si_is300

PM sent mate You the man!

Bingo! Type B's matey, looks like I'll have to get the full centre cap complete with emblem then. They'll just need taking to the wheel shop to be sprayed to match the wheels. Thanks

Hi all The story goes like this.......... Gave the 300 a good detail over Friday and Saturday, lent the car to my missus on Sunday, thought I'd give it a quick wipe over in the afternoon and noticed one of the chrome 'L' badges has fallen off one of the wheels. The wheels were refurbed about 4 months ago and by the looks of it, these badges only pop in and are held by three lugs/pins. Does anybody have a part number for these bagdes (thinking I may as well buy 4) or know if they are available with or without the actual centre cap? Thanks in advance :winky:

My standard head unit has started playing up and I am well aware that they are expensive to fix / replace with a genuine item. My car is also equipped with the amp behind the glovebox, but dont fancy taking everything out to answer what is hopefully two simple questions............. Does anybody know the power handling/rating and impedance of the standard speakers?? and Are the crossovers for the fronts built into the amp (ie seperate outputs for all four fronts) or an in-line / crossover built into the speakers (ie a pair of wires in and a pair out for the tweeters or woofers)?? The plan is to replace the head unit with double-din one (not decided on the actual model yet) and hard wire the standard speakers in (not using the standard amp with aftermarket adapters). These can then be replaced as time goes by with better quality component speakers. I studied audio engineering at uni and have had great set ups in my previous cars but times change and I am happy enough with the sound the IS provides out of the box (for now!).

Better products out there than megs matey, especially with internet stores. can get good prices/deal on the megs stuff, like you say with Halfords 3 for 2's I personally use cleanyourcar.co.uk. I have a platinum ice IS300 and use a selection of other makes to get that swirl free, wet look. I use poorboys 'white diamond' and dodo juice 'lime prime lite' after polishing and top with collinite 476s in the winter and dodo juie 'supernatural' in the summer. Then use either dodo juice 'red mist' or chemical guys 'quick detailer' to keep it spick and span til the next wash. I cannot recommend 'glazing' before polishing enough. For darker colours like yours try poorboys 'blackhole'.

best of luck with your claim mate. I tried to claim a few years back when I hammered a pot hole in my celica. (unavoidable, doing 30 mph, round a bend and a bus coming the other way so went straight over the hole) Hole was about 2 foot across and about 8 inches deep. The hole was just round the corner from my house and my old man had reported it only a week earlier. I tried claiming and got nowhere. Apparently the road was 'inspected' only six months earlier (on two yearly inspections = yeah right!) and showed no signs of disrepair (the council obviously don't realise that thiese holes can appear in a matter of days). At the time i worked for Tarmac as a highways inspector. I wrote my letter in the way i would report surfaces for my job and i think this was the problem. There was loads of technical jargon in there and the photographs showed all the specialist equipment used for measuring/recording defects. The wheel was badly damaged and i wrecked the tyre. Tried to get the wheel repaired but everyone said it was knackered. Tried to get one new one but the wheel was discontinued!! I had written statements from numerous places stating that the wheel was beyond repair and that the wheel was not available any more. Ended up having to buy 4 new rims and two tyres. Councils reply was basically 'look where your're going' Still makes me mad now!

the 300's thirst for fuel (i knew it would be thirsty when i bought it but with constant rising fuel costs, i dont go as far as i used to :( ) the annoying issue with the front pads moving around waiting for the stereo to pack in

The only pics I've got of my two previous cars are good old fashioned photgraphs Not got any digital ones to upload and show off (may have to scan them in at work and upload) Bought a very early mk3 8v golf gti for my first car (aged 21, fresh out of college), wish id never sold this and would love to have it back. was a 3 door in a very dark blue/purple flip factory paint and was absolutely immaculate. Kept that fairly standard except for mk4 style lights, bonrath badgeless grille, some spax springs, 17" oz supertourismos with toyo proxes, k&n filter, janspeed full stainless with de cat (car was a late J so didnt need the cat for mot) and an awesome stereo (studied music tech and audio design at college and uni so this was a must!) Then got me st205 celica GT4 at 23. Nowt too crazy here except blitz induction and full stainless, big BOV, rally style mudflaps, trd corner spats and a few tastefull graphics. Most of the stereo from the golf ended up in this. Didnt go over the top with either of them tbh, prefer to keep em looking spanking and just a few tastefull bits to make them different. The current is300 is completely standard but immaculate in every way (dont have the cash for mods, petrol is too expensive!) I had planned on a few goodies, but gotta pay for my wedding next, and I'll be after something new by then.

