koshime

Hey guys, Hope the pics/commentary was useful. Diary post Day1 Total Mileage (95) 210 Today - i tested the car in full auto mode Average MPG stationary to 40mph (25.6) Average MPG travelling at speed limit (27-30mpg) Average MPG - cruise control flat (28mpg - damn I lvoe cruise control) Average MPG - cruise control downhill (29mpg - damn I lvoe cruise control) Average MPG - cruise control uphill (25mpg - damn I love cruise control) Travel location tasks 1/ Travel from N london > to Chiswick (sat on A406 for 30 mins due to lane closures) 2/ Pick up brother in law, head to Bicester Village via A40 (sat A40 45 mins - because the darn traffic lights at teh roundabotu of biceter village - is red for 6 mins on the opposing traffic, 90 seconds on ours!) Bicester was mystical for one part - from the motorway down to the A41- we descended into a valley of fog, stretching 8.9 miles. visibility 4 feet. For a brief moment as you descend down th highway, you can see the cloud banks and merely the tops of some pines..as if you are flying into a distant island of mist 3/ travel back from bicester to central london. We hd our hearts set on the chinese all you can eat, aroma at shepards bush. Except, the blooming traffic lights at bicester village left us waiting for 1.2 hours to travel 2 miles. But wait, the traffic was so stationary, we had chance to use and preview our DVDs brought along. Multimedia package option - DVD ML navigator system So many toys to play with!!!!!!!! This little baby gives you... 1 £15 000 equivalent Mark levision sound system in the humble confines of your lexus habitat. Its better than my home system and almost as good as a THX certified room 2/ Rear camera assist (who needs parkign sensors) 3/ DVD player - reads only REGION 2 or ALL region/ supports MP3/WMA/ Audio cd playback! Its only after i read the manual i went..heyy! with mp3 playability..thats liek ...burn alll yoru favourite classical/jazz/pop/R&B albums in seperate CDs...with 6 slots, you could...fill 5 slots with a music category each leaving position 6 for DVD entertaintment 4/ RDS-Traffic alert avoidance/alert system couple with an immpecable NAv system (I've used tom tom for 5 years, this one has not made a single error and has no delay time, with maps of UK and all of europe!) 5/ Navigation POIs- is almost 100% fantastic (you could spend the next 5 days playing and learning all teh features, POIs - points of interest...I knwo i've been travellgin all of central london, while I got my missus to mark every single camera down with a blue flag whcih we converted to camera icons with warning bell sounds....) to stop LE evil Baron Ken L from extracting more uneccesary money to justify...his.********* anyways *grin* 6/ Bluetooth phone conectivity. - you can upload all the contacts from yrou phone, and if you enter detaisl like their house locations - you have a nice reasonable database of clients/friends and places to visit/call up. Love the POI seearch feature of local golf clubs and restraunts! Phone clarity to other mobiles/phone lines I am glad to announce is moderate to excellent! 7/ Voice command - fancy driving star ship enterprise. You can voice command a range of things. From changing disc, playign video, changing temperature, pollen extraction, help, navigation help...press the voice command button on your drivign wheel. and wallah! Decent car AI! Testing out DVDs Our selection: House of Flying daggers and the Incredibles! Details: Plays only Region All or Region2 (UK) discs when the car is at a standstill and the handbrake is ON. So everytime you stop longer than 5 mins.....like bicester........ or the great parking lot called the M25... And it is literally like having your own personal theatre. The screen is far bigger than those found on a MAS plane trip and far better clarity/and out of the world surround sound. I like the bit where as you accelerate, the sound becomes louder to auto-compensate! Once the handbrakes go off, the screen blanks or goes into Nav mode but..the film audio can still go on. So if you fancy hearing yoru favourite movie lines.....this is a cool toy.

