Gaugster

I will have to see a certified dyno test to believe that engine has a 90% of it's peak torque value "available" between 1800 and 6500 RPMS!! It may have a wide torque curve, but that's a little hard to believe! Randy I think that between Bartkat's post and mine, we have this one nailed down very well. I am sure the Lexus.jp information was certified and the third-party information that Bartkat showed just confirms it. While the IS250 is by no mean a torque monster, it does have power in the lower RPM's, which is still impressive for a 2.5L Regards,

I read though both of your posts and for the most part agree. I had a bad experience with my special order vehicle and am glad that I don't have to go to the dealers much if at all now. They just don't care. Everyone assumes that the dealers and everyone that works for Lexus should be experts about the vehicles. Some employees are as they are true fans of the Automotive industry. The rest of the people are just doing their job. When they go home from work, the last thing they want to do is study online etc... about Lexus or anything to do with Lexus. It is just a fact of life. I had a man-to-man talk with the head Sales/Service mechanic at a local Harley-Davidson store a few years ago and it really hit home for me. Basically, most of the people that work in the industry are by no means an 'enthusiasts' where the purchasers, full of up-to-date knowledge from hours of research are. So, I know that the sales people etc… are not the experts but I can also understand why. Regards,

Isn't that statement "90% of its..." a little misleading? Most engines develop peak torque at a specific RPM or very narrow RPM range. 1800 to 6500 RPM range is practically the entire power band. Randy I think the original attribute that Lexus was boasting about was that 90% of the torque (not power) was available starting at around 2k. Basically that the engine has wide torque curve.

Here is what has been passed around from others. http://lexus.jp/models/is/performance/engine/4gr-fse.html I attached the graph incase the link doesn't work in the future. Also keep in mind that this is the JDM version so the numbers are slightly higher when converted to HP/TQ. Presumable from using higher octane full or some other small difference from the JDM.

I don't believe that it works as you describe. The mirrors tilt down a fixed amount based on the initial position during normal (forward) driving. It is an interesting idea though. I never thought about trying to set the tilt-down position. The factory setting is fine for me. Regards,

Yes I agree - Aggressive or Unaware driving is a bad idea but I have been guilt of both from time to time. Certainly the TL is out of the league for a stock or even slightly modified IS250 based on what is generally available. Major mods might make for a good race however. While, we want to encourage people to post and participate on these forums, IMO we also don’t want to encourage dangerous behavior. Of course we can’t police the action of others. I tend to favor a more friendly reminder that aggressive driving isn’t a good idea instead of the flames but each to their own. Regards,

Yea, It was a good year to try out snow tires in the mid-West. Lots of opportunities. Also I dug this thread and responded to it rather then make a new thread.

It is hard to tell the difference between gases that are used in the IS. It's fuel injected and can make adjustments good or bad. I can add my experience with a carbureted V-TWIN motorcycle but obviously it a difference machine in every aspect. Also, what is your criteria? Fastest initial, Best for cleaning the internals over time etc.... So anyway - I have a motorcycle with a high compression ratio as well as very high cranking pressure. The calculated CR is 10.6 : 1 and the measured CP is ~240psi. The IS250 CR is 12 : 1 and the CP is specified at 199 psi for reference. Basically, my bike is very sensitive to the octane of the fuel. Excluded high octane race fuels, this bike runs best IMO on 93 octane from the Mobile stations around here. So I would rate this gas as my preference over Shell, BP, Marathon, 76, Clark etc... Overall, I am happy if I can use Mobile, Shell or BP for any of my vehicles. My 2 cents,

