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After 33,000 mles driving the IS-F and 13,500 in the RC-F, I have found the RC-F to feel faster in almost all road conditions, except the wet. It also has a greater sense of occasion and is no problem in car parks. The back seats are a little tight though. The RC-F does not feel heavier to me, possibly due to the improved power to weight ratio. I also prefer the steering, which is heavier. The IS-F did feel a little less attached to the road in a corner, which I imagine translates in the eyes of journalists into a looser back end and more drift potential. The biggest improvement is the ride; it is a step change better. I would love to get back in an IS-F to see if my memory is playing tricks on me. Now I've really fallen for the RC-F, there is a risk all sorts of biases have taken over. I've even decided not to swap it for an Alfa Quadrofoglio for at least another 2 years; it si that good.

Unnecessarily harsh, I think it's more than reasonable to ask a question of the forum, people are generally very kind and keen to provide some pointers, at least that is my experience of the group.

Hi Mark, RAF Machrihanish used to be owned by MOD / US Navy SEAL team operated from this base before it closed as operational base and has been taken over by MACC, a private firm renting out land / buildings. The runway has been used for MACC rally stage and is sometime available for private cars to open up and test without fear of getting ticket! or running into someone - apart from maybe local deer!! It is used only twice daily for Flybe service in from Glasgow and was the reserve runway for space shuttle, I think it was longest in UK and second longest in Europe so should be able to get to maybe full speed? and safely stop again!! Thanks for welcome

I had an RC-F for a day as a courtesy car whilst my F was in for a service. Judging where the corners were didn't seem any harder than the IS-F and it was definitely more of an occasion to drive, seats were more comfortable than I expected. Not so sure about those doors in the car parks though as if I got one it would be replacing my F as my daily driver. It felt pretty positive on the road when I drove it, though I wasn't pushing it, definitely more of a GT than a track day special IMHO.

And mine is of a bloke admiring the worlds greatest alcoholic drink brewed in Eire - I think 😂 Big Rat

There are 4 isfs for over £30k on AT right now, madness!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/TPMS-Sensors-4-TyreSure-T-Pro-Tyre-Pressure-Valve-for-Lexus-GS-05-12-/182293744248?hash=item2a718dca78:g:cs0AAOSw8w1X6Tcs Get you local tyre place to fit them and then program them with Techstream. Don't forget to note the numbers on them before fitting because you'll need them for programming. If you've not got Techstream, get it because it can save you a small fortune.

@Oscar (The Grouch) Craig you are right about the Americans it was Seal team 1 who were there for some time , they are now based in Honolulu....... Now I'm just wondering were they would much rather be here or here Big Rat 😂

Morning, have just been on phone to Border Cars and their mechanics have confirmed that the Lexus IS F was taken in and photographed initially with custom back boxes in place. The garage would not sell the car on with this exhaust arrangement so the original back boxes have been replaced. I was sure that the standard Lexus system was on the car when I test drove it?? - it was very quite at low revs. Thank to Lockeyboy (Mark) for the eagle eyes on the photos and all the other members for their positive comments - A great forum so far - excellent help / comments from all. The SILVER IS F's are spreading out to all corners of the UK - looking forward to giving it a blast on the local runway at RAF Machrihanish where I can legally boot it to see how well it goes (runway well over 3 miles long and empty - most of the time anyway!) Cheers.

Hello All, I've just joined the forum so a big hello to you all. I've had my IS-F for nearly a year now and its fab, great fun and amazing to drive. Look forward to getting to know more of you going forward. Many thanks. Cheers, Jon.

It's brexit? All avatars are European property. We only get to call ourselves numbers or letters now. And Ggogle, being in Luxembourg, won't work, etc...... How are you with wood fires and a flint? MY Avatar? It's of the view from Nicholas Luard's house in Andalucia, towards Morocco. So immune!

Bearing in mind my youthful 19 and 20 year old v8's are still running, you can see how they'll still make money too!

@Flytvr you've burnt all your warranty bridges there mate, I hear they hide the coffee and cakes when you pull up on the forecourt now 😂 🐀

TBF the warranty is quite comprehensive - apart from the obvious wear and tear stuff. They don't quibble with much (my dealer doesn't anyway)

I find the whole satnav/infotainment system the absolute weak spot of the car. It costs a fortune and in my idea is a big waste of money, i would not recommend anyone to order this. The satnav with its cumbersome mouse like operating system is a disaster in its own right and the navigation itself is so bad it is almost like Lexus did this on purpose. I use Google, sooo much better and easier to operate. I sometimes use both systems to see who wins and guess what? Google Always Wins. I have no idea why a below par system of 2 generations ago found its way in a Lexus. It drags the whole car down.

