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Here are my first impressions after three days and 560 miles in the C63 AMG. Bear in mind I am comparing a 2008 IS-F with a car six years younger so I have tried to be as objective as possible. Ride - I may be wrong but I don't think it is solely due to having 18" wheels as opposed to 19" on the IS-F but the ride feels better damped. In the IS-F the suspension used to rebound a couple of times which I had gotten used to but bumps and imperfections in the road are less intrusive in the C63. Don't get me wrong, it's still a firm ride though. As my IS-F was a 2008 model it's an unfair comparison as the ride is supposed to be improved on the later IS-Fs. Handling - when the C63 was facelifted in 2012 the suspension was improved significantly so although I've not pushed it too hard yet it feels slightly more planted than the IS-F. Again an unfair comparison as the suspension was improved in the later IS-Fs. I've not experienced any wheelspin in the C63 yet so it's not as tail happy in the wet as the motoring press like to make out. Economy - IS-F wins easily. I saw an indicated 25mpg (calculated was slightly less) in the C63 on a steady motorway drive I normally get 28-29 mpg from in the IS-F. The extra gear in the IS-F helps with this obviously but there is more engine braking when lifting off in top gear (7th) in the C63 than when lifting off in 8th in the F. I suppose this is due to 8th being a much taller gear. Equipment/Technology - The AMG is a 2014 model so ignoring where tech has moved on I'd say Lexus wins here. In absolute terms I have lost keyless entry/start and radar guided cruise control (radar guided bit is an extra, I just have standard cruise). I have gained bluetooth music streaming, USB integration and hard drive based sat nav (all three standard in the later IS-F anyway). Transmission - I always thought the F's transmission was underrated anyway and the C63's was similarly rated by the motoring press. There are three gearbox auto modes (comfort, sport and sport plus) as well as fully manual and a 'race start' launch control. Auto downshifts are not as smooth as the F but the facelifted C63 allegedly has a much improved transmission where it went from a torque converter auto like in the F to a Speedshift MCT - which is not a multi clutch like DSG or PDK (despite being called MCT) but uses a wet clutch instead of a torque converter. I'll need to drive it more to come up with a verdict for this bit. Engine/noise/performance - Both cars' engines are masterpieces in their own right. The secondary intake induction noise at engine speeds over 3700rpm in the F sounds better than the induction noise in the C63. The C63 seems to have more low down and mid range torque - down to the extra 1.2 litres of engine capacity I would guess. The C63 seems quicker revving or more free revving as well. Also, the 6.2 engine is artificially restricted to 457bhp to stop the C63 being faster than more expensive AMG models with the same engine. A remap removes the artificial restriction (throttle is limited to 65-75% opening depending on where you read) adding around 50bhp but I'll hold off for now. It does feel a little quicker than the F by my seat of the pants reckoning. Exhaust - I'm sure everyone knows already but the OEM exhaust on the C63 is loud! Interestingly, it's not louder than the F (inside the car at least) when pottering about but it really sounds great with cracks, pops and bangs when flooring it or auto blipping on downshifts although inside the car is much quieter than I expected - the noise is mostly on the outside. I'll add a quick clip. Practicality - my reason for changing cars - mine's an estate so decent load space, folding rear seats and seating for three in the back. I also think a debadged estate is more discreet. I deliberately avoided black and white C63s and went for boring silver. (Sorry don't mean to restart the colour debate again!) I will just add the front seats in the C63 are awesome though! That's the end of this brain dump for now, if I think of anything more I'll add to this thread.

3 door Sierra Cossie...

Well I put 1495 in but pulled around £15000 back, so definitely worth it and now, touch wood, all the common failure points of the 460 have been covered. The LS400 requires minimal money per year, I think last year it had the Cam belt done and that was it. I might throw a few hundred at it this year on the paintwork though as the roof is peeling it's lacquer.

Loved these Actually did own one briefly, swapped it for one of these.. Which was morphed into Fantastic fun, amazing acceleration (for the day) with low ratio diff giving a max speed of only 100mph Probably not good to revisit one's youth, high disappointment potential ...

