H3XME

This is true. Remap on a modern NA car is 98% time waste of money. We have self learning ECUs etc. There isn't anything they can do in terms of fuel/air adjustment without changing the hardware. If you want power out of NA car then there is only a few options and not all very effective. I know this from tuning a naturally aspirated GT86.. bigger throttle body polished intake manifold for arguably a better air flow intake manifold spacers (better torque mid range, but you're worse off at the top end) exhaust system - remove all catalytic converters from your car, and then you can go for a remap and see real gains. Cat-back exhaust on it's own doesn't do much at all. aggressive air intake ("performance" air filter is nothing noticeable on its own) That's about it. No point adjusting fuel because you will not be able to force enough air into the engine to justify increasing fuel flow. Full cat-less system (headers and secondaries) and air intake will give you max. 15% increase after a remap. And at this point we're closer to £1500 for all of that. Just so your IS250 can potentially make ~230hp. Increase of 20odd hp is noticeable if you only have 200 to begin with, but 10 isn't. And you will get 10 after the right exhaust and the right air intake..and what is the right exhaust and air intake? Who knows. It's an IS250.. a platform that hasn't really been defiled by people who modify cars..yet. I would say, the only thing a remap can do without touching the hardware is better throttle response. That is generally electronically controlled, you can feel the difference if you switch to PWR in your auto IS250 - manuals don't have this button, so we essentially drive in "PWR" all the time. Something that is quite common on Nissans, especially 350/370Z is the fact that WOT isn't actually 100% opened until 4th gear. In 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear, the throttle body opens to ~80%. 4th, 5th & 6th gear it's 100% open on WOT (wide open throttle). So with an ECU remap, you can unlock this and get 100% power in all gears.. but I'm not sure if this is the case on Lexus cars.

👀 I'm up for that

I don't know to be honest, those headlights feel just as sturdy and the OEM ones.. Honestly I can't think of a single bad thing about them, or anything that even slightly worse than on the OEM 2008 headlights. They fit great, feel great, work way better, so honestly no complaints whatsoever, but inside "quality" will be tested over time. See how long the LED bulbs last etc. I wasn't even aware of there being fakes now..Jesus. Just buy from Vland Official then I guess.

I don't think it's possible to be honest with you. Not without TechStream anyway.. it's very locked. I've got an OBD2 reader and App called Carly through which you can scan & clear faults, see live data and "customise" everything customisable on your car, but unfortunately there is nothing customisable when you select Lexus IS250. It's possible on other cars, but Lexus IS just locked so people don't mess.

That's really unfortunate! See if you can get the car back from the insurance or get it repaired.. alternatively, I might be interested in buying it from you as I might have a use for it as is.

If I'm not mistaken by what I've seen, it's a slightly brighter red compared to the (cherry) Red you can find on RC300h for example.

If you're cutting a hole in the air box, I don't think it'll make much of a difference in terms of sound.. performance wise it won't make any difference at all as you're cutting the end before air filter.

Vlands (https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154992538173) are ~£520 a set and as for quality.. debatable, you'd expect it to be worse quality than factory Lexus but I've had mine for over a year now without any issues and the light output is way better than my factory headlights. There are people that had Vlands for years now and I haven't heard about any issues with them, so quality wise, they are good. Who knows if they'll last 10+ years, but time will tell. @Lop If Vlands aren't for you, maybe these more OEM looking ones are the ones to go for. They're basically 2011+ OEM headlights with black housing. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/151258661191 OR https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181735313710

Brake pedal is fine like that. It's for better feedback rather than tapping the pedal by 5mm and you're licking the windshield like you can experience in newer cars. There are some aftermarket 10" Android Head Units you can have, just be careful as not all of them fit cars with factory touch screen - something to do with the supplied wiring. £213 for QT10 4G 32GB https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002002983968.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.b6ba2e0emfN6y5 It's on my list of things I want to get, but I'm getting front upper control arms before that. I don't think there is anything specific to look out for, there hasn't been any horror stories from owners.. but logically at this mileage, you could expect water pump, alternator and some bushes to be worn out. Just stay on top of 6000-7000miles oil changes and you'll be golden. Mine is on 170k now and no issues, touch wood. Owned it for the last 40,000 miles and it needed nothing but a new battery and slider pins in the rear caliper brackets, but that's only because the previous owner didn't grease them up annually as you should to prevent seizing due to poor design.

Sure, but I don't need to buy it, I just want to, therefore I can afford to wait unlike people who might be in a position of needing to buy a car.

It will crash by the end of the year. Someone I know at a Mercedes dealership was just saying the other day they're expecting it to crash soon.. They're currently desperately trying to move all used stuff off their forecourt as the chip production is recovering and market will crash/recover.. I've been itching for a new daily for over 2 years now, mainly the RC is looking tasty, but I'm not buying anything at the moment when those cars are £5k+ more than they were 3 years ago.

Depends how old the Michelins were, and which spec exactly, but I think your new tyres will work better in wet whereas the Michelins would be a bit better in dry. All in all, you should give your new tyres at least 200 miles running in time before coming to a conclusion. They will work better once "bedded" in.

It does. And if you actually knew anything about how sports cars are setup, you wouldn't argue about this. Sure, IS250 is not a sports car, but it doesn't mean it can't be improved with some mods. You started all this by hinting at sporty driving, and for spirited driving you don't want 225 front and 265 rears on this car..

