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Groundhog day for me tonight 49.7/43.7

Collected and stashed away. Was only gifted quarter tank of fuel. First part of journey gave me 32.5mpg. Filled up with E5 and got a better result. Very easy beast to drive. Will dig into paperwork this evening.......

Just to update this one, the man that I found that could weld sorted it for me, not the best job I've ever seen, but after I covered it in bilt hammer hydrate 80, a coat of paint then some tetroseal, it got another years ticket. This is the only photo I have, he was just in the process of seam welding the top section and adding some more welds to the lower jacking point. With the cover back on no one will ever see it.

People in UK indeed struggle to drive in winter, but that has nothing to do with driving wheels. Brits simply don't know how to drive on slippery roads... sorry that is just a fact. And I am not saying British drivers are worse than drivers in other countries, however in UK you simply don't have "winters". Yes some snow drops for few days in few places, but that is not a winter, so simply said average British driver does not have an opportunity to develop skills and experience driving in winter conditions. It always causes me hysterical laugh when two snowflakes drops and there is carnage outside, as if it some sort of end of the world. And also - I am not saying there are no good British drivers who are million times better than me on the snow, however they likely learned those skills outside of UK, or in other ways (like being rally drivers, off-roading etc.) And secondly - I am not convinced tyres actually helps in this situation, they kind of do, but skill absence can make it worse as well. First of all we need to understand what type of situations you are likely to encounter in UK - sludge, black ice, packed snow and generally wet roads. Deep snow (and no - 2 inches isn't a deep snow) is not consideration in UK, nor is "dry" ice. You generally can drive on summer tyres on sludge and wet roads just fine, it is a matter of experience, but that does not require special tyres. Yes summer tyres start losing their properties below 6C and are useless below 0C. But if you have sludge or water that means 100% it is above 0C. All-season tyres by virtue of their softer compound and by deeper grooves have slight advantage below 6C, but here is where everyone get it wrong. All-season are NOT winter tyres and below 0C there is absolutelly no difference whenever you have summer or all-season. So let's say outside is -2C and there is packed snow, you can drive on that in neither summer, nor All-seasons. Even more common example - black ice, that is you have puddle, temperature drops to -1C and usually on the bridges black ice forms... no tyres will help you with this (not even true winter tyres), so one just has to be mindful of this and be prepared to deal with it. There are spiked winter tyres, but they generally are designed for "dry ice", that is when temps drops to say -10C and stays for a long time, then you may get strong ice forming and you need spiked tyres to drive on it, in UK there are simply never such circumstances and metal spikes falls out as soon as you hit the dry asphalt, I don't know if they are even legal to drive in UK. So what usually happens in UK - people fit All-Season tyres and they think they are invincible, because they have "winter tyres", they hit black ice and the only difference tyres makes is that they are going at much higher speed completely oblivious to their predicament. Also - driving wheels makes absolutelly no difference, all the same rules applies whenever you driving RWD car in dry or wet or slippery conditions. So if you know how to handle oversteer in dry, then you will know how to handle it in slippery conditions as well. It is a matter of skill and experience, not driving wheels and not tyres. At least not in UK. There are countries that regularly has REAL winter and generally those countries have mandatory winter tyre regulations and conditions there means it is matter of tyres and not matter of skill, in UK there are no winters. If you look statistically, then you will be surprised that majority of crashes in "winter" happens to SUVs which most of the time are FWD or even AWD, so to say that RWD struggles is not really true. People just don't know how to drive in winter, do not choose safe speed for conditions and lose control, and tyres are not silver bullet either. Now to be fair UK is very wet country and roads here are horrible, all year round, dirty, covered in mud and leaves, surface rough etc. So it does make sense to use All-Season tyres, or what I usually do - I use A-Rated for Wet summer tyres. In UK honestly the wet rating is the most important and I never had issues with them in 14 years, I never change to winter tyres, but if I need to replace tyres then I try to do it in autumn. Anything below 3mm is asking for trouble. I know this post sounds passive aggressive, if not outright condescending, but I have grown-up and learned to drive in country with 3 months of actual winter where temperatures below -10C are common for months and even few weeks with -20C even few days as low as -35C, so I cringe every time when temps get to single digits in UK (positive single digits) and people struggle with driving. Yet I would be completely useless driving in desert dunes probably and Arabs would cringe looking at me driving, so it is just a matter of skill and conditions that enables certain skills to develop. In summary - to drive safely in winter one needs to develop skills and have experience for it, predict dangers and drive appropriately, this is not skill one can acquire in UK. Tyres helps, but only to certain degree, weather in UK does not get too bad to actually need any special tyres, but All Seasons will help a little bit assuming one has basic understanding of what they are doing and what are the risk.

