jwebsterza

I would agree on the fuel economy, but if you want a sports sedan then I suppose that is one of the obvious down sides. Otherwise I would have liked the Altezza RS200 setup in the Lexus range - 2l, 4 cyclinder, 154kw / 206hp with the 5 speed tiptronic. I had one in New Zealand and would definitely say it is faster than the IS300 and of course much more economical with the 2l 4 cylinder. It was actually Yamaha factory tuned as with the up and coming IS-F to give you some idea of its capabilities. My IS300 can do 97km in 2nd, the RS200 could clear 120km in 2nd and push 180km in 3rd. Otherwise I've never had a single complaint about the original IS.

Thanks for the photos. I did check behind the glove box and there's nothing like the photos. Just two plugs/connectors screwed the to the body that are facing the right direction to be pluged into what your photos show. I'm at work now and have successfully put the Pioneer system in so can't check the unit number but will when I get home. In my IS200 I wired the Pioneer unit in, without bypassing any amp, by connecting the Pioneer unit "Mute" wire to what appeared to be the built in amp wire - it worked. In the IS300 I tried the same and flattened my battery. So I have now wired the Pioneer unit "Power Amp" lead into what appears to be the built in amp lead and its working. No flat battery or sound issues. But still no amp behind the glove box. I suspect there isn't one although there must be otherwise why the built in amp wire to the Lexus head unit - which I have now wired to the Pioneer "Power Amp" lead? In my searching on the web I did pick up blog where someone stated they can be behind the glove box, under the front passenger seat or built into the boot. I cannot find anything in the other two locations and can't find photos anywhere so do not even know if I'm looking in the right places or behind the right panels. I can therefore only presume one of two things - 1. there isn't one and the built in amp lead does draw power if connected wrong (even if there is no amp) or 2. it is located somewhere else and I just managed to wire it up right thanks to the Pioneer unit having a "Power Amp" lead also thereby providing the same connections as the Lexus head unit? I'll check on the Lexus head unit number and reply once I'm home, as for the car model in SA they have two models of the 200, 300 and 250 - the standard and the SE. The SE just comes with extras like sun roof, both front power seats, arm rest, better radio, etc. Otherwise they are mechanically the same as the standard models. My IS300 stereo head unit number is 13910.

I find this interesting. I have a 2005 IS300 and am trying to put a Pioneer system in. I have checked for the amp behind the glove box but no amp! It appears the plugs to connect to the amp are there but no amp. I put the same Pioneer unit in my IS200 without bypassing or even looking for the amp and it worked fine. This time I am trying to figure out the amp issues as the Pioneer unit is muted if I wire it up as I did with my IS200. If I leave the mute wire out then the unit flattens the battery. So I cannot connect up all the wires or the unit doesn't work, or I cannot wire it up to work without flattening the battery, but cannot locate any amp anywhere to bypass!?. So if anyone has words of wisdom on this problem please let me know. Thanks :-)