Knightshade

Sure. One tank is useless info. Weather can make a much larger difference in mileage, for example, as well as the type of driving, and a myriad of other factors. It doesn't really matter if -you- notice though, the engine will when it has to pull timing because of the knock it detects. ECUs are smart enough these days it'll be a fairly long time before you notice the damage you're doing. If you don't plan to keep the car a long time you may never see it in fact, which I guess is great for everyone except the next owner.

Unfotunately there's quite a lot of misleading or simply wrong information in that article For example: "Among cars that come in for service, Gregori said, he can't tell which have been sipping premium." If he checks the ECU he can tell. This guy is not a tech though, he's a dealer. Which almost insures he has no idea what he's talking about. "But in all modern cars, computers adjust the timing of the engine's compression so that "pre-ignition" never happens, said Cole Quinnell, a spokesman for Chrysler Group Engineering." This one is just factually impossible. The car has -no idea- what kind of fuel is in it. How could it? The computer -will- adjust timing, but can only do so after the knock sensor detects knock. Which is pre-ignition. It will pull timing back to prevent -further- damage from knocking, but the initial knock is what causes that to happen. Further, since it's programmed to use the 91-octane fuel map, and it has no idea WHY it knocked or what kind of gas you have in the car, it will eventually add that timing BACK IN and knock again... then pull timing again... in a vicious cycle that in the long term is bad for the engine. Now, the one valid point the article has is that -most- cars DO NOT require premium, and they don't claim to. And for those cars using it is a complete waste of money. For the cars that -do- require it it's a foolish $2 per tank savings that will cost you in the long run (or often in the short term when mileage is worse from constant timing adjustments the ECU has to make)

Given there are no turbo kits for the car, and the only supercharger kit left on the market doesn't work on the US spec IS350 (TOMs kit requires a JDM ECU), you didn't have much options there anyway. If it's a 250 you didn't even have that. All the stuff you did added about 10-15 total hp on an IS350.... maybe 8-12 on a 250. And is about all you're gonna get if you want to stay legal. If you don't care about legal the mazzuri headers are a good option. But otherwise the best/cheapest way to make a 250 significantly faster remains to trade it in for a 350, and the best/cheapest way to make a 350 significantly faster is to trade it in for an IS-F.

One of the many reasons I saved 3k on the factory nav and got a $300 garmin that does a bunch more stuff and doesn't cripple itself in drive :P But yes, there's 3 ways to override that- 1) Own a 2006 and never update the maps/firmware- For these folks there's a software override you can do each time you start the vehicle to remove the lockout. 2) Physically take apart the center stack and hack some wiring- this works on all years on the 2IS, but obviously has potentially unpleasant warranty ramifications. 3) There's a kit they sell in Japan that will work on the US-spec 2IS that does the same thing as #2, but it plugs into the wiring instead of you having to cut it up- you'll still have to take stuff apart though... it runs about $300

Yes, most states have a govt agency (usually some kinda weights/measures place) that inspects that stuff pretty regularly. Honestly, it's not worth them risking being put out of business to make an extra $2 a tank off people anyway.

Was informed by a reputable tuning company when I suggested a two stage Rotrex S/C may be a good idea. I presumed it was down to web thicknesses. Hope they were wrong but don't fancy blowing mine up proving them right. We do not get the 350 this side of the pond and I think I told you the IS-F was like $104,000 here. One of the LOC UK guys has imported a TOM's S/C 350 from Japan, but I was exploring buying a slightly used IS350 engine from the US to modify and fit in my 250 shell You'll want as much of the 350 as you can get- the transmission is different for one (and so the ECU will likely not work with the 250 transmisson) the 350 has VDIM, the 250 does not... so you'll need all the relevant sensors and wiring for that or the ECU will have issues as well. Here in the US you're looking at somewhere in the 2-5k range to go from 250 to 350 (comparing new car prices) so it makes no sense to try modding a 250 much...the cheapest way to add power is just buy a 350. You're looking closer to 15-20k to go from a 350 to an IS-F And I'd suggest that by the time you got done basically replacing all the engine internals to lower compression, designing your own custom engine and fuel management system, and designing the forced induction system, you couldn't add over 100hp to the IS350 for less than that either. you don't read my posts at all do you? I'm in the UK..we don't get the 350. I paid $66,000 for my 250 and an IS-F (if I wanted one) is $ $104,000 more or less. But after consideration, forget Lexus..the Nissan GT-R is on it's way and a lot more car than the IS-F for the same money. of course I do, hence why I said "here in the US" to show the contrast. Here the GT-R is probably gonna run around 80k to the 50-60k for the IS-F... odd that Lexus pricing is so out of whack in the UK, but I agree with the pricing you've described the IS isn't much of a choice for you.