50ltres of V-Power 😉

And the insurance withdraws cover its all in the smallprint

Another slight increase after the latest overnight charge with a predicted 48.5/43.7. Actual remains at high 30's.

Laugh

Sounds like the ignition switch caused it, few posts about it on here, wiggling the ignition key or switching off and on again resolves it.

I have always favoured Michelin tyres. They wear well and keep their grip level right down to the 3mm limit when I renew tyres. I certainly wouldn't class them as soft though, that's why they last so well.

Congratulations on your new purchase…..well I say they ..not seen any evidence of it being in your garage yet 😉

I have Maxxis on one set and Falken FK510 on the other now. Both are made by Sumitomo Rubber Corp. Also Sumitomo now has their own branded tyres. They are by no means premium, but they are reputable mid-range (Sumitomo and Maxxis that is). Falken are considered premium nowadays, but I reckon they are a step short from real premium tyres like Goodyear, Continental and Michelin. Although they are very compelling against Pirelli and Bridgestone. So yeah - if one is looking to save money I think Maxxis and Sumitomo are safe bets (they are not dangerous chinesium tyres, they are fairly decent). Other ones worth - Uniroyal, Sava, Debica, Cooper... but they don't have much "penetaration" into British market and often price does not make sense. But they are decent tyres made by Michelin/Goodyear under different names.

That is hard question with many answers. I would right away discount budget tyres - they are just not good. For summer tyres some of budgets are "alright", but they simply fail on longevity and that kind of defeats the purpose of "budget" tyres. So let's say on Michelin one can drive 36,000miles, on budget tyres one can drive 12,000 miles, therefore if Michelin costs £300 and budget costs £100 they costs THE SAME. However, most of the time budgets are only 30-50% cheaper, so as paradoxical as it sounds - it is cheaper to buy premium tyres. Winter tyres in my opinion are more difficult to get right, so if budget brands can't make summer tyres, they have no chance of making winter tyres. Second hand tyres are also complicated topic, I did calculations and they just don't work out when it comes to cost. The problem is purely miles/£, so let's say new tyre is £100, used tyre is £50... new tyre comes at 8.8mm thread, used tyre had 4.5mm. On the surface looks like fair deal, but that is ignoring the fact that you need 2-2.5mm of thread before replacing the tyre. So 4.5mm is not 50%, it is more like 25% and even at that we know that worn tyre perform worse than new, so last 50% of the thread is not as good as first 50% of the thread. As such if new tyre at 8.8mm is worth £100, then used tyre at 4.5mm should only be worth maybe £20. Yet I can see Michelin PS4s and CC2s with 4-6mm thread left selling for £90, which is just ridiculous and makes no sense. I believe CC2 depending on side comes with ~9.3mm thread, so by the time it is 5mm, it is 70% worn. So if new tyre is £150, then how comes 70% worn tyre still costs £90?! So it seems budgets and used tyres are not an option... this leaves just just new and premium or mid-range tyres. For winters I would advise to look at Nokian, Hankook and Gislaved tyres (they are not known in UK, but they are strong in winter tyre sector), or indeed premium brands. All the premium brands are fine as well.

