dazzab69

Likes - See most posts above. Dislike - The fact that most of the lesser rivals (Mondeo, Accord, Mazda6) are now quicker off the line. Lexus, if you're listening, we'd like 180 BHP and an 7-8 second 0-60 from the 2ish Litre 6 and 240BHP and a six second 0-60 from the 3.0 Litre on the next generation please, oh and none of that American automatic gearbox rubbish thanks.

Depends how much time you'd like to spend with the repair department of your local Fiat dealer. Watch out for bits of falling interior too !!!

Good idea, I noticed yesterday that for the equity in our house we could have a huge five bedroomed house with sea views in New Zealand in an acre, completely paid for !!!! Shame the missus won't move that far.

Yeah and I should have worn something smarter ! Amusing to see that none of the other Compact Exec rivals even made the top ten !

Nice looking car, well built, quick, but underneath the party frock it's a Vectra, could you live with that ?

Spot on TDIPLC, I always put English as nationality on any form I find (especially if it's going to DVLC in Swansea :D ). Sod the rest of 'em. One point though, St George was a Turk, so we even celebrate our English cultural diversity in our choice of patron saint !

Yes they are, the site is up for sale for £25M !

The two Autoexpress Journos at the readers day yesterday only had nice things to say about the IS. Unlike the Porsche Cayenne, which got a bit of abuse !

It was an old MOD (DERA) track near Cobham in Surrey. Nasty surfaces and dodgy cambers, V V V scary in a Porsche Boxster being driven V Fast.

Morning sir, nice to meet you yesterday. Was it yours or the test one from Lexus ?

Blimey which bit ? The A12 is a **** road.

Me too, my wife inherited for a bit when I got the Lexus. I couldn't believe how heavy and slow it felt after the Lexus, which is odd because I always thought the steering was really light and responsive. That said I'd trust the overtaking thrust in places on country lanes where I would trust the Lexus, or maybe I'm just getting old .

I'll look forward to it sir :D :D .

Of course.

I've just been invited to a media day for Autoexpress for the results of their Driver Satisfaction Survey B) B) . Apparently the IS200 will be in the Top 5 and they are getting drivers of the top 5 down for a photosession driving day :D !

Yes I sprang mine too. Lexus Hadleigh fixed it for me. It's the worst bit of design on the car because all you need to do is open the fuel cap too wide and the spring pops.

ehhh ? Nothing the VW range handles these days, the Corrado is very much in the past. The Golf can't even match Ford and the Passat is a joke ! Out of interest what did they say ?

I was expecting big trouble in the snow last week after all the pessimism here and a few bad experiences with ice last year, but it was fine. In fact you could steer the front and back with the steering wheel (front) and the throttle (rear) fairly easily. Is this a problem with the LSD on the Sport, cos the SE was fine for me as long as I was gentle with the loud peddle.

What you mean the good old days of Mutually Assured Destruction , weren't they great ;) ? Lets face it, there will probably always be some bunch of loonies who don't agree with us and want to kill us as a result. Given what Britain survived in the 20th Century, a few tea-towel wearers shouldn't be too much to worry about !!!

They had those wheels on an IS300 in Lexus Woodford when I was there last.

I read an article recently that said most of the traffic light cameras are only set to catch amber gamblers and are not able to flash you for speeding. However the boys in blue have plans to upgrade all of these cameras to speed cameras too. Shame they haven't got anything better to do like, catching gun toting murderers, or burglars !!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/28647.html He he, at least it's got some use then !

Craig I'm surprised Vauxhall haven't got you working in customer services. ;) Do they know about your sideline ?

It's all madness isn't it. Having watched a recent Discovery Channel programme on F1 where the BMW engine guys were saying that they wouldn't be happy if thier engine could do 300 miles because its designed to JUST do 200 miles and then fall apart. Me thinks they have gone for the same policy on the M3, I have heard loads of stories of engine blow-ups and failures of the SMG. I'd guess Lexus wouldn't have a problem with track days because their product is build for quality not speed. BTW Mr Wheeler at TVR has embarassed BMW on this issue, because despite a reputation for frailty TVR are honouring their warranties even with track use. If you can't stand the heat BMW get out of the kitchen and quit telling us how fast the M3 goes around the Nurburging.

I thought the point of the snow button was to allow some wheel spin on snow so that the car can find grip. Otherwise the traction control will cut in and reduce your power leaving you imobile.