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http://www.motoiq.com/MagazineArticles/ID/1853/Project-Lexus-IS-F-Part-2-We-test-the-PTS--Joe-Z-Series-Exhaust.aspx Found this while trawling through the net. Quite interesting reading about the power gains from the K&N intake let alone the Joe Z exhaust.

Just an update to my first post: I collected the 2008 GS450h last Friday. I've done about 200 miles in it and up to now, I'm relatively pleased. MPG history display shows many bars above 40mpg, but average seems to be settling at ~ 35mpg. I'm not worried (yet) as I suppose I'll get better at eking out the last mpg (Hmmm, given the performance, maybe not!). This being my first drive in a hybrid, I'm not sure whether the "oddities" are just typical of how a CVT / Hybrid drives. There is a "smell" to the car which I suppose is to be expected given its age, but after reading the threads on here about detailing a 450h, I shall set about bottoming it - just as soon as it stops p*ssing down. I shall also try to remember to take some before / during / after photos. I think at least /some/ of the smell emanates from the "rubber" boot tray, which , although branded "Lexus", smell just like the cheap plastic crap you get from China. There are a few features which I have on my LS400 which I'd read about and assumed were standard on GS's which aren't in fact present on mine - sunroof, powered seat-belt adjustment, rear seat heat, rear armrest storage, under-seat storage box, and some which I'd hoped were there in addition: seat cooling front and rear, smart-phone integration. In the meantime, a question for GS nnnh owners: How often do you manage to get a full stack of green bars on the display - and is it necessarily desirable to get to that state? Finally, many thanks to all the contributors on here - one example of how you've helped is the thread on the failing hybrid pump - the description of the transition between gear regimes had me worried when I first went through the 50 - 70 mph stage under power and noticed a sub-1-second hesitation. However, I have since done 50-70 under /FULL/ power, and no hesitation. I'm hoping I have just succeeded in its first "Italian Tuneup"!

Running costs for me are small because I only use it during the summer . I've only done 3000KMS since I bought it. To be honest I wouldn't like to run it as a daily driver as they do like a drop of petrol but to be fair it wasn't made for economy !!!!. As for reliability I would say its great. Engines are strong and gearboxes are bullet proof . As with any performance car they do need to be looked after correctly . My Spec C is totally standard apart from exhaust and a remap for our crap petrol over here. I would recommend one to anybody but finding a nice clean example is getting very hard these days so importing from Japan is probably the best option.

Just celebrating The Walking Dead season 8 😃

A blast from the past. I thought I’d remind everybody how much fun is had on a WelshBlat.. I believe another one is being organised for April 2019. How exciting!

@Mark G Still miss my last Blue tranny as well ☹️ Mind you that had 100bhp this has 180bhp..... small consolation I suppose...... 😏 🐀

You need to stop putting pictures on the forum, I don't look good in green! The pre-facelift doesn't have exposed exhausts, but I had them fitted to my previous one, and it made such a difference to the look of the rear end. The only thing stopping me doing it again is traveling the 12 miles to Brighton. Maybe next week!

Stick with the cream - much lighter in the winter, especially in Scotland. Black will depress you in the long winter. You can get it cleaned! That looks a peach - and a full history. If that is Bangernomics then bring it on! Condition and history is more important than age. I am really enjoying driving my RX 300. I will give my views on th RX when I have owned it a bit longer. At the moment it is much better than I expected. Great view from the driver's seat, headlights are very good at night and the ride is much better than I expected. Let us all know what your wife thinks of it.

WTF............................

Right I know is been a while and just thought I'd give you all an update, the banging through the steering wheel and steering going heavy is due to when I accelerate in first gear and maybe second (not often) is the header is so close to the rack and pinion it is actually hitting, as it has wore away the heat wrap. Hopefully getting it to my mates garage to see if he can heat it up with a torch and gently pursued the header in a bit instead of cutting and welding a notch out of it as I don't want to go down that route. So to anyone thinking of getting headers just do a test fit on drivers side to see how close it is might need to modify it a little. But apart from that they are the nuts and gives the car a tottally different feel performance wise and an even better sound, I'll try and get some videos up soon as I'm doing a dyno day in mid November. Thanks for all the help and advice also

Just had a nosey, sounds good but so it should for the dosh. Wonder if there's any second hand? going for a look.

@mike m Does look well made plenty of em on the tube. 🐀

ouch, that would hurt the credit card balance. Nice though.

I haven't watched the new episode yet, don't chat to much about it!! Not until tomorrow anyway!!

Put Goodyear vector 4season on the GS. All season tyres seem be all the rage at the moment Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah it’s got a 12 month warranty but was wondering if the offer would get tagged on consecutively if I bought the offer now, but I’m sure you’re right - best to ask them directly.

