Coxyboy1

The TC is a bit slow to react, but have you tried correcting a 1500kg car with no traction when it want's to go in a different direction to you? It makes for very interesting lock to lock shenanigans, as I found out with TC off in an empty Sainsburys car park last year. :D As for the snow button, I think it's only active upto speeds of 15-20mph just to help you get the initial traction, and make sure you atleast start your icey journey pointing the right way. :)

On average I get about 265 miles to a tank (17.5 mpg) in my IS300. I have no one else to blame but myself coz I do a fair bit of town driving, with a few regular sprints up the motorway at very naughty speeds. I drove down to Italy and back this summer, and managed to get an average of about 390 mile to a tank (26mpg) at an average speed of 110mph. B) I was however a little peeved that my old man was getting approx 1/8 of a tank better fuel consumption than me, travelling at the same speeds in GS300 Auto. I was a little alarmed by this, until I got down to Italy. This was all forgotten due to the ammount of attention the car received there. Leave it parked in a small town for an hour, and when you come back you have 10-20 people admiring the car (and trying to work out what it is!!). At the end of the day we all know that the IS series is not the ideal company car coz of the high co2 rating and not brilliant fuel consumption. But then you could be driving around in a 3-series like all the other sheep, and that really makes a statement about yourself, does'nt it !! :P

Hi Helen I've had exactly the same problem with my IS300. Took it back to the dealer and they could'nt hear anything. They said they'd greased the runners on the drivers seat, just for good measure. Guess what!! The noise stopped, but only for about two months. It does'nt happen as often now, so i'm just going to make sure I get the runners greased every service! I hope that helps a bit. Cheers Martin

Playa/Andyhart21 You maybe able re-live your yuff soon. A colleague at work, son, is working on the code for the all new Dizzy Adventures. I think it's due for release around Christmas. I'll keep you informed. Has everybody forgotten the infamous Space Hoppers, and Action Man. Now those were real toys!!! :D

If your that worried about the lack of power, why not change your order for an IS300. I have a mate with a 3.0L Z3, and it keeps up with him 0-60 and then the torque and gearbox takeover and I begin to pull away form him. Hit the bendy bits, and the superb suspension and chassis setup strip the Z3 (the Z3 get's really skitty, and can't handle undulation whilst changing direction). One of my other mate's drives a Puma Racing, and although he can keep up with me around the bendy stuff, he again gets problems keeping up at speeds of over 90+. At the end of the day the car was designed to compete in the exec market. It just so happens that it has a wicked chassis and suspension setup, and I imagine (as I'm yet to try it!) would make for a very exciting track day experience. It also depends on the image you want to project as well. Lexus :- Cool, understated, affluent man with a lady magnet. or a "t**t in a cap", rev the nut's out of my little engine, max power sticker'd, small tin box driver. Also you will find that the rozzer's tend to take more interest in these little tin racers than they do the Lexus, coz they are usually driven, at speed (in a straight line, form traffic light to traffic) by inexperiened drivers. Enjoy the attention you get just cruising around you fav night spots in your Lexus. Then if you feel the need to race a tin pot get them on to a bendy road or on a motorway, then watch as you quickly wipe the smile off their faces with your superior car (even with only 153Bhp!!) Have fun, enjoy your Lexus, and welcome to the club!! Martin

Don't like the wheels. They look far too much like the alloy's from the arch enemy!! (BMW 3 series)

I'm connected through NTL cable 600k Broadband, and it's superfast. It costs 24.99 per month, plus an initial 25 squid installation charge (they run a seperate cable from the box outside your house, so you still have seperate phone). The modem came free and has two types of connection, USB (Plug and Play stuff) or Ethernet. Ethernet is significantly faster than USB, but you have to go out and spend a whole 8.99 on an Ethernet card. I've only had one problem with the NTL service, they connected me to a full switch in Nottingham, and I live in Leamington Spa. They then connected me to a new switch in Warwick and everything was, and still is Jubbly!! It only took them 5 mins to sort this out, and only a 5 minute wait to speak to the engineer (very impressed). As for the prices coming down to 14.99, I don't think that will happen for some time yet. Some companies are offering that price now, but it's not economically viable and they will soon be out of business, plus it means they don't have the cash available to upgrade their systems to keep up with the high speed development of new technologies in the IT sector. By the way, this is not me trying to sound inteligent, that's quoted from the Saturday/Sunday Times Business section. Hopes that helps a bit?? Cheers Martin