Piece de resistance! When you set your speed limit to say 75, the inner console glows orange when 75mph is reached (note, this picture was taken at stationary after many retakes. the damn thign just glows too fast) Lightsaber dials/speedometer! Speedometer! - 30mph is hard to read....so beware those gatsos. Recommend you manual adjust/auto adjsut yoru driving wheels outwards and upwards from default Satnav - ML system Pressing the audio button, you have a choice of playing your fav dvds (havent tested diff regions yet....will do later), Music cds, burnt cds, It reads your track filenames/album discs well and is a blast with the multimedia pack option! RDS-TMC! Free traffic update/road side avoidance system! Linked to the GPS system, voice guidance is a great thign. Basically liek star trek you can control anythign using the voice guidance. Eg. Temperature too hot - say 22 degrees! Voila! Side view driving wheel! From Left to right - Below the wheel - cruise control - Dashlights adjuster - Tachy/speed limiter warning - Windscreen wiper de thaw button - HID level adjuster - Boot - Petrol cover release - Right underneath the driving wheel is a recess hidden allowing adjustment of the position Rear parking assist camera view!

I stuck the new pictures down on a seperate thread as its virtualyl a picture diary of high qual pics/review/ponderings http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/ind...showtopic=28182

Razor smooth/clean wipers! The lower portion of the windscreen has a heated panel allowing the windscreen wiper to be unthawed (unthaw button within) on icy mornings, allowing for partial defrosting of the windscreen (ford has the patent for whole body heated windscreen ) As i understand it, The windscreen has two parts. Acoustic repelling and a normal UV windscreen glaze Acoustic heated windscreen! Free 365 RAC!

Lights...lights lights everywhere! Rear seat lighting! Each passenger gets 4 brilliant blue-white unidirectional lights, which seem to only show as a faint un noticable glow from the outside at night, but perfect for bedside reading whilst travelling. In fact the brightest glow is from the nav screen whilst travelling at night (but there is an option to turn that off) Front seat lighting/door You have to play with the lighting to enjoy it. Main door lights come on softly from dim to bright. Both driver/passenger get a hidden vanity mirror which has its own lighting once you pull the screen full to the left. Again.. attention to tiny detail! Acoustic sun visors! Comes with a small slot for the parking tickets

The interior - more thoughtful design The interior has iterally an obscene amount of attention to detail. For example, on the front passenger/driver doors. You have a small recess that pops up and in satisfyingly (like a 5 star plane - business class++). The door handles within are lovlignly sculted - but can be a tad to get to on the driver side (if you want to fold yoru wing mirrors in and out) But! lets say you want to reverse (keep the wing mirror adjustment button on eithe rleft or right setting, and the left wing mirror will automatically adjust for the best reversing view for you! Before! After! The glove compartment is slightly small. Ther eis a lovingly leather bound manual as thick as a harry potter novel within. Guess it was designed for a few dvds/cds and a set of sun shades. Although the opening/closing is smooth the finish is abit plasticky (the only slight let down so far) Glove Compartment! Go IS250 SE - and you dont get the wood finish! (thats great!!!!!!) SE-L comes with wood. Silver finish! Gear box! Lovely gear box, alright some basic descriptions 1 turn the knob red (left) or blue(right) - and you'll feel a nice warm/cool tinging sensation. Its yrou all ventilated heated/cooled seats! Feels lovely. 2 D-S (drive or sequential) - Drive mode (full automatic), Sequential (full manual - using the tritonic paddle shifters. acts like a true manual, if you dont shift above 3rd gear, it wont go higher than 3rd gear till you red line, and kill the gearbox....great way to speed from traffic light to traffic light perhaps. the burst of speed feels phenomenal! Imagine what a 350 feels like!) 2-shiftlock (when stationary, depress shift lock button to move the gear box into any position you wish - great way to play with the rear parking camera) 3 Depress and it opens satisfyingly to reveal..a cup holder! 4 Depress and it silently opens to reveal ...a cigarette lighter and coin box. So fun to play. My other half who has a design background could not stop revelign in all teh tiny design/detail features. I'm just passing them along to you guys! Compared to teh merc, its interior detail surpasses or is on par with the E class. (all it is missing is a decent first aid kit like the mercs) Gear box closeup! Gear box - Sequential drive position! Gear box closeup2! View from the rear!

