noby76

quote from this link The UK law is based on the EU standard, with some minor changes. A speedo must never show less than the actual speed, and must never show more than 110% of actual speed + 6.25mph. So if your true speed is 40mph, your speedo could legally be reading up to 50.25mph but never less than 40mph. Or to put it another way, if your speedo is reading 50mph, you won’t be doing more than 50mph but it’s possible you might actually only be travelling at 40mph. http://www.thecarexpert.co.uk/how-accurate-is-a-car-speedometer/ thing is we all don't go by real road speed when we hop in our cars. we all go by the speedo on the guage of our cars.

haven't had mine at 150 + mph but have had it around 145-147mph this was against a Type R Honda from around 3rd gear in gear acceleration pull and those cars a very quick.. put it this way. the Type R is officially down as 146mph and if you work out their power to weight ratio this is the same as a GS430 V8. and we went all they way to 145-147mph and both backed out this was on a closed road of course. at that speed my RPM was at around 5500rpm so there was more rpm left for the engine to play with .. the 4th gear of IS300 tops out at 130mph on the speedo which in reality is around 125mph road speed as confirmed a GS300 with the same drive train and engine as IS300 and heavier can do 150mph smoothly. have a look on youtube.. is not a fast car without the Turbo strapped to it but has performance and handling most will need for day to day driving if one is not a horsepower freak. thing is, not all manufactures give the real performance figures of their cars some either tone it down for insurance purposes. or state figures which matches that of their competitors models. this is a 3.0 Legacy Subaru which might be my next car due to better mpg, space and awd compared to my IS and in sport mode, this thing tops 240kph(150mph) in 4th gear alone. at 5th the driver was only cruising at 5000rpm so will 5th take it to 160mph+ if road permits? .. Subaru has stated top speed on paper as only 143mph this is the same as IS300. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9NaQz9R6AA

were have you been Petay lol.. Infiniti's are sold in UK and I like their rareness on UK roads sleepers they are.. both the G series M are available in petrol and hybrids infact their M series 3.5 litre Hybrid motor makes 360bhp 5.5 secs to 60 and returns around 40mpg combined and its said to be the fastest accelerating hybrid motor in the world.. I always say hybrid batteries will replace turbo and superchargers in a couple of years time.. infact they have a dealership in Birmingham.. http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/21/infiniti-m35h-sets-hybrid-1-4-mile-guinness-world-record/ yeh sorry the G37 does 25mpg combined still the same as my IS but does it with 332BHP lol.. any way am going off topic now!

Yeh Petay I mean an Infiniti G37 Saloon with a modern Nissan 3.7 litre V6 engine which is just 0.7 litres more than my IS delivers 332BHP and returns around 27mpg and the IS350 is around the same class as the Infiniti so mpg would have been around the same if not better than my IS but with way more power than a GS430 V8 lol.. had the IS350 in mind as my next Lexus but since its not available in UK the Infiniti will do lol cracking cars those infiniti's that's if I can shell out £475 a year in just road tax and rent one lol never said Lexus's were perfect Chris..but everyone knows they top most prestige car brands when it comes to reliability from LS's to CT's our IS's do have their issues like the common seizing brake callipers and inner tyre wears etc..so no car is perfect. I always work out my mpg manually. this is a rough idea. loved maths in School lol.. :) where I live, unleaded is currently at 130.9 p per litre. 4.54 litres of fuel makes 1 Gallon so to find out how much a gallon of fuel will cost me based on these figures I multiply 4.54 by 130.9 which equals £5.94p. early this week I filled up around £40 so to find out how many gallons are in the £40 I divide £40 by £5.94 which equals exactly 6.7 gallons... I then travelled 200miles of mainly motorway on the £40 of fuel until light came on. so to find out how many miles I was doing to each gallon of fuel. I do 200 / 6.7 = 29.85 mpg and voila my IS300 is returning 30mpg from £40 over 200 miles. :D but to be honest I found this website which has made things so much easier and takes less than a minute for the program to work out. just punch in your figures. http://www.fuel-economy.co.uk/calc.shtml

