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I know someone on here has used his LS400 at a previous event, but I imagine my day of driving a Lexus was a little different to what most of you were up to this weekend: Lexus ready for the track by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr RAF Marham charity trackday. An excellent, relaxed day of driving quickly on a long, wide circuit with lots of run-off ideal for a novice like me. 140+ MPH by Spottedlaurel, on Flickr A long straight of 1.8km/1.2 miles allowed my £500 Mk3 to get up to well over an indicated 140mph :-) Beforehand I'd had it checked-over by my garage, with the front discs being skimmed/new pads fitted and an oil change. The main issue of the day was the PAS fluid getting hot, but it was fine after being allowed to cool down for a few minutes. I was manually shifting up and down the 'box, quite interesting dropping down to 3 then 2 at well over the ton but it will only change down when the rev's are right. Gave me a useful bit of engine braking that way. I hit the rev limiter several times when I wasn't quite quick enough changing up, and it was an interesting experience it going from 3 into top at 130-odd then still accelerating quite strongly. The garage had noted that the flanges between the back of the cat's and the exhaust system were rotten, and by the end of the day it was sounding rather mean but luckily they don't worry too much about noise at this event.... In total I did 156 miles out on the track and used a tankful of fuel which would normally do me for well over 300. Handling and grip were surprisingly good, probably helped by the 245-wide tyres on 18" GS300 Sport rims. There was only one bend with a mid-corner bump where it seemed to want to oversteer, if anything understeer was the main characteristic. Tyre wear was pretty good, I managed to drive home on the 18's whereas on the FWD stuff I've used before on trackdays I've had to change them. It acquitted itself remarkably well and if it passes next year's MoT I might even treat it to a cam belt change!

Just thought I'd post an update after living with my IS300h for a month and 2k miles : I'll start with the negatives (not many tbh) as compared with my previous car (BMW 320i Sport F31 Touring Auto) : - The cruise control is a little old fashioned in that it doesn't display the current speed setting, or am I missing something? And then for the positives : The fuel economy is amazing, I'm getting about 51mpg on the computer but 600 miles on a tank costing around £70 is excellent. I'd be looking to fill up the BMW at 380 miles. The drivetrain is very smooth and getting used to the CVT/Hybrid setup and can't for the life of me have any idea why the motoring press see the CVT as a negative. Coming from the the excellent 8 speed ZF in the BMW this is a surprise. The overall feeling of the car is of a luxury car which is also a surprise as BMW seemed to be going in the other direction. For example, the car is very quiet at all speeds, the interior trim quality is of a very high standard, the seats are very comfortable, the soft touch plastics are everywhere. It just feels from a class above. The headlights are excellent, as you would expect from Xenons. The stereo is also very good and leagues ahead of the BMWs, both from a feature and quality standpoint. The overall size of the car is great being that little bit smaller than the BMW which is good for parking and general placing of the car on my local country roads. Overall I'm really enjoying the car, more so than my previous 2 BMWs and definitely a convert to petrol/hybrid technology.

Hi and welcome to the LOC, we are a friendly bunch and some of us even know how to pull them to bits and put them back together again, with of course the one bolt and washer left over. We recommend you spend a couple of mins looking over the rules of the LOC, we will be asking questions later I cant help with your present queries but I'm sure someone will be along ASAP. http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/terms-conditions/ Regards Mike

That is a great adventure with your old 400....a few years ago I took my 97 400 to a " Run what you Brung " Drag race weekend.... got special and very kind permission to take my 84 year old Dad down the strip with me too... Gave a few of the young lads a run .....once she was rolling ....204'000 miles on her mind you....great craic.....and put a big grin on my Dads face which was priceless. These cars are truly Special indeed....I look for my old one P939 UHR every day all over the Net.... Daftest thing I ever did was thinking I was " upgrading " to the 460. Get that exhaust and the cam belt replaced.....and treasure every mile....you will NEVER find a car built like the 400s were... they quite simly dont make cars like that anymore.....and never will again.

I use TuneIn radio, Apple Music, and occasional BBC iPlayer radio app. Cannot live without streaming media these days. It must be over 12 months since I last even touched a CD, with the amount of music now on offer via streaming services, I don't even bother with my own iTunes music collection - I do love all you can eat data on '3' - Getting through about 2-3 gigs of data a month :) I can tell that I'm getting/am old, all of this goes screaming above my head!!!!

Brilliant. Over 140 mph on the race track and then drive home...... and all on a £500 quid car! Considering the age of the car too, I think that's pretty amazing.

Just quick update, lexus have booked me in for Oct 12th for new sat nav all covered under warranty. Once that is done, then ill get the wheels refurbed and callipers painted blue, then get the h&s exhaust fitted. Kieron

A CTALXIPOD002.3 by any chance? Glad to hear it works :)

What a pair of oldies, Ians been, gone and come back again. Nurse !! pills please. Mike.

That's interesting Chris, being retired I have plenty of time to mess about with the unit, I'll try your suggestion tomorrow after I've spent an hour or two on the gardening, but the replacement unit is on its way. It will be interesting to see how the digitiser lead is attached, I don't want to get into a soldering job though. It's fingers crossed time. Jim

Not read all the replies but have also suffered from a 'Lexus Battery' illness. Had power outlet fixed to permanent live cost £25 installed Solar panels into the rear spoiler with a regulator in the boot with a feed to the power point, this has reduced the drain by 75% also carry around a booster costing about £70. Follow my profile and look at my pics.

Its disappeared now - hasn't shuddered in ages!

Probably the quality of DAB in UK is low because of compression and low kbps, here in Italy DAB stations are few and quality is far better than FM stations. For best audio quality I found interesting some internet radio, like Linn Radio, trought cell phone and BT, using app Tunein or others.

when i had a mercedes A class that i ran shell super unleaded on i used to see an extra 45 miles range from a tank full so it was worth paying the extra,i then changed to a ct and i didnt notice any difference between standard and super ,to be honest if i had to use super market petrol in desperation i didn't see any difference in the mpg i returned per gallon,so i just use standard shell petrol.

Tony, Ordered direct from Vaistech in the USA - contacted the named guy by email first. He was very helpful and posted it off really quickly. Several members on here have done the same. You will end up paying custom charges, which puts the price up by circa another £50! imo worth it because it works and is integrated. Using the MML my iPod control is all via the steering wheel or nav unit switches :) Do a web search for Vais MML to read reviews and feedback on their units. In all it took about 12 days for it to arrive. Fitting is straightforward if you are handy - I managed to do it myself!! Post back if you do decide on the MML - you'll get good advice on here about fitting and where to place it...

Rapid Online 51-1692 M5 Steel Ball Joint @ £1.96p each (2 off) 50-8911 M5 Threaded Brass Rod 500mm @ £2.20p each (1 off) There you go.......well worth having a go with these first, unless upon inspecting the original component you feel 5mm is too small, then there is always the option of using larger balljoints/rodding, but for moving a linear switch I would think these will do fine.

If any one needs one of the linkages PM me as I have some made up. This is just the linkage not the whole sensor assembly which does cost ££££s Link below shows the part. http://evansweb.info/2009/11/23/ls400-ride-height-sensor-repair