I’ve found my preferred not budget nor premium brand to be Falken BUT I now understand there’s a huge variety of these specifics too ….. so no idea which of their offerings are best I have used Maxxiss? All Seasons Tyres and they are a bit “ hard “ but never wear out, like Pirelli’s only much less expensive …… 2nd hand tyres could be challenging but I am aware some may be brilliant owing to certain countries insisting both wheels tyres on an axle MUST be changed at times irrespective of the condition of the “good” tyre remaining ….. so a bargain may be got ! As I said ….. snow and ice and the Ls400 goes to bed and I have another coffee …… until those challenging road conditions vanish if I lived in Scotland I’d worry much more …… and do lots more research like you are now and probably get myself a huge Toyota 4ltr All Terrain thingy to get out and about….. and back safely in all conditions Whatever the answer is heaven alone knows …… but it might not be inexpensive 🤔 Malc

Neither IMHO. Good tyres from a reputable manufacturer only. Secondhand tyres are an unknown quantity. Linas makes some very good points although I think he is preaching to the converted / educated of a certain age. But good common sense none the less.

I once owned a Capri - paving slabs or a bag of cement was needed in the summer

I used to put 2 or 3 paving slabs in the boot to aide traction, worked very well 🤠 There was a brief period where studded tyres were the thing to have, great on compacted snow or ice but lethal on dry roads! Think they got banned after one season?

In my assorted Ls400s over the years ( on whatever tyres ) I’ve NEVER been able to happily satisfactorily safely drive the cars in snow and ice …… they have a mind of their own it seems 🤔 Just left them at home on those rare occasions I contrast my 2006 AWD Honda Legend which performs so well in such weather ……. whatever the tyres Malc

Ours has been pretty consistent over the past 2 weeks. Last nights charge 48.6/44.4 - Achieving an actual of 38-42

Brilliant thank you very much, the noise is more in the engine bay than near the footwells, but am glad it's all normal, relief, one less worry, Thanks again, really appreciate your advice.

Glad we figured it out! That is correct. Usually once I have parked the compressor will kick in after about 10 seconds, I then wait for it to stop before switching the car off just so it is level. You may also notice it after coming to a stop after travelling at high speeds. This is because the car will lower itself down to improve fuel economy above 60mph I believe. If you can feel the compressor kick in through the footwell area, the mounts may need replacing on the air compressor - I have left mine at the moment as I don't really mind the noise/vibration.

Problems found so far. No screen washer, though it was passed by Lexus last week. Driver door mirror not retracting. I think seat warmer switch not switching off fully....bit warm. Thats it so far....

Thanks, I drive like an old dear, so warming up won't be an issue! I have iwned Audi A6, A8 and S8s and preferred choice has been Michellins, no regrets other than price, but you get what you pay for - tyres and brakes you never compromise!

Did you try manually adjusting the height of the air suspension, just to rule it out? You should have a button near the gear selector that says something like "Height - High" and should run the air compressor for around 30 seconds to raise the car a little bit.

I don't think so. In my experience Dunlops wear much faster than the Michelin

Why not wait until they reach that magic 3mm and replace 2 or 4 depending which axle wears first ? Presuming the fronts wear differently to the rears that is ! Malc

To be honest I would keep them as it is. As long and you have matching tyres on each axle they should be good enough. That is unless they are badly mismatched e.g. if your fronts are Michelin PS4s (UUHP tyre) and rears are Bridgestone Turanza (touring tyre) then they are not well matched (it goes as follows Eco > Touring > UHP > UUHP > Race). But if fronts are Michelin Primacy (Touring) and rears and Bridgestone Turanza (also Touring), then I would just leave them as they are and just replace them with 4 new tyres once they get to ~2.5-3mm. The reason for this - for example UUHP will grip a lot better in hot and dry than Touring, but a lot worse on cold morning, so you get this disbalance and unpredictable handling between axles, but as long as they similar "grade" tyres they should be alright.

You actually have a spare rather than a space saver ? Malc

never use second hand tyres for the simple reason you dont know the history. Could be from a write off big bang accident and internal thread could be damaged. Dont save money on safety. Btw, like Linas said you think you are cheaper but as it is an inferior product you will have to buy new ones really soon. Another topic is brake distance. no comparison between A and C brands. Best to surf the net look for an offer of a quality brand like pay 3 get 4 and go for it

Mine got a tankful of V power for Christmas. It seems to run much more smoothly and better than its usual diet of Tesco Momentum - or am I just imagining it? I really don't think so. Hmmm?

