Rabbers

Having shown up early to collect my car after a service, I remember chatting to the valeting guy while he was finishing cleaning it. I was pleased to learn, never having thought about it before, that his cleaning the ventilator-grilles under the seats was considered a routine part of servicing. I tend to doubt, perhaps wrongly, if his counterparts in other dealerships are all equally conscientious. My conclusion was that formal attention to details of this sort is what distinguishes good dealerships from normal or mediocre ones.

My own thinking when I bought the RC rather than another IS was that I was getting exactly the same powertrain and broadly the same performance in a two-door configuration whose only drawback for many people, but not for me, was the reduced rear cabin space. In other words, I thought I was buying an "IS coupé" which, on the evidence of a test-drive, offered better handling and stability by virtue of a stronger and more rigid chassis whose design happened to be partly based on the GS. Conversely, had my previous car been a GS300h, I doubt if I would have regarded the RC as its coupé version since my original purchase would have been based purely on my need or desire for a bigger size of car than the IS. And, economic considerations aside, had my previous car been a GS450h, I would never have considered buying the RC at all unless I no longer wanted more power as well as size. Apart from two-door cars tending to look better, which may or may not justify the premium asked for them when aesthetics are considered an important factor in terms of marketability, the broadly similar fixed production costs need to be amortised over smaller volumes than those of four-door equivalents, thus dictating higher list-prices if profit margins are to be equalised.

Since I rarely use the cupholders in the RC other than as occasional receptacles for small objects, I have for some time been looking for decent-looking flush-fitting covers, and finally, at a flea-market in Denmark, I came across the ones in the attached photo. As they normally retail for about €20 each (though available online for much less) I happily paid the equivalent of €4 the pair, brand new. They are made of thick-gauge stainless steel lined with rubber, fit perfectly and don’t rattle, and are part of a range of wine accessories called Grand Cru by Rosendahl, where they serve as optional lids for a water-carafe.

Seriously considering unsubscribing Club Lexus after seeing the Stripe-It-All ad they are currently running. I don’t want to sound snobbish but I can’t imagine a more tasteless product for any RC or other Lexus owner 😧 !

Latest iPhone and iPod generations plugged into the USB sockets deliver sound at least as good as memory sticks, a volume setting of 25 being an acceptable minimum for most road surfaces at most speeds with the Pioneer 10-speaker system. This was also my customary setting with ML systems in previous cars, any significant difference in power (and sound quality) being appreciable at higher settings, say 40>, proportionately to the greater number of speakers. Not having played CDs for some years (thus making the slot redundant as far as I'm concerned), I am no longer able to compare them as a direct source. Although Bluetooth 5.0 in the iPhone 8 is a considerable improvement over previous generations in terms of signal strength and clarity, I still find a setting of 30-35 necessary to bring the volume up to plugged-in source equivalence on this device. With specific regard to Dominic's comments about the power of ML sound, I seem to recall that some or maybe all the systems had an ambient- sensitive automatic volume-control feature. I frankly don't remember if it could be switched on or off in the audio settings, though I do remember considering it to be noticeable if not particularly effective. Anyway, it could be the sort of thing that causes a broader problem if it is not working properly. Try driving with the windows down and listen for any volume changes.

Very probably so. The result was to leave the CVT open to criticism of being so bloodless as to call for an injection of synthetic sound. One can only presume that customer research showed Lexus that a significant number of drivers still prefer noise to silence. Fortunately the ASC switch-off option caters for everybody.

When Lexus introduced this gimmick on its cars I recall someone suggesting the possible sale as an optional of a more varied soundtrack consisting of your own choice or choices of supercars. I’d be surprised if someone somewhere has not been working on the idea in the forlorn hope of getting an enthusiastic response...

Acoustic bling. Worth turning on from time to time if the fancy takes you, especially with bored kiddies on board.

My RC also came with OEM Sportmaxxes, and although I’m maybe not quite as enthusiastic about them as Chris, they are a good all-round performance tyre. My own preferred tyres for the IS300h in terms of grip and general handling were Pirelli PZeros, which I found marginally better than Michelin Pilots and far superior to Bridgestone Turanzas.

