Re-mapping my LS460SE

[Devo]

I need some advice please, is it possible/a good thing to re-mapp my Lexus LS460SE and can anyone recommend an experience d company todo it?. Many thanks 

[donkmeister]

Watching with interest 😀 

Generally, N/A engines don't have much left to give... I'm new to the LS but in general terms you might get a small improvement from having it optimised for 98-RON (seeing as we can't run on E10 anyway). I saw a 10% power improvement on the rolling road when I had a respected Mercedes tuning outfit remap an N/A 5.0 V8; on the road the difference was not really noticeable. 

[The-Acre]

On 1/29/2022 at 10:37 PM, Devo said:

I need some advice please, is it possible/a good thing to re-mapp my Lexus LS460SE and can anyone recommend an experience d company todo it?. Many thanks 

This is something I've looked into before but agree that without a turbo the expense probably wouldn't be justified in terms of improvement. Then you'd have to inform your insurance company, plus, the LS is a very complex beast, I'm not sure I would be happy with trying to tweak it. 

[Devo]

On 1/29/2022 at 10:37 PM, Devo said:

I need some advice please, is it possible/a good thing to re-mapp my Lexus LS460SE and can anyone recommend an experience d company todo it?. Many thanks 

 

[Devo]

Thank guys, I think that the engineers have done enough to keep me happy, the gain only seams very small. 

[Devo]

One last thing, would it be wrong to want a muffler delete and would it pass the mot? 

[The-Acre]

53 minutes ago, Devo said:

One last thing, would it be wrong to want a muffler delete and would it pass the mot? 

I don't think the silencer part of the exhaust would be a failure unless there was nothing there at all, the cats on the other hand would. A few LS owners have had custom exhausts made to enjoy the V8 sound, personally I prefer the silence!

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi. 

If you have any issues with insurance for a re-map then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[donkmeister]

On 2/1/2022 at 6:48 AM, The-Acre said:

I don't think the silencer part of the exhaust would be a failure unless there was nothing there at all, the cats on the other hand would. A few LS owners have had custom exhausts made to enjoy the V8 sound, personally I prefer the silence!

Agreed; I have another V8 car with a slightly raucous exhaust (standard manifolds and cats, then a custom system back from that with X-pipe and "sports" silencers). It isn't ridiculous, but it is louder than standard. It's never failed an MOT. On one occasion an MOT tester said that if it was much louder he would have had to fail it, but on balance I've had several other testers making appreciative comments about the sound.

[Cotswold Pete]

74db is permitted as okay, anything more and it is a fail.

I assume this is from 1meter away, from end of pipe.

A conversation is typically 60dB and truck is 70dB (that is the noise of the truck engine, rattles and bangs (not it's exhaust)

80db is a freight train at 100yards.

So 74dB not that loud in the scheme of things, but sure as heck hear many a car/bike exceeding that.

There are ideas that speed cameras for the future would listen to noise, but given they are not at ground level not sure how that would work

[BigBoomer]

"New cars are now required to meet Europe-wide noise limits. These have been progressively reduced from 82 decibels (dB (A)) in 1978 to the current limit of 72 dB (A) established in 2016." https://www.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/fuel-consumption-co2/fuel-consumption-guide/cars-and-noise/#topic-title

Type Approval was introduced in 1996 and the level from then until 2016 was 74dB.
I have a 1989 motorcycle that is allowed to be CONSIDERABLY louder than my 2007 bike, not that I have loud exhaust systems on either.

[donkmeister]

On 2/3/2022 at 2:05 PM, Cotswold Pete said:

74db is permitted as okay, anything more and it is a fail.

I assume this is from 1meter away, from end of pipe.

A conversation is typically 60dB and truck is 70dB (that is the noise of the truck engine, rattles and bangs (not it's exhaust)

80db is a freight train at 100yards.

So 74dB not that loud in the scheme of things, but sure as heck hear many a car/bike exceeding that.

There are ideas that speed cameras for the future would listen to noise, but given they are not at ground level not sure how that would work

For Type Approval, yes. For an MOT test, no.

For the MOT test it's a subjective test as they don't have an SPL meter. The details are in the link below under "Noise", but anecdotal evidence suggests a TVR is expected to be loud and gets an appreciative nod, but a Fiesta with a fart-cannon is clearly worthy of a finger wag or a fail.

Noise cameras would presumably be a vandal-proof and highly-directional version of the noise monitors we have around race-tracks.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspection-manual-for-private-passenger-and-light-commercial-vehicles/8-nuisance

"Exhaust noise from the vehicle must not be unreasonably above the noise level you’d expect from a similar vehicle with a standard silencer in average condition."

[Cotswold Pete]

On 2/8/2022 at 12:40 AM, donkmeister said:

 

"Exhaust noise from the vehicle must not be unreasonably above the noise level you’d expect from a similar vehicle with a standard silencer in average condition."

So it seems to me if your car is noisy you either get an old g*t like me to test it, or a youngster who appreciates a bit of noise (and some of them may even like a Fiesta fart-cannon.  Though seems to be 50cc beasties are the main problem around where I live 

[scythe]

I'm a bit shocked that you feel the need to remap! When the ECT is set to POWER, the car lets the engine rev all the way up to near it's max and keeps it that way when you move through the gears, and for me the acceleration from it's 380ish bhp has always been more than enough!

If you really need a bit of extra speed away from the lights, you can always force the car into first gear.  Normally, a 460 doesn't use it's first gear.  It sets off in second, even on full throttle.  It does have a first gear though.  To use it from stationary, push the pedal to the floor (and you start in second), but then release it back to behind the kickdown position, and push it down (through kickdown) again.  You can do this manouvre in well under a second, and the result can cause surprise.

The standard exhaust has already been tuned to make noise when producing power, which you can't hear very well inside the car, but others can.  I much preferred the setup on my earlier Mk3 400, where the car was virtually silent.

: o )

[Malc]

2 minutes ago, scythe said:

I much preferred the setup on my earlier Mk3 400, where the car was virtually silent.

come come .....  it is silent, the several times I've toyed with the notion to run pedestrians down who are ambling in my way on the road coz they simply can't hear me approaching .....  gives 'em a shock tho' when they turnaround and see my Ls400 nibbling at their heels 

Malc