really depends...in town with heavy foot and lots of start/stop it can just drop to like 15mpg average. but my usual average is between 28 - 35 mpg all depends on the driving am doing but to me honest I too am considering something more econo hopefully from next year.. av had my fun with the 300 and kinda considering a 2.4 litre 4 pot auto accord I heard those VTEC engines are very smooth or another 3.0 6 cylinder Subaru Legacy heard they are very robust more powerful than my IS, has AWD system for any weather condition and does roughly 30mpg on combined compared to my IS's 26mpg anyone owned any of those two cars? what do you recon sterling?? I quite fancy a late model IS now they look so clean and kinda different to the early models.. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201311190004863/sort/default/usedcars/radius/200/body-type/saloon/page/1/postcode/mk160ay/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/fuel-type/petrol/price-from/3000/model/is/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/transmission/automatic/make/lexus/maximum-age/up_to_9_years_old?logcode=p http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201308208393382/sort/default/usedcars/radius/200/body-type/saloon/page/1/postcode/mk160ay/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/fuel-type/petrol/price-from/3000/model/is/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/transmission/automatic/make/lexus/maximum-age/up_to_9_years_old?logcode=p http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201312010261974/sort/default/usedcars/price-from/3000/body-type/saloon/make/lexus/fuel-type/petrol/model/is/postcode/mk160ay/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/transmission/automatic/page/1/maximum-age/up_to_9_years_old/radius/200/engine-size-cars/3l_to_3-9l?logcode=p I personally wont pay any more than £3500 for a late IS200/300 tho anything more then mite as well get an IS250 auto which most confirm can do 40mpg on long journeys..

Not just you..i also noticed increased in mpg with ECT PWR and the car doesn't feel laggy compared to when in its off. 130K miles on mine and just did a 75 mile trip from Bham and averaged 33mpg and was roughly 20% town to get me on the motorway and 70% motorway and 10% from motorway to home. this was keeping the speed between 60 -70mph which I recon is the sweet spot to extract best mpg out of the engine. 33mpg for 11 year old 3 litre, I cant complain as officially am meant to be getting 26mpg for combined town and motorway driving. during my 2 years ownership I have noticed it drinks more if I am only doing mainly town stop/start driving but once you are on an open road/ motorway 33 -35 mpg is easily achievable with light foot of course. and in petrol engine terms, this is very good for a 3 litre

wont be any more than £10 or £15 extra when compared to your current IS200 manual based on the type of journeys you do. so if say it cost £50 to cover 250 miles based on 30% town and 70% motorway in the manual IS, you could be looking at maybe an extra 10ner to cover the same 250 miles in the IS auto over the manual..

economy is high on most lists these days due to fuel prices but this does not give the full picture of how economical a car is to run besides fuel costs. I mean I see and hear most spend like 30K on a brand new car which on rough calculations is costing them about £350 to £500 in finance payments but then watch mpg religiously and worry about saving £30 or 5 gallons to every tank full of fuel they purchase. imagine not having the warranty on the diesel A8 you would have forked out over £2000 in fixing minor issues which would have wiped out saving made at the pumps compared to running say a juicy V6/V8 petrol 'Jap' beast.. even the 3rd Gen GS's are fetching reasonable money these days.. if you are not worried about high mileage and year of reg you can pick one of these up for under 6K. and will return 40mpg if you do long distance cruising like motorways..in fact its mpg figures for town, motorway and mixed driving is the same as an IS200 Auto.. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201312180596107/sort/default/usedcars/page/1/make/lexus/maximum-age/up_to_8_years_old/postcode/mk160ay/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/radius/200/fuel-type/petrol/model/gs/engine-size-cars/3l_to_3-9l?logcode=p valet and slap a private num plate on one of these,ask a couple of people which year they think this model is and most will count from 2010 upwards.. why? because the newer 2012/2013 GS's are very very rare on the roads majority don't even know they exist...

I know what you mean and I have been there...german cars look appealing to the eye and I did own a 98 520i a couple of years ago and it was a money pit. someone once told me, 'modern German cars are enjoyable to own and drive only when they are under warranty' a headlight seal going one a car barely 10 years old? I can bet you my 11 year old IS is still running on its original seals and HID ballasts even if it was replaced at some point, it has not failed during my 2 years of ownership same applies to parking sensors, and all electrics, electric seats, washer jets and sun roof. everything still works on the IS.. good thing you haven't had to fork out of your own pocket..that 2 grand could easily be an IS purchase money. 300's are better.. have you seen GS430 prices lately??

tho I have the 300, I test drove a few IS 200 auto's when I was searching for the IS and they do shift very smooth and kick down when needed but like all auto there is a slight delay for ECU to collect its thoughts before it kicks down ECT PWR helps it respond sharply tho.. off topic but what keeps bringing you back to the IS's? is the A8 not delivering ?

