Exhaust Tips For 1998 Ls 400

[Lexuses71]

My 1998 LS 400 has the exhaust tips fairly hidden under the rear bottom valance/bumper. There are no cutouts. The older models have the exhust tips very prominent and that look is sharp, one of the distinguishing featires of the 1st and 2nd generation of the LS.

Any other owners with my car's body style have done anything with the adding some subtle but stylish exhaust tips? Not looking to ruin the overall look, and don't want to do anything tacky. Or shuld I just forget about it because it's non-doable without having something dumb looking hanging below the bumper???? I always wanted a current car with duals, and now that I have such a car, I can't even see them! LOL!

Appreciate any input, thanks.

[SKperformance]

[RFeldes]

Okay SKP, They look nice. Where can I find them and will they fit an 02?

Thanks

[SKperformance]

I have the L-sportline exhuasts

The 01 and newer 430 have a much better designed exhaust system with less bends and restriction like the 90-00 versions.

The newer 430 has a small resonator then 2 flow through resonators then 2 mufflers.So finding a new muffler choice would be best suited to one that is as long as the orignal or atleast close to its length.

The length determines the amount of drone and frequency of the muffler .If it is too short it will be loud and annoying.

Which is why i am hesitant to remove my resonators which have ashape like an "L" because of there side inlet and rear outlet which is a major turn and power robbing design.The oem mufflers where longer than the Lsportlines which too me are pretty short.

When i change mine i think i will find 2 long resonators to replace the "L" ones which should increase the power output but not the noise.

[SKperformance]

the exhaust on mine looks like this 90-00

........|.|............... exhaust mainfold

.........T............... Y merge collector( really sharp angles and restriction)

.........|................ mid section

.........0............... resonator #1

.........|............... mid section

.........JL.............. another wide Y collector (same bad design)

....._ /..\ _........... rear intermidiate pipe

....0.........0..........resonators #2 with 90 degree inlets

....|..........|......... connecting pipe to mufflers

...{}........{}........ mufflers

.....\........./......... downfacing tips hidden under bumper

this gives you an idea of what it looks like under your car

an 01 and newer should have a few more options if you check www.luxurymods.com

[sha4000]

i have also thought about the dual exhaust with the tails coming out thats what i miss the most about my 91. there's a guy in clublexus who works with d2autosport that did this mod by changing out the mufflers and it looked ok

[Lexuses71]

I have the L-sportline exhuasts

The 01 and newer 430 have a much better designed exhaust system with less bends and restriction like the 90-00 versions.

The newer 430 has a small resonator then 2 flow through resonators then 2 mufflers.So finding a new muffler choice would be best suited to one that is as long as the orignal  or atleast close to its length.

The length determines the amount of drone and frequency of the muffler .If it is too short it will be loud and annoying.

Which is why i am hesitant to remove my resonators which have ashape like an "L" because of there side inlet and rear outlet which is a major turn and power robbing design.The oem mufflers where longer than the Lsportlines which too me are pretty short.

When i change mine i think i will find 2 long resonators to replace the "L" ones which should increase the power output but not the noise.

←

Well, SK, I have to say, from that pic, that shure looks slick. But if I understood your post, it ounds like you have a bit of 'remorse' and would do it sifferently next time. However, I gather from the other posts here there aren't many options for '98-'00 models. So, does L-Sportline have a website? Did you buy online and have a local muffler shop instal? Do you mind sharing what it cost so I can majke an informed decision? I'd sure appreciate it. Thanks to all for the responses.

[SKperformance]

L sportline is gone ,so they are out for getting what i have.

I have no remorse i love the exhaust ,it doesn;t add any noise exccept a slight burble under idle.Otherwise it is just like stock which is nice.

The only problems left are the ones i haven't done yet , i am only hesitant to do them as i do not want it to sound louder like my other 2 cars.

I want to get rid of the oem resonators and y pipes as they are restrictive.

My best advise is to find a nice long muffler barrel ,the longer the better it will sound.

I would go to a local exhaust shop and ask them what they have over 1 1/2 feet anythign shorter i wouldn;t bother with.

Then remove the rear resonators and mufflers to be replaced by a peice of piping and the new mufflers.

I also spent about an hour clamping the exhaust perfectly to where i wanted tehm to sit before welding them.

I got the exhausts for 400 barely used locally.

$50 to install as they are bolt ons and i installed my suspension while they did the mufflers at the same time.

[SKperformance]

here is a night shot

[Lexuses71]

So, the exhaust tips are barely sticking out from under the bumper, correect? Man, that sounds like a lot of work you did, but I can appreciate the results. I realy do not want to mess with the stock set up, I want it quiet also, just want some small round chrome tips to look like yours.

Perhaps I can get some short extensions welded on w/tips.

I'll just go talk to some muffler shops locally and see what they can and cannot do. Do not want to spend a fortune on this, it's just a cosmetic thiang at most. Thaks.

[SKperformance]

On my car if you are at the back of it and looking down from the bumper/trunk area all you can see it about 1 inch of the tips which is just enough to read the L-sportline engraving ,then they tuck away nicely.

Adding tips is a weird thing to do as the orignal tip face down hidden under the bumper making it tougher to see.

