noby76

Keep it between 4600 and 6200rpm for better pull. if you want to build up cylinder pressure early in the rpm range to make it 'drivable' then a bigger engine swap or supercharger will help eliminate this and rive like your old 2.8litre.

IS300 Sportcross VS Subaru Legacy 3.0R spec B. i would say... the rest are too rare in UK unless imported and will be hard to find one which hasn't been thrashed.. good thing with the IS and Legacy 3 R is they are NA so no turbo lag or Turbo replacements to worry about. IS300 will be tail happy if you are the kind of driver who likes to live on the edge.. the Subaru will be planted in the dry, in the wet and in the snow.. and the sound from that Porsche style boxer engine at high revs is to die for.. :winky: infact am considering the Legacy 3 R at some point my self for its AWD system and Porche style H6 engine just addicted to my 300 for now lol.

ahh then thats no problem nelmo get that GS and enjoy.. i want one but cant afford it yet.

oh yes i do have a lot of faith in Lexus for sure and i know a car with over 300bhp like the gs can certainly tow a caravan with its torque. what i meant was if the car will be used primarily or say 60 - 80% of the time towing then might as well opt for something which was actually designed for that from the get go. like the Land cruiser and if you looked closely you would notice it does share some parts with the Lexus RX models. yes you right i also do believe in false economy but that happens when one buys a lemon from the start. if you look well you can spot some old cars with high mileages on them which will never breakdown for another 5-10years and all they will need is the usual servicing and tyre and brake changes like any modern car. and it does start to add up when you factor in the second lot on insurance and road taxes aswell. but there is always a way round it you can always add the second car to your insurance on the day you towing and take it off after you have completed your journey e.g if say you only tow during summer for camping etc then you can add the second car to your insurance for the months of June, July where you will be making your trip and take it off your policy once the trip is over. same as road tax aswell you can always sorn a car when not in use. so there are ways round it. but all said and done, the decision is yours to make if its just for the ocassional tow then pay Lexus the £1300 for the tow bar and enjoy the GS450h and don't think about it :)

silly question Nelmo, but why would you want to spend £18K on a GS450H and use it for towing? can the GS450h tow a caravan with the right equipments fitted to it? Yes but the car was not built for that. if you would be using a car to tow say 50% of the time then skip the GS all together and spend you hard earned £18K on something which was built to be rugged and intended for towing from the get go and has all the gears and equipments on it like below. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304266449861/sort/default/usedcars/price-from/17000/model/landcruiser/make/toyota/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/200/postcode/lu63hp?logcode=p another option is to still get the GS450H then invest around £800 on something like this to use for your occasional towing trips. it will be cheaper than the £1300 towbar, cheaper than a new CVT gearbox on the GS450 and its built just like the Land cruiser, 4 wheel drive , rough and rugged. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304256443869/sort/default/usedcars/model/legacy/make/subaru/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/200/page/1/postcode/lu63hp?logcode=p

No I don't think Lexus is now giving away the newer models for free for the money like they did with the MK1 and MK2 LS400,430's, GS300/430 and the IS200/300's. if you noticed most toys which came for free in the past models are now listed under the options tick box.in a way should they give us a £40,000 spec car for £30,000 like they did with past models??NO.. its understandable as they have now gained the respect of the competition and established themselves in the world market of US, Asia and Africa. Europeans are now warming up towards the brand and I am starting to see a lot of the Lexus cars on the roads now mainly the newer models. I still think the SC430's and IS300's are the rare ones tho. and I have only seen two IS300's on the road since I got mine. Only way to find out if they still have a margin is to take the spec sheets of S class Mercedes and 7 series BMW to see what they offer as standard for the money and compare that to LS460/600h and see what it offers as standard for the money. off topic but just noticed 07 LS460 SE-L which I take it to be the top spec is going for around £12,000 now that's a lot of car for the money. hopefully my lottery numbers drop :)

the way i see it is. if you looking to buy an IS then best to compare that to 3 series BMW.. A4 Audi and C class Merc are not wild enough or athlete enough to compare. if you looking to buy a GS then best to compare that to an E class Merc and A6 Audi. test drove two GS300 SE when i was looking for a Lexus and the GS was a bit too soft and big for me and my feeling was, its setup on the softer side compared to a 5 series BMW. If you looking to buy an LS then best to compare it to an S class Merc as both have been setup on the softer side compared to 7 series BMW or A8 Audi if you looking to buy a CT200h best to compare that to Honda Insight or Toyota Prius. as BMW Merc and Audi do not offer a Hybrid hatchback at the moment so would be a fair comparison once they release their hybrid hatchback versions.