If you did stop to talk, said owner would have said "Sorry, I don't need a taxi" or "I've never heard of an IS-F. Are they diesel?"

I remember the Beta, they sold well, and you couldn't move for the things, then they disappeared quicker than they came, either in a pile of rust, or bought back by Lancia and crushed. I googled and found this on youtube, a wonderfully posh item on the news.

@Flytvr They still produce the product the development the parts etc that go wrong in the first place due to crap quality poor tolerances and lack of engineering pride in the first place, must not dismiss this aspect. 😊 🐀

I'm going to add one to my list -

Saw McQ years ago not one of the Dukes finest but the Hornet was nice. Quite partial to a Hemi as well

Decided to upgrade to the facelift SC430 so here is my old silver car and the new one.... Its an early 2006 model so has the cheaper road tax bracket £305 not £525. colour is Montrose Blue Pearl with a Rutland Cream leather interior.

I am a bit of a nerd in that I have kept a book of ALL the expenses I have had with my Lexus since buying it and have now decided to work out exactly how much I have spent on it over the years ( very sad ) and share it with you. I bought this 1993 LS400 on 11.12.07 for £2975 from a car dealer working from home with the mileage of 67255. I paid about £500 more than I wanted to pay but he would not reduce the price at all and as it had a full Lexus service history and had been serviced about 3 months previously and had a big file of receipts from Lexus and also a private plate (Irish) so I decided to buy it-I would rather pay more for a well sorted car than buy a cheaper car that needs work doing. The colour is white with the blue interior. The condition was immaculate with no marks inside or outside. The costs so far are as follows: Insurance £3378 (the most expensive being £421 and current being £236) Road Tax £2095 Servicing and Repairs £1866 MOT (10 times) £450 Tyres £883 Gearbox Service £159 2 Batteries £252 Wheel Refurbishment £400 Tint back windows £140 Repair front bumper £150 Spray front wing £180 Air Con top up(5 times) £180 Misc waxes etc £80 AA membership £700 Petrol £9442 TOTAL COST £20355 (mileage now 98417-67255 when bought=31162 miles done) So I have owned it now for 9.5 years and it has been ultra reliable and never let me down (well, it did on only one occasion when my battery suddenly failed and I had to get the AA out for that, but the battery was 7 years old so not unexpected). Apart from normal servicing the only real faults I have had are the blinking dash lights (repaired for £65), front bonnet strut replacement,repair front window that stuck in up position (£60),re hang the exhaust that was vibrating, weld exhaust leak at front and secure heat shields (£40),,respray front wing that was starting to rust (£180). I have taken it in for 10 MOT's and it failed on 2 occasions-once for a tyre (replaced with spare) and once for headlamp aim( adjusted by MOT station)-so it has never had to go back to an MOT station to have any work done, I have always left with a fresh MOT. When I bought the car I also bought 1litre of oil for topping up-I threw this away a few weeks ago as it was nearly 10 years old and unopened!! The car is still in a very tidy condition but now has the odd few marks on the body/bumpers and a tiny piece of rust at the top of one door.The cd player is not working but the radio and cassette player is. The temperature for air con is black (has been for a number of years now) and the sunroof does leak occasionally when it rains very hard (have tried a few times to sort it out but given up now). The work that probably does need doing now is the cambelt and replace spark plugs (both done about 12 years ago at 60000 miles) but as the car is still running perfectly I cannot justify spending large amounts of money on a car of this age and value. I think I have been lucky with the small amount of faults I have had in 31000 mile of motoring and intend keeping it until any major fault arises at which time I couldn't really justify spending large amounts of money on it-I would probably then try and find a mark 4 which everyone seems to rate as a much better car, but hopefully that wont be any time soon!!??

