noby76

yep.. agree Stu whats the point of not excercising our Sport Saloons every now and again if its safe to do so without hitting silly speeds. no one buys these 'Sporty cars' and drive like miss daisy in them all the time we have all tested the performance of our cars at some point against other brands and the BMers ,Audi, Merc , Impreza, Evo, drivers all do it these cars were designed to be driven in that manner ocassionally. heck i even get Merc Transit Van drivers wanting to have a bit of mutual fun so long as its safe to do so. but i can relate to what Adam is saying cus i do normlly do a 45 minute commute on the motorway everyday and i see it all. no offense if you own one but most who drive premium brand cars built in Germany have the tendancy of not moving to the middle lane when a car travelling at a faster speed is approacing from behind. they sit there hoging the fast lane pretending they have not seen you then the moment you signal and switch lanes to 'undertake' since they not doing the right thing by giving way, they then decide to move towards the same lane you switch to, and they then decide to floor it afterwards. not sure why they do this.or is it a way of them saying thier car pulls faster than yours? luckily mine is a 3 litre 6 aswell so doesnt leave me hanging when i need some pulling power. its simple if i am not keeping up with traffic on the fast lane and an oncoming car is approaching from behind i always have two options. one is to move along to the slower lane and let them pass the other is to drop down a few ratios and keep up with traffic if i decide not to make way thus keeping up with traffic on the fast lane. dont know why they cant do the same but decide to hogg the lane, travel at a slower speed, then react the moment you signal to undertake. now this does not only apply to only German car drivers as i have expereinced the same from non german cars aswell but most i personally have experience is from them.

RS4 and RS6 will most certianly wont be a fair comparison against LS400 of course. have had a duel with an S4 convertible and surprisigly it couldnt pull away and disappear from my 300 where he had me was at very tight corners and this was due to his 'quattro' grip advantage and low end tourque acceleration out of the bends. i agree most see the LS400 infact most see the Lexus models in general as a boring car with no soul or guts but can really take on and surprise a few cars out there. the LS400/430 engines have been dyno'ed to produce around 280 to 300bhp stock with a 0-60 times ranging between the 6 to 7 secs mark and 155 mph top speed thats still impressive for a car weighing almost 1.9 tons. and a 2006 Audi S6 with similar weight of LS400 hits 60 in about 5 secs so still wont disapper in a straight line duel against an old LS400 in good mechanical shape in terms of engine health and gearbox all the way to 155mph.

hi Lexus_pimp have you replaced the existing batteries in your keys with new ones? i experienced the same issue when i first got mine and even though the remote will light up when button is pressed, nothing happens. i decided to replace my remote battery with new ones and it solved the problem. try this cheap option first and see how it goes. ps use branded batteries like , energiser, sony, samsung and the likes the last for years.

BMW 520i SE Ford Cougar 2.5 Duratec V6 Nissan Primera 2.0 GT Rover 45 2.0 Renault Clio Ford Fiesta 1.6 Zetec-S Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec

yeh i know what you mean but the LFA falls into your super exotic car category. similar to your Ferrari's & Lambo's strictly Naturally Aspirated V8, V10, V12 high revving machines. normally over £150,000 plus. but yeh there high performance cars out there which cost way less and could give them a run for thier money round a race track or drag race. and GTR being a serious contender if not a better car.

mmh there is a great difference in power between LFA and IS-F. 550bhp vs 420bhp . 130bhp difference thibetween these figures and considering the LFA weighs 1480kg this gives it a power to weight ratio performace of 371bhp per ton vs IS-F's weight of 1700kg which has 247bhp per ton. ISF makes more torque than the LFA though but doesnt rev past 6600rpm where as the LFA goes to 9500rpm this combined with other factors like low center of gravity, gearing, ability to rev quicker and suspension/geometry setup makes the IS-F no where near LFA in terms of outright performance in both straight line and track. Nissan GTR is another masterpiece tho. but given the price of an LFA i would pick a GTR. anyone seen prices of them lately?

36PSI all round for my 18's I found 33 -34 PSI a bit too sluggish to pick up acceleration due to rolling resistance and a bit too soft when cornering feels like the cars weight does not sit on the side wall at this PSI when am cornering in spirited driving. car feels nice and stable at 36PSI and braking distance and handling is also improved. then again the IS was designed to run on Bridgestone Potenza's and am running Falken's Azenis maybe the Falkens need a bit more PSI to come alive where as the Potenza's might not. heard positive things about Nitrogen as well so might try it..

no doubt the Italians can design beautiful looking cars mostly ones which Pininfarina have pencil'd at the same time, a beautiful car need not always have to have the sexy looking curves and lines here and there and that's where the Germans and Japanese come in. sometimes a beautiful car needs to look solid, needs to look well engineered ,and needs to look rough but in a beautiful way once you catch it at an angle..

