Do Not Sell My Personal Information Jump to content


ColinBarber

Global Moderator
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    18,327

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    212

 Content Type 

Profiles

Forums

Events

Store

Gallery

Tutorials

Lexus Owners Club

Gold Membership Discounts

Lexus Owners Club Video

News & Articles

Everything posted by ColinBarber

  1. ColinBarber
    I guess the European emmision laws reduce our power and the fact that economy is more important over here than in the US so the engine is slightly de-tuned. Taking into account the low power fuel we must be 10bhp down on the US models. However with the large different in 0-60 times there must be some other differences - lower gearing maybe? Even worse for the 4.3 V8. They have 300bhp in the US, we only get 279!
  2. ColinBarber
    The warranty is only 4 year in the UK, extended from 3 years because of all the problems.
  3. ColinBarber
    Few standard units that are better, The Lexus GS, RX, LS and SC spring to mind :P
  4. ColinBarber
    The US has: option of 5-speed manual or e-shift auto. 3bhp more power (with rubbish fuel) 0-60 7.3s for auto, 6.8s for manual - compared to UK 8.2s
  5. ColinBarber
    Seems dealers are now being told :) Was it a new car you brought or used?
  6. ColinBarber
    The speedo is normally designed to read over for UK cars. I have the workshop manual for a MKII UK MR2 and in the procedure for testing the speedo it states that a 70 mph if the speedo actually reads 70 it need to be replaced! Cannot remember the exact figure but I think it needs to read 71-79. The fuel computer should be more accurate, I would have thought it wouldn't use GPS but the wheel sensors for the speed calculations. However even tyre wear will cause difference, at 100mph the difference between 8mm and 2mm of tread will cause 2-3 mph difference.
  7. ColinBarber
    Insurance is a little more for a GS over a IS but not much. The GS is a bigger car and is auto so it does use more fuel than the IS, however because the IS is so poor it's size there is not much in it. I average around 25mpg in my GS which is mainly small journeys within town, on a run between 28-32. When I drive the IS I get around 27 town and 33 on a run.
  8. ColinBarber
    Loz, Do you have sat nav on your car. If so you can see how accurate your speedo is. At 80mph on my car if I turn on cruise control and reset the average speed on the trip computer I get a speed reading of 76mph.
  9. ColinBarber
    GS300 has worse official stats than either the IS200 manual or auto. In practise it seems the GS300 is better than the IS200 auto, but not the manual. The GS430 (SE or Sport) is the fastest model in the range, however the US ones are even faster. Why do they get 300bhp and 0-60 times 0.5s quicker? Same thing with the GS300/IS300.
  10. ColinBarber
    I think it's mainly down to the fitters. Many don't know how to use the equipment properly and most don't give a monkey about your car. If you watch them balancing they never put on the weights exactly where the machine tells them. I would also imagine that a lot of the machines don't accurately balance wheels anymore due to the amount of abuse they have received over the years.
  11. ColinBarber
    I tested a couple of MKIs before I got the MKII and yes the MKII is better, quiter with less creaks and clicks. I still find the MKII creaks too much when you press any of the trim parts or hit a bump but I guess I am very fussy. Most people does notice, including the sales people. However I have been in 5 or 6 different MKIIs (one month old to 5 years old) and they all do it.
  12. ColinBarber
    For 1000bhp look at the PHR Race Shortblock Assembly section to see what needs doing: http://www.powerhouseracing.com/supratt_eng.shtml
  13. ColinBarber
    Getting the wheels balanced on the car may help. Do places still do this? The only problem with this is if you take the wheel off you need to make sure the wheel goes back in the same position on the hub otherwise the balance will go out.
  14. ColinBarber
    On the GS there are 3 positions for the rods at each side to change the tension. Don't know if there is the same thing on the IS. My wifes IS Sport only opens an inch when released, which is a good thing when it's raining :D
  15. ColinBarber
    15% to 25% is what I have heard. Autos have the biggest loss as do rear wheel drive cars. Some rolloing roads guess the transmission loss and try to give you the engine bhp but it's not totally accurate. On a manual gearbox they can take it out of gear whilst running to measure most of the loss. Best to use a rolling road to compare before/after a mod, not to give an accurate bhp measurement.
  16. ColinBarber
    When I asked at Lexus Guildford they quoted 2 hours to do full wheel alignment but also said it would be better to get it done elsewhere as their rates are £80 per hour and most tyre shops would be half that cost.
  17. ColinBarber
    Theory is P = V x I and V = I x R. Practise is the same. I have connected a 21W bulb across my car battery. Engine is off, Voltage 12.15v and current 1.78A. Turn on the engine and voltage is now 13.66v. Current increases, because resistance of bulb is still the same and V = I x R, to 1.90A Wattage of a bulb is stated for a specific voltage and for car bulbs that is 12v. Increase the voltage, you also increase the current and the wattages goes up. In this example the 21W bulb is now drawing 26W from the battery when the engine is running
  18. ColinBarber
    A lot of 200s around Surrey, mainly all silver. Very rare to see an IS300 although you cannot easily tell between a 200 or 300. Starting to see quite a few RX300 MKII.
  19. ColinBarber
    Indeed, but only by a small percentage. Trying to make it simple by keeping it totally constant.
  20. ColinBarber
    This has all got a bit but I believe that to be completly incorrect. The resistance is the same as it's the same bulb which is why the current increased. Are you saying that if you connected a 1.2v battery to a headlight bulb that it would try and draw 45Amps to get it's 55W? You don't know the power is 110W because the power is only stated for 12V and not 13.2V. The only constant is it's resistance.
  21. ColinBarber
    I didn't think a cambelt break caused any problems with the 300 engine, isn't it a non-interference engine?
  22. ColinBarber
    This is why superchargers are better at low rpm because they are driven from the engine. A turbo is driven by exhaust gases and at low rpm or small throttle openings there is not enough gases to spin the turbo fast to compress the intake air. Supercharges are normally cheaper because there is no modification needed to the exhaust system as with a turbo. Also many superchargers run in their own oil supply and don't need oil lines to/from the engine. This all cuts down on costs.
  23. ColinBarber
    It's not my theory. Voltage = Current x resistance. As the resistance of the bulb does not change if you increase the voltage, you increase the current. You can see this by varying the voltage on a bulb. The brightness will go up and down, if power remained constant so would the brightness. If you have 110w bulb (two headlights) @ 12v then current = 9.166 amps as already stated (Power= voltage x current). Resistance of bulb is 12/9.166 = 1.31 ohms. Increase the voltage to 13.2v and the current = 13.2 / 1.31 = 10.08 amps. The power now is 10.08 x 13.2 = 133W
  24. ColinBarber
    There are extra points of interest in each version.
  25. ColinBarber
    http://www.vacs.co.uk/vacs/vacpart.nsf/Ser...iceRepairs.html
×
×
  • Create New...