$2300 sounds like the Lexus dealer price for complete wheels as well as storage of your summer wheels. You can save at least 1000 bucks if you purchased from any other place but you have to store your own wheels. Lexus will charge full dealer price for the TPM sensors etc... so you get hosed really good. Any snow tire should do well but Blizzaks are hard to beat. I chose Dunlops Sport 3D's based on a great deal of research. Make sure the tire you get has the snowflake / mountain icon on the tire sidewall. I spent about 1400 for 4 snow tires with TPM sensors and aftermarket 17" rims. This includes shipping and ~$50 to have the TPM sensor ID's programmed by a Toyota dealer. Lexus wanted about 140 for the same service. Go Figure?????? There are even lower cost setups too. The traction button you refer to defaults to the "ON" setting. You disable it when you push the button! This may explain some of your problems. Read the FM before you do something you will really regret.:chairshot: Hey all, I put about 4000 miles on the Dunlops over this winter in Chicago. Changed back to the stock 17’s this afternoon. Here are some pictures of the tire and the wear that occurred. I am happy as these tires didn't wear much. Driving style was just commuting to work with some fun on the on-ramps when conditions permitted. Overall these tires worked very well for me. I can't say that they are the ultimate winter tire. Other types that have softer rubber compounds may have a better bite on pure ice but they usually are not V rated like these tires. It was very important for me not to lose any handling. These tires are just as good (or better when the temp is near zero) as far as dry road handling. Regards,

The 're-configured' that you mention is actually a very simple DIY process. Whenever the tire pressure is adjusted the manual states that the new tire pressure settings should be learned by the cars monitoring system (TPMS). It doesn't matter if you have new tires or just have added air to the old ones. Using the toggle/selction switch on the dash, you can have the car record the current air pressures for each tire. The car will use this measurement as a baseline to determine if a tire has a problem later on down the road. This is needed more in climates that have lots of temperture extremes. Like going from a warm garage to a sub-zero road. This give the system a better chance to aviod false warnings. Regards,

I would focus more on the speed rating and other standard characteristics. I don't believe that the definitions of Performance, High Performance, Ultra High Performance are industry standards so it could be misleading.

Just keep in mind the date(s) of the CR reports. New tires could have come on the market after the report. CR does a very good job when evaluating whereas the tirerack information is just a pole from individual users. I used the tirerack ratings as the winter tire I chose was not tested on CR yet. Everything worked out well for me. I know I keep talking about winter tires but the selection process is the same for any tire. It is all about what aspects of the tire you value most.

Thanks for the response. I was hoping to avoid the need for winter tires. My biggest concern with them would be that in Chicago it can be 50 one day and then 20 and snowing the next and I know driving winter tires in warmer weather like that is not good. Plus I would like to avoid the hassle if possible by having a good all season... I also live in Chicago and was concerned about the wear I would put on dedicated snow tires on those dry winter days. I ended up getting a Performance Winter tire. Dunlop SP winter Sport 3D. They are V rated just like my OEM All seasons. Overkill for sure but....The driving characteristics are very similar to the all seasons, just with much better snow/ics capabilities. Some of the snow tires have really soft rubber and wear quickly on dry pavement. I can't say for sure but it seems like the Performance winter tires with higher speed ratings don't wear as quickly as the lower speed (<100mph) rated tires. There are other factors as well but check out the treadwear information from tirerack to aviod the ones that wear quickly. I am planning to put my all seasons back on next week if the weather permits. I will post some pics of my winter tire wear for all to see. Regards,

Hello and welcome to the club. There is of course the standard menu for adjusting the High, Medium and Bass levels. Do you have the Auto Sound Leveling (ASL) feature on? This feature will increase the volume AND adjust the levels to compensate for noise when the vehicle is moving. You could try to turn this feature off and see if they helps. Regards,

I don't know about a fuse but did you try to measure the DC resistance of the subwoofer. At the terminals your can check to see of the voilcoil is broken. The resistance value you should measure should be written on the speaker somewhere. I would guess is would be between 4 to 8 ohms. Sorry but I don't know much about your problem so I am just taking a guess as to what you could try next.

You can use a source like Consummer Reports to find out the option costs for the vehicle both MSRP and dealer cost. It's not free though and you will need it soon to compare with the selling price that the dealer is asking. Below is the link to the Canadian version. I don't know if it will have the LSD information itemized. http://crcanadacars.org/default.asp?EXTKEY=cana2CROAP Regards,

I am not familiar with your exact system but I would confirm that the US region is set to your area. Read the FM for advice. On my NAV system, it can make a difference if the street number is enter in separatly as a "house number" instead of entering the street name including the address number. I still fumble with this myself. Again, your system may be different. Then I would look into a map upgrade if the information just isn't available. Regards,

It is mostly personal preference. Some people hate Bose stuff, some don't. Audio/Video is typically judged emotionally so better or worst, it is hard to say. Just know that the ML and regular stereos are different. That said, you should listen to both with your own music to decide which you like best as far as sound, volume, features etc... I think it Harman Karden (HK) andit is reasonable to think that there is some corporate relationship but I really don't know for sure.

