Inexpensive Upgrade?

[gstarr60]

Oh no thought mine was bad lol

[Youngiceman87]

Im 26 with my mods declared on my insurance. Think its about £650. Tax on a 300 wont be more than the 200 as the 200 is in the highest tax bracket for its age anyway lol. E.g mines a 2003 and is £280 for the year. If they did these from 2006 we'd be paying the 400 odd pound tax rate lol.

[gstarr60]

Lol wow.. Hmmm i wonder how this f*#%@n tax man works out all this!

[Youngiceman87]

Emissions my friend, emissions lol

[matt-c]

Don't even bother spending that £200 on anything to do with the engine (unless it's for a service or something). You're better off spending it on a front armrest ;)

[IHgs300]

I agree with the above, a front armrest is one of the best additions you can get. Couldn't do without mine now.

[gstarr60]

oh serious? hmm i dont know if id like an armrest on a manual. i had my mates 5series for a weekend oh yes i was loving the armrest but it was tiptronic so much easier. im gona have a look and see

[Stuart Aspey]

Hi Gee. I think a service would help blow out the cobwebs and ensure the engine is in tip top condition and then look at getting a K&N air filter to help with the engine running better. http://www.knfilters.co.uk/mobile/mProduct.aspx?prod=33-2845

Don't spend too much now, but keep saving and get a decent supercharger at a later stage.

Didn't check the tax amounts when I get mine back in January and nearly had a heart attack.

As for insurance . . . I'm a boring careful driver, no claims for 15 years, I paid £390 for the year, but swiftcover.com offered even less . . . Shop around age and location will have an impact, but barter with companies, they want your money!

[gstarr60]

Thanks Stuart. Yeah im getting a full service next month. Yeah ive been looking at k&n ait filters ive decided im gona get one along with the full induction kit. Lol u cant be a boring driver in a Lex!! Yeah my insurance is due for renewal in august so i will definately be doing a bit of shopping around and bartering.

[Youngiceman87]

U wont need the k&n air filter stuarts on about if ur getting an induction kit

[matt-c]

Even in a manual, I could not cope without my armrest!!!!

[clifton 94]

I have a auto but i agree with matt-c best thing I fitted was the armrest on a long run on a motorway it s just great you won't be disappointed

[Pete Shawn]

I'd had a very bad driving habit by sitting the hand on the gear shifter n the othe hand on the steering wheel. Now the arm just sit on the armrest and easily shift gear without feeling stiff on the palm . althought it's not a origin armrest (stilo mod) but i wud say it's money well spent on a armrest :zee:

[petayV8]

Some cars the armrest gets in the way agreed but the OEM one on the IS200 is quite far back. However does make more sense with a auto because your arm has seriously nothing to do! your like where do i put my arm! lol

I bought a cheap armrest box with center console storage cheap for £30 on eBay, has the same vinyl black wrap design as rest of interior. with alot of modifications of its wooden frame its the perfect fit now, can even control my navi remote while resting my arm lol. Am thinking it would of been easier to just buy a standard flip up style one now though

im not paying £100+ for a friggin arm rest. put one in my last auto car from eBay too, worked fine. And the next owner can quite happily rip it out and return the interior to stock without any damage done with the way i fixed it. However the easier route is to use the clamps that it comes with and screw into centre tunnel.

For £200 you could do a fair bit to your car if your cool with doing it yourself. Maybe get a spoiler, paint calipers with decals, LED interior lighting, chrome tip exhaust. Have you got a GROM or Xcarlink for your IPOD/MP3 player?

[Stuart Aspey]

Some cars the armrest gets in the way agreed but the OEM one on the IS200 is quite far back. However does make more sense with a auto because your arm has seriously nothing to do! your like where do I put my arm lol.

Uhh... PetayV8. Umm, your arm should not be left dangling, if you hold the steering wheel with both hands, one at the 10 and the other at the 2 as if imagining the steering wheel was the face of a clock, then your arm will have plenty to do. . . . .

[petayV8]

Depends on the road and speed. Both hands are never going to be on the wheel 100% of thr time. Should of said "sometimes" :) can see how it sounded from reading it back though

[Stuart Aspey]

I think it is something that needs to be reviewed, with power assisted Steering, you don't need both hands on the wheel, you don't need to control a modern car like an Austin Allegro. . . . . You don't need to feather the wheel any more. Modern driving is easier because manufacturers have made cars easier to drive.

[matt-c]

Depends on the road and speed. Both hands are never going to be on the wheel 100% of thr time. Should of said "sometimes" :) can see how it sounded from reading it back though

Well of course; we all know that you don't need two hands on the wheel at all times (even though, technically, you should!) just as much as we all know you can't drive everywhere with just one hand on the wheel.

But even in my manual, I've found the front armrest to be irreplaceable - I'd say it's a 50/50 split between having my arm on it and not, and I include gear changes in that. One thing I've found with the Lexus is how much my driving style has changed since I got it last year. I now spend much more of my time driving in a "mature and adult" fashion, and along with the fact the IS seems happy to go on any road in 4th, I can lean on the armrest a lot of the time. On motorways and major A-roads, it's a godsend. The one really long (ie, nearly 4hrs each way) I did in the IS without it was a PITA!

[Lance]

The two best upgrades I have done to my car that have made the biggest improvement was fitting Eibach lowering springs as they improved the handling without affecting ride quality and the other one was doing a full brake fluid change. For the price of a bottle of brake fluid an empty coke bottle and a foot of 1/4" aquarium hose it made such a difference to the brakes. The pedal response is much better and overall it has sharpened up the brakes considerably.

[gstarr60]

thx petay, i already have a spoiler and a flame tip exhaust with a full system. i really wana paint my calipers but im confused as to what colour i wana put on, as everyone i know no matter the car, theyve got em in red, which i wana do so bad but i wana stand out. i really need to get my alloys refurbished as well, im gona put em in gunmetal grey powdercoated and chrome on the outsides.

[petayV8]

Sounds like you've got a nice package there then. We havent seen any pics so wouldnt know :winky:

Personally for me i like black calipers with silver decals on plat ice. but thats just me. alot of ppl go red and seen gold too.

[Stuart Aspey]

I wanna get my calipers done. The IS is listed as persian quartz so I wanna do the calipers in the same colour. I want my car to retain its understated qualities. I upgraded from standard Lexus 16's, which I'll keep as winter wheels, to standard Lexus 17's. The wheels cost me £95, the refurb £320, Hankook tyres £425. . . WiM alignment £115.

starts getting expensive without even trying. . . . .

[petayV8]

I didnt know you upgraded wheels Stu, nice move. Love that colour, i saw one in that colour for the first time in the flesh about a month ago and was in awe

[Stuart Aspey]

It is a really nice colour. I saw another SportCross in the same colour as Panyas' is300. That was nice.

Yeah, when I bought mine, it was on standard 16's. The wheels were alright, but I wanted the 17's. They just look right.

[gstarr60]

theyre a few pics in my gallery pete, i dont know how to upload em to the thread lol. but if click on my gallery on the left hand side of the page youll see a few pics :winky: