Steve44

Just turn the car off and on again.

I upgraded to the latest version last weekend and its been all pretty good so far. The display of junctions on the F-Sport colour display is better, they seem clearer and the distance counts down now, they also seem more consistent in appearing, but then how would I know !?! Motorway junctions still don't appear, not sure if they are meant to. The distance countdown is also out of sync between the main display and the instrument one - it lags behind. Main improvement is another increase in speed of response and general snappiness, it keeps getting better, with less noticeable pauses. Routing is still a bit hit and miss, it definitely prefers motorway/main roads and road where there are no traffic info for, it assumes must be quicker. For those who haven't upgraded yet, I'd say no reason not to.

I updated mine today too. Also was shown both the old and new versions same as Blistering Blue. Couple of tips for others, USB stick needs to be formatted as FAT32. You need to register with the Lexus EU service portal, but the download is free. Can't see any differences so far, seems faster to navigate yet again. Care to share the change document?

Local Lexus dealer replaced my Bridgestone with Continental Sport contacts on the rears. I'd have preferred the Dunlop sport maxx, but quite happy with the Conti's so far.

I'm guessing you haven't looked under the rear skirt at the two fat pipes from the 2.5ltr engine?? Why can't a hybrid have exhausts on show? Emissions and exhaust pipe treatment I don't think are connected by most normal punters.

Personally, I don't think the algorithm (PID loop for those in the industry) that Lexus uses to maintain a constant temp is very good. The blast of cold air in the face is noticeable as the auto setting switches which vents its using to output air, I guess in response to the sensor saying the cabin is too hot. Not sure if it has one or two cabin air temp sensors, I suspect 1, which is on the top of the dash and can get hot from direct sunlight shining through the window. If you don't like the cold air blast, try not engaging the auto function, which only seems to swap around the air outlet profiles, or just turn off the centre air vents, or point them away from you. I notice that the air vents don't have a diffuse function like my old car had, which spread the air out in all directions, rather than just directing in one.

as expected, cosmetic improvements, in line with GS and RC Here's hoping that the exhaust treatment at the back is common across all the various drivetrains and regions and not a USA 350 or 200t specific.

I'd speculate it is a mid life facelift, new lights and bumper/grille, bringing it to same or similar style to the RC and GS. Interior I'd guess it is changed to the same as RC, so touch pad controller and changed positions of cup holders and mode knob. Other minor changes to trim, colours and model specs. I'd also say it will have the new Lexus safety package available same as the GS, Led lights, and possibly further refinements on emissions and power for the drive train. I don't think there will be any new infotainment upgrades, no new engines, and no 12" screen, got to keep something for the GS to upgrade to.

Interesting, my experience of sport mode is a 2 to 3 mpg reduction in mpg, though this is usually accompanied by spirited driving. Did you use cruise control to mange the speed? The throttle is so twitchy in Sport it makes it hard to maintain a constant speed on the motorway manually. Will give this a go next time too.

The symptoms you describe a couple of other members had on this forum and it was diagnosed as loose battery terminal connections on the 12v battery located in the boot, or a faulty 12v battery. The 12v battery is in the boot and is a small motorcycle size and should be a standard relatively non expensive model available from Lexus. Its highly unlikely to be a failure in the hybrid system or a faulty traction battery. I'd get a second opinion from another dealer.

remember, its not just the fuel economy number that needs to be considered, depends on individuals personal financial circumstances, i.e what the car is costing, personal tax situation, how it is being financed, maintenance/repair costs, BIK, CO2 emissions, engine cc, annual mileage travelled, mileage rate able to be claimed etc etc. The Lexus for me worked out significantly cheaper overall than equivalent diesel alternative, even though the upfront monthly payment is higher.

By way of comparison, work colleague has Merc C300h AMG line, diesel hybrid. He can get 50+mpg without trying and up to 70mpg if he slows down and thinks about it, similar mileage and driving profile, but there is that grring diesel background noise to think about....... It is still a nice car though to spend time in.

Vast majority of my mileage is motorway. Depends entirely on how it's driven, weather conditions and road conditions. Have done London to Leicester when all the roadworks were on the M1 during last summer and averaged 55mpg over 130miles. Did Glasgow to London back on January thus year, at a fast lick and it did about 36mpg. London back to Newcastle a few weeks ago, also cruising above the official limit was 38mpg. Yet Carlisle to Liverpool at a cruise set 75mph was showing about 46mpg on the car. That's in Eco mode too, the car trip over reads by about 4mpg. Driving style and speed make a huge difference I find, more so than a diesel. I get the HMRC std mileage rate at a current 19ppm. The car is costing me about 11.5ppm to run as a 40% tax payer, I'm very happy.

Ben, you'll struggle to see average 45mpg with motorway use at 80mph. Have a look at my fuelly page, link below, it shows my mpg over the last 18mths/49k miles/100+ tanks and the IS is averaging about 41mpg, best of 48 and worst of 35. This is a FSport too and I know that they did a few revisions to improve economy slightly, but motorway economy is not its' strength. However, it is such a nice car to spend time in, I'd still think twice before going back to a rattly diesel when it comes up for replacement.

