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redbaron

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  • First Name
    Jo
  • Lexus Model
    IS 300 Sportcross
  • Year of Lexus
    2003
  • UK/Ireland Location
    Other/NonUK

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  1. Congratulations! 46000 miles. That 's great, They are still out there and the lucky ones get them. Found a German IS 300 Sportcross with 66000 kms (about 40000 miles). Couldn,t resist and will collect it next tuesday.
  2. Like I said, wait for the right one. And with lttle mileage LPG might not be worth the investment. Although it pays off sooner and sooner these days considering petrol prices. Payd 43 eurocents per liter this morning in Belgium. That's like 35 P in your money. . NewsFlash: I came to an agreement with the German about the IS 300 Sportcross with 66000 kms.! Will probably pick it up next tuesday.. It's anthracite grey, black leather/alcantara; all further options except navigation (thank God, because I find the outdated original system in the IS200/300 very clumsey and difficult to use, since I belong to a generation that did not grow up with a joystick). It comes from am elderly couple who just can,t afford it's thirst for petrol any longer. They bought it new and took it to their Lexus dealer every year. Looks like it got delivered brandnew 2 weeks ago. Guess I got lucky! Wish you the same.
  3. I think Im can say I know a bit a bit about oil and I don't see the use of these waterthin oils. Sure, they can save you some fuel(marginal effect) and cold start will probably be a bit easier. But all engines that really have to perform are better off with a higher viscosity (same quality grade and dope package ofcourse). So I don't see why you could not use a 5w40 or even 10w40. I use 10W60 full synthetic in my IS 300 and even use 10% of Lucas fully synthetic additive. The engine is really quiet and it uses so little oil I don.t have to top op between oil changes( I change it at 15000 miles). I don't believe in extreme oilchange intervals either. The lubrication quality of the oil is hardly effected, but oil has five functions: lubrication,cooling,sound dampening,sealing and dirt removal. No way a 0-20 will be just as good at sound dampeming or sealing(hence more oil consumption) and no way that an oil or oil filter can remove dirt and retain it where it doesn.t do harm to the engine if you use it for 30000 miles and more. You would have to install a much more sophisticated filtering system. I am also proven right by the fact that a whole industry in additives and cleaning agents has emerged because of the ever rising number of engine problems and damages. Especially drivers who spend most of their time in town traffic encounter a lot of problems with extrmely dirty and clogged engines..
  4. You might be better of looking for a low mileage petrol-car. Most LPG drivers install it because they make a lot of miles. Just be patient and keep looking for the mileage, condition and specs you want. The IS 300 is thirsty though, So you can always make a roadtrip to Belgium, have LPG installed for 1750 euros(1580 pounds) and fill up on booz and fags on the ferry when jou go back. I just found a 66000 km (40000 miles) IS 300 in Germany, (LHD ofcourse). I am very tempted, but my wife might kill me... Still have a TR3, TR4 and (don't laugh) a YAMAHA FS1 waiting for attention.
  5. I use Lucas oils in my Lexus and in my race-cars and I think it's great. Not just engine oil but also for gearbox/automatic, diff and steering. It's an American product but I know it's available in the UK, so check out their product range.
  6. Maybe former owner had it lowered. Or was a cowboy and shortened the springs himself? Check the offset in any case from front and rears. Might even be staggered set with different offsets. Simple method of measuring youself is take of wheel and put on floor with outside facing downwards. Now cut a nice straight piece of metal or wood to size that you can rest on the edge of the rim on the inside. Measure the distance from the underside of your selfmade measuring tool to the flange that touches the hub. If there is a difference between the fronts and rears you have a staggered set. The smaller this distance, the more the wheel will go outwards and the bigger the risk of fouling bodywork/wings. If this distance gets too big however the tyre can touch on the inside. If it touches on top of the tyre it,s just too low or soft my friend. Or find some new, skinny,light friends to ride along.... Good luck.
  7. Hey, Thanks for usefull remarks. Sure, ofcourse the profyle and compound can make a difference in noise and comfort. This varies form one manufacturer to another and even between different types from the same manufacturer. Dunlop SP9000 is completely different than a SportMAXX RTand mind you , the RT suffix makes a lot of difference. When compared to other types of Sportmaxx this tyre is much better in noise levels and grip in wet conditions. But ask any tyre manufacturer and he will tell you that the first thing to watch when you want a comfortable ride is size, widt/height to width ratio and stiffness of the flank/carcass of the tyre. But it is not always true! I ran Michelin XWX 185/80/15 back in the day on my Triumph and they were so horrible it's hard to describe. In theory they should have been more comfortable than the Pirelli P6 195/60/15 I had before. But they were not. You had to wear a motorcycle belt and teeth protection. They were rockhard and lethal in the rain. Have a good look at test results, watch comments of users on the appropiate sites and tell your tyre supplier what you want from a tyre and you should be OK.. Last but not least talk to other Lexus drivers..
  8. Glad to be of help. If you have any questions , don,t hesitate to send me a message. And DON'T listen to people who say gas is only for cooking purposes. The guy where I do a lot of rolling road testing has a BMW M5 that delivers more power on LPG than on petrol and the exhaust gas temperatures are virtually the same as on petrol, so no worries for engine damage. The important thing is to have it installed an set up by the right guy.
