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I know someone on here has used his LS400 at a previous event, but I imagine my day of driving a Lexus was a little different to what most of you were up to this weekend: Lexus ready for the track by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr RAF Marham charity trackday. An excellent, relaxed day of driving quickly on a long, wide circuit with lots of run-off ideal for a novice like me. 140+ MPH by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr A long straight of 1.8km/1.2 miles allowed my £500 Mk3 to get up to well over an indicated 140mph :-) Beforehand I'd had it checked-over by my garage, with the front discs being skimmed/new pads fitted and an oil change. The main issue of the day was the PAS fluid getting hot, but it was fine after being allowed to cool down for a few minutes. I was manually shifting up and down the 'box, quite interesting dropping down to 3 then 2 at well over the ton but it will only change down when the rev's are right. Gave me a useful bit of engine braking that way. I hit the rev limiter several times when I wasn't quite quick enough changing up, and it was an interesting experience it going from 3 into top at 130-odd then still accelerating quite strongly. The garage had noted that the flanges between the back of the cat's and the exhaust system were rotten, and by the end of the day it was sounding rather mean but luckily they don't worry too much about noise at this event.... In total I did 156 miles out on the track and used a tankful of fuel which would normally do me for well over 300. Handling and grip were surprisingly good, probably helped by the 245-wide tyres on 18" GS300 Sport rims. There was only one bend with a mid-corner bump where it seemed to want to oversteer, if anything understeer was the main characteristic. Tyre wear was pretty good, I managed to drive home on the 18's whereas on the FWD stuff I've used before on trackdays I've had to change them. It acquitted itself remarkably well and if it passes next year's MoT I might even treat it to a cam belt change!

Hi folks, thanks for your help, I've taken the plunge and bought a LS430 today. I'll post up details in a bit Regards Iain

I just had to leave the Waftomatic at home and go lubricate the environment,with a Cheshire grin for a jolly along my local coast :)

Mike and I are having a senior moment! Must remember to check post dates!

Stuart, just inserting the key is enough to make the steering wheel move, you don't need 'on' position.

Pictures? Okay. Here's the front and back, as bought. Wheels are my biggest gripe but I may go for a respray after I've T-cut and polished the whole body. We'll see.

All reasonable comments... Maybe a letter to the dealer, explain the situation and your thinking, but thank them as well for resolving the issue. After all, you may need their support or help again in the future, so good to keep things 'professional'?

guys i posted in the technical forum but didnt get a reply so im asking again im on the look out for a nice 06/07 or even 08 plate 450h and want to know is there any tell tale signs of hybrid cell failure. Can the car be run on just the petrol engine in the event of a big expensive hybrid failure i.e inverter and finally is it better to go for a low mileage (under 100k) or one which has slightly higher mileage albiet maybe motorway runs in which case the hybrid components will have less wear and tear therfore longer life manyy thanks for your help

If you are going to leave the door opened for such a long time with the sound system on, should you not have the car in READY mode anyway, to prevent battery drain? - I know that this issue is probably more specific to the RX400h, but still.... You could leave it in READY mode, and turn the screen display and the aircon/fan off to prevent the engine from starting up, but at least you would protect the battery.

I am aware of my spelling mistakes, blame Apple corporation for that. Chris of Dorset, thank you for noticing the engine bag's loveleyness and the conversation was carried out by Leyland LPG for about two grand.