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The 300 has HIDs so they don't generate a lot of heat like normal bulbs.

On my 300 I run standard rims (a spare set) with the same size as I normally use (225/45/17) but with winter tyres (Toyo Snowprox). It's not the best way to do it from a grip point of view, as narrower/taller rubber would be better, but I wanted to keep the look the same - and it's definitely better than the stock tyres in these wintery conditions.

No, it's not justified but you can see why. Pay a huge premium...... or don't bother, and if you do get caught, the fine is still way cheaper than getting insurance in the first place. If there was a PROPER penalty for being uninsured, maybe more would pay up and everyone's premium could come down as a result - fat chance of it happening, but a nice idea.

They did mention you were coming back - something to do with Kingpin Inclination I think. Unfortunately, I don't have the check sheet to post - they did show it to me, but I didn't think to ask for a copy.

Well I paid these guys (Drury Lane Garage) a visit today and had a full geometry done - nice friendly people, got a cup of coffee etc. Funnily enough they said they had done a lot of ISs just recently It seems that pretty much everything needed adjusting by some amount, especially the Rear N/S which was interesting because that tyre was well scrubbed when I changed them a few weeks ago. I've only driven about 15 miles since, so it's early days but the steering does seem more stable/better weighted in the straight-ahead position - will have to see how it goes. Cost £140 with all the various adjustments - seems good value considering it took them ............ 3 and half hours :o I wasn't expecting it to be quite so long (they estimated 2). Edited to say that I just re-read Anees' post and his took 4 hours, so I guess that must be pretty normal. Oh, and winter tyres are a good thing in this weather

Don't know the car, but I would've thought the oil-level was a different sensor to the oil-pressure. I'd look for a different sensor in the sump. If the pressure is fine and the level is OK on the dip then I wouldn't worry unduly.

Personally I think you will struggle to beat this. There is normally a "grace period" after the light has gone red (of maybe 2 seconds) and the position of the vehicle is detected by loops buried in the road, so unless there was a fault with it (not unheard of) or the photograph clearly shows you did not cross the junction, it would be difficult to argue a case. Can you ask to see red-light pictures like you can with speeding pictures?

The GPS devices don't "detect" anything, they are merely an indication of possible blackspots according to a database.

Nearer to 50 than 15 - might vary a bit from car to car I guess but my 200 & 300 both seem to have about 2 gallons left when the light comes on. Depends how brave you are :) 420 is about what I get to a tank - that's about 30 to 40 miles down on the 200.

Good ain't it? I agree with the 'box - mostly very smooth and more responsive in "M" than I thought it would be. The kickdown is irritating in that it will only downshift 1 gear at a time, so I use manual mode nearly all the time. The interior mirror takes a bit of getting used to after the wide-angle one, and yes, the outside mirrors dim also (just a bit) - I miss the permanent heating though and they seem to get mucky quicker as a result. If your SE was standard, don't forget that you now have sport suspension which makes quite a difference to the way it feels. The HIDs are great - but main beam is still standard bulbs.

ok i get the hit, im not a gold member so i cant see them! Cheers! ← Have a look here; TeamElusive or on IS300.net and search the forums. Several to go at.

Basically, bending the "return lip" on the inside edge of the wheel arch to give you more clearance. The tool to do it has a roller that runs back and forth along the edge of the arch - hence the phrase.

I ran a set for 30K on my previous IS. I liked them - plenty of grip, fairly quiet, look nice and particularly good in the wet.

I would have thought a 5 was no better in the snow - it's still rear-drive and fat-tyred. I'm in Whitworth so I know how you feel, but I didn't get stuck yesterday despite being on an un-gritted hill - change them tyres :D

The T/C does seem a little more useful on the 300 but the VSC doesn't poke it's nose in until things are really bad the main difference for me is the auto-box. If it was really slippery, I had to turn off Trac on the 200 (manual) because it would just kill the power/apply the brakes until it stalled. Now I've got auto it can't stall - the car will just creep forwards (you can hear the ABS pump going nuts) and slowly you get some momentum - then it's fine. I had no real trouble yesterday even though the roads around me were fairly bad coz the barstewards hadn't bothered to grit.

You might have already had a tiny chip in the screen (maybe near the bottom where you can't see it from the inside) and a change in temp or jolt could cause it to just "let go". I had a tiny little chip for quite a while, then one day when it was cold outside I switched on the screen heater and the screen split all the way up.

There's a sensor on the rear suspension that you can adjust to compensate if the car's lowered etc - I think you can see it inside the wheelarch (but I've not looked myself). May be worth checking that it's not loose or got damp in the connectors.

Disconnect the negative/ground/earth/black terminal first. Then disconnect the positive/red terminal. Refitting is the reverse of removal (as it says in all the best manuals). You won't electrocute yourself, just be very careful not to allow any metal tools to touch anything else while connecting/disconnecting the terminals. Shorting out batteries is a very bad idea - risk of explosion and/or burns

Talking about the auto on/off, not auto-adjustment. The (manual) adjuster is faulty and buzzing but it stops (of course) when the lights go off. Only HID lamps have auto-adjustment.

When you use the resume function on the cruise control does the car accelerate back to the set speed rapidly or is a light throttle settings used? Also if you set it to a certain speed does it maintain it even when doing down hill? ← It accelerates fairly gently - there may be circumstances where it will accelerate hard, but I haven't found them. It will try to maintain the speed downhill, but if it's steep enough you will go faster. As far as I know it won't change down to increase engine-braking or anything like that - it's not been a problem so far.

Yes, they are quite different. I find the IS300 doesn't FEEL particularly quick but a glance at the speedo (or the mirror :D ) makes you realise the difference.

It's about 27mph/1000 - 80 is just under 3k. Not super-tall but a lot more relaxed than the 200.

I'm getting about 2 mpg less (28 v 30) which I think is quite good going from a 2l manual to a 3l auto. I do take it quite steady on the motorway (80ish) and don't drive in town much. It helps that you can make "good progress" without having to be over 4k all the time :D

I did just the same three months ago - fantastic car, no regrets.

Ouch - Looking at the pics, I'm not surprised it's write-off. Good luck getting the finances sorted out.