Alexch1974

Hi Guys I have an IS300h F Sport with the Adaptive Variable Suspension which includes the Sports+ setting. When selected, this does have an effect on the suspension and firms it up (not much TBH) but provides flatter cornering and greater agility. I have to say that it still remains fairly compliant and comfortable for a sports setting. I have found that the more you push the car the better it gets! I have practically flung it around corners and the grip and cornering speeds are pretty impressive and yet comfortable all at the same time. A very good trade off all in all.

Road noise in all of the Lexus' I have had (4 over the past 15 years) have been very much subject to the road and the condition of the road you are driving on. The rest of the car is so quiet that the road noise is quite apparent and any change in the road surface is clearly heard. There are some lovely smooth surfaces which make the car almost silent to drive about in. That said, the GS was quieter than the current IS I have. I have also noticed that as the temperature increases the road noise reduces slightly, probably because rubber on the tyre has softened up a bit and more compliant on the road. In any event, its still a very quiet and relaxing quiet car when you want it to be. I have no complaints!

Hi Guys Ignoring the Poole area, I have not seen that many since I collected my car last November around Sussex/Surrey - probably around 6 or 7 in various places along the A27 & A3 where I drive quite a lot. The last one I saw was at the Arundel bypass last weekend on the A27 which was a '14 plate sparkling ultra blue F-Sport (lovely colour). I go to Poole a fair amount as well and I concur with TrevC that Poole must be selling loads as I always see about 3 or 4 over a weekend now.... mainly Premiers in sonic titanium and F-Sports in white.

Hi Brett I was at my dealership last week having my summer tyres put back on and I asked about the optional illuminated scuff plates. They explained that they come as a set of four but only the front two are illuminated. They quoted a fitted price of £400 Was not too surprised by the price bearing in min their ashtray costs nearly £40! But i'm not getting them anytime soon at that price! Mind you, i'm sure they would look nice if you decided to go for them.

I finally updated mine to version D of the software which you can now download from the My Lexus portal and install via USB stick. The system is definitely snappier and not as slow witted as it used to be and now I have no problems with it dropping my Bluetooth audio. It now also faultlessly connects to my messages/e-mails which previously sometimes required me to reconnect to the phone to get it to work. Finally, the live traffic seems to work better although the sat nav is now missing the secondary box on the right hand side of the screen at junctions. It used to display a close up for the forthcoming junction (Bit like the one that appears in the info screen on the dashboard) with a moving image but this appears to have disappeared. The junction detail in info screen on the dashboard version is still available but I don't always have it open (I have the F-Sport digital dash so it only appears if you slide the main dial across) so its easy to miss and so you can easily miss your junction or turning if its in a built up area. I have checked that I have exactly the same settings as I used to have just to make sure that I was not missing anything. Otherwise, its seems to be an improvement. Having said that, I have never been able to access the google search function and this is still blank now! Maybe version 'K' in 2 years time might have it all resolved! Finally - I always see pictures of the sat nav in 3D style in various adverts - but mine has only ever been 2D and I cannot see any options to change this - Am I missing something?

Hi Ian Nope, I think you got it all all there, you really do get all of that as part of the leather package that you simply would not know about as its not really stated anywhere obvious. I was chuffed to find out all the extra bits that are included I still think though that there are some options that you should still be able to specify on the F-Sport that you simply can't as they are only available on the Premier such as the blind spot monitor/lane assist and rear cross path detection as these would have been valuable to have. Strange that Lexus don't offer some form of low speed auto braking feature that even the VW golf has as standard nowadays.

Ian I agree that the Dark Rose interior is something rather special. I waited (rather impatiently I might add!) until I had seen one in the flesh before I placed my order. Whilst it was difficult to be patient, I am glad that it did as it looks stunning and really sets off the car and adds that extra dimension. The extra red stitching detailing makes all the difference as well. I'm one very happy bunny overall. Somehow, some of the photo's that I have seen, seem to show the leather looking quite a bright red when in reality, it is nothing like it. It almost borders on a maroon type red.

Hi Si Whilst the AVS is constantly adapting to the road conditions, there are only two main options insofar at the suspension is concerned which is either 'Normal' or 'Sports S+' You have 'normal' suspension for Eco, Normal & Sports mode. The extra Sports S+ mode (which is only available in AVS equipped models) is the only one which changes the suspensions settings to sport suspension mode. So you can actually keep in it standard Sports mode and yet keep the 'normal' suspension settings for comfort. Having said that, Sport S+ mode is hardly what I call firm anyway! The only thing you can't have is Sports S+ suspension but with the standard/normal gearbox settings. This sounds a bit confusing but but let me know if you need any more information. Alex - now you've had your car a few months, how are you finding the AVS suspension? Is it worth the extra? I was one of those who has tested a F-Sport with std suspension and thought it was a bit firm, but not jarring, still very well damped. I had the tyre pressures brought down a bit which helped, but as I spend most of my time on motorway's, I'd appreciate a smoother ride overall, with the ability to "dial it up" if the mood takes me. The Lux model I tried was very good on the motorway, its bigger tyre sidewalls and non-sports suspension, soaking up any little imperfection. However, I do much prefer the style, and interior of the F-Sport. About to place an order and wondering if this could get me the best of both worlds. Hi Steve44 Having had the car now for a few months I can definitely say, that if your budget allows then, the AVS is definitely worth the investment. It makes an appreciable difference to the ride quality and therefore even in sport mode, its still extremely comfortable. After getting held up in some traffic last week making me extremely late, I plotted a cross country course to my destination, placed into Sports + mode and put my foot down. It the first time I have driven that hard across difficult terrain and yet the faster I went, the better it seemed to get! Yet at no stage did it feel that the ride was too hard. In fact if anything, it just got better and had great poise and comfort all rolled into one. It's one of the things I am very pleased that I was sensible enough to wait for and I feel the extra money is worth it. Whilst this is very subjective, I drive lots of different cars and can say that they have done a very good job of tuning the adaptive suspension for both handling and comfort. So in answer to your question, the F-Sport with the AVS really does give you the best of both worlds in my opinion. Go for it! A

