Lexus Nerd

I also thought the reference to the engine being "around since Noah's Ark" could not have specifically referred to the IS 350's 2GR-FSE, as it only first appeared in production cars in 2006. So I thought Dowling was having a go at the GR generation of engines, which first appeared in 2003. In comparison, the first GM LS family engine appeared in 1998. Alternatively, Dowling could have made such a reference just because, well, the IS' engines are naturally aspirated. And anything else is, in comparison, high-tech ...? That's a subjective point of view, and one is entitled to it; but the point is that the age of the technology didn't seem to matter with his review of the SS.

1. Prestige: 225/45 R17 (F) 245/45 R17 ® F Sport / Sports Luxury: 225/40 R18 (F) 255/40 R18 ® 1. Official time for the 2010 model is 5.6 seconds. It can be faster in reality. The MY14 model is rated at 5.9 seconds, but we need a well-worn-in example to confirm what it's really like. 3. No difference between F Sport and other grades' exhausts when stock. There does exist an "F Sport" exhaust which can be bought as an accessory and fitted on any 350 grade.

I'd love to see the Melbourne Club members meet up. Once you've gravitated towards a particular date, time and place, I can get it promoted on the "Lexus Owners Club Australia" FB page.

Various reports - from A Current Affair to NRMA - show that 98 octane fuel gives you more distance than 95 octane fuel. The question is, how much farther? At ideal conditions, you'd get 98/95 = 3.2% improvement with PULP 98, but it's generally less than that. At the current cost of fuel, PULP 98 is 3.7% more expensive. So ... If you're trying to get every last cent of value out of a tank of fuel, go with 95 octane fuel. Having said that ... BP Ultimate, Caltex Vortex 98 and Shell V-Power all have detergents in their 98-octane fuel, reducing carbon build-up and the need for a regular fuel injector clean. When it comes to 95-octane fuel, however, BP is the only one that doesn't purport to have detergents in their Unleaded 95 fuel. So using BP Unleaded 95 could cost you more in the long term. So ... If you're trying to get every last cent of value out of a tank of fuel, go with either Caltex Vortex 95 or Shell Unleaded 95. Personally, I stick with BP Ultimate. It costs between 0.5% and 3% more per km travelled, and I don't have to consider whether the fuel is adversely affecting my throttle response.

See a Lexus dealer immediately. All Lexus hybrid vehicles ever sold in Australia have an 8-year warranty on the battery: http://m.lexus.com.au/hybrid/discover At worst, they may say the charge looks good and you can't get it replaced. But it's worth a shot. I'd also be interested finding out the price of the replacent battery. The talk about an expensive replacement seems more urban legend than reality. (Might depend on your definition of "expensive".)

Moved to "Buy and Sell" forum.

Will do, what was your issue about the price? It happened 1-2 years ago. When I got home from picking up the car, I reflected on the amount I paid and felt that it was much higher than I expected. I did some research, including contacting friends who use Lexus of Chatswood, and also compared the invoice amount with Lexus of Blackburn's published schedule: http://www.lexusofblackburn.com.au/services/parts-and-services/services When Chatswood charged me significantly higher, I knew something wasn't right. It turned out that there was an error in the invoice, and I was immediately refunded the amount overpaid.

Have a chat with Chatswood's service manager. It worked for me when I had an issue with the price I was charged.

