Paradroid

I forgot to add, I find I can improve things slighly by shifting up to second slowly but with a very firm action. Also, a bit of pressure towards the left seems to help. This mostly stops the small crunch I get shifting up to second.

Hello :)

You might get better help on the US forum, unfortunately the IS300 manual was never sold in the UK. Which is strange as we tend to prefer manuals more than the US market.

Anyway, I wonder if the IS300 has the same J160 gearbox as the IS200. I have a manual IS200 and have exactly the same problems as you.

I've had the gearbox oil changed twice with two different types to try and cure it. At first it seems to work, but like you say after a few weeks the clunks come back. 1-2 is the worst on my car.

My theory is that it's something to do with the design of the gearbox where the oil doesn't get around to everywhere properly. When the oil is changed it's ok for a while, but then certain areas don't get enough oil cover. That's only an idea though!

Ah - thanks for that. I will ask specifically what is wrong with it. Actually, they just said that they wanted the car back in again to "double check" the problem which seems a little odd too!

They're probably reading this post and have just seen what tigerfish has written above lol.

It's looking great isn't it. I've got Forza 2 and it's good fun racing the IS300 and RS200. The IS300 seems a touch quicker to me on some tracks, depends on the kinds of corners.

But Forza 3 looks a lot better, the graphics have improved loads, they are quite basic on 2.

take the RS4, i wanted one so badly, and was prepared to part with nearly £30k to have one, except it was very dull to drive, and while fast, it never felt so. Whereas a E46 M3 CS at half the price was a lot more fun and certainly felt faster...

That's a surprise, I wanted an RS4 too, thought they were better than that!

This is the seller I used for my GS links. Although be aware that although it says item location is in scotland, they shipped from Taiwan. No problems though.

clicky

That's both for that price, so quite a discount over the Lexus part then.

Which ones did you get guys? Have you used them before - any good?

The ones I've seen on eBay are copy parts I think. Probably fine though :)

I need a new anti-roll bar drop link on my car, it's developed quite a lot of clunking at low speed.

I think dealer price is nearly £50+VAT. There's some on eBay for £32.00 but they don't say they're OEM.

Any other recommendations? Google is not turning up much.

oh god really? im gona have 2 shed some weight in the car and see what options r available, how much would turbo kit cost?

Actually I just checked and the VTR is 9.1 seconds 0-60 so dead level with the IS200. You'd get past it at higher speed though I'd say. The Saxo VTS is a bit rarer but they are pretty quick little cars, an IS200 definitely won't keep up!

Yes, I'd buy the petrol IS250, the only thing that puts me off is that some have said it's not as involving to drive as the IS200.

Anyway, I think if they get the styling right then the new hatch could be a real success especially if it's economical and low emissions. Trouble is, I'm not convinced by the styling on some of the Lexus range, they seem to get close to great but mess it up a bit. The RX facelift was the last thing released and I don't like that at all, older model is better looking.

What's the tank size on the is250, is it 17 gallon?

I'm trying to work out how these figures compare to the IS200.

Strange coincidence but I've noticed exactly the same thing on my car. But the other more noticeable problem is a lot of knocking from the offside front. It's been in the garage and it is the anti-roll bar drop link that needs replacing.

I think your garage could be right.

Is your suspension knocking at low speed over bumps?

No dont get any knocking from the suspension at all, but i do sometimes get the sound of the gas strut making a pissst sound like air being forced out?

I've never heard that on my Lexus but have heard it on one of my previous cars. On that it was normal :)

I think I'd be bothered by the ride being too firm for comfort on a car the price if the IS-F.

There's lots of cars out there that manage to do good ride quality combined with great handling, e.g. Jaguar, and some of the RenaultSport cars with those special dampers. It is possible with enough work.

Strange coincidence but I've noticed exactly the same thing on my car. But the other more noticeable problem is a lot of knocking from the offside front. It's been in the garage and it is the anti-roll bar drop link that needs replacing.

I think your garage could be right.

