Sleepypete (FB)

95 RON should be fine for all cars sold in the UK. Consider that the same engines/cars are also sold in the US, where the octane rating is around 91-92 (or so Wikipedia tells me ). Our minimum RON is higher than their usual. Past experience from me - the higher octane fuels were a waste of time and when you got past placebo effect, were worse for the car. The Focus ST170 didn't change driving characteristics at all but the Puma took time to adjust to the different octane rating. That would be 10-20 miles of lumpy running as it remapped itself, which would happen on both the 95->98 and 98->95. This was for no perceived performance boost and no measured mpg improvement. I'd save cash and stick to 95 RON fuel PS Enjoy your GS450h when you get it :hocus-pokus:

Lol - I had that too. What made it mess with my head even more was that it was playing music I'd never heard ... What could it be ? Had someone else in the car park left a bluetooth device that I could read ? Couldn't be ! I was metres away from other cars ... Then I realised - it was sample music that had been loaded on to my phone that I'd never listened to. Must give it a listen cos it was ok

I'd heavily suspect that it's a wheel bearing about to let go ... One way to check - jack up the front, see if you can wobble either wheel. Not in the way the steering works but more in/out with hands on the top and bottom of the wheel. Unfortunately I've never done that myself so I don't know what to expect ! I'd get it checked out by a garage before something falls off ...

Had a similar issue on my Focus which persisted after getting new tyres ... I think with mine it was down to kerbing the alloy (cutting corner in car park :eerrrmm: ) Only thing I can think of with it being all 4 tyres is potential damage from one of those trapezoidal pattern speed bumps that are infesting the roads these days. I'm thinking of damage to the inner part of the wheel there. Also worth considering, if you don't have them already, are tamper proof valve caps in case you have a yokel having fun at your expense ... It's tricky to diagnose though, with the Focus I got two places to look at its offending alloy wheel. First was Kwikfit (never again!) and the second was Carcraft (same - but I'd prepaid for services) so more competent people might see something on your alloys where Kwikfit & Carcraft didn't.

Yep - 10 speaker has the sub (I think) Look for a box in the left hand side of the boot, that's the sub. I bet the difference is that the with-sub bootliner has a cutout ...

Could be worth a read : CT DAB upgrade (CT200hforum) That's the only promising link Google is showing me though ... Think it's a factory or dockside fit option. One disappointment I had was the lack of LW radio in the non-DAB car. I'm a cricket nut, so LW is a Must Have for listening to Test Match Special. All hope is not lost though ... I downloaded an Android app called Tune In Radio, which will let me stream the cricket from the internet to the phone and to the radio via Bluetooth. Sorted :) Although the reception on internet radio depends on how good a 3g signal you can get. The Tune In app buffers a little but it might still be trading FM radio drop out for 3g signal drop out. If you ask the dealers about the chances of getting a DAB module, let us know what they tell you - I'd much prefer a permanent solution over the internet radio kludge PS If we were buying Xmas presents this year, I'd probably have got one of these for my dad : DAB FM retransmitter. Gets around the problem a different way, although I don't know the impact on the TMC nav traffic info.

Curious reading : I had been considering the Prius (along with the CR-Z) but after having a sit inside one, the thoughts were : Yep - lots of toys HUD and gadgets could take a lot of getting used to (didn't think much of the ergonomics, although test drive probably would have convinced me) But key impression : "is this car going to survive a few years ?" Wasn't convinced by the build quality on the Prius, the CT felt like a far more solid car. (Although watch for the passenger door inside handle grip falling off)

Spotted this the other day on : HSD warmup stages Thought the people here would appreciate reading it :

