Manolo1

Agree... Lexus sales in June 08 20% below June 07. Dealers must be dealing...

then... what are you planning on doing whenever you park at night in a dark spot? use a flashlight?

at 20K and with at least another 1/2000 miles on the OEM Potenzas I switched to Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 taking advantage of a buy 4 pay 3 offer at a nearby dealer... Based on all surveys/tests, etc. the PS2s are the best performance tires out there in our sizes (I wanted to try the GY F1s but they do not come in one of our 18" sizes). So far definitely a great tire. First and foremost selection criteria: wet handling, braking, etc. I am delighted with them. Just FYI.

A relatively easy way to keep track of your real mileage is to use the fuel logbook at gasbuddy.com (and once you are there you may cooperate by adding gas prices here and there...) So far the car's computer is consistently showing around 0.5 mpg better than actual, which is a pretty darn good aproximation.

and the expensive solution is.... clear bra!

Depends... How many miles since your last brake job? Worn brake pads will show as a warning light on the dashboard. Squeaky brake pads will only sound at some speeds but never when braking really hard...

Do you have the instructions handy? Thanks

Welcome-Bienvenido... The eBay add you mentioned states: "COMPLETELY PLUG AND PLAY VERY EASY INSTALLATION, NO MODIFICATION NEEDED" so you have to assume it is easy. Why not ask the seller directly? They should be able to provide you with better instructions.

Well... here are the specs: UTQG Data 280 AA A 280 AA A 280 AA A 280 AA A 220 AA A 220 AA A The Michelin will have the shortest life... Max Load 1389 lbs. 1709 lbs. 1389 lbs. 1521 lbs. 1389 lbs. 1709 lbs. The GY have the lowest load, but ample for the IS350... Tread Depth 9/32" 10/32" 11/32" 11/32" 10/32" 10/32" Here is where the extra weight of the GYs is showing (more tread) which may be the reason to buy them i/o "disqualifying" them Tire Weight 21 lbs. 25 lbs. 24 lbs. 27 lbs. 21 lbs. 25 lbs. Thanks for the comments I will give a very serious consideration to the Good Years, specially considering they were the top rated tire in the TireRack test! Three pairs of data, the first for the Contis, second Good Years, third Michelins. The first number on ea. pair is for the front tires and the second for rears...

I have just compared my top choices using TireRack's tests and one thing that comes to mind is the huge difference in tire weights. The Bridgestone Pole Position rear tire (comparisons also apply to front tires) are 4 pounds heavier than Contis and Michelins which to me is an enormous difference that must be felt somehow. I constantly read about unsprung weight minimization as being a top priority in any sports car. So, the top three tires, Continental ContiSportContact 3, Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric and Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 are quite similar in test results but the GY is 2 pounds heavier that the other two: 27 pounds vs 25. Should that difference "disqualify" the Good Years in favor of the other two?

Manolo1 - I'm curious how this has impacted your MPG City/Hwy? Please share. BaddBoi How would I know if I drive all the time with the ECT on? My guess is that it is totally inmaterial as all you get is faster response and that should amount to -at most- 2%-3% worse mileage...

I drive with the Power ECT on all the time...

perhaps you may want to try your nearby Costco: Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 255/40R18 Ultra High Performance $305.99 (Shipping, Handling, Installation, and Disposal Included in Price) Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 225/40R18 Ultra High-Performance $246.99

Bridgestones bad on snow? That is too general a statement. Which Bridgestones? For sure they were not the latest Blizzaks which are top rated... As far as new tires for your IS350, without a doubt there are a few top choices: #1 Michelin Pilot PS2 -Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position or Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position -Pirelli P-Zero -Yokohama ADVAN Sport -Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3 and your best website to compare brands, etc. still is Tirerack.com They can ship tires to a nearby recommended installer that will do as good a job if not better than your Lexus dealer.

I never visited them too much. All I know is that Sterling McCall Toyota is one of the worst dealerships I have ever stepped into, so I would not expect much from their Lexus "cousin"...

LOL... except turning the music very loud will create more rattles due to the bass vibrations....

do you mean wider? you can probably fit 265/35/18 in the rear even 275/30/18... and be ready to spend a lot more for those sizes... just call Tire Rack 888-541-1777, and they'll tell you if it fits or not...

this is CR ranking for performance winter tires in 16" sizes: Goodyear Eagle Ultra Grip GW3 H 85 Continental ContiWinterContact TS810 H 73 Bridgestone Blizzak LM-25 H 68 Nokian WR All Weather Plus V 66 Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 V 66 Continental ContiWinterContact TS810S V 65 Nokian WR All Weather Plus H 65 Michelin Pilot Alpin PA2 H 62 Hankook Icebear W300 H 60 Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero H 56 Dunlop SP Winter Sport M3 H almost identical for 17" size... and... from CR: ...Premium all-season tires continue to improve, our tests show. However, all-season tires aren’t the best in the wake of a severe winter storm, especially if you must be on road before the highway crews... ...Winter tires have treads with more biting edges for better grip on snow and ice, while their softer compound remains flexible even in extremely low temperatures. (See our report on winter tires.) On cleared roads, however, they might not grip as well as all-season tires, and they often wear more quickly. They do not have tread-wear warranties or grades and should be removed in the spring. ...

