durg

If anyone is plannig to tax their car in the next few months (up to about July/August time) then it makes sense to only tax it for six months. It costs a bit more I know but it means you can then re-tax it for 12 months at the end of this year at the current rate. That will then see you through until about the end of 2009 on the current pricing. Otherwise if you tax for 12 months now then you'll have to pay the new price around this time next year. This way it gives us all about 18 months at the current prices. Just a thought. I think the sums add up. Correct me if I'm wrong. It all helps and stops the government getting their hands on our hard earned cash. It makes the idea of going LPG more attracive. That would remove some tax that the grabbing MPs get their hands on. And all this comes on the day we find out they can claim £10k for a new kitchen. Something's going wrong here with this country

The snow mode changes (reduces) the throttle response to prevent wheel spins from stand still. It's more noticeable in the auto I would imagine as this removes the variability from the driver when bringing the clutch out on a manual. You can certainly feel the difference. If you're in traffic and turn the snow mode on then it makes the initial take-off much more smooth when you dab the accelerator.

Had my IS300 for about 2 months now and done nearly 4000 miles. I've been keeping a log so far. The drive to work (11 miles on A-roads not dual carriage ways) and around town during the week then I get 23-26 mpg depending on if I give it the full beans all the time!! Never had it below 20 though. On a long run it's very easy to get 34-35 mpg if you use the cruise control set at 75 mph. All in all I'm really happy, even if it's a bit more than I was paying before. It's well worth it though, and I still smile every time I get in it. It's so relaxing I find myself enjoying driving it steadily, but you can throw it round if you want some fun. I'd certainly recommend it to anyone else B)

Got the car back this afternoon and all was sorted. I made a comment when I dropped the car off this morning that you can feel the vibration through the pedal and they said that it sounds more like a rear brake problem if that's the case. If it's front then you feel in through the steering wheel as well. Sure enough they renewed the rear discs and pads and all's beautifully smooth. Good result :)

I stand corrected It makes a whole 5 g/km difference on the Merc going from the standard wheels to the 18" rims. You learn something new very day :)

Thanks for the comments. The car's going into the garage tomorrow to get checked out. I'll report back :)

...and the IS weighs about 1600kg - not a light weight :)

You're only going to get 40mpg from a 2.0 litre petrol if you buy the most up to date car with direct injection. My Dad only get 40-45 from his 1.4 litre Polo on the motorway and he drives at about 65mph!!

I don't do that many motorway miles normally, mainly A and B-roads around Cambridge. Just recently I went away for a few days and did a few hundred miles on the motorways and noticed that when you break from speed, and not even that hard, then you get a vibration coming through the pedal and a drumming noise from the front wheels. I've done a search on here and found a few comments on sticking front calipers. Do you think this is the likely cause The car is still covered having done less than four thousand miles since I got it before Christmas. Any comments appreciated. Thanks

Had this problem with mine a few times when I first got it. Was reading another post which talked about pressing the throttle pedal a few times before starting and the problem goes away. What I've found is that if you turn the ignition on and just leave it for a few seconds (normally about the time it takes the headlights to level themselves if it's auto lights on time - don't like starting when they're doing their business as it interrupts them! But otherwise a similar length of time) then I don't get the problem at all. It happened three or four times initially and now it never does it. It could be the ECU detecting a low fuel pressure reading if you turn the key all the way to go, which then in turn tells the car not to start?? If you give it time to build up pressure then all's OK perhaps. Just a thought.

All the new BMW's use direct injection technology which allows them to achieve greater combustion efficiencies and hence lower CO2 levels. As Parthiban said the stop/start techonology isn't on the big engined BMWs yet. The Mercedes CLS350 CGI uses a lean burn strategy which is why it appears to have a very low CO2 level for a 3.5 litre engine. Again - new technology. The IS250 uses direct injection which is why it is much better than the older engines. The addition of extra stuff won't alter the CO2 much, only adding lots and lots of weight and putting fatter tyres on does this - and anyway the reported CO2 figures (which is what the tax people work from and the OEMs quote) are calculated using the standard models without any optional extras.

I remember more the first time I heard one, and that made me look properly. With the sound of a lovely straight six-engine coming towards me I expected to see a BMW but there was a beautifully understated Lexus IS instead. Pleasant surprise :D

997,045

Research Chemist designing emissions control systems (catalysts and calibrations) for new cars, lorries, diggers, trains, ships... Work and play at the same time :D

Yup - Once the catalyst has warmed up and is active then the closed loop running mode controls the emissions to lambda 1 (stiochiometric) using the engine-out sensor, with a perturbation of about 2% rich/lean to keep the catalyst active. If the car was running rich to the point you can smell petrol then you would also have CO at the tailpipe and should be able to measure it. But this would suggest the catalyst was &^%$£" and your engine check light should come on.

One other question - have you stood or walked round the back of the car and has a sniff when it has warmed up but the engine is not running? It could be a fuel breather leak somewhere. It’s not unusual to smell a rich mixture when the car is starting up. It takes about 40-60 seconds for the catalyst system to warm up – the IS300 has a lot of catalyst volume, with two manifold catalysts plus an extra one. Once it has warmed up properly you should not be able to smell any fuel. The engine can produce quite a rich mixture and the catalyst can still cope with it. If it is running too rich (the point at which you can smell petrol at the tailpipe!) you can damage the catalyst system. Under these conditions the engine check light will come on to warn you. This is why I asked. It has been cold lately so the engine will be running quite rich at start-up. Do you do a lot of short journeys normally? If this is the case (and maybe have a go anyway) then take the car for a really good blast. It’s not an old wives tale that the MOT man tells you! If you get a catalyst exposed to slightly rich and hot conditions (you do this by driving the car hard and fast – don’t get flashed though!) then it has the effect of regenerating the catalyst and can improve its performance. Generally it could just be down to the cold weather that has increased fuel consumption. It has been a lot colder recently! Hope this helps. Dave

Is your engine check light on?

water

Thanks for the welcome to the site everyone. There's loads of useful stuff to read here and plenty of banter! Got up this morning to give the car a wash, did so and then took it out to get some pictures. Got home and had to wash it again - was having too much fun on the lanes :D Anyway - got some pictures now - it's just all standard one at the moment - still learning about the cars Hope the pictures work - my first attempt on a forum Dave

How about an IS300? Or am I missing something here They get 211bhp and only group 15 insurance. I love mine :D But they are only automatics so I guess that puts off quite a few people - just answered my own question?

plumbing

Interrail? If that's what you're thinking of then yeah - it's great B) http://www.interrail.net/

Mine has come on with 8 litres left every time so far - given that the distance just depends on how you drive it On the motorway that would give me about 50-60 miles.

have you had new tyres fitted recently?

The ECU knows a lot about what's going on with the engine and the car as it's running. It calculates how much fuel to put into the engine all the time using a map (data table) that has input figures such at throttle position, engine water temperature, outside temperature... It therefore can calculate mpg from these figures. I've noticed some other comments previously about mpg while stationary - in most systems (and this is the case with the Lexus one) the system does not operate until you are going above about 10-15 mph. The reading of 0 mpg when idling is there because the system is not operating and not for any other reason - however it is right that you are doing 0mpg when stationary. Overall the systems are reliable because the value is generated from real data by the car - it knows how much petrol is being squirted in! If you have the car re-mapped properly then it should still give a decent reading. Old style systems used the induction vacuum to calculate mpg and these were less reliable. The gauges had to be calibrated for each specific vehicle. Hope this helps and correct me if I'm wrong anyone :)