The Nismo does not look like any other car on the road when it was built then and even now which in my opinion wil fall under one of the best loking cars ever made. same goes for these W124 model Mercedes-Benz. I have always liked the looks and design of them even till today and this was when Mercedez put heart and soul into building a car. I recon it makes it to one of the best looking cars ever made lists.

Thor racing based in Coventry would be able to help. http://www.thor-racing.co.uk/ what power you kinda looking at as if its anything within the 200 - 225 bhp then you can supercharge your existing engine this will be the easiest as I believe that's if you can source the supercharge parts as they are quiet rare at the moment. others have also done the 1JZ-GTE, 2JZ-GTE swap both of which are Supra/Aristo engines others have also done the V8 swap from the GS/LS 400's with this engine producing near to 300bhp with monster tourque available from idle, this will make it a sleeper plus you wont have to worry about turbo lag or replacing turbos plus engine will last longer aswell being all NA. check out this guys swap from US. but thor racing will be your best bet in terms of information and parts you need to do the swap as they have experience in V8 swaps. http://home.roadrunner.com/~bedellracing/v8swap/

yeh i agree on that one but dyno's are there to give and 'indication' of a cars performance characteristics and also to help engineers tune a car in terms of the direction they want to take it so its still very important tool to have when tunning/mapping an engine.

not sure if you read my post well but i dont think i said the C43 lost power infact it made 14bhp over stock but the dude was a bit confused as to why his low to mid performance was compromised slightly after the mods. i guess every car behaves differently after performance parts have been fitted. attached is a before (blue) and after (green) comparison of Joe Z + Intake against Lexus stock intake + exhaust curtosey of clublexus.com concentrating on only the blue and green upper lines we notice from about 2400rpm till about 3500rpm both the blue and green lines are somewhat close to each other through the rpm range with slightly minor gap between them. come 3700 they almost touch but soon after the green line opens the gap between the blue till about 4250rpm where the gap starts to close up again between the two but come around 4600rpm the green line starts to open its gap against the blue all the way till they both fall off at 6600rpm. conclusion from this dyno graph confirms although the intake + exhaust mod (green) did have the upper hand, the stock intake + exhaust (blue) was quite close to it all the way from 2400rpm till about 4600rpm which concludes intake exhaust mod comes alive at the last 2000rpm. which yeilded the dud around 26rwhp. was it a gain over stock yes it was but not a lot to be felt on the road/track once you work it out in terms of power to weight ratio but its still a gain. + the awesome sound which comes with it. http://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-f/406273-joez-exhaust-intake-dyno-26-rwhp-19-rwtq-sae-2.html

I think it all depends on luck with an intake /Exhaust mods when it comes to NA engines more so when its not accompanied with an ECU remap but not always the case as I heard some manufactures do their restricting from the ECU and just by remapping the ecu without doing any physical mods can unlock upto 20bhp as the intake and exhaust were already good to start with and only restriction was from the ECU side. other manufactures might have an 'open' ECU which can map itself to some extent based on amount of intake air flow it detects coming in, fuel quality/RON being used, and header/exhaust system being used and if it detects an improvement on any of these factors with an aftermarket one, it then maps its self for better performance. so all depends on where Lexus engineers have applied the ISF's restrictions the most. It could be the ECU side or the intake exhausts + cam profile side or both but we don't know for sure unless tests are carried out to know which side has the most restrictions. this engine was built with the help of Yamaha and I personally think the IS-F is at least a 500 bhp , 200mph car which has been muzzled to 420bhp, 170mph to start with and they then up it bit by bit as they release newer performacne models by tweaking intake design, exhaust design, maybe cams and most important ECU and valve timing mappings until the emission laws comes to bite them. but only a Lexus engineer who helped develop it can tell us were the most restrictions lie in the car. cracking the ECU code and unlocking the rev limiter to red line at around 7600rpm instead of the 6600rpm will get the engine making 500+bhp easily. its a Yamaha engine after all so its bound to rev and operate reliably to at least 8000rpm but probably been muzzled to 6600rpm

