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I did it 3.7 seconds yesterday - but I haven't got a Lexus anymore. 😶

Did I see some milk bottles in the back of your car the other day?

As an x F owner, my head still turns when I see an F car. They are so blimin rare. Anyone on here?

Values of older Hybrid Vehicles are now set to soar as the new Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) charge is introduced in London! The new charge is now in effect & comes on top of the existing Congestion Charge so it will cost £11-50p Congestion Charge plus £12-50p ULEZ charge making £24-00p!! just to take a non compliant vehicle into central London!! The yearly charge based on a 5 day working week with 4 weeks holiday already deducted is a whopping £5,760!!!! The new ULEZ zone is expanding by 2021 to include a massive area encompassing the North & South Circular Roads. Birmingham, Derby & Newcastle are also set to introduce similar charges. The good news is the most popular older Hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius, Honda Civic IMA, Lexus GS450h ( yes even this superb luxury 3.5L cruiser ) are already Ultra Low Emission Vehicles ( ULEV's) so the owners of these vehicles are smiling all the way to the Bank now!! If you would like to check if you will have to pay the new ULEZ charge, enter your registration number into the tfl website via this link:- https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/check-your-vehicle-35896 Suddenly renewing the Hybrid Battery in your old car makes perfect sense.

Golden rule of hire car driving... Rev limiter in 1st from cold

Any hire car can hit 60 in under 4sec, it's a well know fact. Closely followed by any rep mobile, then a white van ....

if this is F1 where a race could be won or lost by a thousand of a second then this will be of importance but who really cares if the RC-F hits 60 in 4.1 , 4.5 or 4.7 secs? the difference between these times is not day and night to matter a great deal.

Hi chaps, new to this site. I walked into my local dealer in Hatfield last week, and they had a new unregistered F sport in white with the Takumi Pack just sitting there in the showroom. They were happy for me to buy it so I’m picking it up next week after the Easter hols 😁 It replaces a white IS300H F sport which I have had for 4 years.

E63 AMG

Pitty it doesn't fit the ISF... I would have been all over this

Those 1196cc Opel Kadetts are damn fast cars

Not only hybrids, most of petrol cars meets that as well e.g. 2005 IS250. The additional charge mostly affected diesel car, which is kind of fair, but kind of not in the same time.

Nice picture, do I detect a couple of taxi lights on the roof?

Nice picture, i noticed the power bulges on the hood 😉. Is this perhaps the car you have replaced the RCF with? If it is, then that is one beastly replacement 😁

^^ Wait until the Winter. If we have icy roads or snow you'll find it much more sure footed especially with proper Winter tyres or even 'all season' tyres.

Well I collected the NX yesterday. Nice drive back home too. It’s not as sure footed as the IS but I didn’t want a boy racer anyway.

That does not surprise me. Easiest way to move one on is trading in against a more expensive car. Any private sale at 20k plus will be tough due to lack of warranty and finance. What are you replacing it with?

The CT follows the Prius in the way that park is engaged. When you are in ready mode selecting D,R,B,and N engages that function as with normal auto transmissions except that the selector is purely electrically operated. The parking is lock pawl driven by an electric motor in the transmission, and not moved by mechanical means from the selector. When you stop you can select park in the normal way, but this is a waste of time, and energy as turning off the engine with the start stop button engages park automatically making it fool proof when parking "park always being engaged", and unless on a steep hill I did not bother with the parking brake "bad practice I know". When I first changed from a Prius to the GS450H on a few occasions this caught me out as I would leave the car in drive, press the stop button, "as with the Prius" and start exiting the car to find the car rolling either forwards or backwards depending on where the car was parked. I was so used to not having to engage park. John.

NX vs 2016 RX450... no question get the RX. NX vs 2012 RX450.... depends on whether the uglier looks of the older RX bugs you. Otherwise get the RX. The RX is just a much better car.

