats more suited to the UKs roads and is more practical, as i am a musician and need the boot space (for Musical instruments)!

Now i know the text book figure for the IS200 is 29mpg, but is anyone getting better milage using stuff like Vpower? As my car does about 260miles out of a 42L tank using 95ron fuel, but on Vpower it gets close to 300miles out of a 42L tank, which is 32MPG as opposed to the 28.5mpg from 95ron fuel. Bearing in mind iv been running my car on vpower for close to a year and almost 10,000 miles now!!

Im just tired of all the road noise and hard ride i have, i just need a practical car with abit of class and abit of umph :)!! So any comments from IS200 owners in this field would be great :)!!

Also has anyone had the need to dynamat their car, as i have a load of dynamat that i was going to put into the civic before i had a change of heart, as i do like my music :D!!

Also whats the general performance like on it from a 2L engine? as with my civic its got a good amount of power (180bhp), just lacks badly in the torque department :( as its only a 1.6!! Has anyone swapped an Altezza engine into an IS200? or is it just too much work :P!!

And any advice on buying or any niggles i should take in to account, please let me know :)!! Or if anyone can recommend a better Lexus for me, but bear in mind I'm 21 and have 1 years no claims :)!!

Thanks in advance :)!!

Chris

[FuntimePhil]

180bhp from a 1.6? What have done to modify it?

the is200 kicks out 153bhp if i remember right. Its fast enough for most people buts its certainly not a boy racers car

[stuie]

right fuel consumption on a decent run with a light throttle 35 is possible but lok closer to late 20s early 30s realistically round town low 20s.

performance isnt that great from a 2.0litre 153 bhp is nothing when you take into account 2 tons worth of car to shift on a plus note being 6 cyl it does have plenty of torque it just needs to be worked unfortunatly with that the mpg does drop like a stone.

Handling firstly get it wimed they screwed up the geo on is200's causing inside tyre wear and giving a floaty feel as standard, it is however rwd meaning that once sorted point it in the right direction and even with a bit of sliddy action it will go where you want it to (so I found out this morning). It doesnt however seem to work well with opposite lock as well as the bm's cope with it but as long as you point it where you want it to go the rear will generally follow.

If you want an altezza buy one the cost of transferring the engine isnt worth it if your going that route you may as well do a supra conversion as it will cost you just as much, plus imo the altezza is over rated yes its quicker but you dont get the smooth performance or the luxury feel

[Chris_EK9]

180bhp from a 1.6? What have done to modify it?

the is200 kicks out 153bhp if i remember right. Its fast enough for most people buts its certainly not a boy racers car

The stock engine was 170bhp and i added a fully 2.5" exhaust system, hi-flow cat and manifold, but to be honest, i want to get out of the modified car world, as im not really a boy racer tbh!! and that civic has taken too much of my money, and i wont get any of it back :(!!

[Chris_EK9]

right fuel consumption on a decent run with a light throttle 35 is possible but lok closer to late 20s early 30s realistically round town low 20s.

If you want an altezza buy one the cost of transferring the engine isnt worth it if your going that route you may as well do a supra conversion as it will cost you just as much, plus imo the altezza is over rated yes its quicker but you dont get the smooth performance or the luxury feel

Thats not too bad to be honest, as they are pretty cheap cars to pick up now, and the insurance is soooo much cheaper than on my civic, im paying £1400 on the insurance on the civic, and got quotes as low as £700 on the IS200 :o!!

Thats what i thought with the altezza, it might lack in comfort, i want comfort a hell of alot more than performance, to be honest, i dont really use the power my civic has much, what with there being a speed camera around every corner. All i need is the Lexus to be good when it comes to over taking on the motorway, cuz thats what the civic is great at :D!!

[FuntimePhil]

is200 are great at high speeds, thats the best bit imo.

price wise, older lower specs i would say around 4k, if you want summat like a 05 sport probably around 6k??

[DJ Wozza]

Welcome Chris.

As mentioned above, the IS200 is not a quick car. Smooth executive cruiser is more like it.

Fuel economy is about 22-24 round town (less with a heavy foot), and 35+ if very gentle on a Motorway run.

Also as suggested, first stop is take the car to Wheels-InMotion in Chesham (nr Hemel Hempstead)

and get the car fully Geo'd. With good tyres and suspension, the IS200 drives well, but only after

a visit to WIM. Best £100 or so you will spend on the car IMO.