Is your suspension knocking at low speed over bumps?

as long as it'll beat the boyed up saxo im a happy man...

Well it might not!!!! Especially if the Saxo is a VTR or VTS :)

But I know what you mean :)

no problem with the is200 if driven right.

ive had both...and prefer the is200

That's what I think. My last three cars before the IS200 were MG ZR160, Hyundai Coupe 2.7 V6 and a MG ZS180, all pretty quick especially the last one. I've adjusted to driving the IS200 with no problems. Handling and brakes are good and there's enough power for it to be good fun to drive.

It's never going to be the quickest thing you can get for your money, so if you want that I'd say think carefully before getting one. You buy it for the quality and refinement as much as the sporty drive. If you like to go up against other cars then it will seem slow.

Interesting post as I had similar problems when I got my IS200.

On my car though it was a combination of damaged front suspension and very cheap budget tyres.

I replaced the tyres with Vredestien Ultracs which are specifically designed for wet weather and they are great. I got my suspension fixed, then got the chassis alignment done at WIM and every one of those things made a big difference.

I still don't think my IS200 is as planted to the road as my last car, but then it's a different sort of car.

If I had the money I'd go for the ARB's next but can't really justify the cost.

I'm sure it's fine. Was the weather warm, did you have the air con on? Had you driven it hard or used the brakes a lot?

I can't say I've noticed a lot of heat on my IS200, but on previous MG ZS180 I noticed it a lot, because it's basically an old Honda Civic with a 2.5 V6 squeezed under the bonnet. That got hot!

On mine (IS200) it's only occasional, and seems to be when the fuel tank is running low. I think it's just fuel not getting through properly.

Looks good (just had a look at your auction).

But, not too keen on the grille and bumper mesh- that isn't OEM is it?

It looks like the original TTE front bumper but just with different mesh.

Ladies_Love_Lex: It's funny I couldn't find your car on eBay mate I searched for "lexus is300", the search engine is pretty rubbish it seems. Found it off the item number.

It's interesting to see how much fuller the engine bay is with the 3 litre straight six, on the IS200 there's a big gap to one side. An old man walking past in my street asked me what I'd taken out!

IS300 do seem harder to sell. fuel economy is probably the biggest worry, but from what people have said it's not really that much different from the IS200.

One possible problem - I can't find it on eBay!

First Altezza/IS200 I've seen with tired looking headlights regardless of age. They don't normally go dull inside the lenses like a lot of cheaper cars.

The thing is, would the average joe buy a used IS200 with the TTE bumper fitted and know they that need to tell their insurer? Of course not. The car doesn't look obviously modded with the TTE bumper and there's loads riding round with it fitted, I would say 99% have not declared it.

Personally I would not feel that a TTE bumper needed declaring, but another type of bumper that was more obviously non-standard would be a different story.

Where you're really asking for trouble with the insurance is if you fit an induction kit or exhaust or something that stands out a bit, and don't declare it, especially because it's a performance oriented part.

I do about 12-13000. Unlike many I have always found my Alfa's to be reasonably reliable if serviced correctly and love the way they handle, but I want some rear wheel action and wont consider a BMW. Of course the Honda is front wheel drive, I think that appeals to my practical nature, 1st kid on the way an that.

I used to drive an MG ZS180 and one of the things the MG community always says is the cars have character, I'm sure it's the same with Alfa. But so far I've never found the IS200 boring or soul-less, it seems to have character of it's own. It's a classy ride and the interior styling is quirky and interesting in my opinion. The exterior styling is also brilliant for a 10 year old design.

From changing to the IS200 I found it an excellent quality car, and it always feels solid and dependable. It's very smooth and comfortable to drive, and is just about quick enough to be fun to drive.

However, IMO rear wheel drive is not the massive difference I expected. Probably because I came from a car with a very well sorted chassis, practically no understeer or torque steer. But you can look on the IS200 as a great starter car for RWD, it's not got enough power to really show off the RWD advantage, but it's a good stepping stone to another RWD with a lot more power.

I would guess something to do with the torque convertor in the auto gearbox?