Rob RCF

I beg to differ. I sometimes drop into 1st at around 20-30mph when coming off say a slow roundabout. Gives insane acceleration vs just staying in 2nd. Maybe the "dull" feeling is the torque converter? 1st gear is the only one where the torque converter doesn't lock.

Yeah, I know what you mean. It's not like the car weaves from side to side, it just doesn't feel quite as solid and stable as you'd like under hardish braking, especially with little bumps and imperfections on the road. I actually noticed this the very first time I drove the car on the test drive, and even asked them to do a wheel alignment as I felt like the front end had a bit of side to side pull.

Sounds like your experience is in-line with what most people are saying. I'm not sure if the RCF suffers from inner tyre wear, if anything it's the outer part of the tyre that's wearing fastest on mine so far. My main "problem" with the front end, is it sometimes feels a little bit vague, and when turning the wheel quickly there's a subtle delay before the car actually grips and starts to turn. This is especially noticeable on narrow twisty roads where you're making quick adjustments left and right. This might just be normal weight transfer and an expected side-effect of having softish suspension, but we will see how much it tightens everything up. Anyhow this is a fairly minor complaint for how good the car is overall, and if the USRS makes a decent difference in this area I'll be very happy. Thanks for the info. My order's back in btw.

Lol, it's like you can tell I'm on the fence about them. You might sway me. Do you like them from a personal experience standpoint?

Apologies Dan, but I'm also going to rescind my order. I changed my mind when I read up a bit more about the USRS' potential to squeak.

If you read the manual you'll see it recommends 98 RON, but it also says underneath that if it's not available 95 RON can be used with no harm to the engine. You should still be able to drive it hard. You just might make a bit less power. You can read up about KCLV if you want to know more about the engine's knock correction and how it learns over time.

Here's the procedure if you haven't seen it already. He recommends practicing it beforehand as the transmission has to be at a specific temperature and the window of time you have is pretty short. https://youtu.be/eRxSu4-4ojo

You make it sound like you're going to do it yourself. Best of luck. Have you got access to a lift? You might need some other bits as well like the dipstick that screws into the drain hole.

Next time it's in you could ask them to check the trans fluid level, apparently it can get low and the trans is apparently very sensitive to fluid level. The Car Care Nut on youtube (Toyota master diagnostic technician) recommends changing trans fluid every 60k miles or 6 years, regardless of whether it's a "sealed unit" with lifetime fluid.

Lexus Guildford.

Well, got this done today. Did the full service in the end including spark plugs. Also asked them if they had time to do the trans fluid (drain and refill) which they did, with ATF WS fluid. Now I've only taken the car for a quick drive, but initial impressions are the trans feels faster and more responsive. The thing that surprised me the most, was after having a bit of a play in manual mode I dropped the car back into normal and automatic and was cruising at 45 in 7th gear. I floored it, the car dropped straight to second, the tyres dug in and it just launched forward with a responsiveness that I totally wasn't expecting. It was awesome, and I thought "wow, is this how the trans should have been all along?". I slowed down and tried again, although of course now the gearbox was staying in a lower gear (5th instead of 7th) and when I floored it it did the usual one second delay while trying to remember how to downshift, etc. Ugh. Need to do a bit more driving really to see what's going on, but so far I'm intrigued. I had one jerky shift when downshifting to second in manual mode. It wasn't awful, it was like the car lurched forward, then hesitated, then accelerated again. But I've heard the trans can need a few days of driving to settle after a fluid change, also the ECU reset so may be relearning. We'll see. Flew through the MOT, the only points of note are front pads and discs might need changing next year. Air con seems much colder now. Not sure why, I can only see on the service invoice that they replaced the "element air refiner" (cabin filter).

I don't do enough photography of my car. This was a nice location for some pics though (New Forest). RCF looks a bit awkward from some angles, but I love this rear 3/4 view.

Any reputable garage should be able to do it really, especially one who does tuning. I know it's a fairly difficult job and involves dropping the subframe and some of the header bolts are very difficult to access, but any decent mechanic can do it. If you can find a Toyota or Lexus specialist then even better, but it doesn't have to be.

It's a black GSF with a few orange accents and some TOMS parts. I haven't seen much from him in terms of social media stuff, so not sure about videos. @Womble72 may know more. Imagine a Ferrari revving its engine. That's what it sounded like. We were in an underground car park and it was definitely pretty loud, it set off a car alarm!

Excellent. I keep hearing good things about these, might as well see what all the fuss is about.

I would like the USRS street version (the black ones). Product Code: ISFXLCA002

Ah I was there too. Ryo's sounded insane. I can't remember his exact setup, was it full Tom's exhaust including headers? It had lost the characteristic muscle car sound and just had a pure racecar scream.

Yes. I don't have any pictures of it on the car, but it's a big plastic cover with a slope that leads down to a drip hole. It looks better on, but obviously removes the functionality of the vent. Quite a few threads on the US forums discussing it. Some people have cut an opening in the plastic cover in an attempt to make it look a bit more clean/oem.

Wow, that's a huge difference! I bet any worries about price or build quality were washed away as soon as you heard that sound. 😄 How's the drone when driving normally? Any other weirdness, power delivery etc all normal?

Count me in. And I'm sure we can find somewhere nearby to get a pub lunch or something. I don't know the area directly around Guildford that well, but quite a few options showing up on google maps.

I figured that summer would be a good time to take it off. I'm kind of doing it out of principle anyway, because of marketing images like this: They clearly show the vent working to extract heat, and perhaps other aerodynamic benefits. No use having it blocked up. The trim clips are a bit annoying to get off and damage easily. You can order spares from a popular vehicle clips site, the part number is 90467-09185. Here's how mine looks now. Not as "pretty" as with the plastic cover, but I'd rather have a functional vent.

Yes I've been thinking the same. Somewhere in Hampshire or Surrey would probably suit most people here from what I've seen.

The engine seems to get better the more I drive the car, honestly. I think it feels faster now than when I first got the car. Apart from getting more used to driving it hard, the only things I've done are consistently running it on super unleaded and removing the bonnet vent cover which should help keep intake temps down when that secondary flap opens. PS4S are great, I have them as well. Just have to be a bit careful on cold/wet days over winter, as the traction is awful at times. They are amazing in the dry once warmed up though. Did you go for the "correct" ones or the XL? I've only done around 2-3k miles so far.

Looks great. I'm coming up to a year soon too. How many miles have you managed to do?

Esso Synergy 99 is the best. It's the only one that's 0% ethanol.