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All good Cezar, I see you’ve already checked out the other thread but do let me know if you find better prices or places . Always open for a good deal!

F-up The Peaks & Dales Finalised route plan Evening all!! After yesterday’s recon mission and a few extra hours spent on Google maps I’ve finalised a route that takes in the best of the area and avoids too much civilization and/or roadworks. I’ll do a condensed printout of this for everyone on the day so we’ve all got something to follow if anybody ends up getting separated. I’ve listed all the main locations and route planner below, broken down into the 4 ‘Legs’ of the journey. For reference a “(T)” means we go Through the place and a “(P)” means we go Past the place (genius!). As before, the route will definitely start at Lexus Derby on Saturday the 29th September (for both day trippers and overnighters) and will continue on Sunday the 30th September (for overnighters only) with the second day being an open agenda. On day two we can take in the best of the previous day, a load of new locations, go sightseeing, do any combination of the above or do as you wish! The starting point address is as follows; Lexus Derby – Orient Way, Pride Park, Derby, DE24 8BY – 01332 426 185 - This is on the North side of Derby but easily accessible via the M1 - A52 – it’s almost right on the A6, easy access for the first leg of the journey. We’ll meet there any time from 09:00 onwards on Saturday the 29th with a view to leaving as close as possible to 10:00 or 10:30 at the latest. MAKE SURE YOUR TANK IS FULL WHEN YOU ARRIVE! – THIS WILL SAVE US A HUGE AMOUT OF TIME Leg-1 – Lexus Derby to Matlock – roughly 25 miles taking about 45-60 minutes – ETA about 11:30 assuming a 10:30 departure from Lexus Derby Lexus Derby - Start Duffield (T) Milford (T) Belper (T) Ambergate (T) Whatstandwell (T) Cromford (T) Matlock Bath (T) Matlock – Stop As previously advised, when you get into Matlock it feels like you are driving past everything and heading out of the village but it's a big one way system and the main access point to the village is on the North Side. Although quite early into the day I reckon we could easily stop at Matlock for half an hour for Bacon rolls and coffees and/or a toilet break or just blast on through to Buxton. We'll assess what people want to do on the day and take it from there. For Leg-2, from Matlock, we’ll head on up the A6 towards Bakewell and onto Buxton as outlined below; Leg-2 – Matlock to Buxton – roughly 25 miles taking about 45-60 minutes – ETA about 13:00 assuming a 12:00 departure from Matlock Matlock – Start Darley Dale (T) Rowsley (T) Bakewell (T) Ashford in the Water (P) Brushfield (P) Taddington (P) Blackwell (P) King Sterndale (P) Buxton - Stop The route past Ashford in the Water has a good stretch of pretty open dual carriageway so you can stretch the legs on your beloved vehicles. We follow the A6 all the way from Matlock to Buxton so I doubt anyone will get lost on this stretch (famous last words). We should arrive in Buxton at about 13:00. We’ll take a stop here for lunch so please do your bit here and take a look at Tripadvisor etc for any places you’d like to try (this research will also come in handy later on as you’ll see). At a very quick glance the Green Pavillion café and the Royal Oak Tavern both get good reviews. Again we can decide on the day where we go but let’s assume an hour and a half to stop here to fill up and buy Bakewell Tarts etc. For Leg-3 from Buxton we’ll leave via the A6 again taking the route outlined below. This takes in some amazing scenery in the early part up to Hathersage then some good fast winding A-Roads, again through some pretty spectacular countryside between Hathersage and Ringinglow. No speed cameras along here either!! It looks like a lot of locations below but rest assured it’s roughly the same length as the first two legs. Leg-3 – Buxton to the Ladybower Inn – roughly 30 miles taking about 60 minutes – ETA about 15:30 assuming a 14:30 departure from Buxton Buxton – Start Fairfield (T) Dove Holes (T) Then following the A6 towards Chapel-En-Le-Frith (P) before taking the A623 towards…. Sparrow Pit (T) Then heading Towards Castleton past Speedwell Cavern (P) Peak Cavern (P) Winnats Pass – We’ll drive down this, great scenery! Castelton (T) Hope (T) Hathersage (T) Hathersage Booths (T) Ringinglow (T) Left at the Norfolk Arms (P) past Mayfield Alpacas (no joke) along Fullwood Ln, Andwell Ln, Douse Croft Ln, Gore Ln, Harrison Ln, Blackburn Rd and Lodge Ln to….. Rivelin (T) then West (left turn) onto the A57 (Snake Pass) towards Manchester Ladybower Inn - Stop It'll take us about an hour to do the route above from Buxton so we'll arrive at Ladybower Inn, overlooking Ladybower Reservoir, at about 15:30. We should all be in convoy but if you hit the traffic lights at the corner of the reservoir you’ve gone slightly too far! The Inn is about 100 metres back up the road you’ve just come down. You’ll easily spot The Inn on the right as the car park (on the left) will be full of F-Cars! Asbo Dave™ and I stopped here for lunch and it’s a perfect place for refreshments and toilet break before the last leg of the journey. Let’s take 45 minutes to an hour here before we head off. For Leg-4, the final Leg before the overnight, we’ll be following the route below along the A57 (Snake Pass). After the recon mission yesterday I can confirm that whilst there are a few rougher sections on here, they all look recently filled and nothing to worry about. 90% of it is a good 8-9 out of 10 with even the roughest bits being a solid 7. Fear not Sean! Leg-4 – Ladybower Inn to Buxton (via the Snake Pass and Glossop) – roughly 40 miles taking about 60 minutes – ETA at Buxton about 17:30 assuming a 16:30 departure from Ladybower Inn Ladybower Inn – Start All the way along the A57 towards Glossop Glossop (T) Left Turn at the Train station junction towards…. Charlestown (T) Chunal (T) Little Hayfield (T) Hayfield (T) Chinley Head (T) New Smithy (T) Chapel Milton (T) Chapel-En-Le-Frith (P) before taking the A624 onto the A6 towards…. Doveholes (T) Fairfield (T) Buxton – Stop So, we’ll end up right back in the heart of rural Derbyshire where we had lunch. Here’s where the research we all did (or are currently doing!) for the best places to eat at the end of Leg-2 will come in handy! I’m guessing a few of the day-trippers may either miss the last leg entirely or potentially do the Snake Pass to Glossop before branching off to head onto the M6 and home (Dave and I did this yesterday). Of course everyone is welcome to join the overnighters in Buxton where I am sure we can find a venue big enough to host us all for an evening meal before heading off home. We’re less than an hour from the M6 here via Glossop along the route we’ve just taken. I’ll leave it all up to you. In Buxton, for the overnighters, there are a few decent hotels to choose from but given it’s not a huge place there is, as I’ve discovered, limited appetite for ‘group discount’ opportunities. The Old hall Inn was my favourite option but there is a wedding there on the 29th and only two rooms left. Booooooo! The Leewood Hotel (Best Western) gets equally good reviews and was actually recommended by the Old Hall Inn. Best price I can see online is £143 per room including breakfast but please let me know if you can find a cheaper one. They have 15 rooms left at the minute. The slightly cheaper option is the Premier Inn (don’t judge!) which gets equally good reviews to the Leewood Hotel and to be honest actually looks pretty good (Not the Ritz but not the Sh@tz either). Having stayed in a few Premier Inns recently with work they have certainly upped their game of late. It’s a bit further out of the town (10-15 minute walk) but given we will probably be ‘eating out’ then I don’t suppose it makes much difference. Best rate I can see here is £94 including breakfast, again please let me know if you can find a cheaper one. they seem to have plenty of rooms Given that we know there is a wedding at Venue Numero Uno in Buxton I’d expect all local hotels to be busier than normal so please bear this in mind. Once we decide on the best venue I’d book it soon! I’m starting a separate thread about the hotel for all overnighters so keep an eye out.

