Rob RCF

Ha, the real question is, what happened to the original metal F-Sport caps? Those aren't cheap!

Just not true. In a vacuum water will boil even at room temp. Under pressure the boiling point of water increases. I think I get what you're trying to say, that air with high humidity will expand more as it heats up than air with low humidity. But water boiling has nothing to do with it.

Looks good. Do you know if this is the same unit that @BillNick made an install thread about from last year? And is the install process similar? I'm guessing this is another unbranded/Chinese unit?

It might be worth keeping an eye on coolant condition. Engine coolant can become acidic over time and then eat away at things. Lexus says change coolant at 100k miles which means most ISFs might still be on the original coolant. Maybe it's one to change every 60k miles or 6 years, along with the supposedly "lifetime" trans fluid. I'm planning to grab some test strips to see what mine's like.

Maybe this is nothing new to some here, but for me personally, this is my first RWD car and with so much power available I usually err on the side of caution when it comes to applying large throttle inputs during turns. However I've had my car over a year now and getting a bit more used to its limits and when I can push harder, especially in the dry weather. One thing I've really noticed regarding the TVD is if you're accelerating into a sweeping turn at around 50-60 mph and keep the throttle pinned in second gear (don't do this in the wet or with cold tyres!), you can feel the outside rear wheel receiving more torque and digging in, propelling you through the turn. It feels great, almost like the rear wheels are approaching the limit and slipping just a little bit, without losing control and starting to sling you sideways. Maybe this is just normal oversteer and I'm just finding out for myself another reason people love RWD cars, but I feel like there was a bit more going on. The outside rear really seemed to be generating extra traction and pushing the car in a way that caused a little extra rotation, but it felt very stable and planted at the same time. Maybe this stability makes perfect sense, as while you're cornering the outside wheels have more weight transferred onto them and therefore more available grip, so if you can apply the correct proportion of torque to each wheel, you'll maximise acceleration without causing either wheel to spin. This is the real benefit of the TVD, the way it can send proportionally more torque to the wheel with the most grip, and less to the one with lower grip, which takes advantage of the weight transfer when cornering. This sounds kind of obvious in hindsight, but to me the way it was explained before never quite clicked. Something like "helps rotate the car through the turn", which may be true, but always came across as a bit of a dumbed-down explanation. FYI, I was just in the standard TVD mode during all of this and it's the mode I use most of the time. Slalom mode seems to exaggerate the effect and make it a bit more obvious, it's fun at slower speeds, with Track it's more subtle. I like normal mode, it's a nice balance between the two.

This one is quite close to me, so it'd be rude not to. Sorry you're not able to attend @L55 RCF after organising this!

I don't know when (or if) they changed the sealant either. Again the valley plate stuff seems to be based largely on speculation unless there was some official word from Lexus about it that I'm not aware of. It just seems that ISFs suffer from it the most. It's possible that the change happened at some point for later ISFs, or it happened when the updated engine came along (RCF/GSF/LC500).

If it's the same video I'm thinking of the information in it is extremely vague and he didn't provide anything even close to a reliable source for why the red should be used. It doesn't really make sense to use red, as pink is the modern type and what the manual calls for and what the dealership would use. I preferred the Wrench Every Day video where they actually tore an ISF engine down and showed the valley plate leak in detail and discussed the cause of it and which sealant to use etc. Iirc the wrong sealant type was used during assembly, which got corrected at some point hence the later cars don't suffer from it as frequently.

Yeah, I like the GSF and probably would have gone for one if I wanted the larger size and rear doors. I wanted a 2 door coupe though. I kept hearing that the GSF's interior was nicer, but really after seeing it in person I think it's quite similar. The seats are identical and there's plenty of leather, suede and carbon in both. The GSF might be a little nicer in quality, but I prefer the more sloping design of the dash in the RCF which reminds me of a 90's NSX.

They do, and some of it is well deserved as they are on a dedicated platform (chassis) that is more modern, stiffer etc, whereas for the RCF they didn't have a suitable platform for a V8 coupe so they had to modify and combine three older platforms. GSF is also a bigger car and a bit better equipped, for example the TVD is standard. Most people who have driven both seem to think the GSF is better to drive and of course the RCF got trashed by some big names (Chris Harris, Clarkson) which probably didn't help.

Sorry to hear you're having to sell already. I can vouch for this car being in great condition from what I saw at Japfest this year. Excellent paint, I think you'd be hard pressed to find a scratch or swirl on it.

Yes unfortunately it does seem like you have to treat main dealers almost like a private sale and and do just as much due diligence when inspecting the car. It's a shame because one of the main reasons people go to the dealer is to avoid stuff like that. Was great meeting you at Japfest and I agree it would be nice to do another meet of some kind. Seems like we have concentrations of people in the South and others in the North with not many in between making it a bit harder to decide on locations.