The thing with the web reviews is that most of them either don't seem to have driven the car, or they are slanting their reviews to favour the cars they like. I.e. they're lying in their reviews to make people buy German cars. Just have a peek at the Parker's Guide review at : Parker Lies Lacklustre performance - not been beaten off the lights yet when I've tried. It's not great with several people in the car but which car is ... Poor ride quality - I'll give 'em that but the trade off is that the handling and flexibility are excellent Handling 3/5 - the CT is faster around a roundabout I use for handling testing than a Puma 1.7 and a Focus ST170. Handling and ability to accelerate through corners is excellent. Comfort 3.5/5 - seriously ? What planet are they on ... :winky: Practicality 3/5 - another one for the "what planet" ? Ok, boot is compromised by the battery but it's a flatter loading floor with the seats down than the 30 degree angle the Focus had. Reliability 3.5/5 - not enough data yet for anything other than Lexus average and considering one of my reasons to go Lexus was their top quality reliabity ... Running costs 4/5 - ok, it's a 69mpg (figures lie ) small luxury car. Again with the What Planet ? I read one where a mag criticised the CT for being noisy at speed, where the dB recorded were the same as the Audi and only a couple of dB behind the Golf. No similar criticism for the German cars. Other reviews bemoan the lack of paddle shifters for the CVT - you don't need them, the gearbox brain reacts quicker than a paddle shifter. I do have criticisms of the car : Autowipers are a bit of a waste of silicon, timed intermittent works better SE-L manual seat could do with more adjustment options Highway speed charge level should be 60%, not 80% to allow room for harvesting energy while slowing down from 70 Parking sensors don't take account of rear wheels turning inside the front - beware Cold fingers like buttons for seat heaters, not press-turn-press (variable heating is unnecessary) But those are quite shallow criticisms. The closing opinion is that while I tried to avoid driving my previous car (Focus ST170) and was bored with it after a few weeks, I'm still wanting to drive the CT wherever possible. I'm thinking about forgoing a coach trip for next week's Xmas party so I can take the car in, although I'm not taking it to pick up pizza yet (I walk there faster than the pizza comes out of the oven). I have confidence in the handling which was sadly lacking in the ST. The performance is more than adequate as the gearbox brain is in sync with what I want it to do. I suspect I'll have this CT for quite a while, unless something better (like a CT300h!) comes along. PS My real reason for hating on the German cars is experience with Golf TDI and family experience with VW dealers, plus I think the A3 is boring as hell :D

You might find Fuelly of interest : 07 BMW 320d Looks like the 08 model year Beemer had some mods which upped the mpg about 10%. And the : CT200h Mine's in there dragging the average down as the "Be Vewy Vewy Qwiet" Wabbit Hunter Best I've seen on the trip computer after a distance is 72mpg - that was about 20 miles after filling up at Newark heading south on the mostly 40mph limited A46 B) . I average 49-50 on extended 70mph runs, with that falling to 44 in the cold urban conditions we have at the moment. The trip computer overreads by maybe 2-3mpg over 250-300 miles of driving, the 44 & 49-50 are actual mpgs whereas the 72 was the trip computer. You won't see the high mpgs until it gets warmer I'm afraid, the hybrid system is awesome but isn't keen on the cold. It tends to hold onto the engine longer than is really necessary (to keep it and you warm) so the mpgs will be lower. 2nd Last link for this post : CT200h Forum That's an international forum that talks about our CT's and may give some tips on modding if you're into that kind of thing B) Oh and the general opinion (me included) on there is "You'll pry our CT keys out of our cold dead hands" Enjoy ! PS Last thread with Honestjohn numbers was looking at GS450h economy, I didn't see much point in adding the link there because there was only 1 GS450h being logged on Fuelly .

Had a look as part of peeking at something for this thread : CT200h Forum I suspect it's part of a change from the 2011 model year to 2012 model year, although definitely worth checking that with an actual Lexus dealer as the Lexus site was a little confused when I put my answer in the thread above. The 2011 CT SE-L had cruise control coming in as part of the convenience pack, not sure what the case is for the 2012 model though ... I couldn't see the convenience pack in the configurator. My 2011 SE-L Nav doesn't have cruise control although I understand fitting it involves not much more than fitting the switch (may check that when my warranty finishes) PS If you're making your mind up about a CT, the opinion on CT200hForum is "You'll pry the keys to our CT out of a cold, dead hands". We like our CTs :D

