Ninety-Eight

I got some off eBay which were cheap and when I saw them I was a little concerned because they were odd floppy things, but they work well and were cheap so thats a good result IMO. IIRC they claimed to fit all LS400. Mine is a '99

You or I might, but one of the best cars I ever bought was a 1968 Rover P5B Coupe, the advert for that simply read "Rover 3.5 litre, nice old car, £offers" [and he wasn't that much more descriptive of it on the phone] and what I got was a close to mint car off an old guy who'd owned it for years and for a very good price. Common sense is not that common.

I find some people are hard to get answers out of via email/messages. Sometimes its because they have something to hide,sometimes its because they just aren't very literate, or their communication skills aren't the best. Telephone works wonders. Mind you I have had eBay sellers who don't seem to want to give you their phone number either. This is usually the point I give up.

At least the advert isn't written all in capitals with no punctuation in bright red 72 point font. Thats always a **warning** bell for me. :D

I've seen similar tricks done with lights before. You apply a few over-thinned coats of the body colour paint and the lights are still visible through it when they are on, you would need brighter bulbs really, but on neutral colours like silver they don't even tint the colour of the light so all perfectly legal.

And also perfectly easy to reverse, just spend an hour or so with an appropriate polish (even T-Cut would do it) and you'll have those rear lights looking like new. I wouldn't let that put me off the car.

You can't tell a right lot from a 3" eBay photo. Paint defects can really be camera defects and badly bodged up cars can look straight.

You have to see 'em and test drive 'em (and talk to the seller, you can tell a lot about a car by the person who owns it)

OK, there is an obvious way for me to find this out for myslef but I thought I'd ask on here to see if anyone knows...

Can I fit 15" wheels on my 1999 Lexus LS400 (DHP).

I appreciate there are all manner of reasons why I would not want to do this, but I have a very specific reason in mind and its not for road use.

Will 15s clear my brakes?

Rear brakes is the only real issue as I can leave the 17s on the front, thats not an issue.

Thanks.

I get 22 MPG average from my Mk4. I did the Hot Rod Drags at the weekend and averaged 27.5 MPG there and back (I did not race the car while there). Best run I have had has been 28 MPG (I think like 28.1 MPG) on a run back from Wales. IIRC I only made 25 MPG on the way out.

I didn't buy this car for its MPG LOL

thats the sensible answer I guess.

However I'm a power crazed hooligan and notice that the LS600 V8 has more power than the others, even before you add in the electric motors, and I *think* the LS400 is lighter than the later cars, plus is not subject to the expensive road tax if pre-2001...

...scurries off to check LS460 prices...

EDIT: cheapest LS460 I can find on autotrader is £36K. which is a little out of my budget to say the least...

I can't help but look at the spec of the V8s in the later Lexus and wonder...

How much pain would one go through fitting a later 5.0 V8 into an earlier LS400?

This is just "pipe dream" right now.

Anyone know if they are the same family engine or different and how different the control system is likely to be?

Extra 150 BHP or so would come in handy you see... :winky:

press and hold works. I feel a bit silly now. I'm sure it used to work just on a simple press like the lock & unlock does. I'll try a new Battery as well in case.

Thanks both of you.

I have a Mk4 1999 LS400. When I press the button to open the booton the remote control key fob a red light comes on on the keyfob and the boot does not open. This is the same whether I unlock the car on the CL first or not. Both keyfobs do the same. Any idea whats going on?

I only recently bought my LS400 but one of the reasons (other than the irrational "wow" factor after driving it) was I have had a bit of bad luck with a couple of cars recently and my choice really was Jaguar S Type V8 or LS400 and my friend and local garage proprietor said "get the Lexus, you need something reliable, even with your luck that won't break"

But I think he's right.

Hang on, isn't that the car that was on Fifth Gear a while back? You know the guy that owns that? Awesome! Have you been for a ride in it?

Only reason I thought it might be the AWD system is that the GS450h performance is pretty good compared to the GS460, but you're probably right that it's a combination of everything.

Its the same car its been on Top Gear, Fifth Gear, all sorts. Been in just about every magazine from Max Power to Street Machine as well over the years.

sadly I've not been in it since it got the big block. He started out with a tuned 4 cyl and it grew from there, Rover V8, small block V8, big block V8, twin turbo big block... I built a same model Victor with a tuned 5.7 Chevy and Andy helped out a lot with advice and a few "trade secrets" during the build up of that. And that was a crazy enough car.

[/back on topic]

I had assumed the LS600 was a 6 litre? I guess I need to learn up on my Lexus models!

I believe in "Power" mode it also shifts down quicker also.

they don't even do them for the '00 model. I guess the Mk5 ones may still be available but thats a different car really as far as I can tell, unlike the Mk1 - Mk4 which seems to share the same bodyshell.

What is this beast you talk about a 2200BHP car, are you sure its not just a scud missile on wheels??? think we need some pictures and vids as proof

http://www.redvictor1racing.co.uk

Its road legal too.

Big block Chevy, twin turbo. Awesome monster of a car.

439 BHP 5 litre LS with no hybrid / CVT. Hmmm... sounds good to me!

I bet the CVT saps as much power as the 4WD and also aren't their generators for the batteries or something. It all sounds like a lag-fest to me.

thanks.

ah, saw your kind offer after I pressed the buy it now... I went for the more expensive ones (velour carpet rather than polywhatsit). Will let you know how they turn out.

400 KG difference in weight will certainly make a difference! as well as the CVT trans the overall gearing may differ and 4WD certainly does sap power. Thats why the Skyline drag racers use the RWD GT25 rather than the 4WD GT-R.

Is the LS600 not available without the hybrid stuff on it?

440 BHP is not too much for RWD. A chum of mine has a RWD race car with about 2200 BHP...

my plan is simply to lift it off the scrap car and fit it to mine. As they are both Mk4 I don't see there should be too much to trip me up. I have the offer of help from a lad who has converted a few modern cars (Mondeo etc) to gas. My insurance company didn't seem at all abothered about installation certificates when I was looking at a preconverted car, nor did they ever ask for one for my Cadillac. However I reckon to be on the safe side I would try get a certificate after the install from someone like Autotech then.

My concern is that some modern cars (Alfa and Honda spring to mind) get issues when run on LPG with valves burning etc.

I presume the in-dash computer will no longer be able to provide me MPG and range data once I am on gas though? Or is there a way to adapt this also? sadly the LS400 I am butchering for the conversion is not with its owner but with a breakers yard so they know nothing other than the brand of the LPG kit on the car.

my local dealer says "discontinued" so eBay ones it is for me I guess.

good enough for me then. :D Thanks.

please tell me more about Supra brake upgrades?

My front discs appear to need replacement and I was wondering if there was any upgraded brake option I could fit without spending silly money.

My car is a 1999 Mk4

A local breaker has an LS400 which is a 1998 IIRC and it is on LPG. I have a 1999 and would love some of that 50p a litre fuel LOL. I ran my ol' Cadillac on the stuff and it was great. Anyway, the kit on the scrap car is made by "Tomassetta" as far as I know and thats all I know.

I also know some makes and model of car don't run so well on gas as petrol so wondered if anyone has any feedback on that.

Cheers

thanks. I'll try that. And a gallon of Fabrize to get the odour gone!

thanks, I saw them and wondered if they were any good? Havee you used them?