I can’t recall other reports of high-speed cornering instability over the years, and nor, as a former IS300h owner (though mine had the fatter rear tyres), did I ever experience the problem even when the tyres were coming up for replacement - and probably at speeds higher than you may customarily be aiming for in the U.K. Whatever the case, brand-new rears and relatively worn fronts may well represent a dodgy combination requiring expert advice.

Every morning, before driving off in either direction after reversing out of my front gate, I need to do an upwards-downwards three-point turn on a very steep incline with a low-grip cobbled surface that calls for firm braking. Like my present RC, the IS managed this manoeuvre without undue strain on the brakes and perfectly noiselessly, so I can only echo Peter’s suggestion that you have your pads etc., checked.

Not having followed this thread for some days I was surprised by the peevish tone of some of the later posts, which is a pity since it was interesting to hear from others who, like me, went from the IS250 to an IS300h. My own decision to buy a 300h (MY2013) after two successive 250s (MYs 2011 and 2008) required little or no analysis when, after setting aside my natural enthusiasm at the prospect of getting a new car, I became objectively convinced in the course of a day-long test-drive that a hybrid - which represented a form of technology then completely unfamiliar to me - was able to perform the duties I normally asked of my 250 just as well or perhaps even better, and certainly more economically in terms of fuel consumption. With direct comparison very much in mind, I focused on roads and situations that called for uninterrupted firm accelerations exemplified, for the most part, by approaches and entries to motorways, fast exits from slow curves etc., many of which were so familiar to me that I could concentrate pretty much undistractedly on how the car was handling and behaving. And, as I was later to confirm with ownership, it quickly became clear that the 300h reached and easily exceeded legal speeds of 110-130kmh from, say, 60-70kmh in an appreciably more linear, seamless and quiet - and therefore, to me, more satisfactory and pleasurable - fashion than the 250. In fact, while waiting for delivery of my 300h over the next few weeks, I found myself falling out of love with the 250, judging the ride to be choppier and too noisy by comparison. And although the shifts were no more perceptible or any less predictable than those of any other good automatic box I had ever experienced, the test-drive of the 300h had obviously given me a taste - which I have never lost - for the e-CVT. Any comparison of how the 250 and 300h perform at speeds higher than, say, 170-180kmh have in recent years been of little more than academic value even in Germany, where increasingly heavy traffic and speed limits on longer and longer stretches of the autobahn network have made them difficult to keep up for any length of time. However, on a few occasions when the opportunity presented itself, I found the 300h easily reached its declared top speed of 210kmh (225kmh shown) in its customary smooth and linear way, and with a well-modulated graduality of response to pedal pressure that was both pleasing and reassuring. It would hold this speed quite steadily and comfortably if required, though I generally (and wisely) preferred to return to a cruising speed of 160kmh or so, which it could keep up all day very happily. As, indeed, could the 250, which, however, had a tendency, with the accelerator floored for what always seemed to me to be an unhealthy length of time, to hesitate at around 190kmh before slowly creeping up, if ever required, towards a top speed of around 225kmh (235kmh shown). At these higher speeds it did not feel as safe as the 300h, an impression not helped by an alarming level of wind noise. That the declared 0-100kmh acceleration figures favoured the 250 (8.2' v. 8.6') held little practical meaning for me since I have rarely felt the temptation to race away from lights or shorten the life of my tyres or unnecessarily slurp petrol. However, the availability of a usually empty stretch of straight road close to where I live enables me to time cars over the 0-1000kmh distance, which I have generally done by moving off for a couple of car-lengths before flooring the accelerator. On a similar number of occasions, each of my IS250s, the 300h and my present RC300h clocked times of one or a maximum of two seconds either side of 29'. The 250 had the best average, maybe by 0.5', but, since I cannot see this as being of any practical significance, I offer it purely for the record.

Nice car. Would like to own it, especially as it's a lhd version. It looks to be the same item Jaguar were touting around mid-2017 at an asking price of £350K without, however, seeming to have found any takers for this or any other similar conversion from an XK engine base. So, unless Prince H. has actually bought the car rather than merely had it on loan for publicity purposes, I would guess it will go straight back to Jaguar for, now that some demand has been created, future high-class rentals.