I have fitted a much larger 12 volt battery to my GS450H and these instructions should apply to other GS cars. The advantages are a much higher capacity "110 ah against 70 ah for OEM", and cold cranking amps depending on the battery purchased of 750/800 amps. For non hybrid cars this should translate into higher cranking speeds, and faster starts. It will also be able to stand for much longer periods of inactivity. The battery compartment is capable of accommodating batteries up to 330 mm in length without problems against the OEM fitted battery of 270 mm. The other battery dimensions "width, and height" remain the same. The battery hold down brackets, and terminals remain as OEM. It is only the battery tray that requires modification to accommodate the longer battery as follows. Remove the terminals to the battery negative first then positive. There is a small temperature sensor on the hybrid battery. This should be carefully pulled out of the old battery, and stuck by whatever means you wish "glue, tape ect" on the top of the new battery Remove the battery and the three bolts holding the tray. The rearmost end of the tray has two spot welds on each side. First, and second picture. Drill out these 4 spot welds at the rear of the tray only. Bend down the rear lip of the tray " i used a large adjustable spanner" till it's top edge is level with the battery seating area, and fit a piece of edging strip. Pictures 3 and 4. Bend up the tag on the rear lip till it is horizontal, and attach the negative lead to this with a suitable nut, and bolt. Trial fit the battery to the tray. Picture 5. Refit the tray and then the battery with holding clamp. Refit the terminals fitting the positive terminal first then the negative. All the covers should fit as with the OEM battery. The battery I fitted measures L 330 mm, W 172 mm, H "to top of terminals" 222 mm. It weighs 24.9 KG, and cost £80 with a 4 year guarantee. This may be possible on some other Lexus models. Careful measuring should tell. John.

BTW don't buy one from Lexus. Just buy the most powerful one that will fit but don't forget to attach the the temp sensor to the top of it.

A new 12v battery would be my first thought. All sorts of strange things happen if it's not in top condition.

Glad it's just not me! I used to think Autocar was bad, but Autoexpress make them look as even-handed as Solomon. But, speaking of Autocar, this is an interesting opinion piece: linky After all these years of castigating cars that don't major on 'on the limit' handling?! I'm surprised it got published, so perhaps the editors at Autocar aren't all bad. Perhaps they realise (but won't admit) that it's fundamentally their fault, a bit like how they routinely recommended diesel variants as the best option even if someone did 3,000 miles a year (which they also didn't admit to). Next they'll be saying a car that is reliable is preferable to one that spends eight weeks a year at the dealers! If this unlikely train of thought catches on, who knows, may be sales of Lexus will pick up?

Fixed the article. No Glyn, it's not just you.

We've had a longish test drive, nice to drive but noisy. I've looked at the review and he mentions a bit of noise from the mirrors and road noise. We were surprised at the level of noise for a not cheap car. We were ready to order one but it was just too unrefined.

Finally took delivery yesterday! IS300H with Premium Pack - Sonic White with Sandstone Leather and 18" Alloys - Those triple-LED headlights are fantastic... Can't believe what a difference there is between the car I remember test driving and this new 2019 MY version... Now to learn what all the bits do!

The new Lexus arrived yesterday and I decided to share my first impressions. I ordered the basic Lexus IS300h with comfort pack in black metalic. The car came with the standard features including Tahara Seats, keyless entry and rearview camera. On the outside the car looks great and I definitely prefer it to the Mercedes C300h which in my opinion has started to look a bit outdated. The interior is also much nicer and the quality of the materials used in the Lexus are far more superior. I never liked the tablet style display on the Mercedes so the built in screen was a welcoming feature. The seats are rely comfortable and the synthetic Tahara leather feels really nice to the touch, time will tell if this will last. I love the clock which in the evening has really nice background glow. The drive is very different to the previous car, the Lexus feels heavier but more solid and stable on the road. The Mercedes was quicker when accelerating but also the diesel was making it very noisy when accelerating quickly. The Lexus has a complexity different style of accelerating, it seems slower but I think this is only because of the ‭CVT gearbox and the way the engine works under heavy load. The steering is also bit heavier, it feels the same as the Merc when switch to Sport+ mode, I did like the lighter steer in Eco or Comfort when parking but I think I will get used to it. I can’t comment on the stanav and the stereo yet but it looks and sounds ok. I don’t think the satnav can beat my phone though (I use Waze on my journeys) but at least it can offer some alternitve options when needed and it is very similar to the one in the Merc. I liked the way the Mercedes had their software, it was simple and quick to navigate from one screen to another, what I saw in the Lexus was not that far off but i will need some time to work it all out. The rear space looks similar and the booth in my opinion is better, I think it might be a bit bigger but I will find out later in the week. In the Mercedes the floor was slightly raised and sloping at the back so I had to constantly rearange the luggage as it kept moving around. In the Lexus the floor is flat and it looks like it will be easier to stack suitcases there. One thing I noticed in the merc was the top of the boot area was left with bare metal and few cables were stuck and clipped to the surface, where in the Lexus everything is padded and better protected. Overal I think I made the right choice, the Lexus is slightly better car in my opinion and I think it is better built and has few more features than the merc. There are bits which I will miss from the Mercedes like the 360 camera, break hold function, automatic electric hand break, auto folding mirrors when locking the car, lighter steering, sunglasses compartment, the little horn noise when looking the car, electric booth opening and closing and the kick open function (btw I had to have the motor replaced in the merc as it stopped working and would’ve cost £1000). I suppose I need to mention that the cost of the Merc was around £40k and the Lexus IS only £33k so if you go for the higher spec model all these features probably would’ve been included. The Mercedes went back today and after two years I managed to cover around 84k miles. The car overall was very reliable and never let me down, I had the booth repaired (as I mentioned it would’ve cost around £1k if it wasn’t under warrant), few sensors failed, and the suspension started to get a bit noisy when going over bumps in the last 6 months. The stereo was also a bit temperamental and sometimes would freeze and will need a reboot. The fuel consumption also dropped over the two years from 70mpg in the first year to 55mpg in the last 8 months. It is worth mentioning that I only had to replace the rear tyres once and the front were still the original with around 3mm left. I have to make few trips in the next week and hopefully will get some more idea on how it all compares and especially what the fuel consumption is as this was also a big factor when I was choosing the car. I hope all this helps, feel free to ask if you have any questions about the merc or the new Lexus.