Values are fairly low for the IS200 these days, but the IS300 isn't that much more if you want something

with a bit more poke under your right foot.

[Chris_EK9]

Values are fairly low for the IS200 these days, but the IS300 isn't that much more if you want something

with a bit more poke under your right foot.

I had a look at the IS300, but i dread to think what the insurance would be like on a 3.0, plus the added tax, and they only come in an Auto, and idealy i would like a manual :)!!

[stuie]

tax is the same if that helps

[aido]

I know they're auto but they're quick too - when Mike had his tinkered with I was behind him and Tony and that guy really believes in the statement "drive it like you stole it" - I had the SC'd IS200 at the time and there was no way it was keeping up - heck I wouldn't have felt safe going round corners at the speed they were doing but the IS300 has the extra advantage of VSC over the IS200 which just has a very basic traction control system.

[sparkystav]

Welcome mate,

The Is isn't that great on petrol, but it all depends on your right foot.

As for power only 153 as standard but its all about the luxury in the Standard IS. And it is very luxurious!

Stav

[chrisis200]

Not as quick, similar fuel, I suppose the space and gizmos are the only plus points imho but the civic probably has similar bits? I think the lack of power will make you want a civic type r or an accord type r but there high insurance as I'm sure you know :(

[Steviewevie]

An IS200 is going to be heavier and have less power than your current motor, so you'll notice the difference. However you will probably also notice that the engine is nice and smooth, and it has lots of toys, a very comfortable interior, etc.

I second the recommendation that a trip to WIM for a geo setup will be time and money extremely well-spent.

Although it's not that quick off the mark at the traffic lights, once you're shifting down the motorway you should find that it's pretty good when it comes to putting your foot down to overtake.

[Lexus2D]

[Chris_EK9]

Might it be worth just sticking with the civic and maybe fitting the dynamat to get rid of the road noise?

The Engine is quite smooth if u drive it right, lol.

[The Transporter]

The boot can be a bit limited as it suffers from the boot lid hinges impinging in to the storage space so check that it will take all of your kit before you buy.... or get the estate

[dirtyharry7717]

1stly welcome

2ndly as the transporter says

the bloody hinges are a pain, but if you keep that in mind im sure youll fit most of your gear in there and the added bonus of turning up to your gigs in the Lexus is that WAW factor chicks love it and guys are jelous :D

i always ran audi Q`s before moving onto celica gt4 and my last ricer was the lude gen4 (4ws-2.2) and same as urself need the space and the comfort, now im happy as pig in the......... well u get the just.... as everyone else says heavy on the right foot and heavy drinking you can watch the fuel gauge dissapear, but out on your friends private stretch of road ;);) and cruising comfortably at 130+ u hardly feel it.

only concern is when you get it take it out on a wet day , find some grassy area and practice getting your a""se out, cause you will get a brown streak down your nice seats whenyou take that roundabout a bit fast :L i learnt the hard way 180 deg facing oncoming ,,,,,,,,,,allthough i never crossed the white line :D after that i relised the TC was not on > DOH :L happy days

only other problem you got is what colour to get it .................but thats another argument for another day :L,,,,,,,,,,

all the best for the new year guys

[kallabungo]

In general i've come to realise the IS200 is much better at higher speeds than slow. When you have the space to clearly pull through the gears at your own pace its lovely, and even the feeling as you rise up to 90mph in 5th gear and the VVTI kicks in, it starts pulling again more than most other cars would in 3rd! and being that japanese bred engine it does love to scream if you get a bit viscous with it.

However, i find it difficult round town, its not the easiest car to constantly be starting and stopping in traffic - you'll have to train your feet to be very smooth and accurate.

Its more than enough power, it'll just take you a little while to realise it - then by this point, you'll start appreciating the other qualities of the car.

[aido]

However, i find it difficult round town, its not the easiest car to constantly be starting and stopping in traffic - you'll have to train your feet to be very smooth and accurate.

It is for exactly that reason that I love automatic cars now :)

[janet]

Both mine have been ace, on the 200 you need to learn to manage the rev range to get the best from the engine. Even the 300 is progressive rather than agressive through the rev range.

By the way glad to be back on my home forum, I posted a question (similar to this) about a possible 250 purchase for my son....and only got 1 reply ! ....nice to be home....won't go there again, we'll find out for ourselves!