noby76

nice to know TigerFish. will look on eBay for some fake ones lol must admit its not a must have but makes it look different from the norm :-). oh was that your GS300 re badged as a 430 then lol? how do you know its 300.. out of curiosity, any idea the price Lexus wanted for original gold badges? i read on a US forum they are 24 carat gold plated..

I bumped into an LS430 today with what looked like Golden emblems/badges i must admit it looked quite different and interesting. were Lexus models with golden emblems special editions? I also noticed Lexus actually uses Golden emblems at their dealerships and forecourts. i have seen also seen a few pics of Lexus models in the US with these emblems on. like these ones below i think they look 'cool' and different from your usual silver badges/emblems used on other premium brands. and it gives the Lexus some character aswell..

LS

GS

I am considering getting these for my IS300 if i can source one. what do you guys think about golden emblems in general..?

without swapping to 16's for a more sidewall on tyres am afraid those tyres wont make much of a difference more so if they are also marketed as performance tyres. the db noise level on the tyre labelling is noise the tyres generate from outside the car and does not correlate to noise heard inside the car. lots of people make the misjudgement in thinking the low db figure on a tyre will mean less noise inside the cabin but this is not the case.

Tryes alone dont make a comfort ride as things like suspension setup does contribute aswell to a cars ride comfort so to improve ride and comfort, you should really be looking to downsize to 16"s and fit touring range tyres like bridgestone Turanza ER300, Yokohama C drive, Avon ZV3 etc and avoid any tyre range with the words Ultra high performance.

if comfort and quietness is a priority then you should actually be looking at downsizing your wheel size to 16"s. which allows you room to fit tyres with more sidewall.. any reason for wanting Michelins or Goodyears?

"so if that being the case, we would be spending all day informing the insurance that you parked under a tree and bird pooped on the car, you had X amount of near misses today, you were on the motorway and stone flicked on the window..."

Above was my point all along

if the renewal is being done through a comparison site you can test it out and declare Yes and run another test by declaring No whilst all other details remain the same and confirm to us the difference in quotation. this is just a test to confirm if indeed premiums do go up, stay the same or go down if a Yes or No is declared even if the incident did not involve an insurance claim.

P.S since you have told your insurance about this you would need to declare Yes when you come to finalise your quote since the incident is now on an insurance record.

sorry i meant 2 tenths of a second. thats less than half a cars length if that.. i can understnad if this is F1 racing where mega prize money is at stake for every tenth of a second advantage gained on another racer. but this is not F1 racing nor Nascar..so for IS-F to be only 0.482 seconds behind a car which has 1.2 litre more, 33bhp and 100NM torque advantage proves IS-F is better. there is nothing in it between the C63 AMG and IS-F. this was my point.

not sure if the your post was directed to me Mel but this was exactly what i was trying to prove in my last post in that although the C63 makes 100NM of torque more than the IS-F, it only shifts 2 thousand of a second quicker from 0 to 60 than the IS-F and as witnessed in the video it was not able to shake off the IS-F round the race track even though it had 1.2 litre , 33bhp and 100NM tourque advantage over the IS-F going by on paper figures. the time attack results proved it was around 0.482 of a second ahead of the IS-F. nothing in it if you asked me..

i do understand hp and torque correctly so can you point our where i went wrong with the figures??

On paper performance figures could sometimes not show a true performance of a vehicle but does help to give an indication all the same. So here are the figures below taken from carfolio.com

2011 C63 AMG SALOON (Not the Performance Package).

Gearbox 7 speed

Engine compression ratio = 11.3 : 1

BHP 450 @ 6800rpm

Max Torque 600NM(443 lbft) at 5000rpm

Power generated by engine at max torque rpm = 421bhp

Kerb weight = 1730KG

Power to weight ratio = 260bhp per ton.

2007 LEXUS IS-F

Gearbox 8 speed

Engine compression ratio = 11.8 : 1

BHP 417 @ 6600rpm

Max Torque 505NM (372 lbft) at 5200rpm

Power generated by engine at max torque rpm = 368bhp

Kerb weight = 1690KG

Power to weight ratio = 246bhp per ton.

Difference in power to weight ratio between C63 and IS-F is 260bhp – 246bhp = 14bhp

based on these paper figures, the C63 betters the IS-F by about 14bhp when we factor in the cars weights against their horse power. Will this explain why there is nothing between them when it comes to 0-60 times of 4.4 and 4.6 secs?? The C63’s engine generates 100NM of torque more than the IS-F but does this really make a difference??

Below is a vid of them around a track. Ignore the M3 since it’s manual box and both Merc and IS-F drivers were not using manual mode shifts.. skip vid to 1.40 secs to see race start. These guys were going for it without being biased.

not sure why we are even debating this..we all know most European car mags and on-line reviewers always bias towards German cars. Lets be honest, the Germans can build a fine auto-mobile and they deserve all the praise but so can the Japanese. on paper there is nothing between E90 BMW M3 Saloon, C63 AMG, Lexus IS-F and Audi RS4, as they all hit 60 between 4.4 - 4.6 mark so there is really nothing in it. we all know the BMW will take the handling when compared to the rest but by how much these days?

