DT_Racing

So I have experienced my first and so far only issue with the F. I had a pre-cat lamda sensor fail... to be specific P0031 H02S Heater Control Circuit Low Bank 1 Sensor 1 So dashboard does its Christmas tree impressions on the M6, I pull into the services to check it out, I must be one of few who carry a code reader in the car with me at all times just for interest. Find it to be the lambda so no great drama carry on my merry way. First call of course to Lexus to give them the specifics and to get a quote. £580 inc. VAT fitted. So after I picked myself up off the floor started searching and this is what I found. Denso/Toyota to a specific replacement, part no. DOX-0504 and can be found here: http://www.denso-am.co.uk/e-catalogue/ and can be bought here: http://www.sparkplugs.co.uk/denso-direct-fit-lambda-sensor-dox-0504 for £94 although I have a motorfactors around the corner from me and I paid the same through them. Looked at fitting myself but without a ramp I wouldnt recommend it. Being the pre-cat its pretty well hidden, you can get at the sensor to remove easy enough but the connection to the loom is very well hidden. I took it to a local independant and watched the process. For information at this stage Bank 1 is the bank of cylinders containing cylinder no.1 and is the passenger side of the car (I didnt know this). So they had to remove the small heat shield that sits behind the manifold to be able to get a hand up to unclip the sensor from the loom, The extension they had to use to take off this shield must have been near on 2ft. After its removal everything was easy, took them 45 mins all told. That 45 mins plus the fault clear and re-check was £60. All in a grand total of £154. Where Lexus get their figures for service items I have no idea. Anyway, this may well be useful to others in the future. Happy motoring LOC members....

Same

95% of the time the LSD isnt noticeable. As above I went later more for the ride, the LSD was a bonus.

Due to scarcity of these you'll probably only ever find a selection of 8-15 available at any one time so never a huge selection. Usual spots to look, autotrader, piston heads and the dealer network, mostly all duplicates across them all however. Might get lucky from time to time and find a members of ex-members car up for sale, Only way to be sure if the F is right for you is to go test it I suppose.

Couldnt resist the read and work took a back seat. Fantastic article, think you have single handedly raised the profile, desirability, awareness, appreciation and probably used prices of all ISF's across the UK, all very very good things. Surely there isnt another ISF or owner better placed to be featured. A credit to you and Banzai. As a by product... I can say that my personal parts importer had his car featured in Banzai. Kudos all round

Boom, Downloaded...thats my evening sorted

Holy Cr&p that is totally amazing. Much anticipated and now much enjoyed, well worth the wait. Congratulations on the article.

Enough of a recommendation for me to buy a set. Thanks

Great stuff, looks and sounds right at home on the track, looks like it plays to the ISF strengths very nicely. Looking forward to the full write up.

Peter, Flipping amazing, a trail blazer of our very own in the UK, will be following progress with much interest.

@FTBBCVoodoo I think we hve near identical spec cars, although I think your alloys are lighter than mine, looks stunning. I'm looking forward to your feedback on the yellowstuff following your trip.

Just ran a quote for interest £390.43 Hastings essential 35 years old, 8 years no claims, 12000 miles, SD&P, Leicestershire

May sound counterintuitive but the harder you push on the smoother the car becomes in manual, but to do this is beyond safe on the road. I find in sport manual (as you do) at anything under mid brake pressure it is jerky so I stick to sport auto. On track things are very different, sport manual is perfect but you are really pushing on and really pushing the brakes. If you want it silky smooth it has to be sport auto I'm afraid.

Just found in Lexus's own most recent blog... Lexus F, 9 highlights from 9 years

Had a very recent experience on this as just swapped my fronts. ECP with 30% discount (as they often have) Original Brembo discs and Pagid pads £187 to my door. Fitted myself in less than an hour. Nothing wrong with Pagid stuff. OEM for many car companies. I have their pads in and they managed a whole trackday not problem at all.