Partial answer based on what I know from my CT :) Charge level - the car will attempt to stay within roughly 20% to 80% of potential charge level. Going too low in charge or trying to squeeze too much in can lead to premature battery wear, hence the 20% to 80% thing. Think of a laptop, if it's on charge all the time the battery won't be much good after a while. Now think of your mobile, the battery on there is probably pretty good. The difference - the laptop's battery isn't getting much exercise and is being kept topped up, the mobile battery will typically be between the 20% to 80%. Range on battery only - that's about half what the CT can do, the difference will come in the differences between the cars (GS is bigger, heavier, faster). But it's also heavily dependent on consistency of speed and staying level. Half a mile's probably about right. Diesel sounding - could be something that will hopefully go away after a good running in period. Hope you get a lot of enjoyment out of your GS :D

Similar here, would like to know what it would take to get the DAB module into my CT but for now, someone told me about an Android app called TuneIn Radio which enabled me to listen to Test Match Special in a car without Long Wave :D Only issue - because it works on 3g streaming, it'll not be too happy working in a bad signal area.

There's someone at work who's been trying to sell a personalised plate for a little while now - no luck apparently though. I think she's getting married so the particular plate she's trying to sell won't work after the ceremony. My sister's thinking of getting one for her Saab 9-3 soft top, it looks newer than it is (08 plate) so she's looking to disguise its age ... Don't think I'll get a personalised plate for my CT. I'd struggle to think of something to put on it

Could be just a detail thing - my 2011 SE-L Nav has the full set of 5 parking sensors : 4x shorter range, 1 on each corner 1x longer range looking backwards You'll get a beeper with those that gets more insistent the closer to an obstruction you get, plus there's a display on the nav screen. Dunno about the sunroof though ... There has been a micro facelift done though, the 2012 model has a low speed noisemaker to warn people who aren't looking where they're walking

From a few pre-Lexus years ago but I thought I'd add it anyway : I'm expecting something similar from my neighbour this year Original blog post was at http://iceangelthemerc.blogspot.com/2009/02/dont-worry.html

Hope you get a long time without any more unscheduled garage trips :) Info I can give : Driving above certain rpm - I've heard about Ford Zetec engines not oiling themselves properly unless they go above 3000rpm. There could be something to that or it could be one of those "it happens like that doesn't it ?" things that grow up out of rumour without any basis in fact. Needing to cruise in 3rd at 3500rpm seems a bit excessive though. Supermarket fuel - it is different (has a cocktail of additives but then all fuel will have those) but not significantly different. Apart from a few tries of Optimax, I've almost always used local supermarket fuel in my cars. I have had engine problems but none of them have been fuel related : Focus - mechanical failure with inlet manifold Rover - head gasket failure and burnt valves due to coolant leaks Belmont - oil cooler leaks that no GM garage in Lincolnshire could fix until it became an insurance job. Actually, this did have a few petrol issues, where the injectors must have got blocked due to impurities. That could have been self inflicted wounds again though because we had to replace the fuel lines due to them wearing out, something might have gotten in. Astra - switched to supermarket unleaded (from leaded) without noticing. It had an oil leak I caused due to overfilling (not petrol issue). (20 years of driving) It's just a different blend of additives, with the Hydrocarbon Burny Part probably coming from the same refineries. Optimax in the Puma made no difference in mpg, although it upset the engine management (slow for 10ish miles like a bad tummy or indigestion) until it got over having to adjust the ignition timing. Looking at an old Puma log, a long run of Optimax saw mpg's of 37, 39, 37, 43 and 38, immediately followed by another 42 on normal unleaded. The variation there would be how much motorway driving I was doing on the tank. VCR light - home it doesn't come on again, might be worth doing a search on these forums for VCR as there's something (maybe in the GS forum) about the light coming on due to the petrol cap not being on right. PS Curious - looking at that petrol log, 2001 petrol price was 77p/litre. 2002 price was 69p/litre. 2003 back to 76 and the last entry was 2006 at 87p/litre. Now we pay 130-135p/litre. Something's gone wrong somewhere ... :o

It looks from here : Sprintbooster (Google no1 for Sprint Booster) That it's a throttle remap like what the CT has. I.e. Normal = straight line, Eco = curve that's gentle early on, Sport = aggressive early on. I suspect it might actually make the car less drivable as it would remove some low throttle control by making that low-mid throttle area more aggressive. From the graph on the link, full throttle is coming at 3/4 pedal position with the step up coming from about 3/8's throttle. It doesn't look like a true engine power mod, outside of snake oil placebo effect. I don't believe it would add anything to the driving experience that a different intention behind the right foot would give. If you're looking for more actual low end performance, it might be worth looking at adjustments to the turbo characteristics to see if boost pressure can be built quicker. PS Last thought - the throttle mappings are probably set for efficiency at continuous 60 or 70mph on part throttle, adjusting those mappings could have strange effects ...

You're forgetting the most important thing - looks like the ladies love it Spec - could be like with my last car (Focus ST170). I thought I was getting more toys with that one than I actually got because I got a model year without those toys. It's a different story with my CT, I keep finding toys or finding new facets to those toys B) Hope you enjoy your IS

Same thing on mine - I changed the "Daylight Saving Time" setting to OFF, which got my clock right again. Curious. Could be a date thing ... The date where DST switches isn't the same everywhere. Checking that link shows : UK - 27 March 2011, 30 October 2011 USA - 13 March 2011, 6 November 2011 It might just be confused with the date it needs to change on.

Oops - forgot another useful place for info on mpg : Fuelly page for GS300 If you're in the upper range on there, you're doing well :winky: I'm guilty of dragging the CT average mpg down a bit PS Also reading again what Parkers say about the CT. They seriously need to actually drive the car before commenting on it. "Sluggish and unresponsive" ? They must have come from something fast with that comment, the CT is more responsive than my old ST which had less weight and more bhp and a huge amount better than the C30.

I don't have a GS (mine's a CT) so this isn't personal experience ... Thought I'd peek on Parker's for info seeing as I'd been there earlier : Parker's for 97 GS 28mpg - Parkers is saying 24mpg, so 28 sounds good. It's about what I'd expect for a big 3.0 litre car, my Focus ST170 with a 170bhp 2.0 litre was doing 28 in town and 36 (max) on a run. My dad's nasty Volvo C30 with a 2.4 never gets above about 32. "o/d" - stands for overdrive. It'll turn 4th gear into 4th+a+bit or 5th into 5th+a+bit for better cruising mpg. I.e. lower rpm for same speed but worse acceleration and top speed as a knock on effect. Use when maintaining speed, turn off when changing speed. Tape deck - not sure there, could be an issue with the fake-tape adaptor thing. What you might want to try is a mini FM transmitter for your iPod. I've happily retired my Belkin one now because I can plug my iPod straight in but the mini FM transmitter can work pretty well as a non-intrusive cheap way of getting signal into the car stereo. I'd not recommend Belkin though, they make everything but they are trash quality. (You get what you pay for ). The big drawback with the FM transmitter method is that commercial radio is strong enough to override the signal - not an issue locally but an issue on longer trips. Enjoy your GS :D PS Take what Parkers says with a big pinch of salt, they can be biased as hell and like German cars.

Hi Lyndsey - congrats on getting your Lexus :) Not much info to go on there (make + model + engine size + year) but you may be able to find what you need here : Parker's Guide for IS200 Hope you find what you need - other car review sites might have something useful too

The ST170 rubber pads were about 3-5mm above the pedal itself. Looking at the picture again, the CT F-sport pads don't seem as pronounced. I like to wear shoes with decent grips on the bottom too (think walking boot pattern on office shoes), flat bottomed shoes would possibly work better. It's conditions dependent - the rubber pads on the pedals were fine until there was just the right level of moisture to make things greasy. Mind you, it's comparing to Ford levels of attention to detail there

Couldn't see the flat bottomed wheel either, although it did have the Metal+Rubber F-Sport pedals. Comments : Metal+Rubber pedals - They look shiny but to be honest, take em away and keep them. My Focus ST170 had these and I had to be really careful in certain conditions : if moisture got in, I'd have absolutely no grip between pedal and shoe leading to the potential for "Sorry dude, my foot slipped off the clutch which is why I slammed into you from behind" Suspension - I honestly have no problem with the handling and ride. They've got it right in how much these change between Normal and Sport. Normal -> softer and rounds out the bumps but is less assured around corners. Sport -> feel every bump but is way superior on the corners. Making it so there's a decent contrast between Sport and Normal is a Good Thing IMO :) PS Comment from the sister : too much roof on there