One other thing that you should also remember is that in Germany, 3-series BM's are considered as prestigious, as the British consider Capri's and MkIII cortina's (Not saying that either of these where bad cars, they just had no prestige). The 5-series and there Merc counter parts are used as taxi's!! I used to be a BMW 3-series driver, and the only thing I can say that was better in the BMW was the manual gearbox (I only have the Auto option available on the 300). :( It's a pleasure to be a little more individual!!

Andy Just remembered something!! Drop Flyboy80 a line he might be able to help. I was chatting to him the other night, and he mention something about branded tyre's for £70-90 per corner, fitted. Worth a try!

I went through my OEM tyre's from new in about six months. I can't remember what brand they where (Potenza's I think), fantastic grip in the dry, s**t in the wet, and a tad too soft for everyday use. I changed all four (front tracking screwed, although I'd only caught a couple of pot holes), for sport Conti's. If they're good enough for standard fit on Porsche's, they're good enough for me. A certain fitter you can't get better than fitted them for £484 (£1 * 4 crome valve covers - very nice :D), although they did start at £600 I managed to get them down in price.

Tdiplc Do I get a discount if you use my car as a guinea pig??:D Martin

Welcome to the club Number 6. I would advise buying shares in a cleaning products company (Autoglym?). They're a pain to keep clean, but, they do look wicked in black!!!!

Tdiplc How much are the chips? How long to fit it? Martin

I was quoted the same ammount by Lexus (you don't go to the Lexus Coventry Dealership do you?). I went to a local company, "SILVERLINE", in Warwick. They were possibly the most proffessional tyre/wheel supplier fitter's I've been to (plus they have a playstation with TOCA in the waiting room, which means your not bored whilst waiting. Infact they had drag me off it kicking and screaming!!!). They charged me £25 for the pleasure, and thought that Lexus were having a laugh, to say it takes 2 hours to do the alighment. P.S. It does'nt effect your warranty if you take it else where, as long as you get the print out!!

Tdiplc Do you do a mapable ECU for the IS300 yet, coz I could do with having a bit more fuel economy!! (And if it gives me an xtra 6Bhp, all the better)

Sorry. Forgot to put the link on. This should make it a bit easier http://www.is300.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t...der=asc&start=0

A colleage at work was looking on his 911 forum site and came accross this Gem!! If you've encountered this one before I do apologies, but it had us rolling around the floor in fits of laughter!! Enjoy!

I bought an IS300 10 months ago for 26,000. Got a price from a dealer on a trade in against a TVR, and they offered me 19,000. I was a little miffed!!

My old mans GS300 is an 'R' Reg, I think that's Mk II. But it's definitely only got a 4 Speed box.

I'm just waiting for the beast (IS430). Then I shall sell my House, Wife, Body (which I probably won't get much money for!!), and my soul. Your right about the black colour though, it looks awesome especially with rear tints!!

Think yourself lucky. I'm getting an average of 18-20 mpg out of my IS300. But I suppose that's due to my short 7 mile, country roads, journey to work. And I guess batting down the motorway at 140 (when the M40's clear-ish), does'nt help much. I drove down to Italy in the summer (2800 miles round trip), following the old man in his GS300 at a steady 110mph, and was getting between 27-29mpg which I thought was quite resonable. But, what was really strange was that my old man's GS300 was getting consistly better fuel consumption (about an 8th of a tank more on every fill up). Surely the GS300 is not that much more aerodynamic? Plus it's only got the four speed auto box, and mines got the five. Can anybody shed any light on why this may be?

You should'nt have a problem. Just changed mine on my IS300 (which had a little curbing, ooops!!) and it was'nt an issue. At the end of the day, there is a fundemental fault with the alloy's which has been "known about for the last 10 years of production" (As quoted by Ben, the sales rep at Lexus Coventry). So if they try and stick you with a bill, complain severely and they will back down.