To all our Welsh friends.

Michelin CCs are great year round for the UK, but something like the Michelin Alpin 5 perform much better in the snow - you still need to take it easy though.

Recently? New gear knob, new center caps, coilovers, new rear LCAs + bolts, RC-F LCA bushings on the front, 6.3l of Castrol's finest and a genuine filter to boot, as well as a new N/S washer jet.

My thoughts were that you should (if you haven't already done so) remove the scheduled charge details from the app and make sure they'd also been removed from the car settings screen. Plug it in and see if it works, then reset the timing schedule?

I have had this randomly 2 or 3 times Ken but in each case the solution suggested by Colin (Hayzee) has worked for me.

Wintertyres are totally different than summers. The rubber is different it stays soft at low temp while summers become rock hard. The profile and depth of the grooves secure grip in snow of all sorts bar iced roads that when you have to visit a local pub and leave the car! Jokes aside the difference is simply unbelievable. Summers in snow just no grip and outright dangerous and on winters you simply plow on RWD FWD or AWD. My IS250 had a snow button that worked miracles. Making sure there is less power to the wheels by driving off in 2nd or 3rd and not revving abobe 2500rpm. Then on top of that the abs and tractioncontrol kicking in.

I assume you have never driven with winter tyres in the snow?

No problem at all. I am used to big luxury cars but the Ls600hl has been a surprise. It so well engineered and technology advanced. Love the rear seat package and the Mark Levinson surround sound. Really drives beautiful, silent and everything works, done 222k miles, mainly motorway miles. Did get the TPMS fixed and to help mpg replaced air filters and a de-carbon done , so nothing major. Hybrid bhad battery is also good, passed the Lexus battery health check, so no worries. Would I buy another one, yes sure, the 2010 model like mine but not the 5 seater optoon, as the middle seat only good for kids, the 4 seater would have provided me with a small fridge and a small pull out table, which I adore!!

I was going to suggest the same thing, reguarly happened on my Mk3. Usually about 14-15 miles into a journey, I presume something warmed-up just enough to break contact. I just flicked the key round and back again and everything came on again.

I have a wing mirror now. Thanks.

My experience of rear wheel drive cars in snow is not a good mix, especially an automatic with wide tyres and a bit of power. Slight touch on the throttle one wheel spins like crazy and the other wheel does nothing, maybe if you have an LSD you stand a better chance. Not sure tyre choice makes much difference either as all the grooves soon get clogged up with snow.

It's not rear wheel drive or the car, it's all about tyres. Winter or all season tyres will allow the car's systems to perform as designed.

Nice one Steve. Make sure you have a Chris Rea CD on board to choose between Driving home for Christmas and Road to Hell.

LC is no longer shown on U.K. Lexus website. Everything in life is temporary, so enjoy them while you can.

Be careful, I went out to the car to read mine and the wife found me two hours later fast asleep.

I agree, they are normally difficult to remove so they don't just fall off. Unless you were incredibly unlucky and flicked up stone from a vehicle in front hit at just the right place to pop it off (or incredibly lucky that it hit a small replaceable panel and didn't damage the bumper).

A CAN bus attack doesn't need access to a fuse box, just access to the bus wiring which is present at the headlights. If they have strengthened the CAN bus security by using encryption, authentication or proper firewalling then it should be ok. No way to know from the press information though.

I completely agree but as most people do focus on the fuel cost then that effects residuals. I see parts of London now charge significantly more to park a diesel compared to an EV. Pretty soon I can see no go areas for ICE’s - stupid but with the environmentalists taking control it’ll only get worse. Plug-in’s with reasonable EV range may come into their own then as they have the best of both worlds.

2nd key fob today and registered. Reprogrammed for window open/close function and works fine. So that’s it, finally. Some things take a little longer - like six months. Took 90 minutes.

Definitely isnt. Ran 0-20 and 5-30 in mine. No difference the cars computer can detect. Engine runs smoother and quieter on the heavier weight oil though. Much nicer