@Flytvr Nah you know you love me really, in a non broke back way of course 😉 🐀

I think @emjay82 should be wary of these encounters you know, as Bucks taxis have an office at 'Broke buck mountain' or is it 'broke butt mountain ' 😊 🐀 I still have nightmares about the time I parked up at Kemble. There already parked was some bloke in a silver ISF. I politely chatted to him. I could never have imagined he was going to end up taking over this forum. INTRODUCING RATYY EXTRAORDINAIRE. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

There was definitely some F awareness, he was having a good look. Or looking for the tel number on the side of your car. Bucks Taxis. Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

😂 I could've looked very stupid, pulling alongside for some mutual Lexus chat, only to get "Ah.....Uber".

Driving through my village today and clocked a GSF. Looked lovely in blue, was going to say hello but was on route to an appointment..

LEXUS ENGINEERING A WINNER AS RC COUPE COMPLETES THE NüRBURGRING 24 HOURS A Lexus RC coupe has passed one of the toughest challenges in international motorsport, the Nürburgring 24 Hours. A near-standard version of the car completed the endurance race at the weekend free from mechanical issues to provide solid proof of the built-in quality and durability of Lexus engineering. Entered by Toyota Gazoo Racing in their 11th annual participation in the race at the legendary German circuit, the RC was driven by a quartet of Japanese drivers, Takuto Iguchi, Takamitsu Matsui, Naoya Gamo, and Hisashi Yabuki. A best qualifying lap of nine minutes 2.157 seconds secured 52nd place on the grid of more than 150 cars. The race was flagged away at 3.30pm on Saturday and the team enjoyed six hours of trouble-free running before contact with another car damaged the RC’s bodywork. Speedy work in the pits kept time lost to a minimum and the Lexus continued without any major technical problems, challenging rival Subaru and Audi entries for position in the race’s SPT3 class. Matsui took the wheel for the final stint, bringing the RC home in second place in its category, close behind the winning Audi TT, and a highly creditable 25th overall. The team were able to celebrate a great result and racing redemption for the RC, which had been forced into early retirement in last year’s race. The team’s participation provided a focus for both Lexus’s development of ever-better cars and for the nurturing of the personal skills and effective teamwork of Lexus and Toyota engineers who were selected to form the support crew for the event. Shigeki Tomoyama, Toyota Gazoo Racing President, said: “More than the finishing position, I am delighted that we successfully completed the whole 24-hour race. This is thanks to the individual efforts of our drivers, mechanics, engineers and support staff who were all united with a single purpose. I am also sincerely grateful for the ongoing support of our suppliers, partner companies, and our many fans. “Our efforts to make ever-better cars and develop our people to achieve this are never-ending. As part of these efforts, we hope to continue to take on the challenge of the Nürburgring in the future.”

The one on the right.. When John Steed's XJC came on the market; I did wonder. But then I looked at renovation costs and calmed down a bit.

I've had the LS460 15 months now, so thought id share some of my favourite photos from the past year. It's the SE-L model and includes the only optional extra of the heated steering wheel which is lovely to have on the cooler days. Ill not get too much into the pro's and cons of the ls460 v's the older models (I still have a mk3 LS400 that I use everyday), But the LS460 is no way near as bulletproof. Its been back in the dealership quite a bit and each journey you never set off in full confidence that everything will be ok like the LS400. If I gave the LS460 the continuous 'abuse' that the LS400 gets then I think the 460 would end up being a big paperweight whereas the 400 can take everything in its stride and then some. However it does feel way more special, it gets the looks, it handles great, it has the pace, it has all the toys and no matter how much of a headache it had been I love it! anyway, the photos....

@Corrado Same as your observations Matey, once updated it was fine, almost as good as the isF. None of the issues he had ever returned, the later one is definitely a good box. As you have the estate I would of done the same coupe and saloon just a touch gangsta for me 😏 🐀

Must admit, I've never owned an American car, but always lusted after them, since I was a kid. Would love one of these in my garage, it's like a work of art to me, and the sound I once heard, when two of them were having a play, accelerating off a roundabout, on to a dual carriageway, is something I'll never forget. Just gorgeous to behold.