Sounds terrible. Broken glass in the boot! Did you see that before buying the car or was it under the boot floor/cover? I hope that didn't take away from your enjoyment of the car. It looked lovely when I saw it at Japfest. My experience with Lexus dealers is a bit mixed and it seems to depend mostly on which staff member you get. The good ones are great and give you that special feeling a little bit, like you're a valued customer and they are there to take care of you. Other times it's average, where they do the job "fine", but don't seem terribly competent. McDonalds, for example, has way better and more consistent customer service most of the time.

First off, congrats on the car and I'm a bit envious, that blue Lexus paint really is lovely, especially when you see it in person and in different lighting conditions. It's a pretty big topic and everyone will have their own preferences and way of doing things. I can give you a brief-ish overview of what I've learned "detailing" my cars about every 2 weeks for the last few years. Your washing technique is arguably much more important than the products you use, so keep that in mind. Having said that I really like Bilt Hamber products and especially their snow foams (they make two, they are both very good just with slightly different use cases). I would recommend using a pressure washer too. You should do the wheels and arches first although I won't cover the technique here as you asked specifically about the paint. But it's important to do them first as it's the dirtiest area and you don't want to fling dirt back onto your clean paint. Make sense? Snow foam pre-wash with a good foam, leave to dwell for 5 minutes, then a thorough pressure rinse is important as it loosens and pulls 90% of the dirt off the car before you even touch it with a sponge. Brush out your trims. If this hasn't been done in a while I like to do this just before the contact wash although you can do it during. Basically get a detailing brush and dip it in your wash bucket or spray it with some APC and brush the grime out of the little gaps around badges, edges of the rubber trim around the windows, panel gaps, petrol filler cap, exhaust tips, etc etc. If you don't do this you will get a buildup of dirt and grime in all these places, and the longer it builds up, the more difficult it is to remove. I really like Surfex HD for this (another BH product). Contact wash. Use a good microfiber wash sponge or mitt as they are much "safer" inflicting far less swirls than a traditional sponge. Be gentle on the contact wash and don't use excessive pressure or scrubbing. Personally I don't bother with the 2 bucket method any more as I don't really see the need assuming you do a good pre-wash soak and rinse. Rinse down afterwards. Ideally you can do this before the paint dries, but if you do notice some dried-on soap marks just go over those panels quickly with some more soapy water and then rinse. It doesn't really matter what shampoo you use as long as it's not a combined wash & wax type. I use BH Auto-Wash, but the Autoglym Ultra HD Shampoo is also really good. (Optional) Contamination removal. If your paint's contaminated you would do this step now. Give the paint a feel when it's clean, contamination feels like little rough specs. You want to spray it onto dry panels so dry the car first and then cover with your iron & fallout remover of choice. I like Bilt Hamber Korrosol (surprise surprise) as it's one of the more concentrated, faster acting ones. If this hasn't been done for a while the car can be covered, so be thorough and give the product time to work (there should be dark purple streaks everywhere). Pressure rinse thoroughly and then feel the paint. If it's smooth then you're all good. If not you might have to do a second application or think about using a clay cloth or clay bars, although be aware clay is very aggressive on the paint and best done prior to machine polishing. Protection. I like Gyeon Wet Coat or Turtle Wax Dry & Shine, but there are lots of good spray-on sealants. 2-4 sprays per panel is all you need and then pressure-rinse off. You will notice the paint surface change almost instantly and start beading really nicely. It still impresses me every time. The reason I like Wet Coat in particular is it makes the paint feel very slick the car seems to stay clean for longer after using it. I reapply the sealant every couple of months or so, you don't need to do it every wash. It's good stuff. Dry. I like a big plush microfibre drying towel for this, but if you have a blower that also helps. I dry the top panels first (roof, windows, bonnet and then go around the sides). If you used a spray sealant in the previous step this whole process is much easier as your towel will glide over the paint. Then use a blower to blow out any water stuck in gaps in the wheels, around the headlights and trims, etc. Or take the car for a quick spin, that also works. When you're done, walk around the car one last time just to check for any drips of water from opening and closing the doors etc, or bug splats if you went for a drive. You can use your damp drying towel to wipe them up or a quick detailer if you have one. The idea is to not let drips of water sit on the paint and then dry as that will create water spots, often in the same place like under the mirrors, doors, bootlid where it drips down. The longer stuff sits dry on the paint the harder it tends to be to remove, and it can also etch the paint, so it's best to clean up well before it can get to that point. I guess that's about it for the paint, although it can easily get way more in-depth than this! I didn't even mention the door and bootlid shuts, sometimes they stay pretty clean and you can just give them a quick wipe with the drying towel at the end. Otherwise get in there with a brush and rinse carefully and wipe dry. A lot of it is knowing the best order to do things in and managing how you work your way around the car to minimise issues with panels drying up. For example when it's sunny the "hot" side of the car can start to dry within like 2 minutes, but in winter you can often go 15+ mins without issues. I try to avoid washing my car when it's hot, but sometimes you don't have much choice so try to adjust the way you work around the car, doing smaller sections at a time and stuff like that. Or get up early and wash the car when it's cool. A note on ceramic coatings, if you do decide to go down that route I would suggest not doing it straight away. Wash the car a few times yourself and get used to the condition of the paint and how to do safe washing techniques. That way when you come to get it ceramic coated you will be giving them a clean, well maintained car and already know what you're doing when it comes to safe maintenance washes (which will help the coating last a long time). And you will have a better idea of what correction the paint will need before the coating goes on. Well, this ended up being quite a bit longer than I envisioned! Anyway, hope it helps.

