Paradroid

Rory, you're in Wigan! Me too. I have a platinum ice 54 plate IS200 with the 11 spoke wheels, but mine only had the sport grill not the full TTE bodykit. I think I might have seen you around too, seen a green IS200 around where I live - are you a youngish chappie?

For leather I'd recommend the Sonus Leather kit, you get two bottles and a sponge for about £15. One bottle is a cleaner, the other a conditioner. It brings up the leather with a nice matt finish which looks much classier than shiny. I've used it on my IS200 and it worked a treat.

Definitely good advice. I don't do a lot of miles going to work (just as well owning an IS200!), so I just put 1/2 a tank in - 35 litres. That lasts me at least a week.

Be careful with cheap tyres, I only got my IS200 a few weeks ago and thought the handling was a bit crap and the rear end was a bit iffy in the wet. It had a mix of tyres including two Semperit budget tyres. I changed all four tyres to Vredestein Ultracs which are renowned for their wet weather performance (but they are top in the dry too). My IS200 is now tranformed, the whole ride quality, roadholding and grip has completely changed for the better. I paid £162 a pair for the tyres. Only think is they are a touch noisier than my old tyres but the IS is so well soundproofed you don't notice it that much, only on bad roads.

Funny you should say that, I think exactly the same - low revs in second gear, it sounds stunning! Is it a bit of whine from the gearbox that gives the engine noise a bit of extra edge? No-one else really seems to have noticed the loud backing off noise that I was originally talking about, guess it's down to the sort of cars you're used to driving. My previous ones haven't seemed to do it, but I think I've driven some makes of car in the past that have.

Do you mean the ones that came as standard on later cars? Not a great picture, as my car was ready for a clean! I think they look good, but the silver finish probably matches better, not the darker anthracite finish.

He's saying performance is "crap". I wouldn't say seeing 140mph out of a car is crap performance. Can't be the same guy :winky:

Sorry to hear you've got rid. It surprises me when people say the performance is bad on the IS200. Sure in a straight line it's not the quickest thing going, and if you live somewhere with lots of dual carriageways with traffic lights (where you get into "challenges") then I can see the problem. But for normal driving and fast driving on country roads I think the performance is more than good enough. With the right tyres (inflated to the right pressure!), you get excellent handling, the motor is lovely and smooth so you can rev it and get the best out of it, and the brakes are very good too. That makes up a lot for the lack of power IMO. I seem to be able to really get mine moving well. Anyway back on topic, glad it's not just me that's noticed the noise. Seems to be when the VVT is on, above 4000rpm?

Looks very good, nice job. Black cars are impossible to keep clean, but when they are clean they do look good :)

To be honest the main difference I noticed between the Lexus and the MG is that the ultra-firm suspension on the MG stops it leaning when you corner hard, where as with the Lexus it can pitch about a bit. However, I'm still getting used to the Lexus now that it having a full set of good tyres on it, in fact today I've just been out and then set the pressures to 35psi all round. Again this made a big difference, and I have to say the handling seems excellent now. Very impressed. The ride is a bit firmer than when I got the car and it was running on rubbish budget tyres, but it's tranformed the roadholding. When I got the front set fitted, my missus could tell the difference from the passenger seat, those Semperit tyres really were that bad.

Same here, I've got the plastic tray too :) Looks like I'm missing the pliers, but that's about it I think.

Your plan sounds good to me - got the essentials like two bucket, clay bar is really good if needed. Only thing that might be worth trying is something like Turtle Wax hard shell gloss coat over the top if the Megs doesn't give enough of a shine. Megs is great stuff but I have occasionally seen better glossy finishes on other (cheaper) products.

One thing I've found interesting about my IS200 is the engine note. At low revs I think it sounds amazing, it has a proper 6 cylinder sountrack, seems like you don't even need to rev it because it sounds so good at low revs. I personally don't find the peformance wanting either, it is much slower than my last car but I was expecting that, so have been surprised with what it goes like, the brakes and cornering are very good so make up for the slight lack of power. On thing that does seem strange to me though, is the racket the motor makes on the overrun. The engine is lovely and smooth as I go up the revs, but when I drop the clutch to change up (at high revs), it seems to huff and puff like it's not very happy. It seems to back off quite loudly. I don't think it's anything wrong, just the way it is, but has anyone else noticed this?

I was a bit worried about the handling of my IS200 Sport when i got it, but since I put a full set of decent tyres on it, it's been much better. My previous car was an MG ZS, which did respond better to cornering hard, but then the ride quality in the MG was not great compared to the Lexus, so to be fair the Lexus has a better all-round setup, it's much more comfortable for everyday driving and it's rare that the extra handling of my other car is missed.

Glad it's not just me (about the rear end of the new C-Class) ! Good to hear you got your Lex back eventually - after some hassle. Sounds weird about the water pump, they were obviously hedging their bets in case Lexus wouldn't agree to the warranty work, and then Lexus subsequently agreed, but too late for them to sort it before giving you the car back.

Wow nice hire car :) I really like the styling on the new Merc C-Class, especially in sport guise, the front end looks really nice. Can't help thinking it all goes a bit wrong though towards the rear, the styling of the rear end looks wrong and cheap for an expensive car.

Out of interest has anyone found anything that improves things? Just wondering if a change of box oil might help. I had a thought the other day that the clonk is shock going though the propshaft, because it sounds like it's coming from towards the back of the car.

Think I've got most of that but don't recall seeing the pliers :)

My tool tray seems to have everything I'd need, but at the same time there are a few empty spaces for things that might be missing. Does anyone have a piccie of one with everything in place, just to check what should be included? Thanks :)

Where did you hear that? As far as I know, all Sports have the LSD............... Have a look here :) http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...842&hl=slip

Although not always apparently! Some of the late model sports (2004+) didn't have the LSD fitted. Mine was registered September 2004, and it does have the LSD, so I considered myself very lucky!

Mine the same too. I've tried quite a few different styles to try and get a smooth shift to second, like taking my time and pausing between gears, but nothing works all the time. It gets better as the gearbox oil warms up, the first change I do to second when leaving my road is awful! After that it gets a lot better.

I think the way I'd look at it is this: The Sport is the "top of the range", i.e. the most expensive model when new. So it's easy to say this is the best model... But, the extras I know of on the Sport (the rear tints, lowered suspension) are not really enough to make me certain the Sport is essential. Does the SE have any advantages over the Sport?

300zx was stunning in it's day, still doesn't look bad now either. Controversial, but I never liked the looks of the MX-5 much, always thought MG TF (not F!) was much better looking, but eventually I got to drive both and MX-5 a much better drive. New GT-R is gorgeous. I can't help thinking though that the best looking Japanese cars were in the 1990's, recently there's not been much I like apart from the Lexus range and the GT-R

Updating this a bit, I'm not really that happy with my new leather trim. The OEM ones on the car were look cracked and messy, but the new style I've fitted doesn't seem to suit the car. Does anyone know how much it would cost to buy the parts from a dealer so I could go back to OEM? I'd want the whole assembly (i.e. leather and frame/gaitor) not just the leather, as I don't want to start messing about trying to refit leather to the existing frames.