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Hi, I don’t think I’m the only one that considers the overall sound quality of the standard audio system in the IS300h to be disappointing. Upgrading the speakers can result in an improvement in sound quality in just about any audio system and that’s what I’ve begun to do with my IS300h, starting with the dash speakers. Unfortunately it was not a straight forward plug in and bolt in job, a bit of tweaking and butchering is required. I replaced the stock dash speakers with a pair of Pioneer TS-E1002I. The stock speakers have standard bolt spacing and that is the only part of the fitting that was right from the start. The stock speakers are unusually small for what are essentially 10cm speakers. I measured the speaker cones at less than 5cm! Some headphones have drivers that size, they really are feeble, nasty things. The Pioneers are deeper and wider than stock and it was necessary to use a stanley knife to trim away some of the internal plastic of the dash to make some space for the Pioneers. More of this trimming was needed for the passenger side than the driver side. The speaker space is not symetrical between left and right, indeed the speaker grilles are different sizes which I didn’t notice until I had them off. Luckily the plastic is quite soft. Because the Pioneer speakers are deeper than stock I had to mount them 5 or 6mm higher up to clear some of the ventilation system ducting that runs close to the speakers. I used rubber grommets as spacers, If I had some washers of the right size at hand I probably would have used a stack of them instead. I might go back and do so yet. As a precaution I also trimmed away some plastic from the underside of the grilles to create a little more clearance above the speakers. The biggest fiddle was electrically connecting the speakers. I scoured the internet for ready made IS300h dash speaker adaptors but couldn’t find any. That left two oprions, cut the existing plug off and use crimps or make my own adaptor using the sockets molded into the stock speaker. Although crimps were my first choice I decided against them because the loom wires feeding the speakers are short and you have very little working space with them tight into a corner. So I carefully cut the sockets off the stock speakers, filed them down into neat pieces and then soldered on the wires supplied with the Pioneers. A lump of epoxy putty at the back of the sockets sealed the connections in. All in all a bit of fiddling and faffing about but the result was worth it. The improvement in sound quality is substantial. Front doors next

With numerous Kemble meets under our belt, we thought we'd make the next one a little different. So, we're taking it on the road, and the next meet will be...... Sunday 19th November 10AM RAF Cosford Museum See you there. All welcome, IS-F or not!

http://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/car-industry-news/2017/08/10/thieves-target-keyless-entry-cars-with-relay-attack To protect against this you can place keys in tins at home or a Faraday pouch available on amazon http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/10/24/why-should-wrap-your-keys-in-aluminum-foil.html Lexus is the first car I've owned where disabling key is option to protect against this

I'll park round the corner if I do come Seriously though, it's surprising how quiet it can be when you also consider how noisy it can be, if that makes sense.

He can park next to me. I don't mind showing him up

Don't go think you are going to park that noisy Merc next to our weedy IS-Fs

I've always wanted to go to Cosford. Bit of a trek but I'll see if I can get there.....

Great, I'll confirm a little nearer the time but pencil me in please. Thanks 😀

If you like coffee, tea, cake or just like talking cars, this meet will be for you 😀

I may be able to come along if owning a Lexus isn't a prerequisite?

Just reading some comments on this thread regarding the C63 and as someone who owned an IS-F and moved on to 6.2 C63 I have posted my initial impressions on the IS-F forum already a few months ago. I was not and am not a big Mercedes fan - I'd still have my IS-F if it weren't for practicality reasons but I've found the C63 slightly quicker than the IS-F. With a remap it will certainly be quicker than the GS-F and RC-F too. I agree though that +-0.1 or 0.2 seconds to 60 does not make or break a car. I would say that the Lexus is better built and feels better built too but I bought both cars with a main dealer warranty for peace of mind. Probably not necessary on the Lexus though! My C63 on 18" wheels rides better than my early IS-F. I didn't drive the RC-F as it didn't fit my needs but would certainly consider a GS-F in the future. The 6.2 AMG engine feels a little (but noticeably enough) quicker and as @Stuno1 has stated is easily remapped to 500-515bhp as the engine is detuned in the C63 to avoid upstaging the E63, CLS63 and S63 etc when they all used the M156 engine. Regarding the C63 having a greater proportion of 'yob' owners - I went for a debadged silver estate on 18" wheels in a bid to avoid unwanted attention. Talking of attention though, the exhaust imho is one of the best standard exhausts on any normal five seater car. It's quiet with a nice burble when pottering along but nice and loud with pops and bangs when pressing on. I know the comparison being made here is RC-F v C63 and I'm not addressing this specifically but with the choice of NA V8s reducing all the time the Merc 6.2 engined cars will probably hold value relatively well due to the following AMG engined cars have. As good as Lexus V8s are, they just aren't as widely recognised except by true enthusiasts resulting in limited new and used demand. Good for us when buying a used F though! Each to their own though, the IS-F, RC-F, GS-F and AMG V8 engined Mercs are all very good cars 😀

Count me in for this one. Was hoping to make it to the last Kemble meet but it clashed with a little NC500 trip.