Streaming is great if you can combine a good app, a great data connection and you have the money to pay for it (or someone else is). Amazon Music, Google Play, Spotify all work well on my HTC Android with EE 4G coverage and an employer who pays for unlimited data. However, it is still a pain as the integration into the car system is poor and you need to do anything more than play/pause/skip on the phone screen. Ipod wise, I use a 160Gb Ipod Classic with my music ripped at 320kps in MP3 and album art. It works but has annoying quirks which I think are down to the hard drive based Ipod rather than a newer flash based one. It does take a while for browse to be available when first connected and it frequently has to show "Getting Ipod Data...." on the screen when the Ipod HDD goes to sleep. It also has a habit of crashing and resetting, though this is better now I'm on latest firmware. I was looking at using an Ipod touch 64Gb instead and I know others using Iphones are OK. Whilst Itunes is not great, all my music is catalogued and up to date in it now and I can't be bothered with trying to move things about and change it using other apps and a USB stick.

AVS stiffens up the dampers on Sport+. Its very noticeable as it makes the car noticeably stiffer, firmer and more fidgety on anything but a smooth piece of tarmac. Cornering is even flatter than normal and you feel every cats eye, stone or ridge. In the other modes (Eco, Normal, Sport) there is no difference between them, but it is working all the time to adapt to road and driving conditions. So it is very smooth and a bit softer (like a normal IS suspension) when travelling on say a motorway, but will tighten up if you enjoy some more spirited driving on a A or B road for instance.

Is the car brand new Peter? Has the dealer taken the transport blocks out during the PDI?? Just a thought........ Suspension isn't adjustable. Ride should be pretty compliant. I've got F-Sport with 18's and its pretty good on all but the worst roads. What pressure are you inflating too - 33-36psi should be the norm.

Rich - according to the manual, USB is limited to 3000 folders max, 9999 files max and 255 files per folder max. Also it can only decode MP3, WMA and AAC(m4a) files up to 320kbps. The files must have either .mp3, .wma or .m4a file suffix. M3u playlist files aren't supported and the max folder depth is 8, although the manual says to prevent issues no more than 2 folders deep is recommended. Previous experience of another car (not lexus) with limits, it depended on which version of windows/mac and which app i used determined which files the car picked up. As it scanned the disk, it loaded the first ### tracks it found, regardless of how they were arranged on the disk. I guess it is to do with how the system creates the master boot record on the disk. The tagging corresponds to the standards set out, so ID3tag V1.0 to V2.3 is compatible. I assume odd characters may prevent them being loaded. See pages 265 onwards in the manual.

The Insurance Institute of Highway Safety in the good old US of A has done a test of 31 different cars headlamp performance, testing their illumination and performance as they come from the factory, with std dealer setup, as well as the various options available from the manufacturers. The IS passed with "acceptable" performance for the standard HID projector bulbs, with and without high beam assist. The LED Projector option available in USA was only "marginal". The only car ranked as good was a Prius with LED's. BMW 3 series and Merc C class were poor with std halogens and only marginal with LED top of the range options. Makes interesting reading, especially around adjustment. http://www.iihs.org/iihs/news/desktopnews/first-ever-iihs-headlight-ratings-show-most-need-improvement http://www.iihs.org/iihs/ratings/vehicle/v/lexus/is-250-350-4-door-sedan

Interesting discovery last night, Lexus IS cup holders are a perfect fit for a standard bottle of wine!

Which version of Lexus media/nav does the Advance have baxlin? Guessing Lexus Nav, so round Knob to enter addresses? Have you asked the dealer to check the software version and update if needs be? Phone compatibility and performance have improved greatly for me as I've moved software versions. Also, individual phone software versions can cause issues. Is the iPhone on the latest/greatest version of iOS?

I didn't have a choice on the tyres, I would have preferred Dunlop Sportmax RT but as it is a company car, they were free. They are much gripper and square shouldered than the Bridgestone, quieter too I think. Need to wear out the fronts quicker though, considering doing many laps around a roundabout! Rim protection on the Bridgestone I wasnt too impressed with Rabbers, I've kerbed both fronts badly. The Continental being a squarer shoulder look better. I'll post a pic later. I may have hit a few bad potholes lately, as I said car drives square just the wheel is off, I'll get them to square it up. Any thoughts on dash disassembley to fix the heater motor? Concerned it will cause more issues than it will fix?

So the IS turned 48k and needed a service, cue Lexus Newcastle and overall great service from them. Collected and delivered car, washed and valeted, all things done I asked, changed rear tyres and a free tin of sweets on the passenger seat too! Couple of things I probably need to sort though. 1. The heater fan seems to be playing up and has a potential dry bearing causing noise especially when cold. Lexus have said they would need car for 2 days and disassemble dash to replace under warranty. I'm not sure I want to risk more issues with creaking squeaking dash once they've stripped and replaced it. What do people think? 2. The steering wheel is off centre. Car drives straight, but wheel is off by 1 or 2 splines to the right and it's really annoying. Cant rememeber it so bad before the service, but it's really annoying me now so it's got to be fixed. 3. New Continental SportContact5 rear tyres fitted, which are an improvement in virtually every way over the Bridgestones. I just need to wear out the fronts quicker, which given how much understeer I've got now due to increased grip from rear, shouldn't be long.....

Are you sure it's not just a sluggish CVT gearbox? I get this too, but it seems it's more about slow changing of CVT as its cold rather than batteries. I assume it takes a bit for it to warm up the oil. I think the battery pack is temp controlled to cope with the worst of the ambient variance.

Lol, you noticed too! Numbers do go up to 99.9 though.