Rabbers

When I think about possible rain-free scenarios where I might be tempted to wear a pair, a convertible Ferrari springs to mind, but a convertible LC500 would also fit the bill ….

Not heard of them before, but I ‘ll certainly check them out.

Good to hear. Never doubted it but nice to have confirmation. Maybe I’ll give polychromatic lenses another try when I next get new glasses. Incidentally, you have a great nom-de-keypad for a thread on the subject of sight!

About 30-35 years ago, and they certainly worked inside a car (a BMW325 in my case) albeit not promptly enough in the described circumstances. Haven’t had any since so can’t comment on improvements, if any.

I don’t know if photochromatic lenses, namely ones that darken according to the intensity of light, are as popular as they once were, but they are seriously to be avoided by drivers. I once had a prescription pair I ended up not liking but kept in the car as a spare for emergency use. On one such occasion I had them on when entering a lakeside road consisting of a long series of short tunnels separated by equally short sunlit stretches, and I soon found myself virtually blinded because the lenses’ change from dark to clear was insufficiently quick even after I significantly slowed down. I was pretty much forced to take the glasses off after deciding that my short-sightedness, unaided, was less dangerous than keeping them on. As unpleasant driving experiences go, this one ranks high in my memory.

I was once pulled over in Belgium for driving in fog without my lights on. The policeman, believe it or not, was wearing sunglasses.

I agree that silver or silver-like colours, e.g. Lexus’ Sonic Titanium, which I have had on my last three cars, have the ability to “hide” dirt better and longer than other colours, maybe because they reflect so broad a spectrum of light and shadow as to appear almost white or black according to the time of day and angle of vision. Personally I like silver in most of its varieties and on its own merits, my only complaint being that it has become so common as to risk being boring.

When I had an ES for a test drive I expected that the length, especially, and the width, added to my unfamiliarity with the car, would make parking much more difficult than with my RC. Initially I was therefore quite nervous. I didn't want to risk kerbing or denting a car that was not mine, and avoided potentially problematic situations like reversing into tight spaces on busy roads. However, the ES felt so generally easy to drive that confidence in my own normal ability to park soon returned - though not without what in days gone by I would have considered excessive reliance on the multiple acoustic and visual aids provided, including in this case the optional digital side-mirrors. These I generally liked even if they were an additional source of worry because of what seemed, probably deceptively, the extra protrusion in respect of standard ones. Anyway, I managed to put the car exactly where I wanted at the first try when parking in normal everyday places and situations. Hypothetically, my main concern, which might actually prove unfounded with longer practice and experience, would be in entering and exiting some underground or multi-level car-parks. The only size-related problem I had during the drive was not in parking but in negotiating tight bends and corners in narrow village lanes where I often found it necessary to slow to a crawl or even stop in order to correctly judge width. But the mere fact that I felt confident enough not to stay off such roads was in itself a tribute to the ES's satisfactory manoeuvrabity for such a big car.

Never seen an abdominal protector that colour before.

I think that would exactly be my own view. Elsewhere I would probably find it rather irritating.

GummiPflege is indeed a great product, but I find it now requires more frequent applications than formerly - or maybe I’m more stingy than I once was in applying it. Or did they slightly change the formula making it a bit more runny when they changed the name to Nextzett from Einszett?

I assume this is an ES-specific niggle. I have often been pleasantly surprised at how the fuel flap and cap in several generations of the IS/RC have opened easily in sub-zero temperatures while the doors and boot require a hard and disturbingly crunchy-sounding pull to get unstuck.

Just as well it did, Malc, since the ancients may also have used it for other less mentionable purposes.

Libra (as per Phil above) = Roman Pound, not the 12-ounce Troy one sometimes erroneously thought to be named after the ancient city. As a unit of measurement for transportation fuel, one libra of Etruscan-grown oats might have provided a small Roman donkey with a quick snack.