This is CR ranking for WINTER/SNOW tires: Michelin X-Ice 85 Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice 77 Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 76 Mastercraft Glacier Grip II 75 Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 74 Cooper Weather-master S/T 2 68 Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSI 64 Dayton Winterforce 50

So far this year (since 1-1-08) my average mpg has been 23.41 in my IS350. I have a serious lead foot and my daily commute is 40 miles expressway and 20 miles not very congested urban streets. That number is higher than usual (real all time average is around 22 mpg) because in two occasions I tried to see how high could I go on one tank of gas and I reached 28.96. I was trying for 30 but was not successful. In any case it was incredibly boring... and a real challenge (I even turned the engine off here and there on long red lights)...

Not meaning to be rude, as no one has answered... Perhaps you can measure the pcd and offset yourself: (or visit a specialty shop in Singapore and ask them, they probably have a catalog with all the details)... trying to find what pcd is I found this: Centreline Method: Measure the overall width of rim (Distance “X”), halve this measurement to find centreline then measure backspace (Distance “A”). Subtract “A” from “X/2” and you now have the centreline offset, which in Australia is written 35P or 10N to denote either positive or negative centreline offset. In Europe, centreline offset is usually written ET35 or ET-10 etc. NOTE: The centreline offset measurement is “rim width dependant”, ie. as the width of the rim changes, so does the centreline offset, eg. if you have 14 x 6 wheels with 47P offset and would like to fit 14 x 7 alloys with the same backspace, then the same offset in 14 x 7 is 35P. In both instances, the backspace remains at 135mm. P.C.D. (Pitch Circle Diameter) The P.C.D. of a wheel refers to the diameter of an imaginary circle drawn through the centre of the nut/stud holes in the mounting face of the wheel. An example of a P.C.D. is 5x120, where 5 indicates the number of holes (for studs/nuts) and 120, a diameter of 120mm.

DO YOU CHANGE YOUR OIL TOO OFTEN? .... After all, over the years I've heard lots of different opinions on how often you should change your oil. Mechanics and oil companies say you should stick to the 3,000 mile interval, while automakers say most people don't need to change it that often. The synthetic oil people say you can even take it to 25,000 miles. Obviously, they all have their own vested interest. If you're selling oil or oil changes, you want people changing their oil as frequently as possible. If you're selling cars, you'd like to see them wear out so people have to buy new ones. If you're selling synthetics you want to be able to charge a lot. So who should you believe? I decided I needed to hear first-hand from both sides, the auto industry and the oil industry. The oil guys tell me an oil change is an awfully cheap insurance policy for your engine. They admit that following the owner's manual is the proper thing to do, unless you do severe driving. But they have a pretty broad definition of what they consider "severe." Their definition includes driving in very cold or very hot weather, in dusty conditions, any fast acceleration, stop-and-go driving, long highway hauls, or doing any amount of towing. In other words, they think most people engage in severe driving. The car guys, on the other hand, tell me that 3,000 mile intervals went out with hula-hoops. They say that made sense way back in the 1960's when carburetors let a lot of unburned gas get into the oil. But with fuel injection, much tighter engine tolerances, extremely strict emissions standards and with much better engine oil than was available 40 years ago, most of them have more than doubled that interval. And yet, they admit that interval varies with the type of engine in a car and how it's driven. That's why a number of automakers use oil monitoring systems in their engines to tell the driver when to change the oil. These systems look at how many times the engine is started, how high it revs and how hot it runs. Some systems, like BMW's, actually measure the quality of the oil. Others, like GM's, use an algorithm to calculate when the oil needs changing. Thanks to this system GM says that most of its customers now change their oil at 8,500 miles instead of the recommended 7,500. But it varies. A Chevrolet Trailblazer with the 4.2 liter I-6 is seeing oil change intervals of 12,000 to 13,000 miles, GM says. But the same vehicle with the 5.3 liter V8 typically needs an oil change at 7,000 miles. That's mainly because the I-6 has a big oil pan and takes 7 quarts of oil, versus 6 for the V8. All this can have a huge impact on how much engine oil we use. Americans buy 1.1 billion gallons of engine oil a year. Using the automakers' suggested interval could put a big dent in that number. And yet, to put it in perspective, we burn about 420 million gallons of oil a day in the form of gasoline and diesel fuel. So our engine oil usage represents less than 3 days of fuel. ...

I just found out you get a super rare specially optioned BMW in 6 to 8 weeks MAX... try that with Lexus... it is 3 to 5 months... something is not right as the extra distance from Japan does not justify the difference in time...

More links to radar detector reviews: www.radartest.com www.radarbusters.com www.guysoflidar.com

"I only ever use the touchless car wash. Some of them are pretty good. My car has never been through a brush or felt car wash and has never been washed by hand." Most probably at least once... at the port of entry... your car was sent thru a car wash immediately after downloading it from the ship that brought it from Japan... and probably another time at the dealer before delivery... that makes two minimum... ;)