BMW's used to be king when it came to tackling bends and corners at the limit but not so much these days heck even hot hatches like your Megane RS's and Seat Leon's front wheel drives have posted official faster times at the ring compared to these 4 high performance cars neither can all 4 out run a Nissan GTR from a rolling acceleration nor from a stop.

so the decision to pick one say an RS4 over IS-F or BMW over C63 or vice verca will depend on personal taste but saying that the IS-F is a breath of fresh air since most not in the 'know' will always opt for a Merc, BMW or Audi based on information read from most reviews and articles but personally nothing beats the IS-F in terms of second hand buy(reliability) and its still exclusive when compared to the German counterparts who seem to be everywhere.

i know what you mean Stu but most of the things you have listed like tyres, pads, discs, are all wear and tear parts which every car goes through at some point in its life time so shouldn't be a problem. its due a 60k service and for all we know the previous owner was not going to keep it for long to justify the expense of getting it done. any bumps or damage can happen to any car which was serviced every 10k miles aswell and so long as a repair has been carried out by an approved garage it will take a pro to spot it so not sure what's there to be concerned about so this is just speculating.

if the OP really wants the 2010 model in the exact colour and trim then what's the harm in going for a second test drive where he can spend time with the car and asses any concerns or issues. I personally would lean towards car which has been services every 10k miles but if i came across one which was drove an extended 5-10k miles between services, it wont be an issue since any obvious issues could be spotted once you go a viewing. I also agree not all issues can be spotted by a buyer during a brief test drive. hence the 6 months waaranty being chucked in and as already confirmed this dealer does not seem like those that might fob you off since their stock list on AutoTrader shows some high end performance cars so am assuming their reputation is at stake if they operate in that manner.

the option to haggle a few grand off is there which as i already mentioned can go towards the big 60k service, tyres and brakes.

the only way to find out if this car is not performing due to the extended service intervals is to stick it on a dyno and compare it to one which has been serviced every 10k miles. but for now its all speculation that's my personal view on this.

not sure why everyone is saying stay away from the IS-F.. its not like Yamaha/Toyota built the engine internals from butter in that if the oil is not changed at the 10k interval then everything in the engine starts melting..these things are over engineered and these manufactures took into account owners who might drive the extra 10 to 20,000 miles in between service schedules.

ok not sure how many prevoius owners the ISF had but based on Stevet's post it seems the owner went 20,000 miles between 14k to 34k service and 16,000 miles between 34k and 50k service which means it is due the 60k service. for all we know the previous owner might be opting for the extended drain fully synthetic engine oils which am aware are formulated and designed to last around 15 - 20,000 miles before they start falling apart. for all we know the prevois owner bought those budget tyres brand new as to get a good deal on a part ex of course he would get less if he traded in the IS-F with worn high performance tyres so tyres is not a big deal. i see it like this,, if one can spend £20+k on a car they can afford to spend £600 on tyres.

worth going for another test drive maybe ask the dealer if you can chuck about 20-30 quid of fuel in it as so you can spend a good hour 'driving' the thing. i.e through traffic, open roads, dual carriage ways etc and if no engine lights pops up, car shifts through all 8 gears and reverse, engine note sounds like its suppose to and not over heating, passes HPI check then thats all you need to seal the deal.

you could even get the dealer to knock off a grand or two if you mention the service intervals including the 60k service not being done and budget tyres. money saved off that could go staright to Lexus for the big 60k service to be carried out which i believe includes spark plugs, and all fluids drained and refilled. the rest could go towards high performance tyres and maybe new disks and pad if they due one. you do have 6 months warranty and i have checked the delaers stock list and they stock cars from Evo's, Masserati's, Bentley's to Aston Martins so wont seem like the sort who will fob you off if and when something goes wrong. alternatively money saved from haggling can go towards buying extended warranty either direclty from Lexus or warrantywise.co.uk

maybe worth having a proper test drive and if you have time you can always discuss the 6 months warranty they offer in more details.

i dont think there was any other member out there apart from me now there is two of us.. ones that did had the 200 not the 300.. wasnt officially called IS300 Sport but we all know it is...enjoy your ride they nice cars.

makes us special WozaCoz..not a lot of them about.. :winky:

no worries.. Eibach's, Bilsteins or Tein are said to be good.. but as you can see form the link suspension alone does not make a good drift car. but worth trying out the IS in stock form first as they setup to oversteer easily.

some info on here to get you started. enjoy your new ride :)

http://www.superstreetonline.com/how-to/chassis-suspension/modp-1201-basic-drift-chassis-setup/

reminds me of my old Rover 45. Their engines were known to blow head gaskets i stupidly bought one thinking i would be fine. almost a year later guess what the head gasket went. had a new one fitted which lasted a year and half and went again i gave up and part ex'd it... so fact that Lexus has replaced those parts does not mean it wont fail again. a design fault is a design fault nothing you can do but just hung in there until it goes again might not be under your ownership if you lucky, but it will go again.