This car doesn't have one. You'd need to change the factory head unit for an aftermarket one that has a USB port. Much easier and cheaper would be to just connect an mp3 player to the AUX input in the center console

Was informed by a reputable tuning company when I suggested a two stage Rotrex S/C may be a good idea. I presumed it was down to web thicknesses. Hope they were wrong but don't fancy blowing mine up proving them right. We do not get the 350 this side of the pond and I think I told you the IS-F was like $104,000 here. One of the LOC UK guys has imported a TOM's S/C 350 from Japan, but I was exploring buying a slightly used IS350 engine from the US to modify and fit in my 250 shell You'll want as much of the 350 as you can get- the transmission is different for one (and so the ECU will likely not work with the 250 transmisson) the 350 has VDIM, the 250 does not... so you'll need all the relevant sensors and wiring for that or the ECU will have issues as well. Here in the US you're looking at somewhere in the 2-5k range to go from 250 to 350 (comparing new car prices) so it makes no sense to try modding a 250 much...the cheapest way to add power is just buy a 350. You're looking closer to 15-20k to go from a 350 to an IS-F And I'd suggest that by the time you got done basically replacing all the engine internals to lower compression, designing your own custom engine and fuel management system, and designing the forced induction system, you couldn't add over 100hp to the IS350 for less than that either.

But very likely using iron sleeves in the cylinders on those aluminum blocks. Smooth should be able to add insight to whether or not this is *always* necessary. (But I always thought so.) Actually, my apologies... (and smooth might need to make some since he's the one I was just agreeing with :P) (unless he has a custom made block or something) the 2JZ-GTE came with an -iron- block the heads were aluminum though. There's still aluminum block engines that make high horsepower though... (the LSx line from GM comes to mind, though they have a pretty obvious displacement advantage too, but plenty of folks boost em)

Changing the compression ratio isn't too much of a problem with a piston change, but the block is still going to be the limiter. The ECU limitation isn't just applicable to the US spec. By the time you're swapping internals of the engine you're spending WAY WAY more than it'd cost to just get an IS-F. And as noted there's plenty of aluminum blocks making crazy horsepower on forced induction

Weakest component on the 250 and 350 which will limit any possible power output and reliability is the aluminim block. The 350's supercharged by TOM's are restricted in power output for that reason. Either get an IS-F or something much better like the new Nissan GT-R if power is your main interest. I figured the 12:1 compression was a much bigger reason they can't get more than ~50 horsepower out of their supercharger kit... Jeremy on CL was able to run a 65 shot of N2O on his 350 without issue (and for massively less than the TOMs kit cost, though of course it's not "always on" power) On US Spec cars the inability to touch the ECU is a major limitation to modding as well.

There is simply no rational reason for the current price of a barrel of oil. It's a bubble, fueled by speculators and irrational thinking. From a supply/demand perspective it's more than double what it should actually cost. Just like the internet bubble in the late 90s, or the housing one that just popped recently. Gas'll be cheap again (relatively), it's just a question of how soon common sense will overcome insanity in the marketplace.

An additional 100 hp on the IS250 is -impossible- to achieve short of some completely custom forced induction system that'd cost a ton more than just getting an IS350. There is no ability whatsoever to change the US Spec factory ECU in the aftermarket on the 2IS. Note the auto on the 250 gets better mileage than the manual

Any/all of the TSIBs you might ever want done as mostly they're only free under warranty

Your Lexus dealer, and free if still under warranty

It is VERY VERY VERY easy to install the OEM sat radio stuff yourself... it's all done in the trunk and should maybe take an hour tops...all plug and play if the car is an 07 or newer. The only reason I'd suggest possibly ordering it with a new car (which'll cost about $150-200 more than doing it yourself after the fact) would be that it'd be covered by the vehicle warranty... up to you if that's worth the cost difference. The dealer doesn't do anything to set up your account, you get the radio ID off your display and call XM (or sirius) yourself and do it. (well, I suppose they might make the call for you if you give em all the info they need, but no reason for them to) It's pretty easy to the service for $77/yr even if you're only doing a year at a time

1) Turn the Car 'ON', but do not start the engine (Leave your foot off the brake). Cycle your trip reset knob until it reads ODO. Turn the ignition back off. Wait a couple of seconds. 2) Make sure seat belt is not fastened 3) Turn the ignition back on, do not start the car (Leave you foot off the break) As soon as you see everything light up, press and hold the trip reset knob and do a long 12 second count. 4) Keep your finger on the trip reset knob. Fasten your seat belt, as soon as you fasten your seat belt, you should see the ODO display go from XXXX miles to "b-on". At that time take your finger off the trip reset knob and press it again. It should cycle to "b-off". You should be all set and turn the ignition off and unfasten your seat belt.

