noby76

what made you go back to the IS200 Ian?

this my first but certainly wont be my last ... such a shame IS350's are not sold in UK

if i was you i would source a decent one in Norway then have it resprayed at leat you will get to test drive the car , check it over for faults, and most of all will already be registered in Norway. I know sometimes importing works out cheaper but would you really want to go through the hassle of buying a car you havent test driven or checked over the go through shipping paper work and charges then have to pay duty when clearing from the Norwegian port.?? or look for a company which imports Japanese cars give them the exact spec you want and they can do all the hassle work for you all you need to do is prob pay them a deposit and balance ounce the car is in :zee:

Quick before it goes. although not an IS badge it shares pretty much 90% parts with IS expect these are good for 210bhp yamaha engine but you wont get electric seats , sunroof, half leather etc.. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1998-S-reg-TOYOTA-ALTEZZA-RS200-6-SPEED-MANUAL-WHITE-/270972270263?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3f1734b6b7

wont have the slightest clue mate but for all i knoe paint jobs here are not cheap and i think to have it resprayed to another colour will have to log it with DVLA UK but not sure as i havent done a spray on my previous cars!! maybe someone else on this forum mite help on that..

depends on how bad you want a white IS200. other colours do look nice aswell like silver, black, blue and ferrari red. not sure about green and grey colours tho!! maybe you could buy a descent one in a different colour and have it resprayed to white ouce its in Norway bet it will be cheaper doing that there than in UK.

White IS200's are very very very rare in UK as white coloured cars was not in fashion during 99 and 2000 but became popular in Europe from mid 2000's onwards even then I have never seen a white mark 1 IS only the mark 2's . will keep an eye anyway and give you a shout when i find one!!

though I havent used DS Autos yet am planing to use them at some point. they are based in Aylesbury about 10miles from MK from thier website looks like they wont have problems working on Jap cars. http://www.dsautomotives.co.uk/

Wanted to find out why you guys opted for a Lexus..sure you could have gotten a Merc, Audi , BMW or top end Ford? . Got a Lexus because i wanted something you dont see a lot on the roads Merc, Audi and BMW's are everywhere infact no day passes without me seeing an average of 5 of these cars on the roads which makes a Mondeo/Vauxhall a very rare sight. Wanted something with a bit of luxury, style and taste. What also sealed it for me was the fact that the car is built by the number 1 car manufacter in the world(Toyota) who are known for buliding rigid and reliable cars that can see the back of 300,000 miles on same engines and gearboxes.(if maintained) tell us why you went for Lexus instead :)

so looks like the originaI ISF's slower time around the track compared to BMW M3/M5 was its tire and suspension setup and with these put right in the latest models with introduction of Torsen LSD cured it. so that explains sometimes to get a quicker time from a car is not all about aftermarket exhaust and decats but with a good car balance and tire grip can yeild a lot of time.

I think the L's stand for Levinsen as in 'Mark Levinsen' sound systems which comes with either 13.1 or 18.1 surround sound speakers systems and maybe sunroof, xenons, cooling leather seats, 18" alloys basically the whole lot...

cant have a bit more power without sacrifising fuel mate. my guess will be you might loose maybe 2-3 miles to every gallon. but will also depend on your right foot..

use some pressure wash on it through the gaps and spray some DW-40 through the gaps both top and buttom. that solved it for mine.

http://www.japarts.co.uk/shop/index.php?sh=search&make=39&model=IS∩=&prevo=&hidden_make=&s=45&vehicle_iid=440

just go to breakers http://www.dewsburyautosalvage.com/cars-for-breaking/lexus.html?model_ddl=105 might get lucky. havent used them before though.

the automatic in the IS's learn from how the car is driven and all my shifts happens at 2500 or just before 3000rpm it have never changed up a gear above 3000rpm since i have owned it during normal driving which makes it quite an intelligent automatic box but ounce you floor it, it revs really quickly to 6300rpm in each gear. the 3 litre engine is really torqey aswell so it really doesnt need revving to shift the weight of the car and mpg wise is no different to the 2 litre i compared the two before i went for the 3 litre and in my case it would have been £20 more a month to drive the IS300 over the 200 in fuel cost which worked out about £5 more a week so went for 300 for a bit more power when i wanted it... the sound system is really good aswell nice and clear from the speakers on long drives

