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Lexus have revised their dreadful website and in the process got ISF details mixed up - for example the site says the ISF has 330 HP & 11 mpg combined! The official government consumption figures from www.vcarfueldata.org.uk are as follows: Urban (cold) 16.8 mpg, Extra urban 34.0 mpg, Combined 24.8 mpg. The US official figure is 24.5 mpg and the ISF is rated - believe it or not - as "Ultra Low Emission". Most of this is down to the absolutely superb auto gearbox which would be a revelation to you after the slightly indifferent IS200 auto. Negatives: Your Granny will find it a job to get in the back. The exhaust note might annoy your neighbours when you start it up at 5am. The ride is noticeably harsh on knobbly roads. It won't fit in parking spaces which are fine for the IS200. It covers itself along both sides in brake dust. Overall: Wonderful, just wonderful. Until the ISF, my IS200LE was all round probably about the "nicest" car I have owned. Yes, the IS200 was no ball of fire, but the subtle, classy looks, smooth & effortless drive, manufacturing quality and reliability made it outstanding in its class. The ISF is a tamed beast, docile and relaxing to drive in traffic, but with aggressive grunt that is pure fun when you want it.

You will notice that you fill up quite often - the tank is smaller than the IS200 for a start and the rate of guzzling varies more than on any car I've owned. On open roads with no flashing things or blue lights, you can easily bring it down to 4 mpg - yes 4. On the other hand, in traffic which is heavy but keeps moving 24 - 25 mpg is usual. My average is 18.5 mpg with lots of short runs, and this still reflects the early miles when it was stiff and drank like a fish. On really cold mornings, you can almost see the gauge move until it warms up which takes about 10 mins. To be honest though, I haven't noticed my fuel costs have risen dramatically over the excellent IS200LE whose older technology was not ultra efficient. A big bonus is that it takes fuel from the pumps much better and faster than the IS200.

Even ceramics might not help that much because they produce even hotter fragments to embed in the lacquer - but at least ones that won't rust. The only solution would be for Lexus to change the airflow so that it all ends up on the inner rim where you can't see it; but I feel sure that is not going to happen. For the meantime, at least the outer rims are good for smoothing a rough fingernail! So far, although the sides of the car get coated in black brake dust, it seems to have cooled off enough not to bite into the paintwork. It must be a labour of love to keep a white ISF looking good though - not that I think they ever did. On another note, be very careful pulling nose first into highish kerbs in car parks etc when parking You can't see exactly where they are and they are too low for the sensors sensors to detect. When you back out it tries to rip off the underside of the front skirt whose back edge allows it to silently ride over the kerb but catches with impressive graunching noises when you reverse off. The resulting stretch in the underside of the plastic can be solved by heating up with a hairdryer and propping in position until it cools.

This is an effect I suppose every ISF owner has noticed. Well, the wheels don't actually rust. They are made of alloy which can't rust. What happens is that the tiny hot ferrous fragments from the discs/pads melt/embed themselves into the black laquer that turns the shiny silver alloys into the colour you see. It is the embedded fragments that rust and make the rims like sandpaper. Also, of course the idiot suggestion to wash them after every trip will do no good and might actually make matters worse. Wax will help some slither off, but hot particles will go through it like butter. Frequent vigorous cleaning is only going to wear the laquer away and make the wheels look worse still. The problems is that your replacements are bound to do the same thing because the particles land at a temperature well above the melting point of the lacquer. So, I think just get the worst off when you wash the car and hope the lacquer hardens with age to reduce the effect.

They are oval so you can't rotate them round to make the outlets horizontal.

Ever thought of an ISF. It looks a bit less bland than the IS250, has all the performance you could want and more toys. Around town it even has better fuel consumption than the excessively thirsty IS3OO. The main disadvantage in crowded cities is that like the IS250 it is a fraction bigger than the IS200/300 so needs a bit more scarce parking space :D

The pipes don't appeal to everyone, and in trying to liven up the very dull-looking IS250; Lexus may have gone a bit far. The stacked exhaust are executed reasonably tastefully. To change them would be quite involved and expensive. It would require replacement/modification of the two rear silencers which each have two pipes sticking out of them in a stacked configuration plus a new modified bumper with two enormous holes. The chances are that any kits from the USA are intended to make the car more bling - not less. But why bother - your normal view is the side view and the back end is not something you look at often. When you are close enough to open the boot, you can't see the exhausts anyway. In "conservative" Leicester I doubt if anything short of day-glo orange flake paint with chrome wheels and 8 six-foot vertical exhausts would raise an eyebrow

Not a big worry, replacing it is part of the routine service schedule, so let the garage have the hassle for the money.

