mrfunex

I've found it resets the throttle position sensor and the gearbox shift points. If the car has started to feel a little lazy, this spices things up a bit. Also quickens the learning process for the ECU if you've done any mods...

Located on the right hand side of the engine bay, as you look at it, underneath the plastic cover. HTH!

We've had three so far - my wife has an RX450, I've had a GS450 and now the ISF. My two have been utterly faultless. The RX had a squeak from the brakes which could have happened to anything, and was fixed for free, and a leaking windscreen which was also fixed for free, but was due to a non-genuine screen being replaced before we owned it by a total moron. Again, not the car's fault. We'd both buy more of their cars in a heartbeat!

Has your car got an "eco" setting? I only ask because my wife's RX450h has, which gains us an extra 1-2mpg by using the air con a LOT less. The down side is that it takes a lot longer to demist the screen and we get a few more musty smells from the vents... Might be worth experimenting with?

I do this. Usually to all our cars every other year. You can get the cans on a multi-buy from some eBay retailers. Its just mildew in the pipes.

Yeah, where the brake pads touch, it'll rub off. All other areas will remain the colour you selected :-)

Normal!

Ha! It was a long motorway journey, I wasn't far through when the person I was visiting asked me to arrive an hour later than planned. I dialled back the speed on cruise to about 55ish, which gave me a better ETA on the sat-nav and just enjoyed the view! I have *never* got anywhere near those two figures again!

Talking of mechanical issues, I had mine in for a service a few days ago. When I arrived to collect it (after spending a day in a very nice NX hybrid - review: wonderful car, but no fun to actually drive), I was told the mechanics had found THREE faults... ...uh oh... ... turned out, three of my valve caps had corroded a bit and were deemed difficult to turn to check the tyre pressures, so were replaced free of charge! Love it!

Looks like more fun than I was having on this journey... ...and this one... Nice to see one getting spanked though. They're so fast, you rarely get the chance!

Don't know if it's the same type of squeak and click that I had, but I found the bolts that held my driver's seat in had worked slightly loose and gave a squeak or a click at every corner. You remove the plastic cover on the front and rear end of the seat rails, and there is a bolt at each end. Mine didn't have any thread lock on them. I tightened these up with some thread lock and the problem went away...

Fingers crossed for a simple and cheap fix!

I'm really looking forward to hearing about your experiences and results from the RR OBD tune. There's lots of information out there regarding what it is, but almost nobody seems to have written a review of what the car is like afterwards! Good luck!

Were you noise tested? What was the limit on the day?

In my defence, the average mpg did drop to the low-9s, but by the time I'd done a half lap to cool down and got back into the paddock, it had gone up again! ...will try harder next time Mr Rat, sir! ;-)

Naturally, everyone present at the circuit, to a man, approached me throughout the day and said, "We've all seen these in blues, reds, blacks and greys; but silver! Silver is the best colour to have an ISF in..."

So, as promised, a review of the day (and the car!) The day: I did a track day last year at Silverstone (amongst others), in the dry. Yesterday's event was an entirely different affair! I used a TDO I've booked through before - they're really good - and helpfully had an instructor sit with me for several laps, right at the beginning to get my eye in again. Grip levels were utterly abysmal (many times the rear wheels span approaching 100mph in 3rd gear), corners were slippery, there was quite a lot of standing water and in the spray of vehicles in front, forward visibility was zero. We had stoppages for cars leaving the track, some leaving various expensive internal components externally on the tarmac, one closure due to the sheer amount of rain and a puncture (for me) which ended our day an hour or so early. No, it couldn't be plugged :-( There was a great atmosphere there however, also because of all the stoppages the marshalls offered to work through their lunch break - usually the track is closed between 1-2pm. The car: For a heavy saloon car, with a massive lump of metal in the nose, it was great. I used sport mode, manual shift (obviously), but left the stability/traction set on throughout. The ISF felt like it could have stayed out there all day, non-stop. Speeds were slightly lower due to the weather, but there was no brake fade, the various guages on the dashboard never ever moved from halfway (apart from the fuel guage hohoho!) and nothing from the car made me feel like I needed to come in for a rest. The handling was 'lively' on occasion! My car has the standard Bridgestone Potenza RE050A front and back, in the usual OEM sizes - 225 width on the front and 255 on the back. The car did want to wheelspin the entire way through third gear (so up to around 100mph) and we probably nudged 135mph at the end of the Hangar Straight. Around the corners, unfortunately, the huge weight of the 5.0 V8 made itself known - quite a bit of understeer was present, but until the electronics started beeping and power was reigned in, this understeer could be balanced on the throttle. Once I'd got the hang of this, the car was quite nicely set up, but you had to be GENTLE! The sheer torque of the engine could end play on that corner so easily if too much power was requested. We never span, occasionally slid, but the car was always willing for more. Other special mentions go to the awesome H&S cat-back on my car - the car sounds like a Spitfire at WOT and it must have *just* scraped in under the 105dB limit. An old mate from school who popped in, grabbed a helmet and was present throughout - I think he had as good a time as I did despite the setbacks and the stoppages! Summary: Silverstone is ace. It's a world class circuit with sections to exploit the potential of any type of vehicle. The ISF is truly staggering - I drove 120miles to the track in comfort, drove as quickly as I could for a day around a race track in some awful conditions, then drove all the way home. All it demanded from me was more petrol (and one tyre!). It's truly a fantastic road car and a passable track machine. Is it's natural home Silverstone on a wet, cold day in March? No. It's too nose heavy and modern driver aids interfere - though probably saved my bacon - on at least a dozen occasions. Could it be improved - yes! I think slightly wider tyres on the front would help mitigate the understeer, and I'd like to try the car again in the dry, also a slighty stickier tyre compound would be worthwhile. I don't do many miles in it a year (5000 or so), so longevity of tyres isn't an issue for me. I am fortunate to also own a Honda S2000 as a toy car. It's not nearly as powerful, but it's about half a ton lighter, practically mid-engined and shod with VERY sticky rubber (Toyo R888). This has been my companion for a few years of track days now and for that type of driving, it has the ISF beat. I wouldn't dream of selling either of them! Hope you lot enjoy the read - pics to follow.

So, the fun continues... puncture! Not fixable, but luckily a local place can source a new rear! So, all in all, rather eventful in a frustrating way! When I was on track however, the car was great. I'll do a full review tomorrow!

Update: it's raining, and the track is closed. Someone had a gearbox explosion, and drove the *entire &£@$€%# lap* on the racing line, dropping oil and parts. All 3.66miles. Not very happy. I've managed about 10 laps during the first half of the day. Boo!

Just about to begin. Weather is.... stormy!

You guys who've already switched from the standard Bridgestones - did you keep the standard tyre sizes, or go a little wider?

Might be able to give you lot a review of both the standard Bridgestones and a new set of MPS4S - I'm doing a track day at Silverstone on the 22nd - I don't think the Bridgestones are going to have much life left by the end of the afternoon ;-)

Hedge End have always been great with our cars (GS450h, RX450h and ISF) - really helpful, seemingly knowledgable and keen to please. The only slight blot on their copybook from me is the last time my ISF went in, I asked them to "look at a slight leak in the exhaust - it's where the standard section meets the H&S cat-back." They duly looked at it and upon collection told me "yup, there's a slight leak between the two sections..." Now, it's not really important, but I wish they'd actually taken it one step further and fixed the problem, not just tell me what I already knew... d'oh!

Anyone tried the new Michelin PilotSport 4S yet? Supposed to be better than the SuperSport, which, I believe is a great tyre..

Let's hope the early ones become collectors items too!