Yeah my asda is a big 24hr one. Kent microfibres are always on offer, the turtle wash shampoo is usually a good price for the big bottle too. I got most of my brushes from poundstretcher/instore, theres some good bargains about without paying top prices for the big named products. Plus getting used to applying polish/glaze/wax with foam applicators (i pay a quid apiece) is a good idea. Ive noticed you use a lot less product with far better results. still buff off with a MF and then wash em. Missus gets a bit annoyed when there are circa 20 cloths to wash! Plus the mandatory magic tree at 88p from asda with the weekly shop :winky: My neighbours look at me a bit funny, especially after i've finished washing and drying (after claying) and the big tub comes out with all my cloths, pads, brushes and different bottles! See some looking when they go out about 9am ish, come back late afternoon and I'm still on it. Always worth it tho, that soft sunlight about a hour before it sets always brings out the best in any freshly polished/waxed motor.

Theres more to cleaning car products than megs and halfrauds peeps! although my neighbour does work for halfords and still gets discount even on the 3 for 2's! Billbery for the wheels (about a tenner a litre, diluted aprox 4:1) APC for the awkward bits (about a quid a bottle from supermarkets, various dilutions) Megs hyper wash (2 bucket method) with a lambswool mitt. Sonus Green clay (less than 20 quid for two) Demon shine as quick drying aid (on offer in asda, 2 litres for a fiver) SRP (fifiteen quid for the big bottle, lasts ages) Poorboys 'white diamond' (tenner a bottle, will last me about 2 years) AG fast glass spray AG vinyl and rubber care (halfords 3 for 2 :winky: ) couple of coats of colly 476s (15 quid a tub, cant see me rnning out, it goes a long way!) tyre dress (free from the missus's work :winky: ) chemical guys quick detailer spray (a tenner ish, for the guaranteed bird ***** when you've finished) Got a small karcher pressure washer, could do with a foam lance next for some snowfoam action! polish, glaze and wax applied with foam hand applicators (couple of quid each) loads of brushes and microfibres (cheap as cheaps from supermarkets) Stay away from wonder wheels unless your wheels are very bad, this stuff is lethal is any paint or laquer is suspect, and eats your hands too (ive had bad dermatitus for 6 years plus caused by washing WW off, even with gloves on!)

yep indeedy, only yesterday lunchtime on the way to pick the missus up from work. I was sat at the front of the lights in the left hand lane of the dual garageway, windows down, tunes on (not too loud tho) and sunroof open, freshly polished and waxed, enjoying the sun and saw a car going really slow behind me. Was an 05 plate saab drop top (the one thats based on the vectra), the reason this chap (i'd say about 25/26 y/o, same as me) was off so slow was he had two mates in the car and he was puttin the roof down. Then just as he got close he changed lanes and gave me 'the look'. Hence manual mode and PWR button down (it was the turbo one so wasn't taking any chances :winky: ) and proper smoked him, loved the look on his face when he was nailing thru the gears and then pulled in the left lane and aventually caught up. mines not a particularly fast car but i dont mind the odd traffic light drag race to show some toss pots that the 3 litre six and auto box can still do a bit of damage. Get loads of people try it at roundabouts and dual garageways when they come up real close behind you then pull out to overtake, if i'm in racing mode too usually just drop it a cog or two and disappear! Lets not get started on the saxo/corsa/fiesta drivers that always think they've got a nailed on 'win' too?!!! seriously tho, the 300 brings out the worst of them, I used to get some try it when i had the golf gti, and only serios contenders would have a go with the gt4. Must be something about 'blowing a lexus away' that sounds good to their mates.

Mines on it, just round the corner from my house but dont know how to do a screen dump to put the pic on here. I remember seeing the google camera car coming the other way while driving down to my mums. Also saw the camera come past work side entrance, checked that and its caught me and a couple of the guys sat down having a brew!!

Gotta admit I dont go OTT with tyres but currently run Avon ZZ3's all round. I get my tyres at cost price and free fitting so usually get good prices. I ran my mk3 golf gti on toyo proxes (seem to be getting more and more expensive nowadays), when i picked the gt4 up it was on brand new nangkangs. These were rubbish in all conditions and terrible squeel round every mini roundabout (even at near walking pace) and terrible front end slide when trying to accellerate out of corners or a bit af late braking. Needless to say these came off after a fortnight and replaced with Goodyear eagle f1's (great tyre but too soft, relaced/worn out after 4 months) Avons/Falkens/Federals/Toyo all good enough for me (I dont like seeing good cars on nasty tyres) and always plump for tyres with a reinforced sidewall. Although I had my dads 3.2 TT at the weekend and had a full set of Potena's put on (225/45 ZR 18s) for 280 bucks, bargain.

i had mine done last year, just rubbed down, cleaned up and painted. 12 months on they're bubbling well bad again. my advice would be get them done properly, sandblasted back to bare metal and started from scratch. Mine are going in today, all four wheels (no kerb marks just bubbling paint/laquer) going back to brilliant silver (from gunmetal) for 200 quid. would only be 160 if i wanted standard flat silver.

Had some up at the back end of summer, but will remember to do some before and after shots this time around :winky: