smooth1

The tint limits change from state to state, I don't know what the tint limit is in Texas, but I do know that some parts of Texas are pretty strict on stuff like that. Pictures of a black IS 250, Have you been to the gallery? Or the Show and Shine thread? Just put in the search keyword "Black" and a bunch will come up. As for the accessories, your going to get a slew of conflicting opinions there, I would just go with what you like, want and can afford, or seem reasonable to you. Some gotta have the Nav system, others say no Nav. So, quit looking at the 250, and go and get it, then you can post here what a great car you just got and talk with a bunch of great people.

I go to alot of different forums, Hyundai being one of them. Some things that keep coming up are the dash boards crack open in 2 or3 years, the suspension systems way behind the times, in fact even in the Motor trend review, they noted that the car was nice until you pushed the car a bit, and it all fell apart. Understeer all over the place, under sprung suspension kept bottoming out, (they even noted that if you were to have 4 or 5 passengers in the car at the same time, like say going to lunch or dinner and you hit a bump, the car would definatley bottom out. There were other issues that also seem to be a theme across the board for there model line up. I do think however that eventually they will be a good car mfgr. They just won't be able to maintain that Hyundai Accent price line at the same time. For anyone to think that Lexus, or Acura and Infinity are just price margined out to be able to come in and undercut them is making a big mistake. When Lexus and Acura came onto the scene, MB and BMW had to drop thier prices by as much as 25% over the 5-10 years to remain competitive. But your talking about an unchallenged market. It's not like that anymore. So, beleive me when it is said, in order to offer a Lexus for a Hyundai price, you can bet there are shortcuts taken somewhere, even if you can't see them. and the biggest art of developing a Hyundai has been so far, hiding the shortcuts. One other note, Hyundai has forgotten one huge factor that I think really should count alot more. For those of you "Smart car buyers" consider this, if you purchased a new Hyundai Genesis for lets just say $36,000.00 with all the bells and whistles, instead of a Lexus GS for $50,000.00. In 5 years the resale value alone would negate initial $12k savings and over the next 5 years would pull ahead in value, and you would have been driving a much better car the entire time. Hyundai has a value issue that they will not be able to change with the Genesis. It's going to be alot of years beefore that ever happens.

Yeah, that's what I'm talkin about! Looks great Flop!

Welcome to the LOC... If I were you, I would use the search feature on your screen below, and to the left. enter in "player" and 2 pages of info and old discussions will be right in front of you.

Yo Flop, that looks great! Good and clean. Do you have a full car shot?

Theres a TSB out for that. We have a pinned thread at the top of this forum with access to the technical service bulletins. Here's a link though: TSB thread On your next visit to the dealer, just let them know the problem your having. They have an audio filter they install to correct that issue.

Thanks again guys! :)

If your thinking about painting your stock rims, then I would take them off and sand the dings and curb rash off first, get em good and smooth again, and then take them in and have them powder coated. IF you can't do that, then I would think about polishing them and just clear coating them yourself. I guess Flop doesn't like to post pics of his rims,( hint hint Flop! ) I think his turned out really nice.

Thanks Alexander. I had a nice time with the family and I spent the day doing a coilover swap on my 350, and detailed it. It was a good day.

The triggers for the hood and trunk are in the latches themselves, and the doors are wired into the master lock panel. It's the green wire with the black stripe. Because the factory alarm system is also wired in with a factory immobilizer, I would just take it into the dealer and see if they can figure out what exactly is going on. I wouldn't have them fix it unless it's a relatively inexpensive fix, but atleast they might tell you what the problem is.

I usually put in 15 gallons a week. So $260.00 (ish) when gas was at it's highest, and now around $190.00 with premium being about $3.10 here in central Florida. I only use Shell, or Chevron stations.

That sounds like either the primary or secondary piston in the master cylinder may have developed a leak. If you take the cover off the MC, is one of the reservior's lower than the other? If so, which one?

It has to be just the pictures. I agree, it looks odd. But I thought that about the NIssan GT-R also, and then when I saw it in person, while I still wan't thrilled, it did look alot better than the pictures. The biggest question that comes to my mind about this though is what are the future plans for the SC then? I haven't seen the price of the IS C yet, but I would imagine it would be under the SC'c price.