I couldn't agree more. I don't think I've ever seen a more impressive car from a distance than a Tesla S and then been so disappointed from close up and inside because of the build and materials quality. That Tesla should build a reward for proprietary technology into its prices is more than fair, but it needs to get its quality act together in the face of imminent heavyweight competition, particularly from the Germans. Having said this, I have always been surprised at the numbers in which Scandinavians, in particular, buy the Model S and can only explain it in terms of probable fiscal advantages and genuine collective ecological consciences winning out over personal aesthetic considerations and tastes.

Prospective Tesla customers might want to follow the enquiry currently underway in Switzerland into the causes of an accident a few days ago when a Model S burst into flames killing its owner after hitting a motorway guard-rail. Local firefighters initially suggested the fire may have been due to rapid overheating of the lithium-ion batteries (a phenomenon known as "thermal runaway") resulting from the violence of the impact, but have withheld further comment pending more detailed investigation into, for example, whether the car was on autopilot.

I must admit to slight embarrassment upon feeling the need to explain, as politely as I can whenever asked, that the F wing-badges on my RC do not mean that the car is is an RC-F or that I am trying pass it off as one. As a matter of fact, not being fond of an excess of badges in general, mainly because they are superfluous to design lines, I toyed with the idea of having these removed along with the HYBRID skirt-lettering, but finally decided to keep them if only in the interests of OEM originality.

Depends how fresh the air was to start with.

I remember thinking the accelerator pedal felt a bit heavier when I went to a 300h from an IS250, though not to an extent that required leg-strengthening exercises, and thought it may have had something to do with the hybrid set-up. You soon get so used to the relative firmness as to consider it perfectly normal.

I think that Lexus would find it extremely difficult to separately characterise and target prospective GS or ES purchasers in terms of personal needs and tastes, especially in areas such as Europe where the potential volume of sales available to Lexus in this particular segment, as historically evidenced by the GS, is so limited as to make future investments in either car, let alone both, a risky proposition. For Lexus to go with the ES in a 300h version alone may be unadventurous but represents a low-damage option (though it remains to be seen if IS sales will be cannibalised). Any new toys added to the base model as single optionals or within packages in order to broaden attractiveness will be welcome as long as their quality and reliability in respect of equivalents offered by competitors are sufficiently high.

Looks like a straightforward rationalisation of Lexus’ global range whereby the overlap between two products requires one, namely the GS, to be withdrawn. That a 300h ES might be preferred to an IS at parity of trims and generational improvements would purely depend on the customer’s size requirements and willingness to pay for the extra amount of metal.

I have always found the reverse camera to be invaluable provided you don't start a manoeuvre without first inspecting your right, left and rear surroundings, especially when these are unfamiliar and/or the surfaces may contain protrusions or drops. I have rarely used any of the alternative diagrams except the one with the X and red horizontal line, which, by simultaneously showing the car's centre in any position and the distance from rear obstacles, provides all the information you usually ever need. Something I have hardly ever used because I find I can effect the manoeuvre quite well and sufficiently quickly without help is the guide for tight parallel kerb-parking between two cars, though I daresay more practice in using this particular aid would probably improve my precision.

That must be true, not that laws and regulations founded on good sense are always easily enforced. Fortunately the days when Mini Mokes were advertised (not wholly inappropriately or uninvitingly but somewhat irresponsibly) with images of scantily-clad barefooted young ladies are long past.

One must sincerely hope so ... but who knows?

Was recently amazed to see a woman with 7+inch stilettos emerging from a 500 Abarth in what I suspected to be a three-pedal version. I thought of asking how she managed heel-and-toe gear-shifts but quickly backed off upon catching sight of her rippling biceps and barbed-wire tats...

Has anyone else come across the following remarkably enthusiastic review, dated 1 December 2017, in trusted reviews.com: 4 ways the Lexus RC300h F Sport is the perfect hybrid for petrolheads? It is not the most in-depth of reviews, and nor can it be classed as "mainstream" motoring press, but, apart from consumption figures (presumably supplied by Lexus) that bear no relation to real-life ones recorded by owners in this Forum, it does paint an accurate enough picture of some of the car's virtues. Perhaps the most striking thing is the absence of comparisons with German marques.