wont advise using your engine and transmission for braking when descending on steep hill Argento.. brakes are cheaper to replace than a transmission. and the brakes are the primary mechanical part which is designed to stop a car so why use something else?? and am not sure how i managed to do this but my gears are now starting to hold in my IS300 .. yes i select 3rd gear in M mode and it now revs to 6200rpm and bounces of the limiter until i select 4th i cant believe this as it wasn't happening when i first got the car. It used to shift up at red line but now its not doing it. so has the transmission ECU reprogrammed itself to start holding gears based on my driving style? i have been driving on ECT PWR continuously for about 5-6months decided to go back to normal mode for a smooth relaxed drive and today i activated it again and in M mode my gears are now holding and not shifting up. has any IS250 or IS300 owners experienced this?

shows how ahead the Japs were with regards to technology. the LS400 was quicker, faster had all luxury toys and was more refined than BMW, Merc, Jag and Rolls Royce all combined.

I see what you saying Stevet. but if ISF-B then limits their maximum available gear from 5th to 2nd gear before the start of the race then the holding gear advantage ISF-A has, has still been chucked out of the window?? resulting in both cars taking off in 2nd gear at 30mph?? I know there is and advantage of having this gear holding functionality but I just cant see it..

one word.. its Brembo. so will be good for sure. I looked at them a while back aswell and will def opt of them when am due new pads and discs. but saying that, the Pagid brake discs and pads I got from Eurocar parts are doing a good job in stopping the car effectively. I don't use it for tracks but how long they will last I don't know but if you have funds for Brembos then by all means but worth double checking to make sure they are genuine brembos tho.

I am still trying to understand the point of it Stevet because all tracks differ with regards to their bends and max speed limits so my question is what advantage does the gear holding functionality bring. e.g. there are two IS-F's one with the gear holding functionality called ISF-A and the other without gear holding functionality like IS250 and IS300 called ISF-B. so both cars where cruising at 30mph on the start finish line of Silverstone race circuit driver of ISF-A with holding functionality sets his gear to hold in 2nd gear and driver of ISF-B sets his maximum available gears he wants to use to 5th gear now both cars are still travelling at 30mph they both cross the start line and race begins, they both floor the peddle driver of ISF-A is already holding second so takes of in that gear. driver of ISF-B has set his maximum gears to 5th but in reality he is in 2nd gear as the ECU deems 2nd gear to be the best for when travelling at 30mph so this will result in both cars taking off in 2nd gear regardless of ISF-A having the holding gear functionality. because ECU transmission has worked this out for ISF-B driver and kicked it down to 2nd gear. both cars took off on the back straight ISF-A driver is manually shifting his gears to 3rd, 4th and 5th whilst ISF-B driver already has 5th selected as the maximum gear so ECU is working up the gears as well by automatically shifting to 3rd, 4th and 5th. I still cant see the advantage of having the holding gear functionality here.. both cars start to approach turn 1 of the circuit and both drivers start braking for the turn whilst using their paddle shifters to shift down from 5th, to 4th to 3rd then to 2nd gear. they exit the turn and both floor it again now to my knowledge and experience with my IS300, both cars will stay in 2nd gear and accelerate out of the turn so again what advantage has ISF-A gained over ISF-B because they both made it out of the turn in 2nd gear. only difference is ISF-A driver manually forced the gear into 2nd causing it to hold and ISF-B driver selected 2nd gear as the maximum gear he wants when slowing down for the turn and ECU deemed it safe as the descending speed into the turn was about 30mph so it held 2nd gear as the maximum gear for the driver and both cars made it out of the turn in the same gear. so there should be a time and place to have the gear holding functionality but as per my scenario above, I still cant see it even on a race track.

get a set of new flat batteries from Halfords or Toyota. mine did the same a while back had remote batteries replaced and it worked so bought spare ones from ebay for my spare and valet keys.

