matt-c

Mine still works (although I only use the Grom attached to it, or the radio) and also plays CD-R's (in fact the only CDs I've ever played in it have been CD-R's!)

Go for an induction kit if you want noise - the airbox is designed to suppress as much noise as possible, so you really won't get much of a benefit with a panel filter

Sound yes, power no Sound change/increase will be marginal with a panel in the standard airbox - an induction kit with cone filter will be more noticeable If you want power increase, sell it and buy an IS300

Yes I read your post, and understood entirely you didn't buy them. I wonder though, if you go out in the Lexus, in the snow, with the aim of getting stuck - if you don't get stuck, will that be down to the tyres, or to your fantastic driving skills you've told us all about?

LOL, how "convenient" you've suddenly got a set of winter tyres, no less actually used them - considering you said you never would. But if you think I'm going to now regard your postings on them as gospel, think again. Even if the reality was you put them on your Lexus, drove it in very low temps, and on snow, ice and slush, and you were absolutely gobsmacked at the difference they made, I wouldn't expect you to post here saying anything other than they make no difference. Because it's easy to tell by the way you post and what you post, you could not post up that you'd been wrong. No chance of that at all. I'm confused though. You say there's no need to do anything other than drive sensibly during winter/snow - yet you bought a 4x4? Can't you drive a RWD car in the winter/snow? I thought you'd never been stuck because you're a fantastic driver, not because you bought a 4x4?

Not an LS, but I recently had to make the journey from London to Leeds, and then back again same day. I've done it a few times, in various cars (once in an RS Turbo - fast, but not fun! - once in a Transit Connect van - very boring! - and once in a Ford Escort Si with a noisy wheel bearing!). Normally I'm tired after the drive up, but a drive back on the same day is a killer, and I'm exhausted when I get in. Not so in the IS. It might be ten years old, and only have a 2L, not particularly fast, engine, but the 454 mile journey was a breeze. Thank god I put the armrest in it recently! Cruised up, cruised back, and even with a few "higher than legal" sections, it returned 30mpg. I was still awake for over an hour when I got home at 1:30am, after originally setting off at 8:30am that morning. Can't complain about that!

They would have most likely had the Lexus specs, not Tony's. I believe WIM will sell you the specs to have your own garage use them, but their specs are different to Lexus' (Lexus set up is good, but eats the inside of front tyres - the WIM set up is better, just as comfortable, grips more, and doesn't unevenly wear the tyres ;) )

As I understand it, for HID's to be legal, the car must have headlight washers and either self-levelling headlights or suspension. Of course, if the beam pattern, glare and scatter are not within limits, then it'll still fail, even with washers and self-levelling

Won't be long till the Chinese knock-off's flood the market, just as they have with the previous connectors and adapters though. Granted there was a little hiccup at first as no-one knew about the "secret" authentication chip Apple sneakily put in the connectors, but this will be cracked, just as everything has. But I know what you're saying. It's one of the reasons I cancelled my i5 upgrade; I'd need at least 2 adapters and an extra cable for it, which is £65!

Firstly, don't give away Tony's specs - he put a lot of time and effort into getting them right, and giving them away just hurts his business. If you want the specs to get your local garage to work to, then phone WIM and you can buy them from him. Secondly, 4 wheel alignment isn't the same as what WIM do when they set up the geo on your car. Their machine is far more advanced and caters for a lot more measurments than the standard 4 wheel alignment - most garages that do that simply align the front wheels with the rear and adjust the camber. That's great if your rear wheels are spot on, but if they aren't, all you're doing is aligning the front wheels with incorrectly aligned rears. Not good.

Thanks Richard, that's excellent news!

Said in another thread, I was a little dubious of the Hankook (V12 Evo) tyres that came with my IS, but did like the fact they were all virtually brand new. But, they are awesome tyres! More grip than you can shake a stick at; it's even hard to get them to unstick when trying! Only slide I've had in the wet was when I turned the TRC off, and side stepped the clutch in 2nd at about 4k rpm, on a roundabout - LOL. Not the quietist tyres ever, but nowhere near the noisiest either. Can't complain for £75 a corner either!

