TaffyApple

Apparently it's not a wider rear rim, owners manual says they are all 17x8J. Only the 18" have wider rear rims to take 255s. Thanks for pointing me at the above website, but a mate of mine already suggested http://www.camskill.co.uk which sorted me out with a set of Vredesteins front and back in the widths I was after for a price I was expecting to pay too!

Hi guys, This isn't another 'should I fit winter tyres' post. My mind is already made up on that - I ran a Honda Accord with them for years and think they are great. My question is more with regards to tyre sizes. So I've got a 200d Advance... Algarve... Arriba... It starts with A. Which has 17" rims on it with 225/45 on the front and 245/45 on the back - as per the manual. But does that hold true for a winter tyre setup too. My initial thought was, of course! But now I'm not so sure, because I can't seem to find an internet retailer who sells the same winter tyres in both those sizes - which means mixing tread patterns. So I spoke to a bloke at Dunlop (Goodyear Dunlop apparently) who said while they don't recommend mixing tread patterns - he's not heard of any tread related mishaps, because apparently Merc's have the same problem. Even Costco could only do me a mixture, but the guy there had never heard of spigot rings, so I wasn't letting him touch my car. So really I was wondering what you guys have done. I'm not too keen on mixing tread patterns, but if it looks like that's the consensus then I guess I'll have to go down that avenue. Cheers

I realise you can't easily change gear ratios, I'm not looking to change them. I was hoping there would be a way to adjust the turbo or something so the engine has a bit more low down power in sixth gear. Has anyone tried chip express? Their website says they can work some magic to improve performance.

Hi guys, Don't laugh, but I've recently bought a 2011 IS200d. I'm aware it might be a little slow compared to its German rivals, but I like my cars to get me there in comfort not in first place - something the IS so far has done rather well. Having read some threads on various forums about the gearing setup and having now driven the car for a couple of hundred motorway miles, I wondering if there's anything that can be done to make sixth gear a bit more usable. Don't get me wrong, on a flat motorway section is seems quite happy to cruise along at 70 @ 1600rpm in sixth, and when overtaking provided you read the road right its fine - however on inclines you do need to drop down to fifth. I'm a complete novice when it comes to car modding, so I'd be interested to hear your opinions or experiences regarding it. With the IS200d if possible. From what I understand remapping the ECU could help, but is not really an option on the IS. Does anyone know if Lexus themselves offer a solution? I was sold a two year warranty by the dealer which will inevitably be invalidated if I mod the car, so given the potential reliability issues I've also read about this is more a 'wouldn't it be nice if' scenario rather than something I'm going to run out and do - at least in the short term. Thanks in advance.