I am no clever than the Lexus engineers and there was a reason for them to have this feature in the IS-F but in my opinion, I think its still useless to have that feature in the ISF because if say you not in the mood for a spirited driving, what's the point in giving the driver the freedom to select say 8th gear which the transmission ECU will hold when doing say 20mph?? that wont be the right gear for the speed being travelled and if it has the feature to kick down to say 2nd gear once 8th is selected at 20mph and pedal is floored then it deviates the point of having this gear holding feature because the ECU still overwrote the drivers choice of 8th gear and kicked down to 2nd gear to match the speed of 20mph being travelled to the best gear needed to accelerate the car. same applies to when travelling at speed of say 80mph. the transmission ECU will not allow the driver to select 2nd gear because that's not the right gear for the speed being travelled so again its useless to have the gear holding feature in the IS-F. if this same scenarios is put into the IS300 or IS250 which does not have the gear holding feature, when travelling at 20mph and 6th gear is selected, the transmission will show 6th gear on the dash board but will automatically hold 2nd gear for you because that's the right gear for the speed being travelled and ounce you put your foot down, you are already in the right gear to take off even tho 6th gear was selected. and if keep your foot planted, it will sequentially shift to 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th. so in a nut shell, one is not loosing anything by having the gear holding feature of the IS-F because driving in say 7th gear at 20mph will labour the engine and use more fuel and attempting to hold 2nd gear when doing 80mph is also useless because that's not the right gear for the speed being travelled. and if 2nd gear is what's needed to exit a corner, both features in IS300,IS250 and IS-F will let the driver select 2nd during the process of decelerating to the bend using the paddle shifters for the best torque to exit the bend. I have not experienced where my gears will shift up to say 3rd gear during a sweeping bend when I select 2nd as my highest gear so again not sure what the gear holding feature is really for but as confirmed, Lexus engineers knows better than me.

most say is waste of money but I worked it out manually and the difference to a tank is around £10 extra to fill up 99RON over 95RON but since I only fill up around half a tank each time so I don't carry around excess weight which results in more fuel consumption, this only works out about £5 extra so I can live with that and I have carried out tests on my own and noticed the V power lasts a tad bit longer than 95 and as confirmed it squeezes every bit of performance from the engine, runs smoother, idles smoother and burns cleanly whilst cleaning the engine as well. so for £5 extra I would say its worth it but 95 does a good job all the same. I am a shell man and prices are no different from Supermarket ones where I live. I have never used supermarket fuels in my cars not saying there is anything wrong with them, I just stick to Shell or Esso(Mobil)

should say in your owners doc . but my guess will be minimum of 95RON. IS300 says minimum 95RON or more.so I run 99 Shell V power but that's just me. for a 5.0 litre V8 7000rpm with 11.8:1 compression ratio, I will give it the good stuff it needs.

+ 1 on 6 fuel consumption is not a lot of difference between the two modes. I have been driving ECT PWR mode continually for about 5-6 months now with Shell V power and still refilling with the same amount of fuel as when I did not have it activated. I have only just gone back to normal mode and the difference in the way the car drives is like night and day. e.g when joining a main road with it deactivated, there is about half a second delay and I can feel the transmission kicking down between 2 or 3 gears before it takes off also, when cornering and you take your foot off come out of the corner and reapply the pedal again there is also a slight delay before it wakes up, I also now noticing normal mode causes the revs to climb up a bit slowing resulting in the engine revving a bit longer but ECT PWR/Sport removes all this and wakes every thing up the car also revs and grabs the next gear more quickly.

not that i know off maybe its in my head.. might need another IS300 owner to confirm this but suspension feels softer in normal mode but harder and stiffer in ECT PWR mode to me. am now driving in normal mode and car has gone back to being softer and shifts smoother.

just take it for an open road drive with the Sport mode activated whilst using the paddle shifters to select gears and you will get your answer lol .. OK not sure how the ISF has been setup but when the PWR button is activated in the IS300 the suspension feels more stiffer and i tend to feel the bumps on the road more the car holds onto the best lower gear depending on speed travelling so the moment i floor it, it takes off without the half second wait for it to collect its thoughts and drop down a gear or two. the engine/Exhaust note changes slightly and gives a more deeper throatier sound. throttle pedal is more responsive and sharper to the foot without hesitation car is more fun to drive. http://www.lexus.com.au/isf/features/performance

i was under the impression all Lexus cars with M mode for IS300 or S mode for both IS-F and IS250's are sequential automatic boxes?? because you cant move from say 2nd gear straight to 5th gear like an H style manual gearbox when one is in M or S mode. you have to sequentially shift up from 2nd to 3rd to 4th before 5th gear just like the gearboxes in an F1 car or Rally car. so do you currenlty have a Sport sequential automatic gearbox in your current IS250? Yes and is this in the IS-F? Yes but with 8 gears and will it be in the new IS? you bet :winky: . So not sure what you meant by will it be the same as IS-F? becasue a sequential box is a sequentail box and they are all meant to select gears sequentially..