A loaded V6 Camry was -over- 30k when I test drove it (though not much over) and had a lot less features than the IS350 did... I was massively underwhelmed with what you got for the price... though I'd not doubt it would be a reliable vehicle.

I test drove a lot of cars before buying my IS, including some that were cheaper. For example I test drove a V6 camry (though honestly it was still like 30k which is insane) When I sat in it my wifes first remark, which was the same as my thoughts, were "This feels just like a 10 year old camry with a bigger engine" There wasn't anything especially great about it compared to just an old used one. Honestly, in the 30k and below category the nicest car we test drove was the Saturn Aura (probably the current Malibu based on it would be similar). It would've been around 25k pretty much loaded. It had decent power and mileage, and especially for GM a pretty decent interior. The IS350 though was the first car we sat in that -felt- like a 30+ thousand dollar car. Combine with having the best performance of all the cars we tested (well, tied with the G35 really, but better than all the others including the Acura TL-S, Caddy STS, the V6 Camry, and a number of others) as well as offering excellent mileage compared to most of those, and BY FAR the best brand reputation for reliability, and it was a pretty easy decision. I wanted a car with good performance, and excellent reliability and a really nice interior experience. Lexus didn't make one of those prior to the 2IS. Toyota hadn't made one since the Supra and the prices on the mk4 supras are -way way way- beyond insane for even a 10-15 year old one. GM hadn't made a car like that since the 94-96 B-body, excluding maybe the vette (again insane pricing) and a few recent caddys that just fell short compared to the Lexus....the Aura was a nice surprise but you could really see what you got extra for the $ comparing it to the 2IS. Infiniti had the G35, and that was my second choice really, but the 2IS just just a little better in a lot of ways. Nissan has the 350Z but it was basically an inferior G35 for my needs. Acura was vaguely close with the TL/TL-S but it was a clear 3rd behind the G35 and 2IS. Honda hasn't made a car like that ever. Ford.... sorry...can't even keep a straight face there... ditto Chrysler. Subaru has the WRX but the STi don't come in automatic and the interior honestly sucks. Mitsubishi has been hemmoraging money for so long I wouldn't even consider em, and the EVO has similar issues as the WRX. BMW besides all the reliability jokes on the 335i about doubles the price of the car if you want any options in it, and you still get a dated crap interior compared to the Lexus. Believe me, if there's been a 20-something grand car that compared well to the IS350 I would've seriously considered it.

It's pretty simple math to see that 2 mpg MORE than pays for the cost of premium fuel. That's $4 for 20 gallons of fuel since premium is generally 20 cents a gallon more. And if you get 2 mpg better that's 40 extra miles you travel. For about the cost of 1 gallon. Not to mention the eventual engine harm you're saving using the correct gasoline.

To my knowledge, there were no mechanical revisions to the 2008 engines. And technically, the ticking is not indicative of a "problem" but merely an audible result of the direct injection. By the way, kudos for finding this older thread - presumably by using the "Search" function! yeah, as they say in software, it's not a problem, it's a feature :) (and it's on every direct injection engine in the world, not just the 2IS)

It's no where near $1900 if you buy from one of the lexus dealers who sell it inexpensively. There's a LONG LONG LONG list of repairs that are in the $1000-1400 range on this car... Lexus parts are -not- cheap, nor is dealer labor. You'd be hard pressed to find many warranty repairs that are -less- than that amount honestly. Especially if you've got nav, or ML, or any of the other more fancy/expensive options (dynamic cruise for example) Yes it's an insurance policy for 3 years, and it's certainly possible you will never need it. But it's quite possibly you'll be saving yourself money if you need just one repair in that time, and you're talking less than $10 a week over that extra 3 years of coverage to be safe.