I really wanted an integrale until the prices went crazy 😟

Suspension airbags, brake actuator, window regulators, power steering rack. All done under warranty, but it was a hassle getting the work done, and getting them to acknowledge there were issues was a nightmare, even with me telling them what parts needed replacing and proofing they were eligible to be replaced under warranty. Im fortunate that im a mechanic myself so know what im on about, I feel that a regular guy in the same position wouldnt have stoood a chance. I use the ls400 every single day, I use the ls460 a couple of times a month... the ls400 is on LPG which justifies that even more.

Pair of gloves is cheaper

Welcome Rob. I ran Saabs for 6 years...great cars. Run Lexus for last 4 years. Pics would be good !

Lexus drivers have a bad reputation. A bit like estate agents and builders ;)

I thought that Lexus drivers were nice friendly folk, I will be careful in future and will not consider approaching a fellow driver for an innocent chat 😳. it was OK last time, it was dark so I kept flashing my headlights, lots of people wanted to chat but didn't see their cars..... 😕

I had the Williams ceramic coating applied prior to me collecting my new RC. 6 months and 5k miles on it still beading well..

There was definitely some F awareness, he was having a good look.

Sorry for starting with kind of complaint, but few of above are out of reach yet. I don't know what is wrong with muscle car in UK (probably good business idea), but there are loads of them in US, dirt cheap (as they have always been). Maybe few most iconic ones gone up in price. but they were always rare and expensive, parts still dirt cheap and widely available - just choose what you want to import. I guess it is a misconception that muscle cars are exotic, in fact they are not - they meant to be cheap and basic. It is probably more difficult to find one in perfect shape, but I guess owning a classic car is inevitable without some attention. Quite like an example of Honda NSX.... just few years ago it was very affordable - I remember people using ones as a base for fake Ferraris, whereas now it is probably more expensive than those Ferrari's people tried to fake. I wonder if S2000 is another upcomming hit. I would add, BMW E30 M3 to my list.... which went from relatively cheap to completely out of reach (from £6-8k to now £35-60k), to be honest any E30 coupe is now crazy expensive - there are hardly any 320/325 left, even 318s which were at some point £600 now costs £3500+, cabrio's are slightly better though. E24 is still reasonably affordable (so not for the list of "gone days"), I guess it would be a good idea to get one while you can (sadly I don't have space to keep it), but E31 is getting madly expensive, especially 850s (£25k+) and Alpinas (£40-80k) whilst few year ago all 8-series could fit in £2500-10000 range. Next big "days gone" topic are almost all 911s... starting from original one to 930, to 968 and even 993 are all now madly expensive. Gone the days when you can enter classic Porsche club for £8000+, now that bar is nowhere in low £40k's. Even good 928 are becoming increasingly rare to find. Another big lost subject is Jag E-type, still remember the days when project cars were relatively "affordable", now even bare US import shell is 50k, S2 as well out of reach, so only the S3 is remotely on affordability list, but most requires full rebuilt. It is kind of funny to read adds as sellers really count your money and effort on restored car i.e. total rust bucket S1 lists at £70k with the note "restored cars goes for £150k"... but wait a second mate - you selling rust bucket in need of full restoration and count "my time and my resources" into the final price of the car?! If restored ones goes for £150k then restore it and sell it for that money... anyways... My point that Jag E-Type was for a while kind of popular project car, where you can get inexpensive rust bucket and convert it in real classic, but now sellers adds what meant to be your share in the project into their profit. Even older MB coupes are getting few and expensive i.e. SECs, old SLs were ar some point £1000 cars, now the prices are creeping towards £10k mark, especially R/C107 are now getting over £20k mark, W113 is a complete goner (though for some time already). For higher stakes classic, Aston Martin DB7 had at some point dipped to the affordable bucket, but now are back into high £20k's.. On my list soon to be gone cars would be, MB C215 CL (especially 55AMG), BMW E24 requires immediate investment, last of affordable 840s E31 will be gone soon, I guess Jag XK X100 (especially V8) has potential to be gone in E-Type league, last remaining XJ S123 coupes as well going to be gone out of affordable list soon. As always I suspect a conspiracy behind some cars, specifically specialist classic dealers buying out specific rare models. I have seen fields upon fields full of Classic Range Rover when these were going for ~£1000. Sometimes like 100-150 cars packed tight in single spot, then somehow soon you can only buy one in reasonable shape for £5000+. I am certain same applies to BMW E30 coupe, E24, E31 and Porche's 911. Some dealers buying in bulk then artificially limiting supply.