I like the Bronze.

Do they make automotive approved booster seats?

Welcome to the LOC! I'd love to see a "How to" thread on a T996 swap. LOL!!!!

No, an aftermarket system won't change your fuel mileage. Axle back or cat back systems really only change the sound, and maybe move the torque curve a bit higher in the rev band. The 3-5 hp your going to get equates to about a 1-1.8% hp gain. If you go with a full header system, swap to a true dual exhaust and drop the cats, you can get a much more significant gain there. But for it to effect the fuel mileage by more than 1 mpg you would need to retune the ECU, and on the IS X50 that hasn't been done yet. I know someone who has successfully (so far) been running a piggyback ECU to modify the a/f ratios, but he's still deep in the R&D area to be able to really say yet. And your going to want stainless steel. Specifically T304 which is the most popular type of stainless to use. It's inexpensive, high heat resistance, and high resistance to corrosion. Aluminized steel is an alternative, but the coating is compromised where the welds and flanges are, so they don't last as long. I do want to mention though, that a cat back or axle back exhaust system can have a third party effect on fuel mileage in that, I know because I like to hear that exhaust rumble hard when I accelerate, that I tend to drive the car differently, and that has effected my fuel mileage......

Theres alot more than me on this forum that have alot of good info to offer. I think I just post alot more. Yeah, I would get the JoeZ intake. As for exhaust, JoeZ just came out with an intake and true dual exhaust system. But I haven't heard it yet, so I don't know what the claim hp gain is nor how loud the system sounds. So it also kind of depends on if your thinking about headers also. I have heard the Tenabe medallion on the IS 350 and I loved that. Unless the JoeZ system has gobs of power gains and sounds even almost as good, then that's the exhaust system I was going to go with. Bartkat has the JoeZ on his IS350, so if you want first hand knowledge on it, I would just ask him. THere are a few others here who have the JoeZ also, but I don't know if they have the 250's or 350's and such.

Thanks eatingupblacktop, I like Orange....... :)

Welcome to the LOC! Maybe post s pic of your car? Well, here's my opinion, There is no way I would spend $1900.00 bucks on fog lights. Just not going to happen my friend. I would take that money and buy some rims, or lower the suspension, or do a lip kit. But if your really set on it, then, well, could you post after pics for us all to see what they look like on your car?

I've used Redline MT-90 in the past with alot of great results. The IS 300 is going to need 2.7 quarts. Your going to need a 24 mm wrench, I used a a swivel head wrench as the space there is tight. Make sure you loosen the fill plug before you take the drain plug out.(You don't want to drain it to find out you can't get the fill plug off.) And while your under there you should change the differential fluid also. 75W90 for that. You'll need about a quart and a half. The drain plugs should be torqued back down to 28 ft.lbf. Don't forget your trusty pump also.

BTW, Welcome to the LOC! I would give the seat a little time to break in, along with the rest of the car. Yeah, the IS is a very nice car. Your going to love it!

Yeah the F1 All-seasons are a great tire. I had mixed reviews about them before, and I didn't really like how they felt, but later I found out the car they were on had some serious toe-in and camber issues, so they were cupped on the inside real bad. Later after those issues were addressed and he purchased new F1's, I drove the car again, and it was a completely different car! I'm still looking for some real feedback on the Yokohama S Drives. I live in Florida, so I just want summer tires as they are the "All Season" tire for down here. I hope they are as good a tire as they look.

The shift points are controlled by more then just the MAF. The 02's are probably retarding the timing, and may be sending mixed signals for shift points. Another quick test you can do is wait until the engine is cold. Then start it, and run it for about 30 seconds to 1 minute. then shut it off, jump out and put your hands around the exhaust manifold for each cylinder. If #5 is cold and the rest are warm, then you know you not even getting spark then also.

Geez..... We're on "rice & beans"!!!!! :o I'd have to have a garage sale to get enough cash together to buy a Steak & Lobster dinner!!! :( I could cash in my 101K!!??? LOL!! I saw a bumper sticker that made laugh. It said " Wouldn't it be a great day when all of our children had pencils, paper and crayons, along with a nice surplus of the latest books for learning, and our US military needed to have a bake sale to buy a bomb!" LOL!!!!!!!