£1k per year! Are you in UK?

oh if its £500 per year as we have in England then thats even better lol.. 10 years of motoring....

importing IS350 will cost around £15-£16K considering that yields just over 300bhp might aswell add extra 4K for an IS-F since supercharging the IS250 reliabley might be harder than you might think.. not a lot of aftermarket support is out there. Tom's Japanese tuning offers superchargers for only the IS350 not the 250 and thats even been discontinued. there must be a reason why they didnt bother with the 250.

Re the GS... It's the front, the separate headlights just don't do it for me lol

put a duck tape over the smaller headlight lol... .

I have just checked SARD's product listing and cant see any EDM ECU for IS250's. not sure how much road tax costs for cars like GS but lets say the whole budget for the mods came to about £5K and road tax for GS is £1k per year that means you can Tax and drive the GS for 5 whole years before it becomes expensive to run when compared to a boosted IS250 not including the fact that the IS250 will also need to be taxed aswell.

i recon you bought the wrong car to start with in that if you were looking for more power why didnt you buy something with more power? i can understand if there was countless moding parts in the market for the IS250's but even looking at the top dogs like HKS & Blitz who specialise in Japanese car tuning dont even offer any form of forced induction/ECU's for the IS250's

I mean there are cars like the Infiniti G37's which pack 320bhp from factory and they can be had for around or just over £10k. not an Audi lover my self but their 4.2 S4's can be had for less than 10k and makes 340bhp same as the E46 M3's sometimes its easier and reliable in the long run to get something with more power from factory. if i had £10K budget to spend i might aswell finance a 2nd hand IS-F for 3 years and be done with it rather than spend the 10k fishing around for supercharges to net me only 100hp from the IS250 engine lol

you right a used IS-F is over 10K but a superchraged IS250 will not give you 420bhp either so all depends what hp figures you looking at...any reason why the GS430's dont do it?

thing with the IS250's is they run very high compression ratios + i am guessing you would need a standalone ecu since Lexus ECU's cannot be hacked. so its all well and good getting the supercharger parts but is there a reliable aftermarket ecu to run mapping and fueling without throwing check engine light all over the place?

I am really wanting first-hand views on it. Unfortunately as we do not have an official import of the 350 and my funds don't reach to an ISF just yet I either buy a second car that I can engine mod or I supercharge my 250.

if Lexus brought the IS-F to europe why not the 350 aswell still cant think of a reason why they didnt.. i think you might need to research on the total cost of supercharging and if the cost is worth the benefits... sometimesd is just easier and less hassle to trade the IS250 in for a GS430 since it makes almost the hp as the 350 ok maybe 10-20hp down when compared to 350. and will have enough acceleration for most conditions you find your self in.

i believe the 3 litre produces more torque than the 6 speed in the IS200 can reliably handle so if you thinking of doing an engine swap for the 3 litre you will need W58 from Supra as i believe this was what was used for the IS300 manual in the States. if you upgrade your engine you will need to upgrade the gearbox as well.

Your comments are encouraging, Neil. Thank you very much.

. If these can get my car to 60 mph in about 5 secs, I'll be happy.

fit Nos.. way cheaper than turbo!!

No worries, for Europe they will have to prepare 1.0l and 4 turbos

yeh 1.0L quad turbo making 500bhp and it will return 50 mpg until it comes on boost and start drinking fuel like a 6.0L 500 bhp NA and mpg figures goes out the window cus it has to work very hard to make that power lol...

at last nice to see Lexus challenging your likes of M5, E63 and RS6 but why still stick with the 5.0 litre?? sure they could have just bored it out another 1000cc to increase it to 6.0 litre which will equate to 564bhp.. since the engine is capable of making around 94bhp per litre in its current form..

i recon 6.0litre would have made more sense since the German competition are making no less than 550+bhp with the Lexus making only 470bhp the Jag XFR-S even makes more power than the GS-F...

i quite like the fact that they stuck with NA instead of forced induction route but unless their suspension tuning and gearing is better than the German competition it will lack behind both on the road and on track.. definitely a breath of fresh air tho.. :)

Mike i clearly get your point here. but its up to the individual to determine if its a relevant incident to answer yes or no to. the question we need to ask our selves is why does my insurance company need to know if i have had a £300 bumper repair or a touch up paint job during the last 5 years or not what is in it for them?? wait for it.... more money..

i can understand disclosing this information to them if the incident involved 1000's of pounds in repair bills, a claim or injuries.

as you confirm its down to one to disclose to them if they kerbed their wheels or hit badger crossing the road as those also falls under the term 'Accident' so why would a minor bumper or slight paint repair not fall under the same scenario.

like you confirmed life isn't fair hence it isn't fair for them to dip their hands into my pockets either. am happy we can understand this from both sides of the coin.