Rob RCF

If I'm remembering correctly they are literally just fixed ducts on the floor blowing air into the footwell. You can see them if the seat's all the way forward. I'm not saying they are designed specifically to duct air into the seats, but if cold air was coming out of them it may help. I had the TVD too. Track mode seems to be the most predictable/natural. Even more so than normal mode. It seems to keep the car straight when the wheels are spinning. The other modes are more about trying to rotate the car which feels great in the dry, but as soon as it's cold or wet it can lead to the rear stepping out unexpectedly. The stability control quickly takes care of it though.

I thought there were ducts running under the seat that then gets drawn up by the fans. Either way I always felt the ventilated seats were a bit naff. A slight cooling feeling on my legs was all I ever felt. Not that I cared much, the seats in general were exceptionally comfortable once adjusted properly, even for long drives. For best results in summer aim the air vents upwards, then the cool air will wash over you as it descends.

It's not quite as practical as an RCF, but depends what you need really. I go shopping in it, I've been on week long holidays with it and had room to spare. You get a front and rear boot so it's more practical than an MX-5 or S2000.

Alpine A110 is what I ended up switching to. Absolutely brilliant car, tons of fun and addresses a lot of the flaws of the RCF (weight, gearing, handling). I'd recommend test-driving one at the very least to see if you like it, preferably a GT.

I'm confused because everywhere I look, including from Lexus themselves, I read that the LFA has a front-mid engine layout, meaning the engine block is entirely behind the front axle, right? I've had no reason to doubt this, except that it always looks like a normal front-engine layout in pictures, with the engine easily straddling the front axle. This isn't always obvious, as it can be hard to judge from a picture due to the angle etc, but this view from the side shows it pretty clearly: The very definition of mid-engine placement is that the engine is somewhere between the front and rear axles. So rear-mid means it's in front of the rear axle but behind the cabin, front-mid means it's behind the front axle but in front of the cabin. Cars which are front-mid engined include the AMG GT (first generation only), AC Cobra, some Jaguars, Aston Martins, Dodge Viper, Honda S2000. They tend to have long noses with the front wheels pushed far forward, with the strut towers clearly ahead of the engine when looking into the engine bay. Honda S2000 is a great example of front-mid engine layout with the engine completely behind the front axle: AMG GT is another clear example: And I'm not picking on the LFA here, I'd like to point out that the Nissan GT-R is also claimed to be front-mid engine even though the engine clearly straddles the front axle: I don't think I'm being pedantic, this is pretty fundamental stuff! The only conclusion I can draw is that the LFA is not mid-engined at all, it is in fact a front-engine layout. So, can someone smarter than me please explain what I'm missing here or why I might be wrong? Looking for honest discussion.

Get a 2017 if you can for the cheaper road tax. When you test drive it they can feel a bit sluggish on first impression. Make sure you go into the full Sport S+ (turn mode dial right twice), knock the shifter into manual mode and use the paddles. Check it has a full service history, if it's a Lexus Approved Used it should.

I got mine fixed in the end and it was apparently just a leaf stuck in the fan housing. Lexus Guildford didn't even charge labour so I can't imagine it was too much work for them to get out. Every time you remove the filter there's a chance debris sitting on top of it will fall down into the fan housing. I've heard that you can slot a piece of paper or card underneath before withdrawing the filter which should block stuff from falling in.

If you want a quick sale it's either selling direct to a dealer or one of the many car buying websites. When I sold my 2016 RCF last year I phoned round the nearest Lexus dealers, they all gave me very similar offers. If you want to get more then private would be the way to go as you're selling somewhere between book price and dealer price. The problem is, not everyone is happy to buy a £30k+ car privately, and the cars are niche, so it might not happen quickly. If you do want to sell privately a good ad goes a long way imo - nice pictures showing the car at its best, details of the servicing and maintenance you've done during your ownership, etc.

Okay, I had no idea there was an LBX/Yaris Cross until just now. And Morizo editions of other cars already exist, so clearly I don't know what I'm talking about. 😄 So it's a CUV. I guess it will still feel pretty peppy as long as the weight isn't out of control.