Basically, many of the OEMs have been calling on Audio experts from the recording and home theater markets to develop systems for their vehicles. It seems that the OEMs had to tap other sources for acoustics other then BOSE etc... It is brand labeling and exclusiveness as well. You can read up on them if you care to. www.marklevinson.com (Toyota's guy) www.elssurround.com (Honda's guy) www.thx.com/auto/ etc...

Hello and Congratulations, Did you place a special order for your car? If so then it would typically take many months for it to arrive. So when the dealer says ‘another 2 weeks’ don’t be surprised if it takes longer. If you did place a special order then be careful. The dealers have cars coming from Japan every month. If is possible that they will try to sell you a similar car with similar features but not exactly what you wanted/ordered. Not too sure where your information about the LSD is coming from. AFAIK, there are no options (Open, LSD, Posi) for the differential(s) in these cars. All of them, even AWD, have LSD – So I guess there is no need to worry about this. The Sport and Luxury packages can be had with 18” rims. I think the easiest way to tell if you have the Sport Suspension package is to check for summer tires as opposed to all seasons. This would be my best guess. I would go online and print out a list of all the options that you are expecting for both the Luxury and Sport Packages. Then confirm one by one on the actual vehicle before driving it off the lot. Typically the sales people don't know the details about the options. So if the see a car with 18" rims they assume that it is the full sport package when it may not be. Good luck

You need to look at the pinned thread up top "Input Address While Driving". Thanks for the kind words guys - I actually wish the aftermarket switch was a little more flat so that it didn't stick out from the panel so much. But the fact that it light up when in use is cool. The green button is actually a perfect match for the stock green backlite switches which is another plus. Ya, there is a lot of information on this already. I don't have an 06 so the "secret" code won't work and I did not want to cut into the factory wiring in case I need warrenty work done later on. So, I found out about these kits from the JDM and was lucky enough to get one. It is plug and play. The link is below. That's the best that I can do. https://secure02.blue.shared-server.net/www...r/app_tvnv.html Sorry but I am not a 'pod' person and havn't used a radar detector in over ten years. It all depends on the size and where it can fit well in the vehcile. Regards,

Translate no, but I work for a Japanese company so I can get hooked up by emailing my counterparts over there. It is a privilege that I try not to abuse. Also google has a translator but it is only a 'beta' version for Japanese to English. It not really useful but it can help somtimes.

Bump for the pics that I added.

Mine had 14 miles on the ODO.

So the NAV hack, in its many forms, will allow you to enter street address etc... while the car is in motion. Also you can use the complete phone book or dial a phone number, again while the vehicle is in motion. It is kind of unsafe as it is a distraction so be safe if you do something like this. Regarding the blank buttons - I would not be afraid to drill holes in the blanks in order to mount something or to run cables etc... You can always buy new ones if you want to go back to stock. You can't remove the blanks from the front without putting a lot of stress on the front bezel which could lead to damage. The black side cover that meets up with the drivers door can be removed easily. Then you can get a good side view of the blanks and work from there. Good luck. P.S. In my case, I filed a small hole in the bottom of one of the blanks so that I could route the wires for the NAV Override controller. The kit came with double sided sticky tape so I used that to mount the switch assembly. I cleaned both contact surfaces with rubbing alcohol before putting it together. If it doesn't hold through this summer's heat then I may use screw or somthing. Here are some pictures. The button style is different then factory but it doesn't draw attention to itself unless the LEDs are on. I was thinking of buying some of the original switches like the shade and headlight washer to put there and then wire the aftermarket switches into the stock ones but I just don't have the time and the garage is still to cold. What do you think about how this switch looks? Opinions?