Lee I think others have answered for me, but the charging system is well capable of charging a higher capacity battery. It has a maximum output in excess of 100 amps, but it is also battery temperature controlled. The reason for the small sensor with two thin wires that can be gently eased out of the OEM battery and fastened to the top of the new battery with tape, glue, hot melt glue, or even blue tack. I have had no problems with my 110 AH set up. I do have the piece of mind knowing that if I sit in the car for two or three hours with the radio on or watching a DVD or even leaving the car for a month or more it is going to boot up when needed. John.

The battery I used was not an AGM. The particular battery was a sealed deep cycle marine leisure battery although it would be reasonable to fit any lead acid chemistry battery. There are AGM batteries sale on Ebay, but they tend to be more expensive. I did notice a BMW, Range Rover start stop AGM at 85 AH priced at £65 for a 1 year guarantee or £97.50 for 5 year guarantee. These are slightly shorter batteries than the battery I fitted at 310 mm against 330 mm, but would still need the tray modifications. If you wish to use an AGM battery I would use a "mobility" battery of 110/120 AH capacity There is no reason to use an AGM battery in the GS range since the battery is in the boot, and there is no chance that in an accident car occupants are going to get covered in acid. The OEM battery does not appear to be an AGM, and had no markings to show that it was. In the case of the Lexus CT200h, and the Prius where the battery is in the passenger compartment "although well covered" it is perhaps desirable to have an AGM battery with no free liquid acid to spill. Using a higher capacity battery means that any given number of AH's discharged against the 70 AH OEM battery the % discharge figure "depth of discharge" will be lower. The shallower the discharge cycle the longer the life of the battery. John.

While I agree at first sight on the hybrids there does not seem to be a great advantage in fitting a larger capacity battery. In fact there are are number of advantages. The ability to be able to sit in the car listening to music or even watching a DVD without having to have the engine start up on a regular basis. The car can stand much longer periods of non use without the battery getting to the point where it cannot boot to ready. As a battery ages it looses capacity. Using a higher capacity battery helps reduce this effect. Loosing 50% of the 70 ah OEM battery capacity means the actual capacity would be 35 ah. Loosing 50% of a 110 ah battery means it would still have 55 ah's capacity left important as the battery ages. The difference in price is negligible if any at all. With non hybrids where a normal stater motor is used the higher capacity makes a big difference to engine cranking particularly in the cold. Be cause of space restrictions the CT only has a 45 ah battery, but still has much the same demands put on it as other hybrids such as the Prius. Having owned a Prius, and from reports in the CT section I know the battery in these vehicles is inadequate for it's purpose. Many reporting the inability to go to ready mode after standing at at airports ect, and having to resort to using external chargers at home to help bolster the battery capacity. John.

Hello, I know this has been covered before but I've never really found a definitive answer to go buy... Anyway, has anyone ever had their LS600h hybrid battery replaced at a dealer, and if so, what was the total cost? I enquired at Hybrid Battery Solutions re repairs but was advised to get a quote from Lexus in the first instance. Although helpful, I assumed that HBS had never repaired one because they were going through what they thought had to be done and it was extremely involved (a/c removal, entertainment system removal). Anyone thinking this is going to be like a Prius battery repair is in for a big shock! Any help much appreciated as I'm now in the market for one these of these cars...