My views are mixed. On one hand this looks cool and I'm so happy Lexus are talking about "driver engagement", which hopefully isn't just a buzzword but has real substance behind it. Is Morizo just the name of the concept, or could it be new branding for cars which are focused more on fun than outright performance (separating them from F cars). The cynical side of me is just expecting a heavier, automatic-only GR Corolla (it does seem to be based on the Corolla platform). Hopefully they can inject the right character into it, they need to look at what Acura did to separate the Integra Type S from the Civic Type R.

I also have a soft spot for Honda, I had a CRX 1.6i and it was a blast. Loved the car, but eventually succumbed to rust. Then later on I got an Accord Type R with the H22A VTEC engine, incredible driver's car, didn't keep it long for various reasons, miss the sound though. The old NSX is my favourite car, I just think they look so cool. Would love to own one one day, maybe when I have some more garage space. My A110 is basically a baby NSX though 😁 Might be a bit of a stretch to call it Japanese, it was co-developed with Honda North America and built in their Ohio plant. I agree it looks great, the main problem for UK owners apparently is servicing as you can't just take them to any Honda dealership, I think it's 2 specific dealerships (one's in London and the other might be Manchester iirc). A V8 would be great, I often have fantasies about a 2UR-GSE in a mid-engined car.

Same! First RCF I drove was actually a white with carbon pack. It felt too boy racer which was weird for a Lexus. And I certainly couldn't feel the difference, in fact the non-carbon I drove after felt faster if anything (which I ended up buying). Realistically they shouldn't have bothered with carbon at all, they should have done weight savings in other places first. It's a lot of money for a 20 KGs saving on an 1800KG car. The funny thing is the standard bonnet is already quite light being aluminium.

You should do a "drain and fill" which is basically a standard change and not a flush. You want some of the clutch material to remain in the oil. Anyway I'm sure you know all this if you've been watching The Car Care Nut. Some or all of the extended fluid change intervals come with caveats, for example the 10k mile oil change assumes you drive the car a certain way, with certain things like towing or performance driving excluded, meaning you should revert back to 5k/6mo oil changes. I can imagine a similar idea with the transmission, since spirited driving will have more frequent shifts and high rpm hard shifts, etc. Also iirc the push for extended intervals was mostly driven by certain government and environmental agencies, rather than the manufacturers trying to make it better for the customer. You might be fine either way, but if you care about the car and want it to last a long time I think it's still better to do more frequent changes. Ironically it may actually be better for the environment as the car will last longer and probably burn less oil etc. When I had my RCF done it was in most of the day and the service advisor explained that the car had to be left to cool down, then put on the lift and brought up to a certain temperature during the process, so I believe they did it properly. The most annoying part is that they usually try to talk you out of it and you basically have to insist you've done your own research and want it done anyway. Coolant should be changed more frequently as well, since it becomes acidic over time. The one thing that's still a bit of a mystery to me is rear differential oil changes.

My former car appears to have sold. No longer on AT and showing as taxed. It was up for £36k iirc. Scratch that! It's back on AT, but the price has been reduced by £2.5k in 2 months. Quite a sudden change! This was one of the main things that put me off honestly, and the fact that it seems to increase every year. Meanwhile if I had bought a 1 year newer (2017) car I would only be paying £180!

They can be difficult to sell privately, so you might need a bit of patience, especially considering the time of year. Since it's a modified car you'll have to factor that into the price a bit. You'll probably get more money returning the car to stock and then selling the mods separately, but up to you. The valuation is a bit tricky to say because there aren't many private sales. But you definitely want to be somewhere between the wholesale price and the retail price. The wholesale price is what a dealer would pay to buy your car off you - to find this out you can phone them up and ask if they would like to buy it. The retail price is what it would sell for, so basically the price shown on autotrader for similar dealership cars. The WBAC/motorway type valuation is also a "wholesale" price, although it will likely be lower than what a dealer would give you. Hope that makes sense somewhat. Good luck with the sale. I sold mine a couple of months ago. Tried to sell privately at first, but ended up going to a dealer as I wanted to shift the car and frankly, it was just way more convenient.