Can't remember the price, but think it was £8-10 for a set of 4 - had just two stolen the week after I got my car (for both wheels of the litlle s**t's bike?). The part No for the set of 4 is 90942-05029, and the dealers always have them in stock because they are nicked so often. You can order them over the phone. Just nip the new ones up with a spanner - that seems to do the trick.

The law does not say most of the time. If the light flashes a few times at first - that is exactly what they mean by not emitting a steady red light. Also, if a MOT tester knowingly or can reasonably said to know a vehicle is in contravention of MOT test requirements & the Road Traffic Act, and carries out the test in such a way not to show this, or passes the vehicle, he is commiting an offence - so think on. When vehicles fitted with these features reach MOT age, or preferably sooner, let's hope the MOT & regulations are bought up to date. But they aren't yet!

Still don't think so. Check this link which is the current MOT Testers Manual http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_130.htm Under reasons for failure it states "c.. emits other than a steady red light when the service brake is applied, " I don't think it could be much clearer even though I think that brake lights that pulsate only under hard braking probably add to safety. So maybe the MOT test on a rolling road won't show up if they pulse and the car will pass, but the Road Traffic Act says the same thing, and you leave yourself open to be knicked.

Just a note: You can check the specs, but all manual versions of the IS200 had identical performance - acceleration, top speed, engine power, mpg etc. The technical differences for the Sport are the limited slip differential and suspension height which can slightly improve handling in extreme conditions. The main differences are entirely cosmetic like the drilled pedals, body trims etc. and toys. The Sport isn't really "sporty" because the IS200 just isn't; but it is a great looking, comfortable, very reliable car having an ultra-smooth engine with enough power/torque torque to make journeys in a hurry involving - but enjoyable, relaxing experiences. There is a price for this - the mpg is not the best in class, nor the carbon at 230 gm/km, but I always thought it was well worth it. Enjoy!

There would seem to be. Road Traffic Act 1989 and not yet updated states that brake lights must show a STEADY red lights while the brakes are operated and go off when not. The current MOT test requirements specifically ask the tester to check this is so as well as condition, no flickering when tapped etc. The law hasn't really caught up with LEDs yet so their use is a bit vague but is probably OK if they are E marked. So it seems flashing brake lights mean MOT failure or a fine for using them just the same as red illuminated windscreen washer jets or blue lights anywhere on the outside of the car.

Personally, can't think of any reason other than economic for anybody to sell on their ISF. It is everything I expected and much more. However, I had to order mine sight unseen - never mind a test drive - as did most for the early batches. Some may have been disappointed one way or another, and are just shifting their mistake. Nevertheless, given the number of high-end and big-engine cars now on the market; several ISFs available and lowish prices probably mostly reflect financial problems. It would be good to have posts from ISF owners who don't (or didn't) like it and why - just to balance out the all-positive ones so far.

The question is why rather how? Flashing brake lights have been easy technically for over 50 years, but are not allowed in most jurisdictions and are supposed to be removed from imports to the UK. If they are fitted in addition to existing mandatory brake lights which tell following drivers the brakes are being applied, you will probably get away with it, but if only both sides flash together. LED brake lights should be type-approved for the vehicle, but nobody is going to notice those because they look much the same. So what is the enthusiasm for mods which just draw the attention of those in cars with a blue flashing lights on the roofs?

Didn't ask about the Ultrasonic Blue which would suit other models too - particularly the IS250. Lexus are a law unto themselves though. How else could they come up with a comic idea like IS220D Sport, a description that works about as well as a succulent biscuit.

As a result of an enquiry to Lexus UK, they tell me that a total of 150 ISFs were brought into the UK in 2008 and all were sold. For 2009 NONE will be brought in & any 2009 registrations are part of the 2008 batch. Of the ISFs available 2nd hand, over half are as a result of repossession/cancellation of finance agreements. So, is the ISF: (i) Wonderful and exclusive? (ii) A victim of the world financial situation? (iii) A big mistake by Lexus? For me, partly (i), partly (ii). Your comments please.....

The big problem here is that the Ultrasonic Blue isn't available for the ISF in Japan - or any of the RHD markets. That may change with demand of course.

