Didin

Right, Ordered the Eibachs today. Should be here by the weekend, dunno if I'm gonna get the time to put them on this weekend though. Decided on the eibachs instead of the H&R's in the end as I've had Eibachs on the Mrs' previous car and on my car and we were very happy with them in terms of ride quality and handling. Also, I intend to throw some 19" rims on when the current tyres wear out and don't want to run into any trouble such as rubbing arches if its sitting a bit too low. Cheers for your help people. Didin

Was that a Hint Kev :) If I go with some lowering springs, then the sport springs may well be up for sale. Will post at the time if this is the case. My (well my Mrs' as its her car) insurance is going up £115 in premium and an extra £100 in excess for up to £1K's worth of mods. We're with Tesco. Most insurance co's will probably be quite similar if they allows mods at all in the first place. Cheers Didin

Thanks about the ride.. a mate of mine at the local garage had to order them from Germany, took 3 weeks or so to get them. Any local car modification shop should be able to get hold of them for you.. I PM'D you the details.. Thanks Imi, got the details. Didin

They ride looks XLNT. Have you sold the springs already? Where can I buy the H&Rs from and any idea of price? Cheers mate. Didin

Apex and H&R......... both 35mm drop Anyone have these on their 200s? How do they compare to the Eibachs? Are they recommended?

Anyone know if there are any springs out there lower than 30mm? 35 or 40mm perhaps? Cheers Didin

Yep, I think TonyGoose has understood what I'm trying to explain. Its because I guess I have a 2001 model which comes 15mm lower in standard form which may be a bit confusing. Its not that I have lowered it 15mm myself. Therefore 30mm springs that will lower the SE by 30mm will only lower mine by 15mm. Cheers. Uzziz, I'll have a look at the gallery. Didin

Hi Uzziz, Have you got a bigger pic at all. Same one if possible. When I zoom into the pic, it becomes very pixelated as its a bit small. Just wanna see it a bit clearer. Thanks Didin

correct-a-mundo........ :D Nope, thats not correct. If the Eibachs lower the SE by 30mm and the Sport is already 15mm lower than the SE, then the 30mm springs are only lowering the Sport by 15mm. ie, the sport will drop by 15mm with the 30mm spring.

Hi All, Has anyone got a good picture of an IS200 sport lowered on Eibach springs. I know the Sport model sits 15mm lower than the SE model and the Eibachs will lower the SE model by 30mm. I wanna see how much lower the extra 15mm will look on the Sport model. Thanks Didin

well im going for the looks and perfomance as i do like to chuck cars around but saying that im quiet happy with the cornering ability with the standard kit on it so perhaps i do not need to go the whole hog. i have also read on this Thread that the TTE kit is not much good if your have passengers in the back which more often i do but on the plus is ideal for normal road use. but the HKS is more suited for the serious road use and track. With the HKS coilovers is this the same kit as on the TDI website up at 1500££, Simon is there a picture in the gallery of the drop on your car.. The advantage of coilovers against springs is that you can adjust the height of the car to anything you like. I have the HKS Hipermax II on my car also (not a Lexus) and they are extremely good. Before the coilovers I had the eibach springs, again very good but I wanted a firmer and more controlled drive as I'm in the process of tuning my car to around 300bhp. I now have my car sitting VERY low to the ground but the cornering ability is phenomenal. I guess it will be similar with the Lexus. The only problem is the price difference between a set of coilovers compared to spring - huge, but then again you have far more versatility on adjustments - ie, height and damping. IMO, the extra money you pay for the coilovers is worth it if you intend on driving your Lex enthusiastically. As for me, the Lex is my second/family car so dont intend on driving it in such a sporty fashion, thus will probably go for a set of springs or the TTE kit instead.

Far as I know the sport has a 15mm drop over the SE, so -30mm springs will make it look lower than the sport.

Yep, should've listened But it was a good learning experience on tinkering with the car :D So is there some sort of mounting plate available for a standard DIN sized headunit? Has anyone gone this route?

Hi all, I had a go at this over the weekend. Basically, I managed to locate a remove the amp behind the glove compartment. The back of the amp had 2 connectors with loads of wires. I got the multi tester out to check which ones were carrying power. I found 2, one was conitnuous live and the other on the ignition. I failed to find a remote one when the Headunit was switched on. I then progressed to try to find the line outputs from the headunit. I did this by running an RCA lead to an amp in my car, rigged the amps so they would stay on and touch the other open end of the RCA lead to the connections of the plugs going into the amp. I found some wire carrying sound but it was very loud and distorted. I failed to find any thing that was undistorted and balanced. My guess is that as was mentions by Supracharged, the headunit is just an interface to a whole load of processing within the amp/unit, therefore no standard type line ins/out are going between the 2. So in conclusion, I failed to acheive what I wanted thru this way. My next attempt would either try some line level converters and take a feed from the rear 6x9s, I guess in the process diabling them completely to drive subs instead. I'm assuming the rears have a tweeter or mid mounted on top of the 6x9, and is high passed coming out of the amp. This would allow me to run the subs and still have some high frequencies to create some rear fill. OR I could run a second small amp to drive the 6x9s thus not changing the sound at the back of the car at all. Another option is to go aftermarket completely and replace the stock system, run one 4 channel amp thru passive crossovers to the stock speakers, and another amp to run the subs. This will mean I would have to run new wires from the crossovers to each speaker .... pain in the butt. How have people here gone about installing an after market Headunit?

So the amp is switched on from the ignition? If thats the case, should the key be in the ignition and the stereo switched off, the amp would be slowly draining the battery

Hi Peeps, If I get time this weekend, I'm gonna have a go at tackling the amp side of things. I'll see if I can differenciate between the line level and power lines, and also if there is a remote feed to the amp that I can branch off to the second amp. Is their an existing hole in the firewall to pass a power lead into the cabin from the engine bay i can use, or am I gonna have to drill one? Also, is the best place to run the RCA leads down the left/right hand side of the car under the carpets? Cheers Didin

So £390 is considerd OK for an 80K service then?

Right, as I understand it so far, Theres the headunit and CD changer on the dash. The amp is behind the glove compartment area seperate from the head. There are sheilded wires beween the head and the amp, some carry power & ground, the others are the line level output signals from the head. I can tap into the line levels and split the signal to another amp powering the subs. Doesn't sound too complicated. Now, do I have to pull the head unit/changer out for any reason if I wanna tap into the line levels near the amp assuming it is located behind the glove compartment. If so, how does the stereo come out. Thanks again and sorry for all the questions. Just think its silly trying to figure out everything for myself if others know the answers already. Cheers Didin

Has anyone had an 80K service done on an IS200 Sport at the dealer? If so, what kind of price am I looking at and what do I get for my money? I've been quoted £390 for this service which seems a little high to me.

I didn't realise the Head Unit has a seperate amp. Where is this amp located? Also, I think their is only 6 speakers in our car - up front mids in the doors and tweeters in the a pillar/next to the wing mirrors, and 6x9s in the rear parcel shelf. Thats it, haven't spotted any other speakers in the rear!

Thanks Supercharged. Didin

Yep, I bought it for the Mrs. Its not mine. I have my own car. Why do you ask?

Hi People, This is my first post. Just bought my Mrs an IS200 sport 3 days ago. Its brilliant. Only 2 years old but a high miler at 80K on the clock. Full Lexus Service history though. Drives VERY well. I have a question about the stereo system. Its the premium one, dunno if the is a standard one - but it sounds very good for a factory fit and would be happy to keep the standard look. However I'd to like add a subwoofer and was wondering whether the stereo has RCA outs at the back to carry the signal to the amp? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. TIA Didin