Leaderboard

So I've been going through 'The Rat' archives and thought I'd show this I won't put up the full vid as it's a members car and it will be recognised. The car was a Lexus press and motoring magazine loaner and was used for much promotional work, 175 mph with 2 gears to go 🤗 Big Rat

I mentioned earlier that a fair few have changed there cars and lots of new members so it's time for pictures of your 'F's ! I'll kick it off with mine............ Big Rat

@Flytvr Hey Dav no wonder @Mark G ‘Blue ‘is difficult to find he’s got a second job........ Big Rat

Before the illuminated Taxi sign was fitted....................

Here's my old one!

@Linas.P "£3750 for my 176k miles IS250" no way it must be some kind of mistake. Maybe they missed the leading 1 from millage :) As for the stone chips it got few in the bumper as expected but windscreen is almost new as it was replaced (OEM one with Lexus logo). @Jamesf1 Thanks for sharing that. It is probably then a feature rather than fault @Mike Hartland You welcome. What else I've found out is while normally driving in GEN3 to Luton from M25/M3 was 35mpg, now in GEN4 it was 43mpg in a medium traffic. Another observation is GEN4 doesn't use so much of aluminium - like front fender and bonnet was aluminium in GEN3 while in GEN4 it seem to be old good steel. In general I've noticed that GEN4 got more accountant interventions - money was shifted from technical parts (like aluminium) to the interior closer to the driver. I've attached some promised photos. If you take a look at the last one you will notice that I've replaced the remote touch knob with the newer version one :) If yours is a little bit tired like mine or you don't like the look of the older version this is really easy change and cost £12 only for brand new one from Lexus.

18 months of ownership, the only things I had to pay for were pads and tyres. Having seen @emjay82 ‘s car lots of times, I can vouch for it being an absolute peach 🍑 The interior and exterior colours work beautifully together. A very pretty car

Back in the day I used to get Kent fast road cams fitted to my hot hatches. Got an extra 35bhp from my ford escort RS2000. I wonder if these are available for the F?

As i live only 3miles from beaulieu motor museum i should be able to make it !!!

Found another one @Big Rat but 175mph in the wet lol. Do they do open days there? Would be an interesting ISF meet.

Here's my GSF. You can add to your database Big Rat, ex Lexus GB car.

My temporary 3 wheeler

Stay away from the XFR! This was my alternative choice when I got my ISF last year too. They are no more reliable than your STR would be once you start racking the miles up. Be prepared for the 'gearbox fault' limp modes at every verse end and endless misfires that both seem to be totally fine as soon as you get to the dealer and pay 'em £150 for a fruitless diagnostic check. I loved my STR for the ride, styling and power but it cost me the same as the car cost me to own it for two years and it had every conceivable issue. From what the head tech at Solihull Jag told me in good faith, the XFR's are no better. Get an ISF and relax for the rest of your life!

For reference, only non service related part I’ve had to replace was a knackered auxiliary pulley. Around £250 including fitting. That’s it.

Please don’t get confused regarding the coolant leak issue, don’t believe U.K. models suffer from this, nor the sticky interior trim or any other minor niggles/issues raised across the pond. Mine has been running fine with 640hp thanks to the addition of an RR-Racing supercharger kit, but not had coolant leaks etc. Lexus have checked it for me, nothing. Pound for pound the most reliable car I’ve owned. Sorry to see you go, but hope the car finds a loving new home, it deserves it.

Now that’s funny!!!

Here's mine, not the best photo, someone graffiti'd on the road... 😉

I agree with you Mike. However, here is an extract from an Autocar review "Lower, wider and longer, the styling is far more adventurous – borderline funky, in fact - and comes with uncommon presence and an almost fanatical devotion to detail. That ‘spindle’ front grille has 5000 surfaces and took one stylist 14 weeks of solid work to design, after which I’m guessing he or she had to go and lie in darkened room for almost as long again."

Pics of Mine

I would have gone for Blue or Red only. I don't like the look of Carbon ones and didn't fancy the extra cost. There is (or was) another Black one. This RC-F, if you'll excuse the pun. Lexus Chester had it as a demo in Early 2015 and I took it to the EVO triangle to see what it was like. I saw the plate on a White one at Lexus Chester just before Christmas

I had just got out of this car after @Mark G had taken me for a little ride. Very impressive. Not a hard decision at all and the one offered on LOC is lovely. You know you deserve it... John (who doesn't )

Hi there, liking for recommendations for a service garage or mechanic in the Hackney area. Any suggestions would be much appreciated. The car was serviced by previous owner at Lexus garage but it's too expensive to continue! Thx. N.

I found the limiter (i think) on mine in June last year... the speedo showed just under 180mph at around 6000rpm in 7th. I can’t say I looked more accurately at that....

@FTBBCVoodoo A white Gsf nice..... a load of us had a play in this one last summer sweet..... Big Rat

Yes - I'm sure the wideband sensors run at about 3.3V with a stoichometric mixture. The older type downstream sensors vary between about 0.1 and 0.9 volts but Techstream just reports lambda, which we discussed somewhere above. To get the graphs you click on whichever parameters you want on the top 3 screens above. The particular row is then highlighted blue. Then you click on the graph icon at the bottom of those screens. You get the parameters shown as stacked graphs (4th pic down). You can then choose to show any one of them full screen - there are menu, full screen and graph type buttons on each graph. I guess there's a way of setting the timebase but I haven't explored that.