I'm sorry, but if you need 265 just to stay in control of a 200hp IS250 then that's all I need to know... Drive how you want. All we were saying is that your car would drive way better on 225s all round, because we tried this, but you won't have any of it because you think wider is better - It's not.

I will be, I'm not understeering my way into a ditch on 225/265 combo 😂

It is a great car that is forgiving, but experienced drivers will have a lot of fun in it too. Stock 215/45R17 tyres are awful on that car. They're Michelin Primacy (same tyre as on Prius) and the car is almost dangerous on them, especially on cold/wet days. However, running those tyres in combination with "aggressive" driving will gradually make you faster. You will learn how to take better lines, you will learn how to brake, you will learn how to correct over steer, how to avoid oversteer (and not just by going slow).. all that because the tyres are horrendous but at the same time a brilliant learning tool. You will learn the limit of your car (well..its tyres), and when you step up to better tyres and better brakes, you can keep pushing and the car will be a lot faster because you will be faster. Anyway.. I'd highly recommend it because at the end of the day it makes you a better driver.

Following this logic will work eventually. Keep going wider and wider, get to 385s and you won't lose grip in the wet because your 200hp IS250 will struggle to spin the wheels at all, let alone break the traction 🤣

Yeah, this is where fun becomes dangerous. You want drive harder but the car isn't letting you. It's always better to be that way because you're aware of your car's limits and your own limits. I'd much rather oversteer because I'm more comfortable and experienced with correcting that as opposed to understeer where there is very little for you to do.

Don't be salty because we tried to educate you on the subject. Forum is a source of knowledge & experience. You're not expected to know everything, so learn from people who do. There is always gonna be someone who knows more than you, me and the next person.

Tyres are a really funny topic because 10 people will say 10 different things. Chances also are that those 10 people will have 10 different driving styles and habits and it's hard to make an opinion without trying some. It's definitely down to your personal preference at the end of the day. My Proxes TR1 may not suit you and your driving style, but are perfect for me and vice versa. I remember someone had a go at me when I was "Reviewing" the RC300h for justifying my opinion.. this is exactly why it's important to justify it. With stuff like tyres, you need to be specific about how you drive and what you do with the car to validate anything. If let someone randomly drive my car on track tyres, they would say they're awful, but it's all very dependant on conditions.

I agree with pretty much everything you said. As for the PS4s are getting them up to temp. Never had the issue, BUT I never had them on this car. Exactly what I highlighted. Nobody, who knows how a RWD car should drive, and likes driving, would put 265s on the back of this car for "spirited drive" purposes. I'd stick with the 255s only if you're worried that your wife who's never driven a RWD car would have an accident in the rain. This will keep her safe, but it's definitely not the way to drive if you're into "performance" or "sporty" driving on the back roads. It's like operating a steam roller. Yes Linas, 225s all round on RWD 200hp works amazing, even on this heavy IS250, it's more lively, it's nimble, gives you more feedback and mainly it's more predictable. You feel the road. Fat tyres completely kill the connection, I know that because my car wasn't always on 225s..

Yes. What's the need to use a wider setup than a 420hp IS-F?? IS-Fs have 255s on the back.. You're using 265s in a car with half the power. See where I'm going with this? IS250 wasn't their "performance" model. This platform was made with IS300, 350 & IS-F in mind. A lot of things are shared across the models, so of course this car with "base/entry level" engine option is going to have things that can be found on other models. Manufacturers do this to save money. Stock 18s on IS250 come with 255s because they are using 8.5J rims that are also on the more powerful IS300 and IS350 that will actually benefit from bigger tyres given the power. Not to mention, all of this is dating back to 2005.. tyre technology has evolved. This is why 2014 (MK3) IS250 was sold on 225s all round - tyres are better and 255s is an overkill today on a 250.. I have an LSD in mine. I know what the car is like. I did drift days and a lot of Wales trips in it too. I know how it drives and how it behaves. You said yourself earlier that you "don't know why people keep saying the IS250 is underpowered... On the roads I'm driving can pretty much make it misbehave in any gear at any speed..." which I find hard to believe, even with an open diff.

🤣 🤣 But why? You're killing the car. The characteristics, the feel, mpgs, tiring the engine too as it needs to work harder to spin those fat tyres.. and for what? Tyres can only do so much, and if you over-tyre your car, it will perform worse. I have no doubt your car will be understeer-y when pushed now because of such a big tyre difference on your car.

Get good tyres and not ditch finders. This car doesn't have enough power to justify 245s. It's more lively on 225s in all 4 corners and you will never get an accidental over steer in this car. Not with stock suspension anyway. I've been using Toyo Proxes TR1 (previously T1R) for years now and they are mediocre tyres, but they're perfect for the IS250 imo. They suit me. On the GT86 in the exact same spec, they're so so if you're after grip, but that's because it's almost a 400kg lighter car. If you want a really good road tyre, Michelin PS4/PS5 is the way to go, but bear in mind that there is absolutely zero need to over compensate with width and kill any sort of feedback from the car when you can be on GOOD 225s.

Running 225s all around is better for MPGs and overall feel of the car. Feels slightly more lively as there's less rotational mass. I'd recommend square setup. Never had any issues with mine 225/40R18 all round 🙂