Wow looks and sounds good Stu just like how a performance V8 should :) .. should have dyno'd your car in stock trim first to see what it was pushing out before the intake exhaust mods were carried out. I do recall when I used to go on dyno days with mates and this dude had his 99' C43 AMG dyno for before and after intake exhaust mods and in stock trim he made 276bhp which was around 25hp down from stock figure but the car was 10 years old back in 2009 so still not a bad figure and after his mods he made around 290bhp which was a 14hp gain. the interesting thing he said when he compared the stock run graph to that of mod run graph we noticed he had gained the 14hp at top end rpm but his low end torque curve wasn't flatish when compared to his stock dyno graph he lost some torque on low to mid range rpm but gained slightly more after 4500rpm. and the mechanic who carried out the dyno confirmed it was to do with his performance exhaust as his stock one was slightly restrictive which helped in developing back pressure for low to mid acceleration but performance less restrictive exhaust tend to loose out on low to mid performance due to not generating back pressure but gain at higher rpm when the exhausts gasses needs to be pushed out of the system quickly. I personally think Lexus engineers spent months if not years to develop the stock intake/exhaust system to make it perform for low, mid and high rpm whilst keeping it quiet for when its needed but the Takeda + Exhaust combo does sound nice hopefully it wont have affected your low to mod range performance. but for 4.5 secs to 60 and 170mph with the fastest shifting gearbox in M mode when compared to competitors..all in stock trim, I personally would leave the car the way it is lol but that's me..

yeh they not a 'look at me' kinda design which I do like. bhp is looking healthy aswell proper wolf in sheeps.

based on reviews I have read from US/owners most confirm its on par with BMW handling mainly the G35 and G37 models and Infiniti tunes the suspension for more sporty than luxury so my guess will be build and reliability will be typical Jap. its built by Nissan which is a good thing. here are examples of the G37 I quiet like them. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201401171111327/sort/default/usedcars/postcode/mk160ay/model/g37/radius/200/make/infiniti/body-type/saloon/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew?logcode=p http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201310269472897/sort/default/usedcars/postcode/mk160ay/body-type/coupe/model/g37/radius/200/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/make/infiniti?logcode=p

they have been competing for years in US with their G35, G37 models and just recently been sold in Europe and not a lot about which I very much like. their M35h is a stonker as well . its the fastest accelerating production hybrid in the world. thing accelerates to 60 in less than 6 seconds and still returns 40mpg lol

well am no mechanic or car guru Mark..just used to be in the car tuning/modding scene in my 20's but nothing heavy! a friend told me some time ago there are 3 ways to make power from an engine. go for the larger size/displacement you can find. force more air/fuel into one. get one to rev higher. and since you are not going for the option to bore out your cylinders further which then increases your engine size/displacement or going for the option to force more air into it using a turbo/supercharger, that leaves you with the 3rd option which is to get it to rev higher to about 7500rpm with an ECU remap if engine components strong enoguh to withstand that high rpm of course. as an example, the 98 LS400 is down as making around 400NM (295 lbft) of torque at around 4000rpm and 280bhp at around 6000rpm. horse power is a by product of torque x rpm /5252. without making any engine modifications if your brother is able to remap your ECU to move the 400NM (295 lbft) of torque from peaking at the factory 4000rpm to say 6000rpm and cause the engine to be able to generate that same torque figure between 6000 to 7500rpm. you will make between 337bhp to 421bhp. all based on the simple formula used to calculate bhp which is "torque(lb ft) x rpm /5252" 295 x 6000rpm /5252 = 337bhp 295 x 7500rpm /5252 = 421bhp this is why Honda can make 240bhp from thier 2litre 4 cylinder S2000 engine without a turbo charger. all they did was get the engine to produce small tourqe at very high rpm 9000rpm to be exact. and if your brother can remap the ECU to move the torque figure up the rpm range relaibly, i will be happy for him to remap mine aswell as both 2JZ and 1UZ toyota engines are known to be very very strong. :)