Yes, the plan is to pick up the others on the route... Don’t know the time, we will decide closer to the date. There’s a group on WhatsApp, just pm me your no and will add you there. At junction 18 there’s a Shell garage... there should be plenty further North

I do think that almost 99% of people entering a mercedes showroom will think the new A class is a premium vehicle. If the showroom with all expensive cars does not give it away the electronic dash will blow their minds. The A is part of the entire mercedes family so the brand image is also valid for the smallest member. BTW i think the new A is a decent car i did not like the previous one much but the new one seems a better car, on topic again, i remembered a saying from the previous end boss at VW about developing the VW Phaeton. this is to show how important it is for a car manufacturer to be seen as premium as only 1 halo car will effect the entire range. He ( Piech) commented on the incredibly expensive developmentcosts of the pheaton by saying = if i can charge 10 Euro more for a golf as we have a phaeton in thesame showroom we have succeeded.

I got this installed over the weekend. Its a great bit of JDM goodness that lets you manually control the height of the suspension, ranging from SuperLow mode to slightly higher than the height high setting. Here it is installed and probably sitting mid range level in terms of height adjustabilty. It takes that jeep look off the car which i never liked. I'll stick up some more pictures of the different height options available for comparison and comment on the practicality of it for normal driving conditions

There she goes...

I’ve done a short comparison video

There are a number of GS450H complete engines on Ebay for circa £1400, and I dare say this price would be negotiable. It would make more sense to fit one of these as I imagine fitted would come close to £2000. John.

Already on it mate. Just confirming a group rate with the lucky venue. Details going up soon 😃

I cannot really advise on weather it is safe for your wife to continue to drive the car as I have not seen the condition of the brakes for myself. However I would say that if the brakes were in a dangerous condition Lexus would have failed in there duty by releasing the car for use as such. Ware of the discs is normal as with the pads. The seizure of the rear caliper slide pins generally produces uneven ware on the rear brake pads. John.

I would get calipers rebuilt instead of buying "new" calipers, you see the problem is that most of the calipers which states they they are "new" actually means they are "re-manufactured", so what is the point to get re-manufactured calipers if you can get it done yourself for less and probably to better quality. As for brake pads - you only need one set for front and for rear as mentioned, Brembos are softer pads and much dustier, Pagid I guess more similar to Lexus OE pads. Very important make sure you keep anti-squeal shims (or get set of new), because otherwise they will squeal. The way to tell between vented and non-vented - look to the brake disk, if it has gap betwen side with vents it is vented, if it is single plate then solid. on IS250 the switch happened somewhere around 10/2006, but that doesn't help much because some cars were pre-registered, some were registered later. Thought that only applies to rear disks - front ones are always vented. When they say your disks are "lipped" what you need to check if they are below or above minimum thickness - lip mean nothing, you can technically have lip after only 1000miles on new disks - so what, do you need to replace them? The only time you actually need to change disks are when they go below minimum thickness. See here (my calipers re-manufactured) - I have chosen premium paint hence it was bit pricey, but it can be done much cheaper ~ £90 per caliper:

The pads come as an axle set so you only need one set at £50-99 for the front and one set for the rear at £57-99. The discs usually come as a pair (2). A pair for the front, and a pair for the rear. The seized calipers is common on the Toyota Lexus range of cars, and this is not the seizure of the caliper piston, but the caliper pins which can usually be freed, cleaned, and greased without replacement. John

i looked at the Db , fuel & wet braking tyre ratings the dunlop sport are a different tyre to the sport maxx rt's though i think the Db rating where 67Db for the Maxx rt's ,the tyres grip was brilliant and after 18 months there was still loads of life left in them, on my last car i chose the michelin cross climates and they where also a brilliant tyre to have .

To be frank, @PhoeNicks, the GTHaus Musa is the best sounding exhaust I’ve heard on a Lexus RC F! And I don’t say this just because I own one 😜

Just awesome. I wasn't prepared for that sound either, so I too chuckled when the camera backed away. You will be driving everywhere with a massive grin now. I need to examine my IS exhaust options, your thread has opened my eyes to unleashing the glorious V8 howl 😁

Pete glad you are coming as we discussed yesterday. Will add you to the WhatsApp group now.

Morning Chaps, Just checked everything, and the missus and I are a go for both days. 😎 Has anyone got costs yet for the Saturday night? Just so we can budget everything. Look forward to meeting a few of you along the way, as gather we have a spot on M25 for us Kent/Essex owners plus others hopefully..... Can’t wait. Cheers all, Pete 😊

When parked up listening to the radio etc. leave the car in Ready mode, if you force EV mode by pressing the EV button you are telling the car not to start the ICE. It will, as you found out, automatically cancel EV mode on traction battery voltage.

Sounds normal. The EV mode will deactivate if running low on battery which will be running the electrics including AC.

Thanks @Big Rat Hope the link works

Some clips will follow... 😁

Just had a set of Michelin primacy 4 fitted, just can't believe the transformation, Very quiet, compared with the Dunlop sport, Really pleased with the transformation its given. 😀

Best looking car at the Gumball 😜😁

I keep driving since yesterday... with a big grin in my face... both windows opened... I woke up at 7am today, waited till 10 not to wake the neighbours... and started the car in the garage... just to listen to that roar again... had a perfect Sunday afterwards

@Cezar BNo probs matey happy to help....... now when I feel overworked tired........ hungry........ miserable..... I'll put you exhaust vid on 😂 Big Rat

Once again, thanks @Big Rat I would have missed the deal without you

+ @Britprius - hard to tell if it is safe or not. The only people who can tell you are the ones in MOT centre after doing brake test i.e. brake force distribution and power. Generally, when calipers starts sticking your car still brakes, but not as good, because only one pad is braking and obviously you get unequal wear. What is worse is when caliper stuck closed and your pad is touching whilst driving - you could get car on fire! Anyway, I would not play with brakes and would get them fixed as soon as reasonably possible.

