smooth1

The 9.5 in the rear will rub. I had 9's on and it barely fit. But it did and I had no rubbing issues. Maybe do 8' in the front and 9's in the rear. Also maybe go to 225's for the front and 255's for the rear to get more of the offset look also. And yeas, the 8.5 in the front would be fine. If you want to save alot of money, then go with just Eibach springs. That will only set you back about 3 or 400 bucks. But you don't really have any say as to the drop. They just drop the car 1 inch. But I have had alot of friends and even few here use them and I haven't heard a single complaint other than the fact you have no adjustability. But hey, you don't have adjustments now, and you still bought the car anyway! LOL!!! I have a Tein preferrence. I just think what they think is a good ride and what I think is a good ride match pretty well. Not that I think they are a better built product than any other. That may be different for you. If you want something in between the 2 . Tenabe, HKS, Hotchkis, and a few others make good products that I have used before with no issues as far as mechanical quality and overall durability. The Tein SS Flex coilovers are popular also, but those are around 1200 bucks. Then there is the Basic for around 750 bucks. Just stay away from Tokico suspension parts. Not all of it is bad stuff, but the parts I had in my hands felt like toy parts, not like something I would race my car down the track with, you know?

I went with 255's and I have the Tein CS coilovers.

You get a year free with many of the Garmin units... After that you have a choice of $129 lifetime or $50 per year. Considering Lexus gets $300 a year just for new maps (that's $75 per year with Garmin) it's yet another area the OEM unit sucks. In your opinion.

Personally, I think 18's are the right size. Your still getting a great look, but your not sacrificing the performance of the car. As far as width, well that depends on how much hp your looking to go to. While your stock right now, if you decide to go turbo, anything over 400 hp, you're going to need a bit wider contact patch to keep it civil back there. I would go to 9'' rears. And if you go over 500 hp, then 10 inch would be nice. As for dropping the car, I would say an inch. That's a good drop, looks great, and keeps from scraping everything. Heres a pic of mine: Those are 18's with just over an inch drop.

Well, I'm just posting this to let everyone know that this thread isn't dead. I have been attending to some family matters I am needed for now in other areas. Once things settle back down, I will probably start working on the IS again shortly after.

Angus

So how much is MSN every month?

What package does the car have? Does it have any other options on it?

If your looking to tighten up the corners, then your suspension will need attention. Maybe consider some coilovers and lowering the car bit. That will reduce body roll, and really sharpen up the turn in. Not to mention, you will have settings to adjust the stiffness of the suspension system.

Yeah, I'm thinking anything can be done for the right price. The question is, price.

Beef

Well, I guess considering they don't have the IS 350, they have to do something right? How much are they asking for the ISF in the UK?

I wasn't implying that the calender was an awsome feature, I was just making a point that we aren't just talking about nav here. It's the whole system with the nav. And as far as the controls go, I use the steering wheel also, but I have the Ipod interface, and it is really nice being able to operate it on the touch screen. And I like the menus and the ability to navigate the controls thru the screen much better. If they had a touch screen control center that didn't include nav, then I would suggest that as an alternative. Atleast then you don't give up all the other nice things that the touch screen comes with. and by the way, doesn't real time traffic come with XFM? You have to be subscribed to XFM to get that right? and do you need any nav to have the real time traffic? I thought that was an XFM feature, not a Nav feature. And here again, IF your going to add an in dash nav unit, or later decide you want it, then the stock Nav is not a bad choice in either dollars or technology. I'm all for after-market products and doing all kinds of modifications and personalizing your car. The hand helds are an ok option also. IF you don't mind the extra hassles that can come with them, or if you only need it once in awhile. I'm not argueing the benefits of one over the other. The question was is it worth the extra 75 bucks a month. I agree, it's not, but I do love having the nav system. So I think going back in there and just making them give it to you in order to make the deal happen is my first choice, or making them couph up some more discount so you don't have to give it up. But, if you can't make that happen, then just get the car without the Nav and if you find you really do want it, then you can get a pocket buddy later, or wait til the end of the lease and get it on the next car.

It looks to me like just a body kit on an IS250. Am I missing something?

