Rabbers

It takes a while to get used to the system. Even if it is fortunately only a rare and usually not especially mysterious occurrence, the only thing I still find annoying - and I wish all annoyances in life were so minor - is the sensor's inability to optically distinguish between raindrops and other fleetingly present substances that might also cause wiper activation in dry conditions such as dust and dirt particles, insects etc.

It has been said - I don’t remember by which journalist - that a car’s main design flaw is usually its owner. Not, of course, that this in any way applies to Lexus.

Scheisse! They obviously need to increase their advertising budget!

What about “V”?

Thanks for the heads up. Confirms that avoidance is the best policy.

I thought so too. Probably he was surprised that someone was courteous enough to ask.

Ray, you may like to have a quick read of my “RC350 AWD” post dated September 25 2017 on this Forum. I don’t recall reading anything more on the subject by LOC members since that time.

I guess I’m just neurotic. Never in my life have I seen it come on. I don’t even know it’s there.

I take your point entirely, Al. But, then again, I‘ve always considered Lexus’ gadgetry overload to be one of the marque’s main attractions, especially for lazy people like me.

It may be just an impression but I find that the amount of screenwash fluid consumed by the headlight cleaning system is disproportionately high - not alarmingly so but sufficiently for me to check the reservoir level at least once a week in winter and always top up before any long drive in dirty (literally) weather.

I would guess the best people to ask if and by how much you would need to have the speedo recalibrated after fitting bigger tyres would be Michelin’s customer service via email. Not that any understatement of speed is likely to exceed the small tolerance you are allowed over a given limit.

I had a limiter as long ago as 1999 on a BMW328ix, which was my last non-Lexus, and I must say it still miss it. I can only imagine that Lexus feels unable to guarantee full reliability.

In my experience the seat ventilation function is not as effective as the heating one. It can provide some additional relief from the heat of a normal summer day but can make you feel even clammier when high heat is accompanied by high humidity. This is because the aircon, while drying the cabin air and therefore cooling your front and legs, is prevented by the body itself from producing a similar effect on your rear parts. The result is that the ventilation tends to capture and not fully disperse body moisture and therefore to accentuate rather than reduce clamminess. Of course opinions will vary according to the types of climate in which we do most of our driving.

Glad you're enjoying your RC, Ray. You've made a good choice. To Peter's and David's comments I would add that I've always found the three-two-one sequence for the seat heating leds to be perfectly logical because it expresses the diminishing need for the system to remain switched on. On an entirely personal note, I must say that in practice I have only rarely felt the need to let the seat heating reach the one-led mark or maintain it for long because the cabin heating system, even in extremely cold weather, will by then have substantially reduced or eliminated the need for it to be kept on. As a matter of fact, even with two leds lit I have sometimes found myself contemplating the snow and ice outside and thinking if the need I might be feeling to wait for the single led might not be more psychological than physical. The RC's cabin is, after all, quite small and, given the efficiency of the climate control, quick to heat up.

I remember seeing a TV debate in Denmark some years ago about a possible colour differentiation of rear and front plates along UK lines. Nothing came of the proposal but, as matter of interest, the car mostly used to illustrate their point by those in favour was the classic VW Beetle, whose front and rear in certain conditions of light and distances were not always easy to tell apart.

Well, fancy that!

Strange question. Even some foreigners know why, or could easily guess.

The achievable speeds and rates of an acceleration of EVs pose a serious commercial problem for traditional manufacturers of supercars. That performances hitherto considered highly impressive can now be readily matched and improved by EVs is one of the reasons why the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maclaren et al., are jumping on the EV bandwagon, as are bigger groups with comparable high-performance models at the top of their ranges. So far they do not seem to have convinced the specialist media or prospective customers as to how - or if - their EVs might provide levels of driving pleasure equal to those on which they built their reputations and justified their prices. It will be especially interesting to see what their response will be to the functional quietness of EVs, which many traditional customers for ICE supercars consider a major blemish and obstacle to purchase. Could one solution turn out to be some sort of synthetic sound device akin to Lexus’ ASC, duly improved to meet the perceived needs of those for whom noise and pleasure are at least partly synonymous?

Indeed. I reckon they kept the car stable at high speeds and probably inspired the side strakes on the Ferrari Testarossa.

Anyone wanting to understand the difference between having an opinion and being opinionated should read this thread.

I knew that lavatories and mothers-in-law were traditional elements of British humour but I never thought I’d come across them in a Lexus forum.

Ageing has its benefits, or so I like to think. I drive a little slower but more safely because experience has taught me to anticipate the idiocy of others; I eat and drink less but enjoy my meals better; I walk and generally move slower but act accordingly and with exactly the same results as before. As regards other things, they are nobody’s business but my own.

I completely understand, David, but you’ll have noticed that the advice was limited to a tiny amount. What one does with the rest of the bottle is one’s own business.

I find Dr Leather wipes, sparingly used, bring back the leather component of the new car smell quite effectively when it begins to wear off. A less orthodox method recommended by a former Spanish colleague of mine - and which I haven't got around to trying though I keep meaning to - is to vaporise a tiny amount of one of the better local brandies such as Cardenal Mendoza, Lepanto, Carlos 1° etc. Apparently, when the alcohol has evaporated, which it quickly does, the cabin is left with the smell of fine leather.

Can’t disagree. It’s one of life’s great pleasures. But when experiencing the nice smell of a new Lexus I’ve always found myself wondering if a new Bentley might not, for example, smell even better.