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Hello. This is my second CT200h. My first was a 2016 CT200h F Sport. I miss it so I got another. This time a 2015.
In the short time I've had the car, I've made a lot of progress. To me, progress is having a clean baseline to work with. So I changed the oil and filter (see thread here), polished the paint using a dual action polisher and this CG all-in-one polish. I thought the paint was already in immaculate condition. I polished half the hood with a medium polishing pad (it came with the polisher) (of course after claying the car first) and was amazed at the color, clarity, and depth improvement. Night and day. I recommend to anyone do this. With the dual action polisher and polish I linked, it is a very conservative and very safe and easy process. The process I use was conservative so it removed 75% of the swirls. There's still some left over but it's almost non-existent and you have to look really hard. I sealed the paint afterward with my trusty Collinite IW 845. The paint is deep and slick. The reflections are out of this world.
I also got two new rear tires since the stock Michelins were hard, brittle, and noisy. And very close to the wear bars at 40,000 miles. I probably could've rode them out another year but tires aren't something to play with. The ones I chose were Hankook Concept V2. Believe it or not, I bought these tires online and received them the next morning... all in all the cost was $226 to buy and install the pair. Including TPMS kit. Inexpensive and fairly well rated tire. Should do fine for a commuter. It's said to have a low rolling resistance compound and are a performance class above the Michelins.
I also retrofitted Morimoto Mini D2S 4.0 projectors with CBI bulbs. On my previous CT, I did RX350 bi-xenon projectors--one of the world's strongest. If I were to do it all over again, I'd go with the RX350s. Way easier to work with. The upside of the Morimotos is they are tuned out of the box for amazing color and cutoff. The RX350s are spectactular stock, but for enthusiast grade lighting, they require careful tuning, modding, and spacing to achieve optimal results. Everything is properly wired and routed using a dual-relay harness. Output is achieved with 35W Denso Ballasts and professional Made in Germany Osram CBI D2S bulbs.
Also upgraded was audio. I installed a Kenwood two channel amp powering two Focal 2-way door speakers up front. The wiring took all day but the result is worth it. The sound is breathtaking. Very loud and very crisp. To complement is a JL 10W boxed sub in back powered by a RF amp. The two amps are contained in the rear foam tray.
Also installed LED turn signals and the correct relay to prevent fast-blink. They are super bright.
Also installed full LED interior lights.
I can post pics of some of the above mods when I have time, I didn't get a chance to take a pic of everything.
I still have a few more things planned for this CT!
Now for the pics
homelink retrofit! I knew the cargo area would come in handy at some point! old cracked michelins. notice my cool valve stem caps? closeup Always watch the people working on your car. This kid tried to drive away with the car still on the jack... i'm like... dude. good thing he didn't floor it.
Freshly polished LED puddle lights Open up! time to throw these projectors in the trash and replace them with proper optics!
Thanks for looking... i have a fun project coming up this week... kind of nervous about it but I should be OK! I'll share the result with you guys... i don't think anyone here has posted anything like it
Not usually a fan of wrapping but the door pillars look so bland and cheap compared to the gloss pillars on my IS. I thought of painting them but they're kind of a rubberized texture.. not sure how that would hold up to painting. I think this is decent... might try gloss wrap in the future once i get tired of this...
One little issue I have is when I turn the steering wheel lock to lock (lets say backing out of a parking space), the wheel crackles and pops. I imagine the clock spring is defective. Kind of annoying. I will take it into Lexus. Still has some warranty left!
OK updates. The clock spring... dealer couldn't replicate the sound. Even sat w/ a foreman and went for a drive. Of course it doesn't do it.
Gets home and it does it... but I figured it out on my own. Turns out the noise isn't the clock spring. It's the steering wheel trim. The silver one. So at some point i will remove the airbag and insulate the trim. I already insulated the center console trim (the ones covered in simulated vinyl by where your knees go by wrapping it in felt tape). So I will do the same for the steering wheel.
As far as the thing I told you guys I would do that I was nervous to do.. tint my own windows. What a learning process. And I had to do a couple windows over to learn. The tint is pre cut for your car. Even after having to buy additional tint, a heat gun, and tools, I still saved around $150-200 by doing it myself. If you're up for a fun DIY project, try it! Watch a lot of youtube videos. Prep is 99%!! One of my rear side windows has a SPIDER under the tint so I have to redo it. As well as the rear quarters. they have bubbles. because I didn't clean them. but luckily I have more than enough tint left over to redo it 50x if needed to so I'll take another stab at it soon.
pre-shrinking phase (done on outside of glass) then later transferred to inside.
I'll get some better outside pictures later.. just to give you an idea. if you look closely you'll notice the bubbles on the small window. that's the one i'll redo on both sides. those can be tricky but i have enough practice now I think i'll succeed.
the rear most side quarter windows are the hardest to do. I must've redone them 5x. kept getting bubbles due to the glass being aggressively curved and i kept burning the film trying to shrink it. but now i've got my technique down and did it perfectly now.
I bought some ebay black shiny carbon fiber vinyl for the door pillar. How hard is it to wrap the rear view mirrors? You got the nice $$$ vinyl, I assume its easier to work with that.
10-07-18, 05:11 PM
CT200h F Sport Diary (w/ pictures)