Welcome to the club Jon

Many stories of American SEAL's over the years getting up to things they shouldn't have and crashing - mainly boats + breaking bones with late parachute openings - I digress. Not sure when runway would be open again for next public use - but will update you Mark if I get contact for random use - it is not that often that vehicles get on - will let you know. Will borrow dash cam - Mark - if I get an opportunity to open it up on runway and post results

When I bought a SAAB, it had all the service documents. That old trick of charging an outrageous price per litre of oil was there (who buys it per litres, the garage has a 100 litre drum out back), but they had also charged him for 8 litres even though the car took only 4 litres!

All you need to do Gee, is test drive one for a weekend ! Regards John

Welcome to you, I see from your profile Somerset is mentioned 2 others on here hail from there. As @Mark G mentioned come along to next Kemble meet if you can you'd be most welcome, if you do just keep your hands close to your cake ! Big Rat

Another blue one steps into the arena, I can feel a Kemble meet coming on.................

Interesting stuff. If I bought an rcf I would have to slap on an exhaust and probably hangs the wheels as I don't like the stock ones at all. Depending on how it handled a set of coilovers and that would be job done. I will most likely test drive one. depreciation is a key for me. I don't finance my cars so use the funds in my current car to help with the next purchase. I sold the isf for what I bought it for 2 years later and my list is won't move much if at all in 3 years where as the rcf still has money to lose. Good topic is this one.

Used the Nav coming back from the Cannock meet, excellent route guidance. Chose the Eco route for no reason other than curiousity. Was a great drive! Only complaint really was the frequency of the voice guidance, worse than the wife!! 😁 The traffic update worked well guiding me round the NEC congestion. All in all, excellent system, if a little unintuitive in operation.

Looks like its the first letter of each posters name, was guessing its just a forum board update?

Yes it can be a quandary, it's not like running a little 1.0 litre petrol Fiesta, mine runs till February 2019 so I shall have her till then and consider my options. Big Rat

I find sat nav works best if you know where you are going.....no bear with me on this... Plan your route before you go and stick to it, ignore any silly sally SatNav requests to turn off the route you have decided. Only when you get to near the end of your journey do you need to take notice of the directions. For instance when traveling from home to a new address you only really need to know where to go after getting off the motorway. Most people know how to get from their house to the motorway and can then navigate the motorway network to the junction to get off. Conversely when you come back home you only need the SatNav to give directions to the motorway then you know the way home. It is nice to have the expected time to destination so you can see how long you have to go but you don't need to follow it blindly. It's also fun to ignore the directions and see if your way is quicker. Unlike SWMBO silly sally SatNav does not take offence if you ignore their directions.

Had a look under mine at the weekend whilst it was dry and sunny. The whole of the arch has got a liner so I'm not sure how the MoT inspector would see the filler end although I assume (although I haven't looked yet) they would be able to see the end of the filler where it enters the tank. Unless the rust is on the short section of pipe inside the fuel filler flap area but that seems the least likely place as it's very well protected by the flap and the surrounding metalwork. Was I looking in the right place or has the area covered by the liners increased on later models (I have a 2012 pre facelift).

Shell V Power all the way for me, both on the RC-F and the IS-F, and all my fast Subarus before. After completely unscientific testing I decided it improved fuel consumption enough to offset the cost. It also makes cars faster. So basically its a free power boost... ....or the placebo effect. In any case, when depreciation is £500-2000 a month, an extra £5-20 a month on fuel is not worth fretting about

I had a Mercedes S class 280 W reg W126 and it was the greatest car I ever had until I found my LS400 and fell in love in the same way I had done with the Mercedes all those years before. Sadly unlike Lexus the reliability these days on Mercedes is dreadful. I will stay with Lexus now. Happy Lexus motoring

Do you have those mesh style Jon, or the 2008 style?

Yes shame they didn't integrate this as oem. Although not perfect this does give Bluetooth music streaming for the older F's and track/volume control from the steering wheel. I have one installed. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00GU1NYN8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Aj82ybQFMKK8W Vaistech and Grom also do a fully integrated version for about £500 which gives you Google maps, youtube etc.

