Swindon Andy

I've done the same, no problems. I reckon that girl had time to jump in and brake.

Jap Import insurers I know of:

*A-plan Thatcham branch (only)

Churchill

*Privilege

Swinton

*Sky

Admiral

*Adrian Flux

I've used all the *, but won't use Privilege again as they didn't cover driving other cars.

Can anyone explain thus to me ? Got the lex off the drive onto main roads today but had trouble.

The road was partial ice and eveyones drive ramp was clear so I though as long as I had a wheel on that I'd have drive! Not so... The wheel on the ice span up and the wheel with clear ground didn't pull at all !! Thought that was the job of the diff to supply drive to the wheel with traction?? Please someone put me right

Simple diffs allow one wheel to turn faster than the other when turning. This is kindest to the tyres and easiest to drive in normal conditions.

Unfortunately they also allow one wheel to spin and the other stop in conditions such as yours.

Some cars have lockable diffs, or limited slip diffs, which help traction in these circumstances - and at the drag strip etc. But they are more expensive/wear tyres quicker/can let go more rapidly on a powered corner.

If you invest in a few hours looking on line and phoning around, I would have thought you could get your Celsior import insured for around £350 - depends on your details of course.

Companies are well known for discounting for new business, so give them a low figure when they ask your renewal price.

I was with A Plan but they jacked their prices this year. I ended up with Nationwide/Liverpool Victoria, but I don't have an import this time.

The recent service you mention should have sorted the anti-freeze? Check the paperwork?

Also put a few big bags of sand in the boot. It does aid traction in the snow.

Tony, make sure you get the correct load rated tyres, these cars take extra load. For yours it might be 97Y or XL, whatever they call them. Not all tyre shops will take care of this.

Also it may not be the tyres. Cars with other steering and suspension wear often feel good on new tyres, but as the tyre wears the underlying car problems become more noticeable again. Shocks, bushes all contribute, they gradually loosen up with age.

Mobile services can't do it quite as well as taking the tyres off and doing the whole job. I can recommend Lepsons (Kent nearest you?). There are plenty of other firms about, go and see them.

Wouldn't the narrower wheel be compensated more or less by the reduction in (inwards) offset? Provided the hub centre and PCD are OK it might be worth exploring further.

I don't know the answer, but I doubt this is correct. The sport mode stiffens the dampers, it can't adjust the height unless you have air or hydraulics. The only thing I can think of would be dampers also adjusted according to the height (load) sensors. Maybe the lower the rear / the stiffer the damping?

I thought the dampers were just switched internally by normal or sport, without any other variables.

I also would be interested to hear from someone who knows.

From memory - just enabled Bluetooth on the phone, set it to always on. Followed the car instructions to scan for the phone, and set that to always, or whatever it's called. Whenever the phone is in the car now it pairs automatically.

You could probably do it without instructions by trial & error, it's not hard. My Blackberry didn't need any special treatment.

I have a GS and Blackberry (Pearl Flip), it paired just fine following the instructions. Worth checking his phone with other cars as the Blackberry Bluetooth circuit can stop working irreparably - according to phone forum info I've read.

All good advice, particularly to change the water pump next cambelt change. They aren't particularly costly, and the V8 has been known to suffer greatly if the coolant overheats or disappears.

Anything worn or aging such as front end bushes and/or shocks will highlight a balancing problem that a new car will absorb.

Assuming the 2nd & 3rd gen are similar, this is what I have had & might help-

Long motorway trips on cruise at an accurate 77 (83 on speedo)- 28-31

Mixed, occasional squirts! - around 25

Short journeys, heavy foot - around 20

Why not get your wheels re-balanced, the tyre shop will soon tell you if there is a problem. The vibration might be that anyway.

I dont have DAB on my 2005 RX400h, so that should make you feel better.

Actually, dont choose your car because of the radio.

Who wants to listen to radio presenters, who like the sound of their own voice, in great quality anyway?

Sorry i cant offer any real words of comfort, but welcome to the site, and i am sure the benefits will soon become apparent.

Actually FM is higher quality than DAB (but there is virtually nothing on FM I want to listen to. I feel for Hayabusa.) It will be the aerial - needs fixing or an improved (external) aerial fitted.

No, it's not got a name, or s*x. Never have, with any of my cars.

Hi guys,

I just fitted an iPod kit for my 2007 Lexus GS300, I paid £99 from In Car iPod, The sound quality is great, and it works from steering wheel controls. The guys there talked me through on how to fit it, but had to pull of trim in the centre console, to get the radio out (was a bitch) and connect the iPod adaptor at the back, was worried i'd lose my CD changer, but that still works as before. Oh and it charges my iPhone.

They do offer a fitting service i'm told, perhaps i should have used that? It shows all the text and i can control albums and folders from the steering wheel, which is a really cool feature.

If you need any help fitting, send me an email and i will send you the details.

Daniel

This is great information Daniel, thanks. The place you mention sells more than one make for £99, which one did you get?

The 245 or 235 will make no difference to your speedo as that's the width of the tyre, the profile 45/50/55 is what makes the difference as that is what affects the rolling radius. So if you adjust the profile accordingly there should be no major difference.

The profile 35 - 40 - 45 is a proportion of the width, not an absolute dimension.

So when changing from 245 to 235 width with the 'same' profile, the diameter will reduce slightly.

Thanks, I'll see what else crops up here in the next few weeks while I make my mind up how to improve the ML sound

Dension distributor told my ICE shop they had nothing for the 2005/6 UK GS. I'm on the lookout too, for something that won't disable all the CD drive. Not so bothered about track info, I just want to be able to advance tracks when on shuffle play.

I'm also eager to read what UK owners have sucessfully fitted

DAB in the UK - my observations from previous car experience:

If you have a decent (external) DAB aerial you rarely get drop-outs, anywhere.

Not all stations broadcast in all areas, some are regional.

Obviously greater program choice than FM.

Broadcast quality is down on FM - it's mp3 quality, but not particularly noticeable in car.

Assuming it's the dip beam units, first clean the outside with plastic headlight cleaner. (Perspex polish). This is usually the main problem.

If it really is the inside that needs doing, the only way is to carefully warm the unit in an oven and separate the two halves, which are stuck together with a kind of mastic.

I know a few people have done this, there are step by step instructions on the web if you have a good hunt for them. Do it wrong and you ruin them!

There are new lamp units for sale advertised quite often, might be worth considering.

Buy some snow boots for your rear wheels for when you get stuck