As I understand it needs to have self levelling - but either suspension and/or headlight. And neither can be tested properly in an MOT environment. So provided the vehicle specification states it has one or both, it's legal. And yes, also needs to have washers

Actually, as I stated before, I got stuck (in my works van) in the snow outside my house, as did 6 other people, and had to be towed out by one of the AA snow rescue Defenders. Also it's a point worth noting, there are a very distinct group of vehicles you see year after year, stuck in the snow, slush and ice. More frequently than any, you'll BMW's and Merc's. Why do you think this might be? Might it be that they are RWD saloon (or estate) cars? What does the IS (or the LS or GS for that matter) have in common with that? Might it be they are also RWD saloon/estate cars? Do you see a pattern here? You don't often see FWD Transit vans stuck in the snow, although in my line of work, with the miles I cover and people I meet everyday, I do see the RWD ones, along with Sprinters and the like, also stuck in snow and ice... But you haven't used them yourself. So you aren't an expert. Thus, I disregard any of your opinions. -- A very good point raised by Tony. Phil, If winter tyres don't do anything, and are pointless, why are they mandatory in so many countries?

I got some on my windows when doing the frame channels, and it came off easily enough with glass cleaner. I also use it a lot at work, fitting windscreens, and it comes off easily enough there too.

Just a few - 3 and a half each way I make it! Bit more time and fuel than I wanted to spend really. The only reason for me to upgrade to an IS300, really, is for the autobox. I know you can get an IS200 in auto, but 1) I don't want a 4speed auto, and 2) I like those few little "extras" the Sport version of the 200 gives (tinted windows, lower suspension, spoiler, and metal interior bits. The 300 has all those, plus the 5 speed tiptronic box, plus a few more ponies under the hood - anything else (the HID's, armrest, full leather, chromatic mirrors, etc) are all bonus' - I already put the armrest and HID's in my IS200 anyway). As for year, with the above in mind, it really only makes logical sense to "upgrade" to a 300 for the autobox, and to get a younger model with less miles. And we know miles aren't really a figure worth worrying about provided these cars are looked after (as yours is, and mine has been) Maybe if you were closer, you might be able to twist my arm ;)

Rigga - I think, and I could be wrong - that the very late 54/05 plate 200's got the HID lights too

The reflectors in the IS200 units are different to those in the IS300 units, which is why we get scatter and glare when fitting HID's into IS200 units. Look at the pics Kent posted, and notice the "ridges" in the top and bottom of the reflector, and compare it to the ridges in the top and bottom of an IS200 reflector - they are much larger and there are less of them. The ridges in the dipped beam reflector are much more like the ones in the main beam reflector in Kent's pics.

The standard stereo doesn't have an RCA or line out's. After thinking about adding an active sub to mine, the best advice, since I want to keep my full standard set up, is to tap into the wiring for one of the rear speakers, and run it either to a high level input on the amp, or use a line to RCA converter. Changing to after market headunit will require bypassing the standard amp with a specific harness, and a bit of a rewire to get all 8 speakers working (it's a bit of a headache as far as I can tell because the speakers are different impedance's)

I think I'd probably prefer 4300k too, but I can't really be bothered to buy yet another pair of bulbs. I'll wait until one of mine dies, then grab a pair of 43's and see what they are like

Apart from the year (I was thinking more 2004/5) that's pretty much exactly what I'd be looking for in a 300. Shame you're not closer, or I'd come take a look!

I bought a can of Halfords silicon spray shortly after getting my IS purely because the windows seemed a bit slow, and they ran beautifully after that - never thought to use it on the seat belts!!!

Looks good. I still think my 5ks are a touch too blue - your 5k bulb in that pic looks perfect!

Doesn't the iPad automatically choose the mobile version?

Don't want to answer my question Noby?