[sha4000]

Lexuses71 said:

So, the exhaust tips are barely sticking out from under the bumper, correect? Man, that sounds like a lot of work you did, but I can appreciate the results. I realy do not want to mess with the stock set up, I want it quiet also, just want some small round chrome tips to look like yours.

Perhaps I can get some short extensions welded on w/tips.

I'll just go talk to some muffler shops locally and see what they can and cannot do. Do not want to spend a fortune on this, it's just a cosmetic thiang at most. Thaks.

 

 

←

 

 

This is exactly what i want to do, let me know what happens. It does looklike you can cut the part that curves up and then down off the muffler, get some tips with enough pipe on it to reach where you cut the old one and just have a shop weld it on.

[SKperformance]

I just came back from my exhaust guy for a minor modification.

As i was doing ti i took off the last muffler on one side and ran the car.

The last muffler is of no consequence and i would just delete it and replace the L shaped resonators.

So in short ,from the Y i would cut off the 90 degree angles and make the pipes go to dual mufflers further back replacing the stock ones.

OEM style

........|.|............... exhaust mainfold

.........T............... Y merge collector( really sharp angles and restriction)

.........|................ mid section

.........0............... resonator #1

.........|............... mid section

.........JL.............. another wide Y collector (same bad design)

....._ /..\ _........... rear intermidiate pipe

....0.........0..........resonators #2 with 90 degree inlets

....|..........|......... connecting pipe to mufflers

...{}........{}........ mufflers

.....\........./......... downfacing tips hidden under bumper

Revised ,my best opinon

........|.|............... 1 exhaust mainfold

.........T.................2 Y merge collector( really sharp angles and restriction)

.........|.................3 mid section

.........0.................4 resonator #1

.........|.................5 mid section

.........JL...............6 another wide Y collector (same bad design)

......../..\ .............7 rear intermidiate pipe

....../......\............8 resonators #2 with 90 degree inlets( replaced with a Ypipe)

.....|........|...........9 connecting pipe to mufflers

....{}......{}.........10 mufflers

......\......./...........11 downfacing tips hidden under bumper

This new way would work much better for flow.

You basically replace the piping from 6 to 11 with

A new y pipe with a less agressive angle to the outlets.

Then use Stainless steel straight pipe to the rear mufflers with tips built on or just 2 canister mufflers with new tips added to be angle style and height you want.

Price should be about 100 for piping

100-150 for each muffler and tip

50 for labour

so about 350 -500 max for a better looking higher flow exhaust system which will incerase your power and gas mileage.

[Lexuses71]

"This new way would work much better for flow.

You basically replace the piping from 6 to 11 with

A new y pipe with a less agressive angle to the outlets.

Then use Stainless steel straight pipe to the rear mufflers with tips built on or just 2 canister mufflers with new tips added to be angle style and height you want.

Price should be about 100 for piping

100-150 for each muffler and tip

50 for labour

So about 350 -500 max for a better looking higher flow exhaust system which will incerase your power and gas mileage".

SK, now that I better understand what you have diagramed and propose, I see that it's actually doable. I have printed out your diagram (thank you!) and will shop it around some local shops where I live. I like the look and especially like the idea of freer flowing exhaust, power and better mileage without a lot of noise. After all, it's the quiet that I love about this car! Thanks again, all you folks here are simply thee best!

[Lexuses71]

By the way, SK, our vehicles look almost identical, except my car is that deep Maroon, rims are same, etc. Oh yeah, you got that killa exhaust, LOL!

[sha4000]

Wouldn't the car be a little louder if you removed the #2 resonators?

[SKperformance]

Anytime you work on an exhaust it is going to be louder than stock.

[sha4000]

I ask b/c i want to do this mod in the future but i don't want my car to be like VROOOOOM whenever I accelerate. I know losing the resonators will take away some of the sound dampening ,but how much?

[SKperformance]

Knowing exactly how much is a hard thing to know until you find out what parts you are going to use.

Like i mentioned get the longest straight flow canisters you can .This will reduce the pressure issues while increasing the power and look.

Also when you have a straight set of piping addded it will make it simpel to add a resonator later if needed as it will only need to have the pipe cut and the resonators installed in the same place but straight ones not a side inlet for a rear output.

[sha4000]

Thanks sk for the good explanation.

[SKperformance]

Ok here is a guy on CL selling his JIC bullet exhaust.

I would buy this if i didn't have mine as it is ultra lightweight being titanium and is pretty deep.

These pics are 2 show the lenghts that i talked about before.

You can see the intial bends which used to go to the resonators by the grey metal sheilding. The Y pipe used to make a 90 degree turn at the Y to resonators and go to the resonators inlet on its side. This exhaust has some bends that could eb taken out but over all sows a much better setup. Take a look at this then look under your car for a veiw with more perspective.

I wish i could find an oem underside pic to show the exact angles.

Then i would show the pic i have in a celsior catalog of the newer LS430 exhaust path which is a great improvment .

[sha4000]

I saw that earlier and actually downloaded the pics to post here but i guess i don't have to now. This seems quite easy to do.

[Lexusfreak]

←

Are you going to tint the windows at all sk? I think it would look sharp! B)

[SKperformance]

No tint, i like the car with its light green tint.

It had 2 options either a green tint or bronze which included the side mirrors when new and i am glad it was the green.

[Lexusfreak]

I can't really notice the factory tint that well in those pics but I'm liking your LS bud! B)