Around the world, there's been dozens of reviews written about the third-generation Lexus IS, particularly the IS 350 F Sport. And I've read most of them, either before or after my own purchase of the F Sport. Most give credit where credit's due, while each author gives their own opinion of the minuses: the exterior styling, the foot brake, the weight, the relatively thirsty 3.5-litre engine and so on. The authors' verdicts may differ, yet the vast majority of reviews are comprehensive, and focus on the aspects of the vehicle that matter, both to the audience and the seasoned motoring journalist. I was rather amused, then, that a recent Australian review of the IS 350 F Sport by a supposedly experienced Australian journalist was factually inaccurate, embarassingly superficial and puerile. Joshua Dowling carries the title of "National Motoring Editor, News Limited". To be more exact, he is a freelance journalist that used to work for Fairfax, but now spends most of his time commentating on motoring industry news of interest to the masses, such as the local Holden factory shutdown. He isn't the chief editor of News' Carsguide, and you can count the number of car reviews he's authored for Carsguide in 2013 on one hand. A motoring journalist of 20 years, he has also had the pleasure of being flown this year to an Porsche international launch event, the Tokyo Motor Show and to the US to review the Chevrolet SS. On 25 December (yes, Christmas!), Carsguide published Dowling's review of the 350. It begins with the requisite blurb about Lexus taking it up to the Germans, falling short of success and devising a response. Amazingly, it then criticises the pricing: When the first IS sedan was released ... 14 years ago, one of its advantages was a long list of standard equipment, which were often extra cost options on the European marques. But times have changed ... The car we're testing however is the current flagship of the IS sedan range, the IS350 F-Sport, which starts at $84,000. For that sort of money you're within striking range of super-efficient twin-turbo power from the German brands; in the Lexus you get a relatively low-tech and thirsty 3.5-litre V6 that's been around since Noah's Ark. Calling the F Sport the "flagship" is inaccurate in itself, but I'll avoid nitpicking. The point is, Dowling has mixed up two distinct model grades. It's the Sports Luxury, not the F Sport, that starts at $84,000; the price of the F Sport, before on-road costs, is $73,000 with solid black paint. It appears the model equipped with active cruise control was tested; that variant is $85,000-$90,000 on the road. The equivalent on-road price of a 200 kW-plus German model, including options that Lexus includes as standard, is around $110,000-$120,000 for an Audi A4 and around $120,000 for a Mercedes-Benz C Class or BMW 335i. The naturally-aspirated engine's fuel usage is mentioned in the context of value for money. Most IS 350 owners will pay around $5,000 in fuel over 5 years; but you could travel 25,000 km a year for ten years, and still have a lower cost of ownership than a German rival. Fourteen years after the first IS was released, the Lexus is still thousands of dollars cheaper than an equivalently-specified German model, and the fuel economy of the Germans doesn't make up for the higher sticker price. A veteran journalist should know these facts, so one wonders whether Dowling has disguised the cost of the Lexus IS to make it appear more expensive to own than any of the mentioned rivals. Dowling's reference to "Noah's Ark", and the "crude" and "old tech" engine might make him sound like a technophile at first, but it belies both his aversion to technology as well as his hypocrisy. He questions the effort required to use the Remote Touch to program a radio station while driving when, in fact, most IS owners would use the in-built digital radio to browse to their favourite FM station, without the need to scan the frequency range and then "store" the discovered station. He belittles the driving modes by stating that Lexus was "feeling the need to add a gadget or two", while both complimenting the handling of the IS and criticising its fuel economy. Both seem important to Dowling, but it's lost on him that the driving modes can optimise fuel economy and handling. Dowling writes, As with most cars in this class, the Lexus IS has all the electronic gadgets covered, with lane departure warning, blind spot alert, radar cruise control and lots of other stuff that will have you looking for the "off" switch. Not only are all of these features optional in the three Germans, but Dowling suggests they don't appeal to motorists. And yet, he suggests in one of his other few model-related articles of 2013 that Ford Mustang "enthusiasts" will be pleased with the inclusion of such features in the upcoming model. Furthermore, a reference to the 2GR engine as "last night's dinner reheated" wasn't applied to Dowling's glowing review of the 2014 Chevrolet SS, the LS3 engine of which is five years older. Granted, Lexus expected negative feedback on their recent styling decisions, but to spend over 20% of the car review criticising the IS's exterior appearance highlights the article's lack of depth in other aspects of importance. The rest of the article has other inaccuracies. The F Sport has eight airbags, not ten, and Dowling suggests that the eight-speed transmission "helps with brisker acceleration off the line". Dowling also confuses intentional design with build quality when discussing the gap between the headlights and the bonnet lid, and suggests that a tyre pressure warning indicator was a "fault" when it could have been easily corrected if he bothered to read the manual. Considering this together with the inaccuracies in pricing, one wonders whether Dowling was going out of his way to discredit Lexus' well-acclaimed hallmarks of value for money and build quality. So, why does a journalist - who generally doesn't bother to write a car review unless it involves an overseas trip - decide to review a Lexus IS model in Australia? And, given that the review reads like the journalist has had the car for an hour - not a week - why does News decide to publish it on the one day of the year with the lowest readership levels? Why publish it at all? It turns out that Dowling is one of two Australian-based judges for the World Car Awards. As the Lexus IS is shortlisted for the 2014 World Car of the Year (WCOTY), Dowling is duty-bound to review it by 1 February. Unfortunately, Joshua Dowling's amateurish and misleading review is a poor contribution to the WCOTY judging process. It's time for the Dowling to stop riding on his accomplishments of yesteryear, get off the journalism gravy-train and make way for a panel judge who can write reviews that are accurate, thorough and unbiased.

Try Meguiars PlastX. It does help remove scratches from plastic, and supposedly removes haze too. If you live in Sydney, PM me and I can let you use some of mine. Otherwise, Autobarn will sell it for 25% off this week.

Here's some information I learned after visiting the Website for Transport and Main Roads, Queensland. The last line will be interesting to anyone who has considered using IS F wheels on an IS 250/IS 350. Although each state determines what modifications are allowed on vehicles registered in that state, light vehicle modifications are generally guided by the National Code of Practice for Light Vehicle Construction and Modification (NCOP). Section LS deals with tyres, rims, suspension and steering. There are certain basic modifications allowed without certification, provided that the vehicle continues to meet Australian Design Rules, "the in-service provisions of the [Australian Vehicle Standards Rules] and rules found within the NCOP. I will paraphrase some of the key rules here - for more information, refer to the NCOP: No scrubbing allowed. When testing for scrubbing on a 5-seater sedan, you must load it with 415 kg of weight. The diameter of the tyre must not be more than 15 mm larger "than that of any tyre designated by the vehicle manufacturer for that model." Stock IS F tyres would be much too large at the front, even if your IS 250 manual/tyre placard suggested sizes for 18" wheels as used on IS 250 Sports/F Sport. However, the CL recommendation of 225/35R19 and 255/35R19 would be OK. There are rules regarding maximum increase in tyre width and diameter, but not aspect ratio. But aspect ratio is a function of diameter and width anyway. As long as you meet diameter and width requirements, and the aspect ratio of the fronts don't differ to the rears by any more than 10, you're fine. In short, using 225/35 instead of 225/40 at the front is OK. "When converting a passenger car’s wheels and tyres to those fitted to a manufacturer’s variant or high performance version of that model, the matching suspension components such as springs, shock absorbers and sway bars from the high performance model must also be used." This might suggest that an IS 250 fitted with IS F wheels must also be fitted with IS F suspension. You could argue that this rule doesn't apply, since you're only fitting "IS F wheels", and only two out of four "IS F tyres". But I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not going to offer legal advice on this matter. :-)

