Stevie

>sometimes i listen to the engine and think it sounds rough.. Yeah, I know what you mean. You get used to the relative silence and small noises start to irritate you. I seem to remember when I first got the car that I couldn't hear the engine idling. I can hear it clearly now and wish it were a bit quieter. From cold it sounds really noisy. I'm a bit disappointed at the banging of the suspension when I go over a small pothole. The car was designed for smooth roads, I suspect. Reckon I'll do a spot of soundproofing come summer. >i guess it pretty normal for the fumes to smell on start up. I'll have to try and ignore it, then. >What is the car like on long runs? It definitely improves on long runs, but I don't have any figures yet. The tank was quarter full at 220 miles last time I did a long run. Normally it's at empty at 220. I wasn't expecting great fuel consumption from an engine this size, and I don't do huge miles, but my 2 litre 5-series did 24 mpg around town. 15 mpg is pretty disappointing. Still, there are compensations. Stevie

>i guess it all depends on if the window is open and the exhaust fumes are rich... but mine does not smell inside of petrol.. even though mine is not a GS they are very similarish. I can't smell it with the windows closed. The smell is definitely coming from the exhaust and it's a smell of neat fuel. >let us know how you get on I'm now pretty much out of options. The Lexus workshop manager says it is normal. But he also said they have no way of measuring the exhaust emissions when the the engine is cold. I'm half-tempted to reset the ECU but maybe I'm worrying too much. Stevie

Well. I've got the car back and they tell me there's nothing wrong with it. Emmissions were low (which we already knew). The 15 mpg is because I do predominantly short runs and the smell of petrol when starting up is normal. Great service. They called to pick up the car and left a loaner, and were extremely helpful on the phone. I could get used to that. Do all GS300s stink of petrol in the morning, then? Stevie

>ask them if it is burning coolant Thanks for the tip. I'll do that. Stevie

The car was serviced before I took delivery, Richie. I'm sure they will have fitted a new air filter. After a lot of to'ing and fro'ing, the car is now going to be collected on Wednesday by Lexus Chester to be sorted out. Stevie

I got a very nice reply from Percy over at the American site. It seems that the amp has a built-in active crossover between the bass channel and the mid-woofers. The tweeter has a single capacitor to roll it off. For anyone who was wondering. Stevie

I ordered a set of car mats from a specialist in Stoke on Trent last Friday. If your car is a GS300 they will now have the templates. Cost for their top-of-the-range, deep pile carpet - £45 a set. I don't want to recommend them until I see exactly what they have done. They'll be here at the end of the week. I'll post all the details under a separate thread. £160 is out of order. You're right. Stevie

Thanks Richie, I've just taken a look. There's one guy there with $20,000 work of audio equipment installed! I'll try asking the experts there.

Thanks for the tips, Mat. I have now found the amp. It *is* in the boot - under the CD player. It looks to me at first sight that changing the stock speakers would result in a considerable improvement. The tweeter and bass-mid look really cheap and nasty and the 10 inch woofer doesn't go low enough. I'm just looking for a smoother, more detailed sound. Amplifier power seems perfectly adequate for my tastes; I'm not looking to blow the doors off. Does anyone know what the specs of the amp are, particularly with regard to the electronic crossover section? Would the service manual have this kind of information? Stevie

OK, I give up. It's not in the boot. It's not behind the back seats. It's not under the front seats. Where on earth is the amp in the GS300? Also, how is the system wired? The tweeters are 2 ohms and I don't see any passive crossover components. Are we dealing with series wiring here? The sub sounds like it is rolled off actively. What's the setup? I'll be starting a cost-effective upgrade of the whole speaker system shortly and would be happy to post photos on the site sometime in the summer. I have the advantage of digital measuring gear and a number of years in the speaker (not car speaker) business. Which means I'll be specifying real components from the right sources and will not be paying through the nose for iffy brand names. Stephen

Thanks for the response, Administrator, sir. (Sorry to be so formal but I don't see your name anywhere). I haven't done any really long runs yet but the steam still comes out of the exhaust when the engine is hot. Coolant usage doesn't seem to be excessive, though. I checked the fuel consumption the old fashioned way (3 separate times) topping up the tank and using basic arithmetic. I'm getting around 220 miles to a tank. I guess the automatic choke must be supplying a very rich mixture, because the smell of petrol really is quite powerful when I start up from cold. Time to call the Lexus dealer I think. By the way, this car really pisses all over the 5-Series I had a few years back. The paintwork gleams like a brand new car. Stevie

fuel consumption problem Proud owner of a '95 GS300 recently purchased from a Toyota dealership. Problem is, fuel consumption is only 15 mpg and I get a really strong smell of petrol when I start the car up from cold. It doesn't happen from warm. I'm also getting huge clouds of water vapour coming from the exhaust, even when the engine is hot. Not sure if that's just the time of year, but it seems strange. The engine also runs at 1500 to 1700 rpm from cold. Does that seems too fast? It settles down to normal when the engine is hot. My Toyota dealer has checked the emissions and says that they are normal; so I assume I am wasting fuel on startup. They say I should go to a Lexus dealer to get it checked out? Any ideas what the problem might be?