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News today that Emil Frey Racing will be competing in the Blancpain series this year after dipping their toes for a single round in 2017. Hard to find anything more concrete than that but a Spanish website suggest the RC-F will compete in both the Sprint and the Endurance championships. Whether It will be a direct transfer of the team and drivers from GT Open we will have to wait and see. I know over winter the Lexus preparation has moved from a base near The Nurburgring to their headquarters in Switzerland, which may signal the end of the Jaguar XK8 programme and liberate additional resources and drivers (such as Stephane Ortelli). It will be a significant step-up in terms of competition, professionalism and budget but also international profile. It will be interesting to see if Farnbacher Racing continue in GT Open in 2018. News article from Sportscar365 is here. Press release from Toyota Gazoo Racing (showing the plethora of motorsport activities across the Toyota empire) is here.

Claim going in tomorrow! I put 10psi in the damaged tyre and it was soon obvious it had a 10mm spliit in the sidewall. Got it replaced on Friday ad had the tracking checked; amazingly the front was spot on but the rear nearside (same side as the puncture) was badly toed-out. No wonder it felt like it was wandering a bit.. I let the LOC know how sympathetic Hampshire County Council are...

Hi Alan, welcome to the Forum, and hopefully soon to Lexus. Are you looking for an IS250? I'm starting ramping-up my search now for exactly the same thing, so you at the dealers!

Tonight I have had to put in the spare wheel at the roadside after wrecking front nearside on a horrendous pothole. Pulled in behind a Honda Accord that had done exactly the same thing! Things felt straight afterwards, so fingers crossed no suspension woes, although I'd be amazed of the rim hasn't got some hidden damage...

Avon ZV7s for me.

Finally! Apart from the curious 24h Dubai, its seems ages since any sort of motorsport action. And Lexus are in the first big race of the year, the Rolex 24 at Daytona this weekend. Qualifying is taking place as I write this post with 3GT Racing running - as they did in 2017 - two RC-Fs in GT3 spec in what IMSA categorize as 'GTD'. Cars 14 and 15 have strong driver line-ups (with some familiar faces from Blancpain and GT Open) in Kyle Marcelli, Bruno Junqueira, Dominik Baumann and Philipp Frommenwiler in #14, and David Heinemeier Hansson, Jack Hawksworth, Dominik Farnbacher and Scott Pruett in #15. Live streaming will be available at imsatv.imsa.com but as multiple category racing - with GTD the slowest - you'll need to be patient to catch sight of the electric blue Lexus. Hopefully though, they both be running for the full 24 hours each so plenty of opportunity... You can see catch some of the atmosphere from 'The Roar Before The 24' here on YouTube and an article on the Lexus Blog here. Elsewhere, Emil Frey Racing will be competing (probably ) in the GT Open series they did so well in last year, although they may be planning an assault in the Blancpain series. It's too early to be certain just who will be running the GT3 Lexus in Europe as both series won't be starting until April; more on those in due course. Also starting in April will be SuperGT in Japan with Lexus represented (as reigning champions) by the GT500 spec LC500s, and hopefully by GT3 spec RC-Fs in the GT300 category. Those of you looking forward to the rumoured LC500-F might like this article detailing the lightly modified LC500 that will compete in the ADAC 24H of Nurburgring. Will the road going version get that big rear wing, I wonder? Finallly, next weekend is the hugely enjoyable Bathurst 12 hours, unfortunately without any Lexus involvement but always worth a look. Live streaming should be on their website.

Very nice Renaldo, love the colour. And of course, welcome!

I might well do that matey. You'll get more snow in Yorkshire than I ever will in Hampshire! I've put winters on the IS and my previous car for must be about the last eight winters and only used them in proper snow once (ironically, I was in Huddersfield at the time). I'll have a look at them and give you some details of tread etc.

I have a set of winter wheels and tyres in my garage which - I'm ashamed - to say are still there this winter. My back seems to be getting worse as I get older so that the last time I gave the old girl a proper wash I knew all about it for the following week; the prospect of swapping over all four wheels filled me with dread. If it looks like we are going to have a decent fall, I will probably put them on but so far I've been impressed with my ZV7 in the cooler temperatures. Or better still, I might just stay at home! I think it will be CrossClimates for me next time.

Hi Kyle, welcome to the forum. Are you planning to do the work yourself or getting someone to do it for you? I guess it's a bit more involved than just bolting it on the front of the engine?!?

A 2001 IS300 you say? Excellent choice!

Seconded Ken. Usually videos on YouTube as well but they sell quickly!

Hmm, not necessarily. It depends on your expected annual mileage and how long you want to keep it. IS260 owners will be better able to advise you, but for me I'd go for a later car even if it is a bit 'leggy'. 2008 models on Autotrader with 100k could well be a better buy than a 2005 with 50k on it.

Hi Lee, welcome to the forum! You might find this thread a good starting place for what to look-out for: IS250 And as for trims etc., Parker's have a pretty good spec area on their website.

I was quite surprised how competitive Toyota were for a replacement on my IS. They did have to order it in (came in about five days) but the £89.42 was I though a good price compared to those I found on-line. For comparison, my old battery and new one had/has these labels:

Hi Matthew, not really the start to 2018 you wanted is it? The only way I know of testing a coil pack without specialist equipment (something I did myself with a previous car) is to take them off one at a time and restart the engine, gauging if the misfire gets any worse or stays the same. Well worth investing in a cheap OBD scanner to recover the codes causing the EML, they pay for themselves quickly on older cars like ours. Other than that it might be possible to test with a simple multimeter, or worth a look for guides on YouTube.

Wipers on straight away and there's no problem. It's a real boon warming the windscreen this way, helping the vents clear any misting on the inside as well. Only problem I have is the little river of frozen water than sometimes appears on my drive afterwards!

An old Comfort bottle of tepid water for me each time, for exactly the same reasons as Michael. Been doing it for years with several cars, and so far no exploding windscreens.

Nice work! But to be fair, only 73000 miles and thirteen years old is hardly broken...

Wow, what a beauty; very jealous! As for dirty... Well, cars are for driving not for cleaning, and the more you drive, the dirtier they get...

A few days late, but fitted a new battery. £89 from Toyota, a lot less than I was fearing. Still starting fine but voltage seems to have been sagging recently; better safe than sorry!

Like Richard says, cleaning the MAF is a doddle, two screws and a can of contact cleaner and that's it. Easy enough as well to take off the air intake tract and have a look at the butterfly to check cleanliness and free movement (remember the ignition will need to be on if you want to check the latter). I checked my for the first time a few weeks ago and it was - reassuringly - clean as a whistle. Perhaps invest in a couple of tanks of V-Power if you don't already. Check for air leaks in the intake tract, sloppy clips or splits. After that, you might be looking at plugs, etc. If it's actually a gearbox issue (which sounds like what you're describing), then as Chris suggest disconnect the battery and let it reset and relearn your driving technique. You say the transmission fluid is at level, but do you know how old it is? What sort of colour is it?

Pure filth!

With you there; I still park my old girl in the clearest bit of car park I can find! It's only recently - when I had no choice - that I picked up my first door ding, which was annoying. There've been a few scratches along the way from jeans studs or bag buckles, but I think generally IS metal and paint is pretty tough.

I've never had a new car, and don't suppose now I ever will; anything I can afford I don't like and anything I like I can't afford! Besides, I think I'd worry too much about a new car, driving it down country lanes or leaving it in a busy car park. But... if one was left one for me on the drive, then an RC-F in that lovely blue would do me just fine.