Thunderbird2

My, you HAVE come a long way :D

Noltec Bushes - not many people know about these babies! I recently road in an old Mk2 Supra which had all the bushes replaced with Noltec ones. I have been in this car numberous times before, and I seriously thought the car had all new coilovers, the results were unbelievable. Massive improvement in both ride and handling. Verdict: Noltec bushes kick ass!

i'm down with Oct19 btw.

*a solitary tear rolls down my cheek* Let's never speak of this again....YOUR GETTING AN AUDI? Dude, never mind the car crash, why would you get an Audi?! :D Seriously, they are not known for their suspension or handling, two areas the IS excels at. Oh bugger it, get an RS4, those things totally kick ass! On another note, i loathe to hear that the legend of the FryLai IS300 is over, but hey - as has been noted here already, everyone is okay, and THAT'S the main thing!

Heh heh - good call! I notice also there is a large IS related Billboard outside the Domestic Terminal at Mascot Airport - has some comment relating to speed/sportiness etc, so they are still pushing the speed/sport idea.

Stephen - a return trip via aflatbed...sounds familiar, hey Joe?!? Joe/Shane: the service was at Sydney City Lexus - the only place to go IMHO. I was quoted for the service beforehand, 340something, but it only ended up costing me 323.00 They replaced the faulty tailight, did the usual fluids, tested and tightened everything INCLUDING body and engine mounts. Oh yeah - and Joe, got 4 peices of chocolates, and 2 boxes of mint wafer chocolates (about 10 pieces in each?!) .....they must have seen me coming...mmmmm..chocolate....! The car feels much better after driving it to work today, most notable is a somehow smoother gearbox?! Regarding the 1st to 2nd change - clutching out and then back in while in neutral is double declutching, since the gearbox has triple syncros you don't need to do this. basically, you can't hurry the change into 2nd, you have to pause when going to 2nd. yes, makes the change much slower, however i have found that above 4000rpm you can make the change quite fast and smooth ie. you don't feel any resistance. There's a sweet spot there i think. They also RECOMMENDED that if i have any issues with the gearbox, i should take one of their mechanics for a drive to show them the problem. Most other dealerships i have delt with, you have to practically beg them to do this. And in most cases they just give you the car back with a "there was no problem there that we could find" I will ask them about the car wash too. The wash seems good, although not as good as the finish i get with Meguiars wash, wax and poly sealant. I was thinking about it today though - it's in their interests to wash the cars, as it means people not only say 'hey, get your car serviced there, they wash it for you' but it helps the corporate image, as you get all these nice shiny Lexus' driving around!

Nah, just bring some on the next cruise! Regarding Mr ALTEZA, i notice some aftermarket gauges there - dare i suggest there might be some engine mods under that bonnet?

Wow - have you carded him? Does he know about the group? Tell him about the Speed shoot coming up, at least, i'm sure he would be interested in that! And yes, Matt, he's not that riced, but by the look of that wing he's got some Boeing sponsorship... :D Looks nice with those rims actually, and that front bar looks like Joes!

NO! He was driving past too quickly - although Angus said he did consider just diving out in front of him...but only for a moment! He just told me that he carded another one today, and i carded 2 last week. In fact - Edwin, need more cards!

Hey Ivan, There are not many RS200's in Sydney - do you know/own one??? Matt

Put my car in for 70K service today. I was given an RX330 for the day, fully loaded with only 3500kms on the clock. I took the long way to work, and then home again, to test out the touch screen Sat Nav. It works very well, better than the version in the IS300! The sound system was awesome, the gauges were very nice too. The drive is, well, cruisy. The suspension was tighter than I expected, and there was no adjustable dampers which was about all the car was lacking. The reverse camera is groovy, and the electric tailgate which can be opened and closed at a distance with the key is just too much fun! Got my car back this afternoon, washed and serviced. And there was a box of Chocolates and some bottled water waiting for me in my car when I got it back! And it didn't cost the earth. Gotta say ? Lexus deserves all the accolades it receives for after sales service. Very very impressive! Also had a chat to some of the guys there about the club and the car. One of the mechanics was very interested about the aftermarket clutch and flywheel options I have been looking at. He said that if would be easiest to machine the factory flywheel, however this cannot be done as it is a dual mass flywheel. He also said a new factory flywheel costs a whopping AU$2600!!!! He also said that, due to the triple syncro on 1st-2nd, that I should never hurry the change from 1st to 2nd. If you want it to last, he said, always do the 1st to 2nd change as two throws, ie. throw to neutral and then throw to 2nd, which is pretty much what I do anyhow. You can just feel that it is a gearbox which doesn't like to be hurried.

Spotted in the Surry Hills area by my brother - a 'riced but nice' IS200(?), dark grey (graphite) colour, plates ALTEZR or something to that effect!

Getting my Lexter's and my Lextcy's crossed.... Sorry guys! I find it difficult to get a good 1st to 2nd change too, at least until the gearbox warms up. However, it also depends upon what revs you change at - EXPERIMENT! I rarely change below 3000, even just around town. The car has NO torque! As for kills/kill story's? I beat a WRX of the lights the other day, he was trying the old 'left lane punch' (gun it up the inside and duck in front of you before the parked cars). I have beaten a couple of WRX's in various, more underpowered and RWD cars. What i am saying is that it is the driver, not the car! (And it helps to know the lights so you don't sit their revving your engine and letting them know your intentions!)

To an extent. I have driven along our fave local 'touge' (mountain road for anyone who is still scratching their head about this touge business) in a very large range of factory and modified vehicles. Since it's the kind of driving i like, i find it an excellent benchmark of a vehicle. I mean, it tests driveability - stability in smooth and rough, fast and slow corners. Speed, both high revving power and low down torque. Braking! Comfort, sound, etc etc! I have found in some cases that cars with tight setups were no good when the bumps came along. However, i have also found some aftermarket setups that were vast improvements on stock. In particular, an R33 Skyline with an awesome Enkei wheel, Michelin tire and HKS(?) suspension combo which had it handling far better than a car like that should! And an MX5 with King Springs on stock shocks which handled better than the stock version of the same car which came along that night. I sampled them both back to back and the MX5 with the Kings was just that bit better in all aspects of cornering! We are talking about a light car though, so it's easier to get the handling right! I will definitely change my suspension setup as soon as i am able, however i will be sampling as many different setups first to find out what i like. Any comments are welcome - what suspension setups are people running and how do they find them? I know there are alot of Tein setups, what else are people using though? At this stage, i am thinking TRD shocks, springs and sways, as i don't require the adjustibilty of the TEIN's. But i can be persuaded! Anyone changed their bushes as well? I am told the TRD suspsension comes with TRD rated bushes as well, is this true?

"What choo talkin' bout, Willis?" :D Sorry guys, couldn't help myself...i'm surprised no one else jumped in actually...