They are sure to do a kit in the USA. The version for this country would come with a compulsory lettering kit for the windscreen that spells out SPECIAL CHILD

[ i have made up my mind to go for 4300k but i will get the fogs done, just merely for looks purposes than actual performance.. HID headlamps are in another class. But fogs could be a bit of a waste since it is against UK law to use them except when it is foggy or with just sidelights at any time. On average we don't get much fog, but when we do, the fogs are designed to be fairly dim and yellowish to make driving easier

Should be fine. To keep it looking good, use a big bucket full of water & almost any car shampoo - with wax is better, but only just because the wax is water-soluble so rain washes a lot of it off. Carefully use a sponge/mitt, especially on any gritty areas (which you can check with a finger) or you will get swirls. Just gently do a little at a time & keep rinsing the sponge/mitt. Most insect marks can be rubbed away with a wet finger. Don't use the same sponge/mitt for the wheels - use a brush (a plastic wallpaper paste brush is good) & wheel-cleaner as a separate job. Make life easy by then rinsing the car off using a watering-can with a rose and clean water. Hose sprays leave water marks. Use a damp chamois-leather to dry/finish off. For real sparkle, you need first to remove fading/marks/blemishes with a very fine abrasive of which detailing clay is just one. Another is any car-polish where you just rub until the mark is gone. Quite severe scuffs and scratches can be minimised with colour-restorer for metallics - or in the worst cases Duroglit - taking care because this also cuts away the paint lacquer. Apply wax of your choice. Clean off and buff with an old clean towel or T-shirt. You can go mad with expensive special products, but then to keep the car at its brilliant, glossy best you need to immediately put it into a room maintained at about 20 degrees, with low humidity, very low lighting and under no circumstances drive it on the roads

Can I just check my understanding, are you saying I could now go to a Lexus dealer in the UK and get an IS F in Ultrasonic Blue? For now, the ISF in RHD is available with 2 model codes: 1YA - no sunroof, 1YM - With sunroof. It is only available to order and has the following colours which apply to "build to order" as well. Arctic Pearl - white Palladio Silver - silver Cadoxton Slate - grey Velvet Black - black Mesa Red - red These colours all exist elsewhere in the Lexus range. They all come with blue stiching on black leather with black headlining & blue F logos. The rarest colour is Arctic Pearl, also the least valuable because unloved and unwanted - which is why it is rare

If you want to work out out your exact mpg, it is harder than you think. First: Forget the mpg display on the car - its just a guide, but will show you if it gets better or worse. The petrol flow rate side of it is significantly affected by how fast the fuel flows (how hard you drive) and by temperature though - usually seasonally. So is your mpg anyway. Second: When you buy from the pumps, the allowable error is -0.5% to +1% which for 50 L is a range of 3/4 L - only if the pumps have been recalibrated within living memory. Otherwise it could be worse. Petrol with a bit better mpg could be just that there is more of it. Third: How far did you travel? Again, the car Odometer is a guide, but not very accurate - it is hard to find information on Odometer accuracy, but 5 miles in 100 seems to be about there. It varies with temperature and speed. A satellite system can do better, but as with speed it depends on update rate and a number of other factors.

Sorry, oversimplified the issue. Was trying to say that over this range RON really doesn't make much difference anyway, and what you get at the pumps is in any case variable. Add to this that car sensors are not laboratory standard, and that the majority of ECU action is profiled - "mapped" rather than closed-loop; the ECU can't improve much with relatively inaccurate inputs. The electronics involved are very accurate because it is easy and cheap to achieve this, but deal with input from sensors made to a price. An analogy is electronic thermocouple thermometers which are profiled to suit the inherently predictable but non-linear output from thermocouples, achieving about 0.2 degree accuracy, but the manufacturing tolerances of sensors reduce the accuracy of the whole thing to about 2 degrees. ECU closed loop control tends to be slow to maintain stability whilst having enough open-loop gain to be effective. Generally ECUs are designed to ignore small, fast changes to avoid reacting to limited behaviour to make things generally worse - with some exceptions. They are usually best at compensating for big, gradual changes. What is said about resetting the ECU is doubtless true. But when nothing has changed, is unlikely to restore to exactly the same as before reset due to differences creeping in because of inconsistencies in the input from sensors etc. Sorry if this all a bit techie!

RON ratings. The final test of petrol is done using a special standard single cylinder engine to find the "knock" coefficient. With the best equipment available, it is only just possible to measure RON to within about +/-1.5. So the actual figures at the pumps for petrol rated as 95 RON could be 93.5 to 96.5 & for 97 RON 95.5 to 98.5. But these small amounts really make almost no difference to anything. This does not mean that different petrols with different additives will not behave in different ways. RON has nothing at all to do with the "Power" in the petrol, just in the way it burns. So, most engines with reasonable ECU's will attempt the best fit to what the system thinks the fuel is, but it is only an approximation because they are just not that accurate. This in turn means that a car may best match brand X 97 RON today, but the next delivery is 2-3 RON different, so it is no longer the optimimum choice. So in the end - choose what works for you. For me Sainsburys 97 RON seems fine, but to be fair 95 RON is what I get rather than wait for a pump, and it seems just as good