Actually now I have the white I love it as much as the blue & with only one previous owner with only 12k on the clock currently I would be made to change it!. Kept an eye on them for about 3 yrs before test driving one at Cheltenham and then another year before my one came up so no intention of changing for another ISF 😉

you can install in onto a out side light if you already have one or i just wired it up with a length of cable and a 3 pin plug on the end. its a bit fiddly to install so expect some swear words.

I know what you're saying Piers and it may indeed work; at this point there's no harm in trying because the screw heads are already damaged. However, it was either the incorrect use of the proper tool or using an incorrect tool that got him in this mess to begin with - and a penknife tip has never been the proper tool to drive screws with, even if it is a Swiss Army one

Not a fan of the HKS to be honest! Pipe looks very narrow as well compared to mine? You also keep the fake tips with this setup. Better off going with an H&S setup.

I'm not sure if they're classed as "all season" or not but I can say that I'm extremely pleased with the Avon ZX7 tyres that I put on mine a while back; very good and highly recommended.

How much!!

It don’t look as good as this though available as well from Fensport the price well....... just check for yourself........😳 🐀

I took delivery of my new (and 1st) Lexus NX300H Sport I am absolutely delighted with it, changed from having Mercedes after Mercedes after Mercedes...Very very impressed with my new toy.

It’s called teasing....... from a safe distance 😂 🐀

I have a late 2011 with the large rev counter, revised suspension, DRL’s, LSD, sport button on blue panel steering wheel, full postcode sat nav etc. Also saw similar car registered in 04/2011 and another member confirmed his was an earlier 2011 when this came up previously. 2010 model with Mechanical LSD has blue panel steering wheel with original equally sized rev counter/speedo. There seems to be some overlap probably depending on when they were registered. I was also originally after the blue/ black leather, but they are very rare as pointed out above. Mostly tend to come up with the white leather. Good luck with the search though they are a great car👍🏻

Well done and enjoy getting familiar with your new to you steed. The battery meter can be topped out braking lightly down a long steep hill or too. I get a full battery shown when over in Yorkshire or Derbyshire but rarely around here. When showing a full charge my car has a good bit more oomph off the line and runs for longer on battery. My line stays on battery power longer if you have it set on Normal. Sport or PWR will rarely see battery only motion. Also keep in mind that the battery meter isnt a true representation of the actual battery bank, it shows something like 40 to 80% actual battery charge. In reality you don't need to worry about it.

Thanks for the order. Cheers Tim

I use Castrol Edge 5w-30 for my 430 - on a side note will 0w-30 make much difference - will it be better for the engine?

Hi I would use a 5w-30 oil http://www.opieoils.co.uk/c-653-5w-30.aspx The best ones there are the Fuchs/Silkolene Pro S, Motul 300V, Mobil ESP, Castrol Edge, Shell Helix Ultra ECT, Millers XF, Fuchs GT1 and Red Line, but the Motul Eco-Energy, Mobil Super 3000, Shell Helix HX7 AF/AG and Fuchs XTR are good cheaper alternatives. Regards Tim

For the styling I like it. Looks more aggressive from the front but the grills stand out too much in anything other than a dark colour on the F Sport. Addition of longer rear tail lights is certainly welcome and looks spot on IMO as the current ones looked a tad small and only 1 bulb lights up for the brake lights which i thought was unsafe but thats changed now, a few light up so easier to see. New screen is a bonus and the new toggle switches look and feel better. Overall not bad at all but I think they should have paid some attention to the drivetrain and given it the IS engine atleast if the wanted to keep costs down.

And

5w30 always.

Lol, MOT today, 56,801 Miles, fell in love again, don’t think I can sell her, can’t find anything I like as much, the wife has desided to stay too 😂🤣😂.......car got clean bill of health by Lexus and MOT with no advisories again 😉

I do not know if you saw my post from July 6 regarding a high quality audio input for the 2006/7 GS range. The system is cheap, easy to install with very high quality sound results. It also keeps all the wheel and touch controls. Unfortunately it is not capable of controlling you Ipod, but is otherwise excellent. www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/112477-aux-audio-in-instructions/ John.

I have a 2002 RX300, the gearbox of which has recently given up the ghost after 132,000 miles. I know that I could not have bought a warranty on it, extended or otherwise, but a quote for £2,562 plus another £1,700 + VAT for a new E.C.U., the old one which, I was told, caused the problem, means that the car is not financially viable to repair. It also has a problem with the cabin air system. So I have bought an '06 SE model with 88,000 miles on it. Obviously Lexus will not sell a warranty, but Quentin Wilson's sponsored firm will, but only for up until the car is 14 years old. I hope that this helps with the discussion. Anyone want to buy the old one for spares after I have removed the L.P.G. conversion.

