Well I Finally Got One!

[FuntimePhil]

hi guys, a finally took the plunge and brought my lexus today, i got 2001 is200s 60k

i been reading these forums for days not and so far so good, especially the topic about the Grom Audio Adapter, (already ordered)

But what i would like if you wouldnt mind are your suggestions for little upgrades, gadgets, anything that can be done to make the car lil more special, maybe secret wires that do things, little add on's, anything you can think of!!

I await your help. Many thanks people.

[Steviewevie]

I would recommend a set of HIDs, which are easy to fit and make a huge difference to driving at night. Also getting your geometry properly set up by WIM (Wheels in Motion).

Welcome to the slippery slope of modding your car !

[aztecbandit1]

Welcome to the club matey :D where abouts in the midlands are you from?

If you have a look in the registry, you will find lists of what mods people on here have done to there cars and may give you a few ideas? :D

[Y2Kanjar]

about time what took you so long lol

welcome to the loc

Turbo it

[FuntimePhil]

hi im near birmingham. you local?

thanks for the replys but im a bit of a novice so HID's? not a clue and umm geometry? what does that do?

im a fast learner so try to be patient lol

[FuntimePhil]

hang on? the bandit?? did you used to post on cruise midlands?

[Steviewevie]

thanks for the replys but im a bit of a novice so HID's? not a clue and umm geometry? what does that do?

HIDs are High Intensity Discharge headlamps, these are the slightly bluish-looking very bright ones that you might see on other cars, using Xenon gas instead of a filament. Not to be compared with the replacement bulbs that you can buy from Halfords which are conventional filament bulbs and change the colour of the bulb a bit but don't really make it any brighter. The difference between regular headlamps and HIDs is enormous. They don't dazzle other road users, they just let you see a lot better on dipped beam.

There is a general problem on IS200s of premature tyre wear, where the inside of the tyre wears very rapidly. Have a look on your tyres and see if you can see this wear already. This is apparently caused by the suspension geometry (i.e. the way the wheels are set up, which way they point and are angled etc), which was actually incorrectly setup by Lexus. Tony Bones from a company called Wheels In Motion did a lot of work to solve the setup problem and came up with a whole set of new geometry settings. It's not a big job to do, and as well as solving the premature tyre wear issue, it actually greatly improves the handling of the car (I wouldn't have believed how big a difference until I experienced it for myself). Their website is here and Tony is actually a user on these LOC forums.

The geometry setup costs round about £100 but is worth every penny in my view.

P.S. I didn't understand any of this stuff till I started reading these forums only a few weeks back and I still ask lots of questions myself

[aztecbandit1]

hang on? the bandit?? did you used to post on cruise midlands?

Been all over the place and posted matey But in Rugeley near Lichfield :)

You'll have to try and get to some of the meets mate that go on, as there a some around the modlands now and again :D

[spikes]

hi,welcome to loc

[FuntimePhil]

thanks all for the comments, so these HID's, where do i pick em up from? and do i need just front or rear as well?

i'll look into the geometry thanks.

anything else?

[aztecbandit1]

Hid's are just for the front lights matey, Most people buy them off eBay and are one of the best mods going as the improvement in the lighting is amazing :D

[Steviewevie]

thanks all for the comments, so these HID's, where do i pick em up from? and do i need just front or rear as well?

You can get them off eBay pretty easily, e.g. here (I don't have any personal experience with that seller/kit, so am not specifically recommending that one, just one I found on there)

You need them mainly for the front dipped beam. You can get them for the front main beam but I don't think there's much point personally (but some may disagree). You don't need them for the rear.

[FuntimePhil]

ok so looking at that i take it im not just buying 2 bulbs? lol

is it easy to do?

[Steviewevie]

ok so looking at that i take it im not just buying 2 bulbs? lol

is it easy to do?

Yeah, don't get confused by the bulb upgrades on there which make out they are "like" HIDs. They're not, they just give you fractionally brighter, different-coloured lights.

A proper HID kit comes with a "ballast" for each headlamp, a small box of electronics. See an explanation here

Yup, they're easy to fit. You take out the bulb from your headlamp and stick the HID bulb in there. Instead of plugging the car's electrics back into this new bulb, you plug it into the ballast instead, which itself is connected to the HID bulb. You use something like a sticky pad to fix the ballast to a suitable spot inside the engine bay (normally pretty easy to find a space). That's about it !

[FuntimePhil]

excellent, ill order em now, only one more question on the bulbs then, what temp do you recommend cus the site have different ones

[Steviewevie]

excellent, ill order em now, only one more question on the bulbs then, what temp do you recommend cus the site have different ones

It's personal preference, but I'd suggest 6000K is a good compromise between having a bright light and "looking cool" :D

Some might prefer 4300K for an even brighter light, some might prefer 8000K for a bluer (but less bright) light. If you go too blue you'll risk being pulled by the police and/or MoT failure.

You might like to ask folks here who have bought them recently off eBay which seller they used. I used HIDS4U, not eBay, but they were more expensive.

[sparkystav]

About 6K i reckon, 4.5K are a bit yellow, and anything above 6 and they start going blue then purple the higher you go.

Welcome as well.

Stav

[FuntimePhil]

looks like 6k it is then! ok so far i got new lights and my wheels to be re alligned.

whats next? i was told to get a stainless steel exhust as the last for ever and add some bhp. this true?

[Yeldarb]

Yes a SS exhaust will add BHP, but more importantly throttle response and noise. Go for a good branded one. Theres a sticky on the top of this page. If you want the most power I would assume the IS200 is like most cars, change the manifold, get rid of the pre-cats and put in a single sport cat. I am sure someone with more experiance will correct me though. K&N air filter also. You will need to tell your insurance about these mods though.

[Steviewevie]

There are a lot of cosmetic mods you could do, but that's very much down to personal preference. For example, the Lexus sport grille is very easy to fit (even I could do it !) and still available from Lexus dealers. Have a look through the gallery at what people here have done to their cars.

[Lexus2D]

:)