Sagitar

The first one looks like a Bond minicar - haven't seen one of those in a long time . . . B)

I certainly cleared it with mine and they sent me an amended schedule. There was no extra charge, but since the change reduces the chance of an accident there should if anything be a reduction in the premium. Fat chance?

Sounds like you have tyre pressure monitoring and are not removing the caps for long periods. I check mine manually once a week and have been using the same set for four years without any problems.

You are a long way out of date Gunther! Mine (Continental Winter Contact TS830) are little if any noisier than the Michelin summer tyres fitted as original equipment. I don't know what you mean by "general limitations". It was the inability to get anywhere in the snow last winter that caused me to change my arrangements for this year - it certainly doesn't feel like 30 years ago. In any case, modern winter tyres are not only for use on snow and ice. They give better road holding performance than summer tyres on both dry and wet roads at temperatures below 7C. Their wear characteristics are not as good as summer tyres if used at temperatures above 7C, but I will be taking mine off at the end of March. The manufacturers quote a five year life for the elastomers in the tyre if they are unused. I will be happy if I get three years from them. Buying a spare set of wheels is certainly an additional capital cost, but in the long term the extra tyre cost is very marginal since wear will be spread over eight tyres rather than four. People will have to make up their own minds whether the extra expenditure is worthwhile. I am driving to and from my home without any significant difficulty at present. Having just helped my neighbour to push his stranded BMW 318 up the Close and onto his drive, I think (for me) it was money well spent.

why not? Why not indeed? I have them on - in the UK and they are entirely practical as far as I can see.

Whs. Unless you are prepared to take the chains off every time you come to a patch of bare tarmac - then put them back on when you come to some snow, they are not much use. In a journey of about twelve miles last friday I would have had to change them seven or eight times - at the side of a narrow country road, with snow on the verges. No thanks. I prefer a spare set of wheels with a change to the winter set in November and back to the summer ones at the end of March.

One of my best cars ever on snow was a Citroen Light 15. Mind it was my first front wheel drive and such a revelation compared with other cars around at the time - that was the late 1950's.

On snow and ice I have found them to be excellent by my standards, but I have nothing with which to make a comparison. Mine are 15" 195/65 and on a front wheel drive car with a lot less power than the IS250, so your experience may be different. I have also driven them at up to 70 m.p.h. on tarmac at temperatures between 0 and 4 degrees C and found them to be very good indeed. I have not yet done enough miles on them to make any estimate of wear.

I put on the spinning ones that need a key to take off. Fingers crossed, but I haven't lost one in four years.

There are plenty of winter tyres available, but my experience of buying them is that they come in a limited range of sizes and only in higher profiles. I suspect that is deliberate and related to perfomance. The Conti T830s that I bought were (AFAIK) only available in 15" or 16" and for me that meant new wheels as well as new tyres. I am not unhappy about that because it makes them easier to exchange back when the weather gets warmer, but I can see why someone with 17"+ wheels might say there is nothing available for his wheels.

That's interesting. Were there any limitations on use if you had to use different tyre sizes on the same axle following e.g. a puncture? From what I recall, it was suggested to not exceed 50mph. The Series 1 GS 300 Sport with optional 10" rears had an alloy 8" rim as a spare but it had its own wheelnuts with a different taper to enable it to be fitted to front or rear. Mine didn't have these nuts so Lexus Coventry ordered them for me....FOC since I had purchased the car from them. I actually mentioned it to my insurers who were unconcerned as they were a genuine Lexus fitment. That is still helpful. It reduces the odds that you will have to drive in a restricted way, as compared with the spacesaver . . . . . :)

Still only about 85% of the torque and the horsepower of the IS 250 auto? I believe the significant difference on snow, was that the 827Si was front wheel drive was it not? I seem to recall that it was a lot lighter than the Lexus (maybe 75% of the weight) but (I'm guessing) with a much bigger proportion of the weight over the driving axle? Altogether a much better package on snow . . . . :)

That's interesting. Were there any limitations on use if you had to use different tyre sizes on the same axle following e.g. a puncture?

When I owned an IS250 the front and rear tyres were of different widths, so could only get it right for one of them (unless willing to carry two spares . . . . . ). There is a low probability of needing the spare, so I would leave well alone.

Much narrower tyres and a lot less torque and horsepower than now?

I always keep an extending breaker bar in the back of the car (they are quite inexpensive) and I keep my own torques spanner so that I can check that wheel nuts are torqued to the correct setting. Over the years I have found that wheel braces supplied as part of the OEM tool kits are often inadequate and that garages using impact wrenches will often over-tighten wheel nuts. Checking wheel nut torque when you have daylight and dry conditions can save a lot of hassle when trouble occurs at night or in poor weather.

I said I might pop in from time to time to see how you were all getting on and the current snow-clad roads reminded me. With a similar amount of snow last winter I found it almost imossible to get the IS250 auto in and out of my own Close, which has a tee junction and a short slope down to the main road. Driving the Prius, shod with Continental Winter Contact TS830 195/65 R15", you would not know that there is any snow on the ground. The difference is incredible. No sign of the VSC operating and I can let the vehicle come to rest facing up the slope and let it roll away again without any special effort. I hope you are all keeping well? A Merry Christmas.

Do you think they would own up? . . . . . . . .

Took the car test in the early fifties (but had been riding a motorcycle before that). I took home the bloke who accompanied me to the test - never had any lessons, just got friends to come out with me - ah the good old days - then drove back to work. When I reached the ripe old age of 75, I decided that I ought to re-take the test, to satisfy myself that I was still competent. I drove myself to the test and drove myself home again afterwards. I took the practical test in the IS250. The on-the-floor parking brake and the reversing camera seemed to give the tester some pause, but apart from that it went without incident.

Haven't got mine anymore, so I can't check, but my recollection is that there is a manual switch on the light in addition to the auto switch that works when the boot opens. If it is switched off at the manual switch, the boot remains in darkness whatever the position of the lid.

I had a floor-mat recall posted to me by Lexus ages ago (2.5 years?). It was conditional on the type of floor mat supplied (I seem to recall that it referred to rubber or plastics mats) and did not affect my IS 250 which had carpet mats that were well secured by hooks at the back edge.

I have heads-up on the Gen 3 Prius T Spirit and I love it. The projector is buried in the dashboard and puts a virtual image onto the windscreen such that the image appears to the driver to be outside the car and very close to the normal line of sight when looking forward. The vertical position of the image is adjustable to a degree so that it can be seen clearly by drivers of different heights. The intensity varies with ambient light levels so it is visible in bright sunlight or in the dark. There is a short menu covering the items that can be displayed and I have mine set to show road speed together with the power level resulting from the current accelerator pressure and navigation information when approaching a junction or turning with the sat-nav operating. I find it very impressive and a real help to driving concentration. I feel sure this option is bound to appear on more and more vehicles and with an increasing amount of information being displayed.

I have the Toyota DVD update set Numbered PZ485-X03EU-08 that I bought for installation in an IS 250 SEL - MM. The set consists of four DVDs marked Europe West (which includes the UK); Europe Central; Europe North; Europe East - together with an instruction manual in English and nine other languages. Each disc has a different code number, but all are marked 2008 - 2009 Ver 1. Send me a PM if you are interested.

But run-flats also have a reputation for being noisy and giving a poor ride and roadholding because of the stiff side walls. I think the latest ones may have been improved, but I would still be wary. Neither should you assume that a punctured run-flat will necessarily be repairable and re-usable. My understanding is that most tyre places will not repair a run-flat because they cannot be sure whether the side wall is damaged.

My IS250 is almost three years old and though I have loved owning and driving it, it is time to move on. I'm getting to be very old and have decided to buy something more staid and in keeping with my current motoring needs, which are really little more than daily local journeys of around ten or fifteen miles maximum in urban and town traffic. So, I have decided to try the latest generation of Prius and say goodbye to Lexus. I have enjoyed being with you and I wish you all well. I may well pop in from time to time to see how you are getting on. Bye for now. PS - I have the 2008-2009 DVD Navigation map set for Europe if anyone wants to make me a reasonable offer for it? It comprises four DVDs in a case, covering Western Europe (including the UK); Central Europe; North Europe and East Europe. It comes with a printed manual (in several languages) and the Toyota Accessories Part Number is PZ485-X03EU-08