Duncan I understand you were referring to the software and to that extent the set up for the UK will not be any different. Lexus use the criteria set by California for their emissions benchmark which to my knowledge is the same on any Lexus LS worldwide.

I'll keep sending them back until they get them right. The guy was pretty unhelpful really, so next time if I have to contact I'll ask for a supervisor. Pete

So I think I can conclude that the RCF has been reviewed primarily on the track which has led the journalists to give negative reviews, in reality it's a perfectly good F car for normal driving, offering good value thanks to those journalists 👍. The GSF is probably a better all-rounder and good on the track, hence the rave reviews and will therefore hold its value.

@rayaans Here they are - So you see @rayaans when you do get the RCF you can recoup some costs from members on here 😂 Big Rat

@Flytvr It does sound pretty good better than an isF but not quite as good as a Gsf. Big Rat

Welcome to the forum Jon, do you use the IS-F as your daily driver or weekend toy?

I think on an old car it is best to do as much as you can yourself, and find a good local garage for the rest. My local F1 Autocentre (Bury St Edmunds) changed all 4 pads + a brake clean-up, and did and oil and filter change (while it was up in the air) and balanced all 4 wheels for £155 all in. The young mechanic also said he has never changed pads that were so easy on any car! Look at a LEXUS service, it is an oil/filter change, plus 'a bit of checking'. Changing an air filter and cabin filter yourself takes 15 minutes and costs £20ish, and Bosch/Mann parts too. Plugs about £65 for the best iridium Denso's every 50-60K miles. I provided the Mann filter, Toyota sump nut washer, and 5 litres of Shell best fully 5-30 synthetic for £33. The 4 Pagid pad sets cost £57. The manager and team there are always happy to fit your bits (as they are cheaper than they can buy ,,,,,,, yes amazingly true). That means for about £250 I am set up for a years servicing and about 5 years of brakes.

The weight of the rcf may be similar to the isf but it might feel heavier. For example the steering could be slower, the brakes softer and the suspension less direct. This could make it less fun than the isf, which I find very direct in all these areas. I'm just theorising here but big 4x4s and Bentleys can be made to feel lighter than they are by good tuning. It makes me think a modified rcf could be made in to a much better car than the reviews suggest, if you like that sort of thing... 😶

Check your settings in NAV as one can set the ave speed the car uses to calculate ETA. Maybe set very low for each road type

Wheels......... No, No.... not more wheels.

Haha 😂, I know exactly what you mean. Great actress 😉

The ISF has set the bar pretty high as the first F. Some of us have caught the Lexus bug, like me, and wouldnt hesitate to buy another one. I wouldn't say no to either RCF or GSF, and for daily driving (non track) I'm sure both cars are still very impressive. In reality, an exciting drive is typically a spirited b Road or sweeping bend joining the motorway. I don't think I would ever push the car enough to know the issues raised by the car journalists. They're both reliable, fast and sound good. That's good enough for me.

I think you are missing a major point here, you say "when it comes to a practical buying decision the price will be a major thing"", this just simply does not apply with some people, they buy with their heart, they spend what they can afford but a practical buying decision it is not.

I called these guys when I needed a new key. www.themasterlocksmith.co.uk. They have very active facebook page if you want to message them on there instead. They recoded existing key (remote buttons stopped working) and cut and coded a brand new key for £90 quid, took less than hour. The plastic casing on key was different. I was told the standard Lexus keys were prone to cracking. I was quoted £288 originally by Lexus....

@DAW David that's a good point, interesting to see what the exhaust is 👍 🐀

That colour is the business makes that car look a million $$$$$. Can we see the inside?

@Oscar (The Grouch) Well done that man, I know you will enjoy it, simply because on the whole they are the best there is, and as regards colour........well no one on here can say I've ever and I mean ever expressed a preference. Big Lieing Rat

Where's the flux capacitor.?

Something worth checking; When I repaired my transmission oil pump last week, I noticed that there are four jubilee clips clamping the heat shields to the exhaust section around the cats. (2 each side). All four had broken and there was some rattle on start-up until the exhaust had warmed up slightly. Its worth checking that this is not your rattle, first of all. They only took me a few minutes to fit and they were about a £1 each. Worth a look.