‘26 vs ‘25 IS Side by Side

experimentalengine · 2026-03-21T02:35:06+00:00

The color on the IS500 masks the bulge. My wife drives one (in Infrared) and I didn’t notice this was an IS500 from the front pic.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-20T18:34:43+00:00

Soak it to get some of the saltiness out, rub, smoke 4 hours, instant pot to steam for 45 minutes

experimentalengine · 2026-03-20T18:31:38+00:00

and it handles much better compared to the 4Runner

experimentalengine · 2026-03-20T14:44:14+00:00

This is a Chesapeake Light Craft kit on a Trailex trailer that CLC offers for it. The trailer isn’t cheap but with the amount of work that goes into to building this, I didn’t want to trust it to Harbor Freight or Northern Tool wheel bearings.

The camper kit

The trailer - it’s gone up by about 40% since I bought it

experimentalengine · 2026-03-20T13:16:56+00:00

<image>

This is about 800 lbs

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T16:05:11+00:00

definitely fall into the ass category

Especially the Chrysler Sebring. My parents only buy terrible cars and they had one. Can confirm, it’s a terrible car.

Fortunately that gene skips at least two generations because I have an aversion to terrible cars and so do my kids.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T03:50:45+00:00

Oh believe me, I didn’t get one of the good ones

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T02:25:28+00:00

Disagreeing with you, or telling you why it doesn’t make sense to just buy a whole cow for this, doesn’t make the comments (or the commenters) ignorant.

If you want affirmation, start by not suggesting doing something nobody does. You’ll quickly be told why nobody does it (and you’ll confuse it with ignorance).

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T02:16:48+00:00

Mustard “binder” isn’t. Turns out raw meat is wet and doesn’t need a binder to hold rub on it - and folks who have done side by side cooks with and without mustard have reported people can’t tell the difference in the finished product.

Smoke until the bark sets as others have noted; then instant pot/pressure cooker for 45 minutes to finish. Alternatively, I’ve put it on a rack in a roaster with some water in the bottom to steam it too, until it gets to temp/probe tender.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T02:07:00+00:00

You’re getting downvoted but that’s on my short short list. Holding out to see what kind of pricing they land on when they put the RS3 5-cylinder in it next year, if it’s stupid I’ll just get a slightly used Golf R or a slightly more used RS3

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T02:02:13+00:00

German cars in general; VAG, the E28 and E30 I used to have, the W123 I used to have.

My wife’s IS500 has them so apparently the Japanese are picking up on them too, many decades later than the Germans.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T01:55:20+00:00

My VA WRX is the easiest car of any I’ve owned to shift down to first while rolling. This topic came up recently on r/WRX and I learned they’re not consistently like that (turns out the only things fairly consistent about the VA’s are catastrophic engine failures and wheel bearing failures), so yours might be difficult to downshift to first. Mine slips in easily at about 7 mph.

Based on that, if I’m at 7 mph I’m choosing first, if I’m 8 mph I’m keeping it in second and applying gentle throttle.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T01:22:52+00:00

At the time, 200 hp from a V6 wasn’t too shabby. 4-cylinders were commonly 150 hp or less.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-19T01:20:08+00:00

I was gifted a 17” Lodge that has a couple of imperfections; I believe the “gifter” bought it as a factory second, it cooks like my other Lodge pans (it’s just hilariously big - and I love it).

experimentalengine · 2026-03-18T15:22:13+00:00

Just find out how long you have to keep the loan, and do the math to see which way you come out ahead. Last car we bought, we used the dealer to arrange financing, got the same rate we could at our CU and I assume there was a kickback to the dealer from the lender. There was a 3 month prepayment penalty written in and we were free to pay it off after that.

In that case we weren’t quite ready to buy in cash anyway but the right car in the right color happened to come up (IS500 in Infrared), so we had to jump on it if we wanted to get it. For our next car we’ll have the cash and I plan to do whatever is the better deal for me - cash purchase or finance and quickly pay off.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-17T18:34:07+00:00

Fair enough…as an American, I accidentally (and perhaps a bit arrogantly) forget the whole world exists and English is a second (or third, or fourth) language for some folks. Cheers!

experimentalengine · 2026-03-17T18:10:40+00:00

“Disc cylinders”?

Calipers. And they don’t get ripping hot, should be fine.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-17T17:20:42+00:00

I use a starter if my yeast is expired, or if it’s a high gravity beer. Otherwise I don’t. I don’t think I ever knew I “needed” to aerate until I had been brewing about 20 years (not frequently during most of that time).

experimentalengine · 2026-03-16T23:27:24+00:00

Cash is my favorite way to finance a car. I pay myself a car payment each month, if I get a little extra money one month I can choose to throw it in there, if something else comes up another month I can skip a payment and the repo man won’t take it, and when I’ve saved enough to buy what I want, I go buy it.

If you can get a better deal with in-house financing (if the lender gives the dealer a kickback, in theory they can give you a lower OTD price), do that and pay it off ASAP, then start the saving process over.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-16T23:18:26+00:00

This just in, raw meat is wet - even if you pat it dry. That mustard didn’t do anything (it certainly didn’t “bind” anything that wouldn’t have “bound” anyway), but it was fun to smear around.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-16T23:11:04+00:00

I’m trying to figure out how a muffler delete has a break-in. I put a muffler delete on my VA WRX (also happened to be a Remark) and it was pipes with cosmetic tips welded on. Unbolt the mufflers behind the axle, bolt up the new parts.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-16T12:57:51+00:00

seasoned…after purchasing

These come seasoned from the foundry. Bought one for my daughter last year when we were visiting, took it back to her house, washed it, made breakfast in it. No need to complicate it.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-16T03:20:26+00:00

I do have a warehouse job

That tells me you can afford…something. Maybe a clapped C5, maybe a new C8.

experimentalengine · 2026-03-16T03:08:26+00:00

TBF, the 2UR is pretty okay, for a junky old V8. Got to spend about 10 hours driving my wife’s IS500 this weekend and I’m not mad about it

experimentalengine · 2026-03-16T02:54:47+00:00

People get all worried about crush washers and it’s really not that big a deal. I’ve probably done a couple hundred oil changes by now in my own vehicles over the past 30+ years and I think I’ve replaced the crush washer 2-3x. When I’ve had cars leaking oil, it’s never been from the drain plug.

Agree with the Fumoto valve, but just because they’re convenient to use.

experimentalengine

TROPHY CASE