Gavan As far as I know there were never any changes for 2008 to 2014 on rim size on the ISF so these sizes will do you just fine. Standard rims on mine and appears a very common upgrade.

@emjay82Do it you won't regret it, steering feel especially around centre is drastically improved with immediate weighting on steering input and an added tactility and feedback for the remainder of the stroke. The only perceptible change I have found in additional cabin noise is on very high frequency suspension inputs like on concrete motorways. I will caveat that by saying I 'think' it's a little louder so that should give you an idea that it's barely noticeable. Pro's greatly out way the 'maybe if I strain and listen' cons.

Certainly is underestimated and thats one of the things I love about it. I would imaging most never get close to pushing these on and I have to admit I was one of them that had no clue of its true potential before Thursday last week. I had no plans to track the car treating it more as a luxury run about but turns out its also a hooligan Car certainly garnered a lot of attention from other participants, most assuming as you say it was a warmed up IS 2 or 3 litre. I even saw a flash of surprise on the noise testers face (who as we know pride themselves on being able to guess CC's and redline's) as I dropped in that it was 5L and then again as it only registered at 76db at 4500rpm, Made me smile...its the little things.

Cartainly the best mod so far Peter, the more I drive the happier I am about them, superb investment and really adds to the everyday driving experience. The very few miles I have on the new conti 6's have me enthusing also, it appears (on first impression) that they have a slightly stiffer sidewall so you do get an improved wheel feel on input further reducing the delay in reaction from the car. Getting very M3 now :-) Once I gained the confidence on track to turn the TC fully off I found the car to be truely excellent, as wonderful as our TC system is on the road it kills the cars true character on track, It's a hoot! Massivley adjustable and communicative, initial understeer can be prompted and neutralised at will on the throttle, no nasty snap oversteer moments, it gives you plenty of warning its going to go and then when it does its beautifully progressive and controllable. I was a very surprised and happy man. Even the standard brakes can take a beating and not whine about it, if I were to take track days up more regularly I would invest in some upgraded pads but only so I wouldnt wear out my standard pads in a day.

Finally got there. After the trackday and the front inner edge wear and subsequent RR-Racing USRS fitment I treated her to her new rubber today Continental Sport Contact 6's (F) 245/35/19 93Y (R) 275/30/19 96Y £686.33 fitted (price matched to Black Circles at my local Kwik fit) Comparison of original and the new upgrade size for info Fronts: Rears:

Had to be done... edit: added a sneaky short vid just because well, I started the thread so I can mess it up. Handle well on the limit these motors.

Would be interested to see how the yellowstuff's do, as you did I have read differing reviews on them. Some first hand feedback in a super tough environment will be great so looking forward to that. On eurocarparts, sure you know so apologies but at least once a month they have a 30% off everything, I paid just £119.70 for my pair of front Brembo discs. I just wait for their email notification to drop in then pay them a visit.

Result, finally found the time to have the USRS fitted and a Hunter Alignment. Livened up the steering with a more direct less laggy feel, no more tugging or wandering from the steering wheel under hard braking, its still not an M3 but cartainly feels a great improvement. Hard to quantify but there may be a little more input through the cabin on high frequency suspension inputs like concrete motorways but otherwise no decernable changes to comfort. Very happy and should get rid of my shocking inner edge tyre wear. Now for the new Conti's... Few more miles under my belt now (just under 500 or so) and I've found the biggest improvement is the just off centre wheel feel, where it was numb with literally nothing happening around centre the wheel weights up absolutely immediately now, not a hint of lag or slack, its a lovely feeling. Love it.

I've said it before but I'll say it again. D&mn I like the Mesa Red

All been said really, I did front brakes (discs and pads) last weekend with all original parts for £155. Fuel I don't really think is so bad for a big motor, average 27mpg over last 10k. Servicing cost, If you intend on keeping the Lexus service history the cost is in keeping with a £55k car but not so extortionate to put you off, Lexus service plans are decent value. Overall though you get a hell of a lot of car for your money and running costs are reasonable.