maneesh

You can see the difference in rim protection between Pirelli P-Zeros and the GSD3s (first pic is Pirelli, second pic is GSD3s) - make sure you click on the full image to see the difference

I don't know how it compares to the SP9000s, but the rim protector protected my chrome rims for the year and half that I had them on the car, and I park in London!!

I've heard good things for all 3 tyres you mention. I had Eagle F1 GSD 3s on the GS and they were good, particularly in wet weather. I personally liked the rim protector that was built into the tyre as a practical bonus.

Designed to compete in the US market against the Lexus GS and so forth, a very interesting review.. Think of the Hyundai Accent, and then look at this and see where they have reached, and where they might go... As quiet as a LS460 over rough roads...that's what independent tests say.. Hyundai Genesis first drive

I haven't met anyone running a staggered setup on a LS in the UK. Your best bet is to browse clublexus.com as they have plenty of owners who are running staggered setups on their LS400s, particularly the VIP folks.

It's a promotion in the US, Toyota USA have run similar marketing campaigns. You do indeed get free tyres for the life of the car as long as you own it. I believe it's usually offered with finance deals on new cars (but sometimes used cars too). The catch is you have to have ALL your maintainance done at the dealer where you buy the car from.

On my old 99 GS300 Sport, the correct tyres were indeed 245/40 R18.

Stone chips are part of life, and every car is at risk on public roads. This link may be of interest in terms of stone chip protection. Pistonheads stone chip protection discussion Incidentally, stone chips on the front of the car arise from motorway journeys, where the car in front will be kicking up stones on the road heading for your car. The closer you drive to the car in front the more likely you are to get chips! Another solid reason not to tailgate. That wasn't aimed at you matey, just a general piece of background info. Hmmm, if the stone chips are deep, I'd suggest a respray rather than the chipsaway kind of people. HTH.

I am with Morethan. They subcontract to "Ontime". Price is good, policy is very thorough, and service when I've used them has been good. Do bear in mind that the BEST offers for breakdown cover are always for NEW customers. So each year, be a right tart, and go to a NEW provider if you can. Just keep switching between the firms that you trust. (I used to work for the RAC's marketing team).

You are 100% right mate. Does this mean we are going to start whinging about petrol prices on this thread now? Oooh, I can't wait.

You guys haven't heard of the VIP "look" from Japan have ya. VIP cars Well done matey for not conforming to what folks expect from LS400 owners..

It is a COOL phone, there is no argument about that. Look down our noses at? WTF, is this some sort of school playground? My phone is better than your phone malarkey. Grow up, seriously. You've just gone from being amusing to downright offensive. I asked an objective question about the lack of a user replaceable battery. You can't even provide a logical response to my question. Again, a child could provide more "objectivity". Anyway, this thread has become boring. Bye.

The fanatical nature of your posts is admirable, and also amusing. Keep them coming! My Nokia which cost me 10 quid to buy has a battery that can be replaced by the user. In fact, if I happen to use up my battery during the day, I can just stick a fully charged one straight in. Why does the iphone not have the same basic feature that even the cheapo mobile phones have? Do I smell "money making scam" here?

Thats a bit harsh....the previous owner may just of given it a hard life, could of been young and irresponsible or just bad driving and riding the clutch all the time. I was referring to the diff breaking.

Yup - sounds like your car has either been clocked/neglected in it's early life or is just a lemon.

I second that. Hmmm, this country stinks does it? Hmmmm....

Go elsewhere. Tracking is a much more basic check than geometry. It's been covered on here, so do a search on WIM or geometry on here, and have a good read. Here is a link to the company that does a lot of geometry for many cars on here. Give them a call and describe your situation, and see what advice they offer. WIM

I've gotten a text and now an email inviting me to a confidential Lexus sale at Lexus Croydon, Edgware Road and Sidcup. Anyone else gotten this? I wonder how much of a discount they might give! By invitation only, our Confidential Sale is not being advertised in the press and you must provide the sale ‘code' to a member of our staff at one of our centres during the sale dates to be eligible for our offers. We have a high number of new vehicles in stock and a wide choice of Approved Pre-Owned Lexus vehicles throughout the Jemca group. With September and the new registration plate change just a few months away, we need to reduce our stock to make way for the influx of part-exchange vehicles as we anticipate a healthy demand for new vehicles. Consequently, we have an unprecedented offer for all new vehicles purchased during our four-day sale as well as a special offer on all our Approved Pre-Owned vehicles. Keep a separate note of the sale code XXXXX - this is a strictly exclusive sale. Details of our offer will be revealed only when you visit us at Lexus Croydon, Lexus Edgware Road or Lexus Sidcup at anytime over the four days. Our exclusive sale starts at 9.00am on Friday 11th July 2008 and will close at 7.00pm on Monday 14th July 2008.

I would suggest taking the car to somewhere that can do a full suspension check on the car, and possibly the geometry settings too.

Automatic Sound Levelizer (ASL) ASL is a feature that automatically compensates for ambient sound (wind noise if a window is lowered, increased traffic, etc.) by raising the volume to maintain pre-set levels regardless of the increased amount of external sound coming into the cabin. Once the external sound has gone, ASL automatically lowers the volume back to the original level. Taken from the US lexus website apparently

Watch how much it will depreciate over the next 18 months then! Hard times ahead...

There seems to be much dissatisfaction at the moment with the government, as expressed on LOC. Who (from LOC) should really be running this country? I propose Wozza, since he's already halfway there by becoming a moderator of LOC.

Why should it be left to the haulage industry?.... its about time we as motorists joined together and protested as one.I would like to see what the do gooders in No 10 would do if the whole of the country took 2 days off. You cant protest anymore in this country, the lorry drivers had to park on the M40 for hours and then about 6 lorries were police escorted into Westminster, how is that going to have an effect. The Labour party doesn't work for the working class anymore they are more blue than Conservative....i dont trust any of them and they(no party) will never get my vote. Let's start a revolution on the streets!!!! Down with the government! Wozza for prime minister!!!!!

I would have thought that if the ASL is working correctly you should not notice any difference that is the function of the system to adjust the volume so no diffenence can be detected at whatever speed or noise level. - Merv You are right. It does it in such small increments, that unless you sit there listening closely, you won't realise that the volume has actually gone up slightly given the background noise..driving a regular car with a regular stereo system now, I find myself having to adjust the volume of the stereo as i go faster on the motorway! never had to do that in the GS!

That's what it used to do on the GS. It had a little bar chart readout, so you could see it changing the faster you went..