Do You Smell That? Nope, I Don't Either...

Buying a used car means, no "new car smell."  That, I understand. And yet, to me somehow the car, when I checked it out in Tokorozawa before buying it, still seemed to retain the hint of someone else, I think.  Not sure how to describe it, but it's not a bad smell. Just like a presence, kind of like a hand me down shirt.  Even though Kabe-san at RAPT later reassured me that the car smelled like any other Lexus IS, I'm still not convinced.

So I began to do some research, and ended up buying one of these even before I took delivery of the car.  It wasn't until after a few days with the car that I learned that the IS-F actually has a built-in "Plasmacluster" ion generating function in its A/C.

First, a quick review on how this "PlasmaCluster" system is supposed to work, from Sharp's Australian website:

Plasmacluster Ion technology is an original Sharp sanitising technology that purifies the air by emitting positive and negative ions. Plasmacluster Ion technology deactivates suspended airborne mould, viruses, dust mite allergens and bacteria. It attacks a wide range of odours including  pet, cooking, garbage and cigarette smoke. 
Positive and Negative Ions : Deactivates airbourne allergens, bacteria, mould spores and viruses.
Positive and Negative Ions : Reduces unpleasant  odours at molecule level.
Negative Ions : Refreshes the air by replenishing it with negative ions.

 Plasmacluster Ion Technology  :

• Reduces suspended allergens and floating mould spores with positive and negative ions.Plasmacluster Ions are helpful in deactivating  allergens caused by dust mites and in deactivating mould spores that can cause mildew in the home. Sharp Air Purifiers and Ion Generators help to improve the quality of the air you breathe. 
• Reduces suspended viruses with positive and negative ions.Plasmacluster Ions break down and remove projecting spike-shaped proteins of suspended viruses such as influenza, reducing their effects.
• Neutralises odour-causing molecules with positive and negative ions .Plasmacluster Ion technology helps reduce the source of a wide range of unpleasant household odours including cooking, pets, garbage and cigarette smoke odours. 
• Freshens the air with negative ions.Using negative ions, Sharp Air Purifiers and Ion Generators help to clean and refresh the air. Sharp’s range of Air Purifiers and Ion Generators release negative ions creating a “feel good” atmosphere similar to naturally occurring environments like a rainforest or near a waterfall.

So what does this really mean? I really wasn't too interested in the first two bullets, more in the second two about neutralizing odor and freshening the air.  Can I really believe this propaganda?

First, this is not an ozone generator, which, despite its effective smell reducing technology, is now widely accepted as being hazardous to one's health. And it's not a HEPA filter either (although the ISF has a "pollen mode"... I will have to research that).

Some articles do say there is a small health risk associated with OH hydroxyl radicals (aka PlasmaCluster), but when one carefully reads these articles, you can see that they are usually trying to sell a competing product. I would also argue there is a risk to DRIVING so a small risk from hydroxyl radicals is not going to keep me from trying to use the unit to eliminate smells in the car.  Because, once those smells are gone, then I no longer would have to use the PlasmaCluster?

******
So I wrote the above soon after taking delivery of the car.  I used the Plasmacluster and I think it helped but it took a full detail, inside and out, for the car to regain a true "new car smell."  I had actually done the chemical clean:

From: http://www.earth-chem.co.jp/top02/car/kuruma/mukou.html

As well as applied these Zaino items for leather surfaces of the car:

photo courtesy of: http://www.lazaino.com 
Zaino Z-10 is supposed to bring back the most authentic "leather" smell.  
In Japan, most Japanese cars with leather interiors purposely do NOT smell like real leather, 
because apparently the Japanese don't like that smell. 
I beg to differ so I plan to see what I can do with the Zaino.

And both helped, to some extent.   But as I will blog next, the detail that Kabe-san at Rapt did, was what really made the difference, although I wasn't as happy with the results as I had with my GT-R.

 Stay tuned!