I think Lee above has the correct details. I found the first time I changed the filter it was on ridiculously tight to the point of possibly braking something. The filter does not require it to be tight to obtain a good seal since the "O" ring seal is between inner and outer diameter surfaces, and not end to end surfaces. All that is required is a light pinch on tightening. The Prius uses the same filter but the housing is plastic. It uses the same method of fitting but has a metal spring strip that stops the hosing being turned to remove unless the spring strip is pressed rather like a one way ratchet mechanism. This removes the need to tighten till it will go no further. The filter it's self seems to be very expensive considering it does not have the outer can, and threaded base plate that must cost more to produce. It also is more labour intensive, messy, and likely to have contaminants entre the lubrication system than the canister version. A step back to the 1950's. John.

Not noticed anything more than their already was but will now monitor it more closely, this always was an issue from day one with some cars.

Good shout Robert as I nearly bought a filter tool last week, then noticed the option of the filter drain and subsequently got distracted with something else. Interweb threads recommend getting a tool that doesn't just pickup on the flats but also to the locating teeth deeper down the housing. The tool is 14 flats at 64.5mm right?

So for me the picture that captured the location the weather and of course the is-F was this one taken by none other than @Rusty Crobar Thanx Russ 👍 Big Rat

Becky Blue looking lovely

Well ive had a very productive weekend and ive got loads done, more than i expected tbh! I continued sorting out the body wiring harness and the ecu box relocation. I managed to find some old brackets at work to secure the ecu box, all i had to do was shape them to hold the box and drill the holes to bolt them. The black bracket you can see here just needs straightening slightly. This is the top bracket which will secure to the fuse box bolting point. And this is how its sitting. Just need to remove the brackets now and spray them black to hide them. The next bit was mind numbing...... but strangely i had fun 😂 it was time to extend the harness. Here some stats as i like stats... 67 wires to extend. 134 soldered joints 134 shrink wraps 73 feet of wire (2,077 inches) 1 can of butane gas for my pencil torch No idea how much solder As you can see its not quite finished, i have 15 more wires todo but ran out of heat shrink and my pencil torch packed up! Once done it will be taped up and will cover it with some hard plastic split coating to protect it. The wiring has not cost me a penny, i got a complete vehicle body harness from work off a BMW F30 and just picked out the correct gauge wires (wasnt interested in wire colours) to match that of the wires on the lexus. This is the loom during the hacking. I also acquired loads of loom clips that pin the loom to the body as these will always come in handy. As this came to a halt because of the shrink wraps and pencil torch issue i moved on to the engine. Managed to get the head off pretty quick as alot of the engine was already stripped down. The engine was in fantastic condition inside which you would expect on a 12 year old engine with full service history and just 28k on the clock No signs of any sludge or staining Once the head was off i had a quick look at the pistons and bores and these too are in good condition. Not had the sumps off yet. And thats it for the weekend, looking to finish the loom some time in the week and hit it again next weekend.

Rear end sunday

Hi Bempa, The quality is good, i'm very surprised when i received it, beacause it's not plastic emblem, it's metal emblem. http://www.ebay.fr/itm/2-pc-Universal-Trunk-Badge-Fender-Emblem-Black-Red-VVTI-VVT-I-Sticker-For-Toyota/182510010967?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

ICE forming.....the mids were going to sit behind the ML grills but they were recessed too far back so I'm now in the process of trimming the door panel to accept them. Getting them in at the right angle, tilted slightly in and slightly up in equal measure, left and right

New wheels

I'd like to join in but fear I wouldn't be able to keep up... Perhaps best I meet you there.

I guess Lexus don't feel that you need to be able to see the tacho when you are just letting the cruise manage things!

I wasn't sure what run-out is so asked Dr Google and found this response which I found very informative. Hope it will be of help to Fergie. All new tyres have visible coloured markings forming a radial band on the tyre. Several of these markings represent destination between the manufacture and the recipient.... Cars like Lexus require specific compounds so the radial markings do indeed allow the process to become visible and act like a bar code.But there is also important information held within those lines that most consumers and tyre centres are not aware of, in particular the position of the outer line (colour does vary)..... Depending on how the belts are positioned during construction imperfections will allow the casing and the tyre tread to 'run out'. This disparity allows the compression to steer the tyre laterally regardless of any actions taken by the driver thus generate a pull.The manufacture measures the degree of run out and marks the severity onto the tyre by the position of the outer band, typically the colour is Red or Blue, if the colour band is central then the run out is considered 0, if the band is toward the outer edge the tyre will need a 'reactive' partner to belay any pull. So the positions are vital to you and your car.... example Realising this problem then it's easy to conclude if the tyres are symmetrical in tread construction, if the tyres are asymmetrical or directional then the centre will need to find a suitable match with an opposite reactive lateral partner....... Their problem not yours...... So next time you buy tyres have a look for the banding and decide what match you want..... remember most centres will have no idea of your request due to misunderstanding and lack of knowledge so you need to be wise.

I'm up for this and will be there