  9. Sorry guys but it's not he compound that makes the difference for a more comfortable ride. The compound is important for level of grip and warming up time /max temperature of tyres. Much more important for comfort and noise levels is the height to widt ratio and the stiffness of the flank of the tyre. It,s pretty useless to fit more than 91 spec, although Lexus recommends 94 for example for the IS 300 Sportcross. Some guys run load index specs that are meant for a Transit Van with 2 tons of load and six passengers and towing a trailer. Bloody useless, harsh ride and a waste of money. My 300 is most comfortable on 205/55/16 88 spec winter tyres. But if you look carefully at tyre specs you can select a tyre that will give you comfort as well as sharp handling. The Fulda Sportcontact is very good and the Dunlop SportMaxx RT is even more comfortable and makes even less tyre noise. I paid 370 euros ex vat for 4 225/40/18 Fuldas over here; so they are very good value for money. Dunlops are 10 to 15 euros more per tyre. So still cheap.
  10. Are you a six in line fan or do you settle for 200+ HP? There is an Hbeam engined Altezza(RHD ofcourse, japanese import) up for grabs on Dutch forum for less than 2000 pounds.
  11. why not change back to front and see if 225 is fouling as well at the back? easy and cheap. If it works buy some 225 for the rear. What is ET on those rims and how wide are they? you should be OK with 7,5 to 8 wide and ET 35. Last resort solution is figure out how much you need to go narrower in rear track and if wheel flange is thick enough: put wheels in a lathe and machine untill they fit. Ask a professional opinion from the guy who does the machining or somedy else who knows what he is doing, because you don't want to take the risk of making the rim prone to break. Good luck. PS: if machining is possible and safe: check depth of thread in your wheelnuts, before you fit them. If you reduce the thickness of the mounting face of the rim the nuts might jam up on the end on their thread. This will damage the studs and the wheels will not tighten up. Play it safe and shorten studs or modify nuts to open ended type so they can never jam up..
  12. Thx, still trying to find my way on the forum and doing some reading. Hope to be able to contribute with technical questions concerning suspension/geometry/brakes/engine and transmission, exhausts and performance moids in general. Coz that,s what I do for a living and It's my hobby as well..So I never get fed up with it and I still learn things every day. cheers.
  13. Hi overthere, RedBaron here, petrolhead since I was fourteen and I am 54 now. Have driven and raced Triumph TRs since I was 20 and have owned a ****load of cars. Bought an IS 300 Sportcross last year and fell in love with it with the same passion I have for my Triumphs. Bought an IS 200 Sportcross for my doughter 2 months later. I work on classic race and rally cars for a living an don't have the time or energy to help out my doughter twice a week because she runs an old unreliable banger. She went to college in Antwerp now and since I didnt want this pristine IS 200 (35000 miles ) to be wrecked by drunk students, I sold it on to a serious chao who takes good care of his cars. I became a member of the Dutch lexus-forum as soon as I bought the Sportcross, Why join your club as well? First: you are never to old to learn an you might teach me a trick or two Second: I am lookin for a guynea-pig. wfat does that mean? I tried to get my hands on a decent tuning exhaust manifold, but they only seem to exist in websiteland. As soon as you order one nobody has it or it looks so crappy, it's no wonder it' still in stock. Several of my clients had a manifold made for their inlinesix Triumph by Tony Law and the result was brilliant. So I got in touch with the guys at Law and they are willing to make one for my IS 300(NA). When results are good ir might be a good idea to have a batch made. And when I am at it, why not have one made for the IS 200 as well.(NA) So I need an IS 200 driver who is willing to take one or two days of work to join me at Tony Law. We can use his (or hers) IS 200 to make a manifold for the IS 200. And he or she will get this at costprice. Dyno testing etc is on me as well as food and the occcasional(?) drink. The car has to be topfit, equipped with KN or equivalent on the inlet side. If time and faclities are sufficient I would like to start with std manifokd and system, then new manifold and std system and new manifold with aftermarket catback system and or axleback system. If Law can build a system for my 300 that outperforms the existing aftermarket systems I would not object to that, With strict Belgium MOT in mind, I am trying to figure out if I can fit the OEM cats with a straight through welded in pipe. So I have my flow and power and they can see the cat they want to see. Any defective cats flying around overthere? I am your man. Hope to hear from you.
  14. Hi, RedBaron here from Belgium, LPG lover(lpg overhere 50 eurocent, petrol 165 eurocent!) depends on what you mean with flashlube, older systems just spray some droplets into the inlet manifold and the question is, which quantity of additive goes to which cylinder. Prins/AGS uses valve-care. A separate metering-unit injects into every cylinder in conjunction with the LPG so every cylinder gets the right quantity of additive every time, always. AGS guaranteest 150000 kms(90.000 miles) so it can't be bad. Done about 28000 troublefree miles so far. Did a zero measurement just after installation. i.e. \set valve clearances and did a compression check, cylinder leaktest ans dyno-run. No performance difference on modern LPG installations( at least 108 octane my friends). Will repeat this after 40000 miles on LPG. Installed the LPG at 148000 kms in my IS 300 Sportcross and now I am at 192000 kms. With my driving style this would have been 5500 litrs of fuel so I saved 5000 euros on Fuel. Bought new coilovers,18 inch wheels, tyres, catback system and horny headlights from USA from my savings. Payed only 1750 euro for the LPG installation overhere, so it was a hell of an investment. Cheers from Belgium
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