2500

mainly engine and gearbox weight I guess. not forgetting parts like radiator, fan, exhaust header, steering rake and even battery weight might all contribute to this..to be honest mpg is not too bad if driven with light foot and as I found with ECT PWR aswell. as said they do drive totally different to the 200..well its a 3 litre so its bound to..mines coming up to 2years of ownership and might be changing to something else maybe next year ..and would recommend a 300 if you are looking for something more smoother with a bit more oomph if and when needed.

how about 650 - 800 bhp F1 Inspired LS?? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79p1sebEp10

That's why I laugh when I hear guys with 200 complaining... 300 is over 100KG heavier and cant have power without sacrificing on economy...put your foot in and realise it doesn't hung about compared to your previous car ;) ... strange as it sounds ECT PWR does help with economy.. helps car pickup speed more quickly so desired speed is reached and you can ease off quickly and feather the throttle. tried M mode yet :D ??

speak to these guys. http://www.thor-racing.co.uk/ they can swap engines in the IS be it V8 or 2.5, 3 litre turbos. they can also advise on chipping

depends on how much bhp you looking to unleash..a piggy back alone might only yield like 5bhp. maybe in take and exhaust might add another 5bhp totalling around 10bhp..this wont be power you can really feel in the real world when compared to stock performance. a piggy back ecu + exhaust and filter works best when you change cams to sport ones. port and polish the head, bore the engine slightly, increase your compression ratio to about 11:0.1 or 11:5.1 and extend the engines operating rpm to around 8000rpm but this wont be cheap.... displacement is your best option..

try resetting the ecu as your box might be glitching

say when you cruising at 40 mph and want to over take a slower vehicle and put your foot down does it not kick down at all or does it hold for about a second or two before kicking down?

in my dreams ... I know what you mean 6 ,8 12 Cylinder NA's do sound better than 4 pot Turbo's but saying that I have heard the sound of some Sti's with custom exhausts and they sound and burble like angry V8's their sound alone draws attention ..if I was in the position I will have a GT86 Turbo for track days cus it balanced, and very light and IS-F for every day street driving with the occasional blast when in the mood..

Any car pulls harder from its torque peak RPM and since I have not driven the IS220d I am not sure which RPM the engine sits when cruising at 75 and shift up to 6th gear. IS220d’s peak torque (pulling power) comes in at 2000RPM and if 6th gear causes the engine RPM to fall below 2000rpm at a cruising speed of 75mph then the car has fallen below its ‘power band’ in other words the RPM which the car can accelerate with ease and the struggling & trembling you experience is a result of this as the engine is now being laboured. But drop it to 4th or even 5th for the RPM needle to rise up to around 2000RPM and floor the throttle and you will feel that 400NM of tourque pin you down the seat for about a second or two. 2008 BMW 320d which has the same BHP as the IS is also a 6 speed but the difference between the 2 cars in terms of performance is the torque delivery. The 320d’s torque comes in at 1750RPM so if this car is cruising at 75MPH in 6th gear with RPM sitting at a lazy 1750rpm it will take off once the throttle is floored in this gear and will not experience the struggling & trembling due to being in its ‘power band’ or torque peak RPM and also lighter in weight compared to the IS. If this answers why the similar BMW pulls instantly in 6th at lower RPM’s and gear ratio and final drive ratio also contributes to this. And as Normski confirmed the revs are quite low at 5th anyway so Lexus might have got the ratios right that 6th was a redundant gear but thought they throw it in anyway as they know what European car journalists are like.

I understand what you saying Chris and its not a special gear but it is an over drive gear it is intended for cruising once speed has been built up. the IS220d has 5 direct gears to assist in acceleration and 1 overdrive(cruising) gear. this is the same principal as the 6 speed you have in the IS200. an overdrive is mainly for cruising and extracting as much mpg out of a vehicle and not intended for accelerating but this is debatable depending on final drive ratio , engine characteristics and power band. this is why Catalin can not accelerate his car instantly in 6th gear until he 'floors' it. though a car can accelerate gradually in an overdrive gear its not intended for flooring but direct gears will.

not sure why most IS220d drivers feel the need to use 6th gear?? this is an overdrove gear which I believe has a ratio to pull or cruise at a specific speed range which I believe is maybe 80mph and above so if 5th gear happily cruises without any strain on the engine with regards to revs then why try to use 6th gear if 5th does the job by comfortably cruising and picking up speed when needed around 60-70mph?

use 'M' mode lol..

strangely its not located at the same place for the IS.. maybe I haven't looked hard enough.. is your LS electronic throttle or Cable Steve?

just had a look in google. and tho it shows the switch it does not mention its locaton so worth phoning a lexus branch and ask for the location. is yours not kicking down then??