Thanks for the invite @B1RMA and good to meet you, was a nice event and a very wide range of cars and lots of nice people. Shame that you got stuck behind an M car, did you get a chance to overtake in the end? 😁

Wow, that GSF better be 100% mint with impeccable service history for that money. I think all dealers are like this now unfortunately. The sales staff make commissions from selling finance and all the add-ons they try to sell you so they are less interested in cash buyers. Don't tell them you're paying cash, it won't do you any favours. Sometimes they want to know if you're a cash buyer right from the start (mine was like this). They always get a disappointed look on their face when you tell them. If they won't budge on price then you just have to think about other ways to get a good deal. Ask them to fix any and all niggles you can find with the car (they usually offer to do so as soon as you point them out). Ask them to wash the car so you can see the paint condition properly (they are often dirty). Ask them to get it up on a lift so you can look at the underbody. If you're trading in a car, reject their trade-in price and ask for more.

If it's any help I bought mine 1 year ago for £35k (2016, 17k miles at the time). For a private sale I'd imagine £29-32k is reasonable, depending on condition.

Just for clarity is it the West Meon Pub or the West Meon Hut? According to google maps they are two different buildings. I'll try to get there around 6:30, maybe a bit earlier.

Count me in. I'm 40 mins from there, should be doable on a weeknight.

The 2UR-GSE with atkinson cycle was available in the RCF onwards, so no, ISF didn't get it. Best I've got with my RCF on a motorway run was about 33-34mpg, I don't know what ISFs get. In theory an RCF should be able to do over 400 miles on a tank. 66L is 14.5 imperial gallons, multiply that by 30mpg gives 435 miles.

Probably because the fuel pumps rely on fuel passing through them for cooling. If the fuel level gets too low they could start pumping air and overheat. The high pressure fuel pumps in particular are very expensive.

I have put in more than 60 litres at least once. You have to drive until it reaches "0 miles" and then keeping driving for at least another 30 miles or as much as you can bear to. You were nowhere near empty. They just give you something like 7-10 litres of overhead because they want to protect you from ever running out of fuel. Also, you should not fill your tank to the brim like that! If you fill your fuel tank past the first click you risk flooding your vapour canister and other parts of the EVAP system with liquid fuel. If you don't know what I'm talking about this video is very informative: https://youtu.be/jPiiqcDxDxY

Agreed, try Direct Line because they are not on comparison websites and you can only get quotes directly from them. I've never really liked comparison websites tbh, you can often get cheaper quotes directly from the companies. @ashyk36 I own an RCF. My insurance is around £400 per year with Admiral, I'm mid 30's. Do search around, although in my experience it's always one out of the same few companies which seem to give me the best quote (off the top of my head, Elephant, Admiral, Direct Line, Churchill). Of course it might be different for you, but personally I've never had a good quote from the obscure or specialist ones, in fact they are usually multiple times more expensive. A lot of things affect insurance. I used to think it was mostly down to age and the car's insurance group, but I've found the area you live, home ownership and such can make a huge difference. Adding your partner on can make it cheaper, even if they don't plan to drive it. And as @hockeyedwards says, set your start date to something other than "tomorrow", ideally around 3-4 weeks into the future, that can make it cheaper too. Probably obvious, but don't bother with the add-ons like breakdown cover, legal cover, etc. All you want from them is fully comp insurance. One more bonus tip for you. When it comes to renewal they will often increase your quote. Tell them you find the new quote a bit expensive and ask if there's anything they can do. Might not always work, but I was really surprised last renewal when I got a £90 discount almost without trying.

I'm glad you said that, I was thinking the same thing, they are a bit ghastly. Cool car, K24a must be one of Honda's best naturally aspirated engines. Is it auto or manual?

I'm not trying to go sideways either. But flooring it from the bottom of second gear can be a bit underwhelming as it's such a long gear.