This is achievable if you average 34mpg constantly during your drives. and this is how i came to that figure. a litre of fuel is currently £141.9 and 4.54 litres makes a gallon so 141.9*4.54 = £6.44 for a gallon of fuel. IS200 takes 70litres to fill the tank so to work out how many gallons 70litres is, we do 70litres/4.54litres = 15.4 gallons in total. so to fill this car will be £6.44*15.4 = £99 so if you average 34 miles to every gallon will be 34 * 15.4 = 523miles. So i will say its acheivable but 95% of your journay have to be done at 67mph to acheive this. on a long drive to and from birmingham i get 33mpg using cruise control set at 67mph on motorway so these 6 cylinder engines are not as bad as some people paint them to be.

Yes but you still geeting more bang for your buck LFA cost around £300,000 Porsche GT2 around £150,000. and to be honest ISF's true challengers are C63, M3, M5, Audi RS4, RS6 and those cars do around 12's to 13's quater mile so its level with them performance wise. LFA and GT2 are slightly above them hence thier price tag but then again with a good driver beihnd the wheels of an ISF the car can close that gap around a track.

leave the engine and cats alone mate.. ISF's are not slow cars and have enough power and grunt to challenge your typical V8's to V6 twin turbo performance cars from Germany. to paint a picture of how good this stock engine is.... Lexus LFA reaches quater mile in 11 seconds, Porsche 911 GT2 reaches quater mile in 11.4 seconds, Nissan GTR reaches a quater mile in 11.2 seconds, BMW M5 reaches quater mile in around 12 seconds. ISF reaches a quater mile in around 13 seconds which is just two seconds shy of LFA and 911 GT2 that cost over £100,000. Simple to get the best out of this engine run it on good oil i.e Mobil 1 or Castrol, move the car on some good performance tires(Pirellis, Bridgestones, Yokohamas) with good PSI setting, use good high performance fuels like shell 99RON or Esso 97 RON and make sure its breathing nice with a good panel air filter to feed those 32 Titanuim dual VVTiE valves with clean oxygen...and trust me cars the ISF was designed to challenge will have a tough time getting away from your sights if not watching the L badge from behind you .. though I dont own an F my IS300 surprises a lot of cocky BMW, Audi, Mercedes and even Porsche drivers when the engine is in form..and I have not tampered with any thing under the bonnett!!!

sorry i meant it will cause the car to be very gutless on low to mid speeds cus of lack of back pressure and exhaust gasses on the staright through aftermarket systems.

thought so! most of these modern performance cars already come supped up with high tech filters exhaust and ecu's which work so effectively in deliverying the power and torque so aftermarket wouldnt really unleash another 50bhp to what is already there. and people also forget back pressure and exhaust gasses helps accelerate the car in low to mid speeds and by removing these and replacing with a straight through exhast mite just help high speed acceleration but will cause the car to be very gutless on low to mid speeds cus of lack of back pressure and exhaust gasses on the OEM system.

these performace cars already come with a good tuned exhast systems for best torque and high speed acceleration so why waste money replacing something thats already there??

this might help http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=52302

on my way back from work saw an IS200 Sport in melina Blue with cream interior and latest 17" Honda Type R alloys looked quite nice.. wasnt lowered or anything !! I personally think its still weired combination tho!! he was kinda gazing at my 18" Lexus Aero alloys..guess he was fancing them instead

Hi...it will all depend on how much you really love the car and at 170k with a new transmission rebuild this car can do another 170k thats if maintained religiously!! will also depend on who does the rebuild if its a garage who specialise in this then chances are they will do a good job.. so its your call really but if you can let it go then get your self a cheap run around car untill you have enough money to get a newer lesser mileage ES300! hope this helps