Agreed, were not all shy, just 7 hours away!!

And having seen it in the flesh/metal I can confirm it looks the biz!

They sure did stuff up the wheel bearings on Minis but looked great!!

The Swift was like a stabbed rat with its vtec kind of performance. Lots of noise with not much progress tbh. The NX was great at this job as it just gets up and goes in any rev range. Very powerful for a large car. With the Swift you have to wait for it to get high up in the rev range before anything happens. It's definitely not a Japanese made car anymore (made in Portugal) and the build quality is poor. At least the CT is all Japanese [emoji1360] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Stormchaser it`s good to hear independent opinions. In my case I`m saving money slowly to get NX as next car when PCP on my current CT200h will be done. Since I bought CT200h I knew that I want NX, even not want, but desire. I would drive my CT200h for ages, but I really miss that extra acceleration when needed especially on motorways. If you had a chance to get NX on motorway run, please share your opinion/thoughts. Thanks

I suppose mine does this a bit too. It used to creak (solved by tightening the bolts you mentioned on the front and back of the seat rails), but there's still a bit of movement. I'd assumed I was carrying a bit extra holiday weight...

I would check the steering fluid level first and go from there.

Definitely Ian 😎 Hope your CT is soon with dealer and you can enjoy it too 👍

Steve, That's a good question. I prefer the NX because it has adaptive cruise. If it didn't, it may well be a close call, though I think I would just still go for the NX. That said, it really depends. If I am popping to the corner shop in the rain I actually usually take the CT - it's a bit more manoeuvrable around car parks and I like the variety. On longer trips, of course it's the NX every time because of the higher comfort levels. The outgoing CT also has an annoying rattle - here's hoping the incoming one hasn't! (And here's hoping it's actually incoming - see another thread re that!)

Basically as everyone has already said. Exterior wise just facelifted bumpers,Shark fin aerial and updated rear lamps and different wheel designs. I really like the style of my pre facelift SE L Premier. I'm not a lover of the static head unit of the later CT,I prefer my flip up one but I like the later software the facelift runs. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi ,just gone through all this deliberation on tyres, in the end I have fitted goodyear F1 asymmetric 3 all round ( 18 in wheels ) ,I fitted these prior to the start of our month holiday in France and have only covered a few hundred miles ,we are currently in Brittany so the miles will quickly increase .I have found them a big improvement on the dunlop sports on the car since I bought it ,very quiet on the motorway ,smooth and sure footed wet or dry ,and I know new tyres always feel great but I am sure the braking has improved .There was still 4 m/m left on the dunlops but I had lost confidence in the wet grip and when accelerating hard down a slip road onto the motorway the traction light would regularly light up in the wet ( wheel alignment checked OK ) They were 6 years old and quite hard so that would not help ,no problems at all now so we will see as time passes Dave

Amazing! You obviously used to do removals in a previous life!

Mine did this and Lexus Woodford checked it over and said the seat rails were tight enough and there was nothing they could do.

So how much can you fit into an SC430?Not forgetting that there's the added spare space saver wheel on board and there is a large hifi install in place of the back seat of this car, with very careful packing it swallowed all of this and a little more too.

Yep my front seats move around a tiny bit too.

Having changed my seats, there is a surprising amount of flex in the seat rails, far from rigid. I would say it's normal but interested to get other opinions.

Audi did that to me in 2004 with a factory ordered 12 week wait A4 Cabriolet. In fairness they called me to say they thought it was wrong while preping it. Was asked to come in and have a chat and to their credit they offered to re-order, return of deposit, or do a deal on the car there (as they had already registered it in my name). We negotiated, but unnoticed by them was that I had ordered the standard 2WD model and the one they had was a quattro so I was already on a free upgrade before we negotiated :-)

I bought my is250 from an old dear in her late 60's who averaged 4000 mile per year. At first the car felt sluggish and underpowered so after a couple of weeks I did an ecu reset. I then drove the car hard with plenty of kickdowns. This was no placebo effect, the car was much more eager and responsive after this.

Important information MISSED Refuel Restaurant The Refuel restaurant offers hot meals from 12.00pm until 2.30pm each day. There is a fine selection of sandwiches, panini's, jacket potatoes, soup of the day and CAKES to tantalise the taste buds. The restaurant has a selection of beverages on sale including favourites such as the AMERICANO and Cappuccino.

All the reviews seem positive but I will of course browse forums to get into the finer detail of ownership and driving experience before committing.

Pictures and reviews seem to favour the quality of materials and finish of the amg model. I guess I'll find out when I take one out. The a45 however seems to get a bit of a hammering for its plastics and cheap materials.

The 2012-2015 coupe has 450bhp and a map alone takes it to 500hp. See the article below for 60 sprint. http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/2012-mercedes-benz-c63-amg-coupe-page-2 Ordinarily id be all for the Lexus but I think on this case the c63 looks better from an exterior perspective and the reviews of the handling characteristics seem much more positive than the rcf. The coupe also gets a better write up than the c63 saloon as it apparently has better handling due to some suspension tweaks and wider front and rear tyres.