Thoughtful design As you approach the doors, the lights within the car, and under your wing mirros glow subtly, lighting the door handles. Glowing Wing mirrors! With regards to the smart keyless entry system - its fun! You have to stand literally RIGHT next to the door (1-2 feet so yoru companiong can get in theirs as well) prior to being able to open it. And at night, your footwell glows a pale white luminescent light, so you can guide your feet in (and not rip the door mats mayhaps). Also, when leaving, you have to depress that little soft button to hear a satisfying whirrclick (but you'll be so paranoid - you'll press yoru key fob to close it again..and again..and again) Door handles There is a nice security feature with the keyfob, incase of battery feature, that shares the same system as the top class mercedes. I wont say more Alloys the tyre caps- are a nice mettalic cap finish (what are the chances it'll remains in a few days time wthout someone wanting to nick them...)

Righty. Now all the small small finsihing details that i'm starting to love Mark levinson system - great sound system. being a non audiophile nut. I was blown away. time to test lord of the rings within. Rumaging aroudn teh boot, the rear Right panel - opens to show the ML system neatly installed within Storage As you can breifly see , you can unfold the bootliner to store stuff (you can reconfigure teh central partition to store more within this shallow crevasse. (free leicester umbrella on teh right, err my handy polishing/on the road detailer kit within a bombproof carry all top) . Some nice levered strap downs if you have to strap your shopping in on either side Lexus toolkit A nice wallet for containing your basic wrench, screwdrivers comes supplied. The thoughtful design to the ample bootspace (ample i say compared to the previous IS) allows you to store you basics necessities under this fold away (which can be reconfigured to hold mroe stuff if needed) Space saver - is that a grandma's panty hose you[re wearing there! Well - we've heard the reasons. Now weep. Below the thoughtful foldaway, you'll notice they store the jack lever (top shiny/yeloow handled rod) The space saver is a joy to behold. trully. Look at its opulescent yellow - aimed purely to get you back to a wayside to fix your lovely alloy/wheels. Dont leave home without it

Quite a large big smile yes, especially when giving her the first wash this morning. Thinking - I need new cleanign equipment. New wash cloths, maybe graba microfibre somewhere...just did a quick zymol shampoo no plish - looks perfect without so far. Will test her again on the road up to beicester this noon

Righty, After the wonderful first new lexus car experience at Leicester. Here is what it is like waking up to the new car, post day 1. Full tank - mileage to go 351 miles Mileage:111 Motorway MPG - 32 (auto, gear 6. 72mph) Urban MPG est - 25 (auto gear 5 , 40 mph) The morning after, typical wintery permafrost in N London. So I decided to defrost her and take a few pictures Right Front 3/4 Right Left 3/4 Front view Rear view Side profile Rear view!

GOt mine today! wohoo Few thigns in life worth living/not regreting. Having an is250...feels just like that! Love the overall drive and feel inside

is 250, hands down! you'll not regret teh daily use/ great ride!

Guys - just opt for the SE version. The triptonic substitutes for the manual just as great! The new auto is DAMn good! best as i can describe it on the drive form Leicester to london was a coocooning refinement. Missus was playing with all the console and hidden sections/folders. heated seats/ Love the cabin interior built liek an airplane. The passenger reading lights are such that even if you're driving does not distract other drivers on the road - better than those you get on airplane journeys Lighting..its everywhere, at night, when you approach your car, lights below teh large aerodynamic wing mirrors light up subtly...and the footwell of each passenger seat lights up just enough so you know where to put your feet.....amazing detail to attention.