don't waste your money. 50-60bhp from just a remap on an N/A engine? unless this guy can remap the engine to extend its engines operating rpm to about 7000 - 7500 rpm, and increaser your compression ratio to about 11:0.1 to 11:5.1 then 50-60bhp from a remap might not be possible. he also needs to tune your valve timing as this is variable and not set at a specific or constant operating parameter. Lexus ECU's have been known to overwrite any remap codes written to them. only way to make that kind of power is to go boost(Turbo/Supercharger) the V8. would be nice to know how much he's charging and what and the exact remap he will be doing. i.e. will he be mapping to get your injectors to damp more fuel into the engine, will he be mapping to move the peak torque figure from the 3500rpm band to a higher rpm? cus if he is able to map for your injectors to damp more fuel, then you will need more air coming into the engine to make it work for more power plus compression ratio needs to be raise as well to compress air/fuel mixture harder for a bigger explosion. if he is able to map the engine to move the peak torque figure to a higher rpm, he would need to also tune your valve timing operating parameter in order not to loose low end torque. go boost if you want more power form the V8 mate that engine in the LS is very very strong. quote from the link below "While on the internet, I also have found that the Lexus LS400 engine is a very strong V8. The LS400 engine (1UZFE) has been documented to produce over 2,700 horse power. That is with built internal with 50 psi of boost. Beside the Australian making monstrous power, Turbonetics also use similar motor to break the 200 mph mark in 1/4 mile. Meanwhile, a Japanese high performance company called HKS also use the similar motor to produce mega horse power in their drag car. However, beside being strong, the 1UZFE engine also demonstrated to be very durable. The average life span of the engine had been widely reported to hit at around 400k miles. Few instances the car had reached 600k miles. For insurance purposes, I know I have a good strong foundation to start." http://www.lextreme.com/tt.html

didn't know my wheels were worth £500.. I have 5 of them including spare and wont mind swapping with you noo bie ...

as most said the stock brakes on that IS200 is very 'over kill' for 155bhp car. if more powerful models like GS, Supra and IS300 are wearing these brakes that alone should tell you you dont need to spend any more ££'s for aftermarket discs/pads. but if you want one for looks best stick to just grooved as drilled have been known to crack after a while due to heat/cooling cycle. Pagid's are ok aswell as thats what am running at the mo for discs and pads. if you not running high power/ track driving then OEM or well known brands like Pagid/Brembo will. most forget but good/grippy tyres also helps in braking and better traction.

i also found out ECT PWR with Shell V Power gave good economy from mine aswell.

heater fan blows air from a warm/hot engine so am guessing once your ECU shuts off the engine to run the car off batteries during low speeds, this might expalin why you start getting cold air blowing as engine is no longer running to generate heat for the fan to channel into the cabin.

+1 Rich OB... would I like I brand new Lexus parked up on my drive?? now who wouldn't? but you sit back and think do you really need a new car when you can pick up gems on the used market. yes there will always be a risk when buying any used car but at the same time I get a sense of having made a good choice when I see some newish cars being lifted onto and RAC/ AA tow track on the hard shoulder of the motorway broken down... lets not forget some one must have bought our used cars brand new some years back so lets not beat down new car buyers. I personally don't have £30-£40K sitting in my bank account to buy a new car.well how many of us have that disposable money in general. i also don't see the point of £300 to £400 a month to finance one for 3 years only to realise after 3 years i still wont have the remaining £15K left to buy it off the dealers so i now end up with no car after 3 years totally roughly over £10,000 paid out to the dealer to drive it but i never owned it? only to start the cycle all over again for another 3 years. my 12 year old IS has all i need for my day to day driving. yes it would be nice to have Bluetooth but i hardly talk on the phone whilst I am enjoying my drive. built in Sat would be nice but nothing that a modern Tomtom or Garmin cannot do. has power most will need for their day to day driving and overtaking, has good handling and still looks good on the roads. yes being used and at 12 years old i have had to replace one or two parts but at the end of the day i own the thing and can sell it tomorrow if i wish, i can mod it if i wish to and not limited to only do 10,000 miles a year. all in all its a win win for me

£176 for oil change is just ridiculous.. I have used Albin before but not for servicing. mate if its just an oil change service you require. why don't you buy the oil and oil filter from Eurocarparts or even Lexus and take it to a local garage near you to drain and refill for you. for £176 oil service, Albin will not do anything special to the car it will be just a darin and refill and check suspension parts, barkes, tyres and lights maybe top up brake and transmission fluid if low. else nothing else is done to the car for an oil service. any local garage near you can drain and refill your oil for about £40 if you supply the parts but don't forget to stay there and watch them do the job though. they might not stamp your service book due to it not being a service but just a drain and refill but keep your receipts as proof if you come to sell the car. its an 8 year old car and wont fetch any more than going market rate with a stamped service booklet any buyer will even trust you and be happy to buy your car if you have evidence showing receipts of oil and parts purchased than a stamped service booklet as those can be forged easily by anyone who knows what they doing.