Thanks PCM. I just looked on their website and they appear to deal with the common calliper issues that John referred to above. I will call them on Monday to see if they can help.

Get a quote from Japex in Kings Langley. They will do a good, honest job - cheaper and as good.

As above, you need to be in 'Ready' mode when parked up, not necessarily EV mode. If you are just on the ignition then you deplete the 12v aux lead acid battery, when in Ready, the hybrid battery provides all the power and charges up the 12v aux battery. Because the 12v battery isn't used to start the engine it is smaller than a normal car and therefore doesn't last as long on ignition to power the audio system etc. Whether you are in EV or not, if the hybrid battery gets low the petrol engine will start to allow the battery to be recharged. Once charged to about 1/4 the petrol engine will turn off again and this process will keep repeating.

I dont think a stinger can be a premium vehicle as it is a Kia.. Producing wheels for the masses will never create a premium brand. The Stinger in itself can hit all the right boxes but as long as it is a Kia it will never be regarded as premium. Toyota created Lexus as premium brand. Just as nissan did with infinity and hyundai with genesis. Volvo is now also having a go with polestar. If the brand lacks heritage, history and image thats the only way of doing it? Oh how complicated have things become, i can remember the days when a BMW dealer only had 3-5-7 series in the showroom, when small cars were small because they had to be cheap thus were lacking any kind of luxury. The amount of models in most brands are now almost impossible to remember!

Nice ome, @NothernDan 👍🏻

Cheers, @Comedian

Yes - caugh our in a shower. I seem to recall being the only one out of EIGHT F drivers who refused to take my P&J out in the monsoon conditions. 😀

I always replace the sump bolt. You could use a copper washer would do the same. This is the one i buy. eBay item number: 132423822902

Blimey! That sounds fantastic...

Hey all, a few more from the Gumball 2018. No Lexus unfortunately But some stuff that I actally have no idea what it is!?!?.

Lol!! 👍 It doesn’t like the wet -

He didn’t @Flytvr but he did say we did more miles in one day than you’ve put on your RCF since you’ve had it! 🤣 #getitoutofthegarage!

Had the GS 450h a week now and went to the local dealer to get some mud flaps and a touch up stick. Bought flaps previously for the LS460 I had and I have seen them on IS300's. I was a bit surprised therefore when the parts lad came back out after searching his computer and said there are no Lexus flaps listed for my 2012 GS. Never really been a fan of after market flaps and was resigned to just not having any until I saw some on E Bay which were a bit different. Most flaps even the ones the manufacturer list are usually hard plastic with little of no give but then again they are profiled to fit the bodywork. I bought 2 pair of after market flaps solely because one of the photos showed one being folded in half. This was because they were made from very flexible rubber. At £9.99 a pair most people would say "No way" would I have them on my car. I found that the very flexibility of the moulded flap allowed for them to follow the shape of the bodywork. The photos show this more clearly but I know they won't be everyone's cup of tea at all. They protect the paint though.

Lovely colour mesa red, but I'm biased. Had mine glasscoated and it still looks vibrant after three years. Nice to see a bit of colour. Too many black/silver/grey/white cars around.

I will move it to the RX450H section and you should get a response. Mike.

@Cezar B Really pleased you did it as @Flytvr mentioned earlier the 'F' is a small community as it's the right thing to do and look out for each other for parts and so on, doesn't matter what 'F' car you drive they are all brilliant for the most part straight out of the box...... well except the exhaust 😂 The white Rat appears from time to time I know not why.......😏 🐀

It's this one - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Lexus-RCF-Meisterschaft-Exhaust-Used/173431795590?hash=item2861572f86:g:72QAAOSwpdBbPM1U

It’s taking shape 😁

It looks like a really good product. Even the best ppf films yellow and peel in places. If this is affective as it looks at stopping stone chips and is a bit cheaper it has to be worth a punt. Just need to find somewhere near me that does it. Thank you for answering all the questions!

By the number plate the great thing with the Zgarmin reversing camera is its wireless, tap into reverse light for power and automatically switches over when you engage reverse