I thought mine had a special function to turn on the engine whilst I was outside as well. I had moved my car to the garage to put some things into the boot and whilst moving stuff around and ironically using the key fob at the time, the engine sprang into life with all of the doors closed etc. Then I realised that I had not turned the ignition off! It had been sat there using the battery so it looked like the car was switched off. It was only when the battery got low enough that the engine came on to charge the battery etc. Heres hoping that we do indeed have a function to auto start the car as that would be great when its really cold

Yes, look forward to seeing the pictures too! I had considered the spoiler myself but having not seen one I did not want to spend the money in case it did not look the business. Enjoy your car, you will love it.

I might have misunderstood what you meant but its a difficult one to judge to be honest as whilst I have driven a the various trim levels including the standard F-Sport, it was in the dry during the summer. Having said that I felt that the F-Sport actually gave better mechanical grip that the other trim levels because it had F-Sport suspension which has been set up specifically for handling and so helped the car corner flatter than the standard set up. I was able to go 10-15% faster with the F-Sport than with the standard. If this is not what you meant and you referred to the stability control settings allowing for greater slippage for handling then again, I was not driving the car hard enough during the test drives to activate any of the systems to see if this was the case.

I would agree that we have had a mild winter so far but the winter tyres have been life saver for the few days that it was cold and icy. There was black ice on the road on my way to work and whilst I slid slightly, the tyres gripped and I went round the corner and was able to carry on. The 2 cars behind slid off the road and went down the ditch and created a bit of mess. Whilst it seemed an extravagance at the time - it saved me time, money and hassle of a painful claim that the two drivers behind me had to make.

Having looked through the manual myself - its always interesting to see what options ultimately there could be but as you say - there are often huge regional differences in what is available in your area. It seems in this country the options are somewhat defined by the trim level whereas in other countries you seem to be able to select 'packs' which can be added no matter what trim level you have but simply are not available here. Whilst I am extremely happy with my F-Sport , it would have been nice to have had the option of the LED headlights (Not in the UK), the automatic high beam, Blind Spot Monitor, Lane departure, automatic cruise control and rear traffic alert system (only available on the Premier). The heated steering wheel is great when you don't have gloves btw! My Dad's car (Jaguar) has it and its wonderful and was very useful last year when we had the snow. I guess if I wanted limitless options I should have gone for an Audi or BMW (and then paid thousands and thousands more in the process!)!

Hi I have had my Silver F-Sport with dark rose leather for a few months now and have averaged around 47/48mpg without trying too hard. This is with winter tyres (18") which I have had from the time I collected the car. Winter tyres have a high rolling resistance and usually mean that they are less fuel efficient. I would therefore expect once I change back to my summer tyres and the temperature increases for the mpg to go into the 50's. I would have to say the suspension on the F-Sport is firm but well damped and still very comfortable. If you would like more comfort, then you have the option of the Adaptive Variable Suspension on the F-Sport (not available on the other trim levels but you have to have the navigation system to be able to specify the AVS as they seem to be linked electronically) and this increases the ride comfort vs the standard F-Sport suspension. I have it mine and feel IMO it was worth it, especially on the pot hole strewn, speed bump laden and generally poorly surfaced roads that I have to regularly traverse. If however you regularly drive on nice smooth tarmac, you might not notice the difference! So whilst I have the larger 18" wheels, I don't think it makes a huge difference to the fuel economy - I don't think you'll regret opting for an F-Sport! Make sure you get that test drive in!

I have finally seen my first IS300h on the A27 near Worthing on Saturday (other than my own). It was Dark metallic blue with an ivory leather interior and I think it was the Premier model because of the 18" alloys. Looked very clean & shiny (even the suspension was gleaming) so I am assuming it must have only been a few days old as the recent weather would have made it much dirtier than it was! Seeing as they have been out for 6 months now I would have expected to see more but they remain as rare as hen's teeth at the moment in and around the south. I regularly get Audi and BMW drivers slowing down to have a closer look at mine. Its nice to have the exclusivity but I don't imagine it will remain this way for too long!