LexIS200Sport

Risk of being unpopular, but hear me out 🙂 Reading all the tech shared here, I feel that the GS450h is truly an amazing car. Its hybrid powertrain is genuinely a work of art in my opinion. Its refinement and ruggedness is this car's single biggest USP. My car is 12-years old, has travelled 130k miles, regularly does lengthy cross-country journeys and wants for nothing but fuel in its tank and air in its tyres. I'm not sure of any other petrol cars in its class and vintage that can achieve regular 37 mpg and occasional 5.7 secs to 60 😉. I also found out that a fully loaded JDM GS450h, in addition to radar cruise control, also featured Lane Keep Assist and driver alert monitoring! The implementation of VGRS and AVS, however, leaves much to be desired. It feels like technology for technology's sake and they were rushed to production before they were perfected. These systems, being as complex (and expensive to replace) as they are, achieved neither the comfortable ride nor the sporty handing that they could have offered, in my opinion. A Jaguar XF of similar vintage, to me, rides and handles notably better without any active steering or dampers. I'd even go as far as saying that my IS200, whilst certainly handled way better, also rode better than my GS, which just had all four shocks replaced. Lexus could have made the GS a masterclass in chassis engineering with these systems, but alas. In normal driving mode, the steering has too much turn lock-to-lock. Great for the motorway but not so much for twisty country roads. Yes, flick the Sport button on and the steering tightens, but so do the dampers, and the car becomes comically stiff. I say comical because the interior, which in the 3GS is often prone to creaking and rattling in normal mode, really goes to town in sport mode 😄 Maybe it's just my car, being a Jan 2007 GS450h and thus an early production model. I heard things got refined along the way - 2008 facelift cars have different part numbers for the shocks, so maybe the ride and handling improved later on. I've also not driven a 3GS with APSSS so maybe Lexus nailed it with those cars. The APSSS also happens to be very expensive to replace and seem to last as long as the AVS shocks!

This is going to be epic 😄 Might just go down this route if something expensive powertrain-wise goes bang 😀

LEDs in theory should far outlast filament bulbs. That said, I think time is ripe to start a LED headlamp refurbishment business 😄

Hi Rob, would you be bringing this car to the Lexus meet in April?

Lovely, thanks for sharing these 🙂

Fantastic news 👏

Sorry can't offer much help but sounds like an interesting car! What model year is it?

Depends what your benchmark is... RC-F? 😉

It was the opposite for me - my IS200 was my first UK car and the controls were the opposite to my Datsun abroad, and so many a times I ended up flashing oncoming traffic when really I wanted to clear my windscreen! I subsequently swapped the controls over with those from an Altezza, sourced from a member on here several years ago. I suppose with the GS being an automatic, it is less awkward for me, but back when I lived in Milton Keynes with the IS200, having to shift gears and indicate in quick succession with the same hand over a series of roundabouts did get to me...

Yeah, the indicator stalk does include the switch for the rear fog lights. Pretty much a like-for-like replacement for the one that was originally on the car. You are correct that many of the Asian-spec GS's, particularly those in south-east Asia, do not have rear fog lights. I sourced mine from an Aussie car, which did. The part number that I listed above is essentially plug-and-play for UK GS's. That Honda Accord guy is a little OTT though 😄 My neighbour had a USDM Accord. That car had a mechanism that fastened the seatbelt for you!

Awesome stuff. Thanks for sharing the press pack.

Failing that, if you visit www.amayama.com and enter your VIN number, it should shortlist the part numbers to those relevant to your spec of car. You can then cross-check the exact version of wing mirrors that you need.

Probably not the most useful of posts but I thought I'd share my mod anyway 🙂 Despite being a right-hand drive market, virtually all Japanese cars sold in the UK since the 2000s have had the indicator stalk to the left of the steering wheel and the wiper stalk to the right. This is in contrast to Japanese cars sold in other RHD markets. And having been driving for years in other RHD countries, I struggled to adapt to the UK wiper/indicator layout. Hence, I sourced the wiper and indicator stalk assembly from an Australian-spec Lexus GS and fitted it to my UK-spec car. For those interested, the part number is as follows: Wiper stalk: 84652-30531 Indicator stalk: 84140-30290 I used the following videos for guidance on how to remove the steering wheel and subsequently the wiper/indicator switch assembly: 2011MY ISF Sport Steering Wheel Swap Yaris Foglight/Steering Wheel removal/Indicator Stalk installation

Hi Paul, do you know if he gained access to the sensor from above or underneath? Was the exhaust manifold amongst the items that he had to dismantle?

Awesome stuff. Saved it to my calendar 🙂

That was a very helpful guide, thank you very much :) I think I may have to attempt this on my GS soon. It too has had a spell of damp carpet along with condensation on the left windows. It does however have the approved pre-owned 3-year warranty on it, so I'm going to attempt my luck and see how much it'll cost to do it via the "official" route at Lexus 1st. Cavanman01, what was the size of your barb and how much prodding and force did it take to rip the grommet?

Agreed, the ventilated seats were especially awesome in yesterday's weather :)

This thread may be helpful regarding the different trim levels of the 3rd-gen GS: http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/91640-differences-in-se-l-spec-before-and-after-2008-for-gs450h/

LOL... good one :P

Sad sight indeed :(

Wow that does look good! Come on Lexus, how about the next LS!? :D

Mine went in on Friday for the recall, along with the 80,000 mile full service. Apparently the fuel pipe recall is a 4-hour job, and involves removing the inlet manifold and injectors. I was also told that there was a slight trace of dried pink coolant around the water pump. How many miles has your car done?

Another fan of the Gen3 Glasscoat here; this is really good stuff. But speaking from experience, if you are considering on getting it applied to anything other than a brand new car, please go to an independent detailer and not a Lexus dealer. I find that Lexus dealers don't do a good job in removing swirl marks prior to applying the Glasscoat. Not all independent detailers are able to apply Glasscoat though, only those who have been certified to. Google is your friend :)

oh snap! :P

They are pretty amazing cars :)