OMG OMG, the car is absolutely a beauty to drive, look and live in At first , a warm and profuse thanks for the gold carpet +++ treatment at Lexus Leicester - esp Paul B and John. The level of detail, care and freebies made it all the more pleasurable. Was nice to also be the first to drive an IS250 out of that dealership (been going there for years, probably be going back there for more) At initial glance, the IS250 immediately looks subtly mroe elegant, cut in a refined shape over the outgoing IS200. When parked next to other cars on the street, it is immediately stands out in some way you cant define, the way the SC430 does. The view of teh car is best from the 3/4 front or front on. THe rear looks slightly podgy but on the road teh tail lights are again subtly unique But the best bit is the living, and driving of the system On startup for the SE-L your steering wheel adjusts to pre set config and lightsaber dials pop into view. I had the SE with aut function and the mark levision. Best intermediate buyand valeu for money. Best bit is i dont ahve to buy rear parkign sensors because the darn thing comes with the rear parking camera. Very handy and fun Setting up the bluetooth for calls, worked a treat with the sony errison i had. Very clear calls and decent instant connectivity The sat nav - has maps of europe and UK. right down to 50 yards with a plethora of POI 0 had laods of the major chinese outlets (but we'll be having to add new POIs for our local take outs!) Driving wise, I've always had a manual, but the auto with the trip tonic feature was a treat. From stanstill, if you shift the auto gear from D to S, you can use the paddle shifters liek a manual, works fater than a manul with effortless smooth gear changes I was going to "drive like a nun" for a few weeks, but after a long 2 horu drive on quite stretches, the car pulls away quite admirably, and teh speed is phenomenal copared to my previous unmodded is200 From a interior design point of view, there are so many subtle and refined touches, it is ike being coocooned in a airline luxry jet. From the way the side hodlers of the doors open out - great for magazine storage. Paul was right, it is half teh fun finding out/discovering the tiny refinements in the interior. Watching DVDs at standstill with the ML system - who needs to go home....on a busy workshift at hospital, come in, pop the dvd in, instant surround sound theatre ! Pictures forthcomign tommorow morning. Overall! Happy bunny, and i feel my daily london commute to hammersmith hosp and N london will be less tiresome, and more enjoyable!

going to pick up my new black lexi at 1pm...leicester...and heading down to beicester..hope to see you guys on teh road.....(but not officer scar face. har har)

damn - just droppped by Lexus woodford to get my log book updated prior to handing her in...love the sharp but subtle rakish lines of the IS250. Best view from the front, 3/4 front. Damn quiet inside as well

tommorow...tommorow.....hope i dont press the eject button from the fantabulous central console.... by the way - anyone know waht would be a suitable rear view parking sensor/cam system to install for us mortals who coudl not afford the SE-L?

where are you picking it up on saturday. I'm collecting it aroudn 11am leicester

on a side note - is there any option to be able to add "lexus built" rear parking sensons at any dealership/independant specialists?

grumble grumble....I'll see if my missus will be amenable (laughs) but the IS250 is currently waiting in Leicester for collection - saturday...

There is also a decent write up in the test drives of teh IS250 in this months Top gear magazine, which shows the survey as well by Tom Ford. Cant believe top gear grudgingly giving it positive reviews....wonder what JC will add on the used/buy section - where he normally qoutes "alan partridge normally loves his" heh

but what would we actually get to do on the launch day though. will it be like the american affair with country folk singers..champagne and buds? Sit inside, take it for a whizz (with the traffic outside lexu woodford adn lack of parking spaces...how many folks are you expecting...i know it was a night mare to park my car for servicing :) that curved alley..is like a one way trip to ..nowhere (actually it drives around to the toyota garage...whilst someone speeds up from behind to try to get out) By the way, woudl it matter if I've already placed my order elsewhere?

nice spot. Cant wait till next week!

lexus IS250 review http://cars.about.com/od/lexus/fr/mm_06lexusis.htm

so - which model did you get?