Stock size is 225/40R19 front, 255/35R19 rear. Perhaps some of the F owners may be able to advise on other possible sizes ...?

I've managed to get a few screen shots from a "test drive" of the new Lexus Enform. Let's first look at the app. After downloading it (in my case, the iOS version from iTunes), the user is required to sign up, entering their personal details as well as some vehicle details (licence plate number and part of the VIN). After agreeing to a lengthy set of terms and conditions (no unexpected surprises, IMO), the app is ready for use. The user interface of the app doesn't have to be used very much, if you're just interested in Enform features such as Fuel Finder and Weather. The in-car nav system simply uses your phone as a means of connecting to the Internet. The Destination Download feature, however, lets you use your phone somewhere away from your car to find a desired location, and then set up the phone to plot that destination in the nav system once you're in your car. That will save a few minutes of idling and using that pesky Remote Touch interface to enter an address. Here, I've entered "Sydney City Lexus" and a number of destinations appear. There's a small number of matches to Enform's address book, so I can just click on the markers and find out which location I'm really interested in. It's not without its shortcomings. Type in something as seemingly unambiguous as "Westfield Chatswood", and look how many markers appear in such a small space! Which "Westfield Chatswood" do I really want? Fortunately, there's a list view: The saved destination is automatically uploaded to the vehicle when you switch on the nav system and the smartphone is nearby. There's no interaction required on the phone at this time - in fact, true to Lexus safety design, you can't do anything with the Enform app: Now, let's look at the nav system console. What's the weather like today? And the forecast for this week - the temperatures and brief forecasts are identical to what you'd see on the official Bureau of Meterorology Website: Fuel Finder is a great in-car adaptation of the MotorMouth Website. Here's the cheapest locations in the local area for 98-octane unleaded fuel: I'll update this forum further after I have a closer look at Enform.

There's a number of limitations to the USB MP3 playback feature. Here's just some of them. Check out our Navigation System Owner's Manual for more details: Playable bit rates MP3 files for USB memory: MPEG 1 AUDIO LAYER 2, 3—32 to 320 kbps MPEG 2 AUDIO LAYER 2, 3—32 to 160 kbps MPEG 2.5—32 to 160 kbps USB memory—It is possible to play up to 999 folders, 255 files per folder or 65,025 files in device. (So you may get some strange results if you have more than 255 MP3's in the root folder of the USB memory stick.)

I agree that only high-margin vehicles should be manufactured in Australia, but there also has to be a significant world market to allow their export. I assume that, if there is a reasonable market in the Middle East for a medium/large sedan such as the Camry, then there should also be a sizeable market for the Lexus ES. When one also considers that there are now few choices for locally-made prestige cars for the fleet market (Statesman and Fairlane are no longer made, and Caprice will soon be dead), the Lexus ES is the most likely choice for a high-margin vehicle made in Australia by Toyota. If I was in the market for a luxury car without sporty pretensions then, yes, I'd buy an Australian-made Lexus ES. I couldn't help but feel, however, that some of the Lexus legend would be missing. Yes, I'm sure the Altona factory would have engineers with decades of experience, but are they worthy of being called Lexus takumi? Can their fingers feel the difference between the front and rear sides of a sheet of paper? And could they fold origami in one hand?

There has already been a number of releases of the infotainment system firmware between the release of the first cars in May, and the last release before the Enform update for Australia. On my system, I do see some lag while syncing with my smartphone, but it's fairly good after that. It's only rebooted once during driving, but that's little different to the two other Toyota/Lexus vehicles I've owned in the past eight years. The Enform software for Australia is built by an Australian intelligent transport systems software and services company. There was a full two-week delay between the Android app release and the iOS app release, suggesting that Apple had some issues with the design of the smartphone app. As an enterprise software developer, I suspect a few possible reasons for the initial delay of around three months (this is only speculation): Complexity of a solution that requires sourcing services from a number of providers, including Google, MotorMouth, Bureau of Meteorology, Sensis, HERE (Nokia/Navteq - maps provider) and a call centre provider for Destination Assist and Enform Concierge Developer's apparent inexperience in building telematics software involving a smartphone app Frequent updates to the underlying infotainment firmware platform (i.e., the software giving grief to CL members) requiring re-work and re-testing by the Australian developer