Unusual post, Malc, and intellectually taxing. MCXXXXIV pence will buy you X liters and, as Peniole says, CXIV (with the last pence rounded down) would buy you I liter if the pump is calibrated to dispense it. It is not easy, and maybe impossible, to draw a meaningful parallel between present-day Californian economics and those of any particular era of Ancient Rome, but I would reckon that the ancients were no less likely to complain about the price of a kilo of horse feed than Californians about a gallon of gas.

I have to admit, Malc, that I found this tribute to your car quite moving.

One has the impression that prospective customers for the new NX have been kicking down UK dealers’ doors to get a test drive, seemingly as the combined result of pre-marketing hype and regrettable delivery delays. As far as I am aware this situation has been less noticeable elsewhere even though the car has also been greeted with enthusiasm. I hope the new RX will meet your expectations when it comes out. As for me, I had hoped that a test drive of the NX would convert me to a liking of SUVs but, disappointingly, it didn’t.

Although my admiration for the NX350h (see my OP of November 14 2021 above) is now confirmed, indeed reinforced, after a proper test drive of approx. 3 hours/260km, I have finally decided against buying one. The version I tested was an F-Sport, full-spec with ML and a panoramic roof, which is precisely what I would have bought. As in the case of my earlier much briefer drive, which was also of a top-spec car, though not an F-Sport, my criticisms were very few, mainly subjective and almost entirely based, in the final analysis, on my prejudice against SUVs. I was able to confirm that the NX pleases in all traffic conditions and at all speeds; it pulls away powerfully and smoothly from low speeds, feels perfectly stable at speeds well above motorway limits, and instils a high level of confidence in all circumstances; it remains straight and firmly planted under hard braking; it does not feel over-large or cumbersome on country roads and in narrow spaces, and can fairly be described as agile despite its size; it is impeccably built and finished inside and out; the infotainment system is functionally and visually superb, and it is easy to see how novel features (to me, at least) such as the programmable HUD and the panoramic view monitor, among others, will soon become indispensable to owners. And yet, in spite of this technological excellence and all-round practicality, not to mention comfort and elegance, I was simply unable to get away from the fact that I really don't want or need an SUV. Certainly, better overall economics might have made me a little more flexible, but a list price of €70.5K for the spec I want (which I believe to be around the same Europe-wide except for VAT differences), with a discount of only €5.8K (probably improveable with negotiation) is simply too high even despite a fairly generous trade-in valuation of €35K for my RC. So high, in fact, that I suspect it might push prospective customers less loyal to Lexus and/or in more urgent need of a new car than myself towards the Germans. As things stand, I guess I'll now maybe find myself looking more closely at an ES even though my enthusiasm will not be as great as it was when Lexus offered a wider choice.

That one’s so old it’s archaeological.

Indeed it does. Given the choice, albeit a somewhat unappealing one either way, I’m sure I’d prefer to drive a police car than be pulled over by one.

Strange thread this. Why should anybody other than maybe a police driver have a favourite police car?

As did I, Malc, you omitted to mention the possibility that the pedestrian crossing was a zebra …

That’s good to hear. Just in case you thought otherwise I suppose I should add that I wouldn’t either. Far be it from me to even attempt to analyse social class structures and perceptions on a British forum but, while we are still on the subject, it would be fascinating to know whether a dingy Fiat Panda parked on a pedestrian crossing outside a Waitrose would not be considered at least as newsworthy as a Lexus similarly parked outside a Coop.

I wouldn’t dream of parking my “lovely expensive Lexus” on a pedestrian crossing but if I did and a passer-by made it his or her business to tell me “firmly but politely” that I shouldn’t, I frankly doubt if my reaction would be particularly friendly - though I would hope to keep it within the bounds of verbal elegance. The true question is whether the couple in question were dubbed “Mr & Mrs Privilege” primarily because they parked where they did or because their Lexus was a source of envy to crabby passers-by.

Recent obituary for Barry Cryer quoted the following as one of his all-time favourite jokes: Man drives past a farm and runs over a cockerel. Conscience-stricken, he knocks at the farmhouse door and the farmer comes out. Man: "Sorry, I've just killed your cockerel and I'd like to replace it." Farmer: "Please yourself. The hens are round the back."