Yeah, they have paint caliper painting kits available. Or you can just use high temp paint. As Bartkat suggested, silver is a good low key color that just looks good without drawing to much attention. On my IS 300 I painted them red and used the black stickers on it. Very noticable, and attention drawing. But black calipers with silver stickers would look really good also. That is the color combo I was thinking of doing for mine. I have the Obsidian Black though. And I was contemplating blacking out the car. But I haven't made up my mind yet. So until I do I was just going to wait. I've seen Kawasaki Green, that looks good, but you have to be able to carry that color. Yellow is pretty cool looking also.

which is why I was wondering if they said what pads they were going to. The average stopping distance is about 120 feet from 60 mph. 20% is a huge number!! I don't think that it is even possible. Maybe 2-5 percent at most!!

I suggest you go to the new members forum and look around in there. You will find all the instructions you will need. But in the mean time, look at the bottom of your browser and you will see a selection of click on boxes. Click on fast reply and a text box will open. You can type in there. Once your done, click on add reply. It will then post for you. Also, you might want to enable your private messaging.

When it comes to the accessory game, of course they are over priced. Everything at the dealer is overpriced. I don't ever remember buying anything from the dealer and walking out saying "Wow, I got that cheaper than I could have gotten on Ebay!, and so convienient too! " LOL! ;) I don't think a couple accessories on the car is a bad idea. I think we are into that "to each thier own" area. I got the Nav, but didn't want the spoiler, and lip kits, and rims, and exhaust and suspension and all the cream puff goodies that come with the car. I got the Premium Package with Nav. I plan on doing all the other Mods myself. But you and I along with a few others that have posted here own the car. The OP is leasing. So it would be a waste to do any real mods to the car. So, if it were me, I would look at how much traveling do I do, and weigh my desire and need with my wallet.

See that's what I was talking about earlier when we were going over the portable features vs. the in-dash stock unit. The stock head has touch screen radio controls and a calendar, and your phone book, and is integrated with the car much better. I wouldn't call it nav, as much as I would call it the central media control center, and it has nav, and the back up camera and all the blah blah blah's that come. I just think it enhances the driver control over the car much more effectively than any attempts in past cars I have seen. Just opinions here. But, dang!!! It's $550.00 a month!! FI-Fity!!! <_<

Happy Birthday!

Pulsar

Did they happen to mention what pads they used as an OEM replacement? I was just curious.

Ah yes, the great automobile paradox. Do I get a slightly less vehicle loaded?, or more car and fewer options to maintain the price line? Unfortunatley, that is a decision you will have to make on your own, as you will have to live with the decision you make. I love the IS, and how it looks. I think the IS is the best looking Lexus to date. I like the new LS, but I like the IS slightly more, and the fact the the IS is smaller, more like a coupe, but still a sedan. that's personal prefrrence though. But hey, it's just a lease right? then lease this one with no Nav. get it home. Drive it. Ask yourself as time passes, do you really want Nav? if so, then get the pocket buddy to live with for awhile. Then, when you turn it in, you'll atleast have that worked out for next time. to be honest, I can't really see 75 bucks a month for nav. I would work harder on the negotiating table first though. really push the envelope. If you get them upset, will they then refuse to sell you the car? No, you just might get a better deal is all. But if your at the end, and don't want to push it further, and you feel it's 475 or 550, then save your money for gas. B)

Yes. But you can also change the settings for the tire pressure also. So if you just wanted to run 28 psi instead of 33 or 36, you can use that controller on the side of the steering wheel to adjust to your desired tire pressure for monitoring. But if you select setting 2 by accident while doing that, then the TPMS system will come up as a problem. If you install another set of tires for the winter, then you can have the sensors installed and run that set as set 2 once you have them set in your TPMS system also.

in either case, XFM and Sirrius is actually a seperate reciever that is installed to recieve the signal. Both and I should say most are just XFM ready, which means they are compatible and can operate those medias. So, in the Lexus, it doesn't matter if you get Nav or not, they both will be XFM ready. But, on the Nav unit, the screen would be your control center and you would have a touch screen access for all the controls, whereas the regular non nav unit you would have to use the dials and manual controls. So, it's to the advantage of Nav. but not neccassary.