@DAW David I agree sounds perfectly plausible, the kind of HONEST development work that the Japanese put into the higher revving engines has proven to be a better long term second hand bet than the German stuff, don't hear of the Honda S2000 having problems and yet when had there last gt3 revving up to the high eights it's proved disastrous some of them are on there 3/4 engines under warranty. Which no longer covers them for track work which is what the car was aimed at laughable 🐀

Afraid not. Activating Youtube now for more "I wish I had it in white" envy :-(

Sounds like these dealerships need to be a bit more consistent!

In the video I’ve seen of a 2008 ISF v M3 & C63 at Silverstone it came second to the M3 by about 1.5 seconds on a 2 min lap and both the German cars had LSDs. Suspect a comparison of the ISF with the LSD would make the M3s advantage virtually disappear. Back in my youth I test drove a Golf GTi 16v which on paper was superior to the standard 8v GTi. I then drove a friends 8v GTi & it was so much more torquey lower down - I much preferred it to the 16v.. I’m no expert, but perhaps Lexus dilberatley chose a higher capacity / lower bhp to ensure a more usuable balance of torque than some of the more highly tuned engines.

All I got out of Bristol Lexus was headaches!

So been in Lexus Coventry today and they didn’t fail to impress with their amazing service! Airbag sorted for recall + £25 of free fuel! Waterpump replaced Warranty purchased no questions asked even with my intake and filter (car is 10 in March) Offer of champagne and canapés (no joke!) also had a sit in the black GSF they’ve got, look a lot better in the flesh, very nice car!

@FTBBCVoodooLee cracking picture mate out for her quiet drive in the country side Big Rat

We’re all at it!!!

Agreed, special and very under rated ...

Nice! That's 175mph on the speedo, so probably 155-165mph actual? Do Lexus speed limit their performance cars, as MB do?

In the interests of science, I've been out and played with my Techstream a bit - and surprised myself. Here are a few snaps of live engine data, concentrating on the oxygen sensors (upstream and downstream). The engine was cold when I started (see it says 5 deg C somewhere) and warmed up whilst I was taking the pics and working out what I wanted to show. Don't worry James - by the time you've got the Techstream connected and worked out what's what with the program the engine will be nicely warmed up if you connect the Techstream as soon as you get in the car and start the engine! Note that the upstream sensors read about 3.3v and the downstream ones show lambda about 1.000. Pay no attention to the numbers - I just chose the pics at random from the ones I took, then cropped and resized them. The numbers are just to differentiate them as I saved them.

I hate estate agents

I am a great Lexus fan but I cant fall in love with that frontage it is terrible. I assume the designer scribbled it on a piece of paper after a long long Friday lunch where too much Saki was imbibed.

I agree. Where the previous model was massive and imposing, the new one is more elegant and refined. You have to be a Lexus fan though: that grille is HUGE!

Good idea ratty . Especially now it combined 👍

@stevetNo probs whatsoever an original back in the day owner rrrrrrespect 😂 🐀

Various things: - I no longer needed a car the size of the RX, even though the NX may not be that much smaller on paper, there is enough of a difference to make parking and driving along narrow lanes easier. - I love the design of the NX, in and out. Also, while the RX was nicely kitted out, it is a much older design than the NX which now offers phone charging tray, LED lights, DAB, better Bluetooth connectivity, etc. I could have replaced our RX with another 3RX (a 4RX is currently out of my price range), but I wanted a change. - Our RX was getting "old" and tired, with high miles. Cream interior looks lovely, but does not age particularly well, even if looked after. In particular the seat belts which are a pain to clean, and the carpets that have become discoloured in places. - My dealer offered me a fantastic deal on a low mileage car with the exact spec and colour combination I would have picked for a new car, and without any significant increase in our monthly payments. - I fancied a change, but wanted to stay with Lexus. I expect that the car will be cheaper to run, but I also hope that I will not miss the performance of the RX!

Interestingly enough I started to look at XFR's recently as they are generally newer cars and seems to be selling for amazing prices now. However, as you put it - you want daily driver. If I read it right that means many miles and Lexus being bulletproof reliable it is almost nobrainer to get anything else.

Does that model not have the same issue of rusting flanges which may require attention and could be a time to replace more of the system?

@Mark G Got to be one of my favourite pics of our numerous meets, you could have endless fun making insulting remarks........ Not if course that either of us would ever indulge in that sort......... of........ behaviour 🐀

The M3 also had a far racier 8400rpm red line... after watching the M3 v ISF v C63 YouTube video, this seemed to be it’s Achilles Heel. At least until they popped it on the track at Silverstone!

The definition of gender is being male or female. Male = of or denoting the s*x that produces gametes, especially spermatozoa, with which a female may be fertilized or inseminated to produce offspring. I dont think cars can fertilise each other - would therefore have to say they don't have a gender - but I mean everything exists in the mind so if you want yours to be a girl then so be it. I find this whole gender debate stupid and utterly ridiculous - we've become a society scared of saying anything in case of offending someone. I prefer to keep things simple - a male is a male if it looks like a male and a female is a female if it looks like a female. If they want to identify themselves as something else, then they better let me know or I'll probably end up offending them all day long Give it a few years and someone will probably start a trend of identifying themselves as a kangaroo.

Hi Eamonn, Thanks for your reply. I will be going for the SE-L. In fact I am going for a test drive tomorrow 😆 I shall be checking for rattles with roof up and down. I partly wanted a metal roof, partly wanted some luxury and partly the faults on my A4, put me off the A5. I also fancied a car that no many others have 😎 and couldn’t bring myself the go to the dark side and buy a BMW.

Of course they use fairy dust here in the south, did you not know that? It's only because the roads here are paved with gold.