Loads of American stuff I love but the 427 Cobra, its just THE Daddy.................................

very very different to drive but in terms of what you get the lexus wins hands down saying that as someone who is a bmw fan or at least i was

Hi Keith I have checked and your code for cladding UCAB0 www.paintscratch.com use the cross reference for two tone

You can try this by setting CC at say 30mph and hitting cancel. Accelerate to 60 and allow the car to slow under no throttle, hit the 'resume' CC switch to re-enable cruise at 30. You will feel the car decelerating more rapidly.

CC actually uses the hybrid regen system to assist in slowing the car down to the desired speed.

At the moment they are everything except picture worthy... I will post one as soon as I have a decent one. Yes, we can meet up some time. I am still looking for some parts. (But as I understand correctly I need to have a gold account to post in buy/sell section? No idea how to get that.) And sins there isnt a big community over here I am searching in the UK. Maybe we can arrange something that you can bring mee parts, then I arrange something to drink off course! Well, because the oldtimer law is going to change from 25 to 30 years now was the time because only the early ones will benefit from the new laws. And sinds the previous owner had 2 project cars but never started I bought them for the price of one! Dont know what I am going to do with them, the body of the 480.000 looks better, but all the rest of the 90.000 one looks better. Dont know if i am going to keep both or make 1 perfect and sell the other.

Ouch, I expected the cost to be high, but £15k is silly money, even for Lexus. Makes that warranty even better value.

Always fancied one of these.....1967 Chevrolet Impala.

Nope but lets just say it was covered in rust and only had a shell when I got my hands on it! Wish I kept it but really didn't use it much, it was just lying around.

@McRattlehead Now you are talking years ago having watched the John Wayne movie McQ his car which they totalled 😳 In the end was a Green Hornet like this I thought then life was incomplete without one, it wasn't to be 🙄 🐀

Along with JDM supra or R33 skyline i`m a big us muscle fan,used to own a 90`s Firebird like Kitt,but always wanted the 455 70`s model.

@Corrado a debadged c63 estate is a very cool choice, congratulations! While there are a number of issues with them in reality these probably only affect the minority of cars so fingers crossed yours will be fine. A remap will soon take your mind off any issues anyway 😉

Looks great in estate form, much prefer this to the saloon.

Same as antiques, if you buy something you love, then enjoy using it, any profit is a bonus. I find shows like Quentin and Jodies classic car series, with it's focus on prices, a bit tiresome, I'd prefer more emphasis on the actual cars qualities.

YES but it's only a 1932 Triumph Southern Cross Sports Tourer, owned it for many years, probably appreciated in value by 200% to about £20k in the last 12 years ( cost me @£7k ) The advantage to selling a Classic Car is that it is capital gains tax free ( or it was ! ) provided you aren't a Trader or Dealer. Malc

E30 M3. Had the poor man's version (318iS) about 15 years ago and loved it. I'll always regret not trading-up since they were still affordable at the time. Potential ownership costs and fear of it getting stolen put me off though.

BMW 3.0 CSL "Batmobile"

I test drove one of these, back to back with an MGC and an MGB, all soft tops, all around the same £1200 mark, in the mid 70s. I don't know whether the Tiger or the 'C' were great examples, as I never drove either model again, but I ended up buying the 'B', which was slower than the others, but a much nicer drive. That's the great thing about dream cars though, the dream is often more enjoyable than the reality, and doesn't cost a penny.

@wow300 And I can verifying all that, I've seen the evidence of some poor Ferrari having its bottom chased 😂 🐀

Update - new hyperlinks for easy navigation. Interior section will be coming soon and I will be making changes throughout Last updated - 19/10/2015 Thanks to bluenose1940 for egging me on to get this finished! Rayaan's Guide To Detailing Your Lexus.pdf