To add my two penneth worth, there is no way I would buy an UK IS200 knowing what I know about the Altezza. I don't like Leather seats (sweaty in summer and freezing cold in winter), I see no benefit in having Headlamp washers and care nothing for badges. I also find it extraordinary that when the rest of the cars interior is exactly the same (colours and materials), that some Lexus owners consider the Altezza to be an inferior car when it is infact made by the same manufacturer - Toyota - one of the best and most widely produced and purchased car manufacturers on the planet.
As for no appreciable performance difference between the two cars in their standard form - what are you talking about? 57 bhp more surely means an increase in performance, why else would people with UK spec IS200's bother spending thousands of pounds trying to achieve that which is standard to the Altezza.
I enjoy this club and it's camaraderie, if it wasn't for the help I received from this club and it's members before I purchased my car, I may not have gone ahead and got it. I, however, find it perplexing and annoying to be treated as though my car is somehow inferior and my purchase was a lesser one due to the fact it is imported from Japan and doesn't have an "L" on it's grille and bootlid.
As far as I'm concerned this club is for all who have the good taste and good fortune to own a quality vehicle and while they have their differences each of them has a quality we enjoy for our own reasons - we should all be able to respect each other for the decisions upon which model we decide to own and take heart that we all have a common thread as far as the type of car we like to call our own.
The End.