That's the no luxury. Nav has nothing to do with dash trim. I agree no wood looks better in the IS though :) And like I said, just get a nice Garmin for $300. That'll do nav, have bluetooth, and a slew of features the OEM nav does NOT have. And it'll be 100% paid for by what you would've spent in just over 4 months on the OEM system.

They are still including the 08's in the TSB, I think the TSB itself just hasn't been updated for the 250. For the 350 it has included the 08 model year. Can you link to a copy? I've yet to see a version of either TSIB that covers 08s

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. I'm pretty sure it's not an opinion that $75 is less than $300. I'd even go out on a limb and suggest it's not opinion that $75 plus $129 is still less than $300 :P And so, of course, even if you only update the maps once EVER (and I'd suggest a lot of people would benefit from doing it more often... I live in a metro area with a lot of Lexus drivers and a LOT of new construction too, and I'm sure I'm not alone) you're still saving some additional money on top of the several grand you saved in the first place going aftermarket. Ok, I'm not trying to be a smarty here, but do you use that logic on all purchases or just certian ones? We are talking about the purchase of a 40K dollar car here right? See Knightshade, I'm not faulting your logic, I am pointing out that it's not about need, or good logic, it's about ease and desire. If we all used the logic you just set fourth as gospel, then none of us could even justify buying a luxury car at all! Because you can have all the feature you want and get great gas mileage in a Kia and save thousands that way! And if you wanted to be so uptight about the costs, then why did you even waste 300 bucks on a Tom Tom. They have it on your cell phones now also. That you carry already. and you don't need another peice of equipment. And then you'll have bluetooth, music, the ever so useful calender, and a built in calculator too! :P Bet your Tom Tom doesn't have one of those! Actually, the nuvis (which are Garmin units BTW) not only have calculators, they have currency converters :P And if you can show me a Kia that is RWD and has 300 hp your analogy would actually work. I -do- use best bang for the buck for virtually all my purchasing decisions- that's _why_ I could buy a new IS350 for cash. I don't waste money. The primary reason I bought the IS new is that the residual value remained so high it literally wasn't worth buying used. I looked at available cars with the following things in mind- Reliability RWD Performance Nice interior and features Among highly reliable brands- Honda and Acura make nothing that is RWD, so they were out; Same with Buick. Caddy made a couple so I looked at the CTS and DTS. Infinity I looked at the G35. Lexus I looked at the IS350. I did briefly consider the BMW 335 but IMHO you got a lot less car for a lot more money compared to the others. For caddy the resale plummeted after a year, so I looked at 1-2 year old STSs- the CTS that would be competive wasn't available when I was shopping and sure wouldn't have been available as a 1-2 year old model For the G35 and IS350 I looked at new. Thanks to being able to get excellent pricing on the IS350 it ended up the clear winner as apart from Lexus having the higher reliability, it also offered way the best interior and luxury, and was about tied with the G35 for performance. Once that decision was made I looked at options. The sport package was easy- I like good handling, and I wanted many of the other features, the memory seats with heat/cool, the HIDs, etc... The only other way to get those was the Lux package which was considerably -less- bang for the buck being $500 more than giving up the sport handling for a rear sunshade I'd never use. Mark Levinson was easy- No way in hell I could upgrade the factory system that much for just $752. I say that having spent far more on a previous Alpine/JL setup in a previous car where no decent factory options were ever available. Skipping the nav was easy for the reasons already covered. Skipping the radar cruise was easy as it's INSANELY overpriced Skipping the park assist was easy as this thing is half the size of my other vehicle- I wouldn't need help to park it. Skipping the headlight washers was easy as it's kind of a silly useless option I skipped the spoiler because I felt my color looked better without it (and my wife agreed) And that was pretty much all the options. I special ordered since it was the only way to get exactly what I wanted, and had a dealer willing to do so for an excellent price. Now, if the Lexus nav has had current modern features (the Infiniti is a lot better in this regard) and been priced a little more sanely (here again Infiniti beats Lexus) I might well have bought it. For comparison, on the G35, whose system I find only a little bit overpriced, for an invoice price of $1850 you not only get nav and the rearview camera, you get realtime traffic, XM radio, and a 9.5 gig hard drive to store MP3s with the CDDB database built in. Lexus gets $2150 invoice for JUST nav and the rearview... you have to drop another $400 for XM, and you can't get the traffic or hard drive no matter how much more you give them. So for $700 more than the infiniti nav you get significantly less features with the Lexus nav. Lexus shouldn't be getting more than, maybe, $1000-1200, for their 90s-era nav system with limited features...