mileage is nothing on a Yoda engine if well maintained. this is an IS pushing nearly 300,000 miles and body paint and alloys still looks good. so as confirmed, these engines are designed to clock Diesel engine mileage if oil and fluids are changed when they due. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304166291670/sort/default/usedcars/maximum-mileage/over_100000_miles/model/is/make/lexus/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/lu63hp/radius/200/page/2?logcode=p this is another 170,000 + example. looks like its only done 30K http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201302185393124/sort/default/usedcars/maximum-mileage/over_100000_miles/model/is/make/lexus/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/200/postcode/lu63hp/page/5?logcode=p

Diesel will certainly be more economical on motorway journeys but most owners on here have recorded 40+ mpg from the IS250 on a long motorway journey which was worked out manually and not from the on board computer. way you have to see it is this. you will save maybe £500 a year if you run the diesel model over the petrol and maybe £100 on road tax aswell but if say the head gasket or an Injector fails, it will cost more than the savings made on running the diesel. there is also the EGR valve blocking to worry about aswell which causes the car not to run efficiently resulting in more diesel being used by the engine. not saying the IS250 is bullet proof but reviews i have read proofed they dont have any common engine/transmission problems. with all these common problems the IS220d's suffer i personally will by pass it and go for petrol model but thats just me. infact the Auto IS250 is slightly better on fuel than the manual version. best to work out how many miles you really do in a month and based on extra urban figures of both models, work out how much you would save if you travelled in the diesel model against the petrol model. to help you out i did a small maths below IS220d extra urban mpg is 52MPG so if you travel say 1000 miles a month you would need 19.2 Gallons(1000/52). 4.54 litres makes a Gallon and if a litre of diesel is sold at 142.9p , a gallon would be (4.54 * 142.9) = £6.48 so 19.2 gallons would have cost £124 that is (19.2 * £6.48) IS250 auto extra urban mpg is 40MPG so if you travel say 1000 miles a month you would need 25 Gallons(1000/40). 4.54 litres makes a Gallon and if a litre of petrol is sold at 135.9p , a gallon would be (4.54 * 135.9) = £6.17 so 25 gallons would have cost £154 that is (25 * £6.17) which results in a difference of only £30 to drive a V6 auto petrol IS250 over the manual Diesel IS220d. multiply this £30 over 12 months and it works out at £360 to drive the Petrol over the diesel in 12,000 miles. a faulty EGR valve from the IS220d cost around £350 to replace if it breaks which wipes out saving made over 12,000miles driving the diesel over the petrol.

Hi Gary, for 5K money I would skip the Diesel all together due to their known engine head gasket issues and unrefinement and opt for this. its smooth, quiet and no known engine and transmission issues compared to the Diesel models. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201303275975410/sort/default/usedcars/body-type/saloon/engine-size-cars/2l_to_2-5l/fuel-type/petrol/model/is/make/lexus/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/1/radius/200/keywords/2.5/postcode/lu63hp?logcode=p most owners are averaging between 35mpg-40mpg in the IS250's all depending on how and where one drives of course but question you need to ask yur self is why spend £5K on the Diesel model known to suffer head gasket and clutch issues? infact this will result in more money being spent to fix if and when the headgasket or 5th Injector goes and more over if your daily driving does not include 60 to 70% motorway driving then the diesel model wont be as cheaper to run even if you do more than 10,000 miles town driving a year.

Lexus has washed off their hands on Diesel technology . its all about petrol/Hybrid so chance of us seeing another Diesel in a Lexus is 0%... I read an article a while back about Toyota and BMW working together to develop the new Toyota Supra and this deal will result in each brands sharing technologies i.e BMW supplies Toyota/Lexus with Diesel engines and Lexus supplying BMW with Hybrid engines but how true these rumors are, i don't know.... coming to the new IS front grill, i do like it.. most think its only there as a cosmetic design but its been confirmed its sole duty is to channel all air coming in front over to the sides/rear of the car to give high levels of rear grip. same as the Niss'an GTR... front end does not look nice but its not meant to be a cosmetic design.. saw one on my way from work today and thought 'you lucky b****d'

an AWD work horse like this will be cheaper than a new Auto gearbox from Lexus. I will say don't risk your IS250 Auto for towing the pulling power comes above 4500rpm so will have to be revved to pull anything which might result in transmission heating. get a £500 cheap AWD car like this Subaru and you can scrap it if it breaks and would only have lost £500 compared to maybe £2000 for a new Lexus transmission. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304166299555/sort/default/usedcars/transmission/manual/make/subaru/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/postcode/lu63hp/page/1/radius/200?logcode=p