Just Got A Gs 300, And Im Looking For Good Mods!

[Silver GS300]

Hey everyone,

I just received a 2001 gs 300 with only 28,000 on it from my grandpa, and its unquestionably a fantastic car! Ive been looking into doing a few basic mods on it just to make it mine, and honestly its such a great car so why not! I need some help deciding on a few things though.

Borla Exhaust - I dont want anything too loud or too expensive so this looks pretty good?

Srt Intake - Get a few more horses?

Lextasy Strut brace - Get the rear one also?

SOMEONE please recommend some type of cheep ecu upgrade if there is one!

I also wanted to put a sub in, but i like the stock speakers and radio, can I just run power to a box and connect the wires from the sub thats already in there?

Does anyone know of a good tire for the stock rim that isnt too expensive?

Any info or experience with any of this would be helpful!

Thanks alot, also someone tell me if the California driving test is hard, cause im gonna have to take it in a week, and im really nervous :(

[Step Hen]

If you're taking it in LA, good luck, cause you'll need it. :P

Perhaps schedule it at another county if possible.

Do you have a navigation system?

[Silver GS300]

If you're taking it in LA, good luck, cause you'll need it. :P

Perhaps schedule it at another county if possible.

Do you have a navigation system?

Yeah, ive been hearing the test is pretty harsh. I dont have a nav system, but I do like the original deck and the oem look.

[sakataj]

the srt can be found almost anywhere just price shop it and make sure u get the best price on it! try ebay or googling companies and seeing how much they got! i have the mark levinson package in my 430 and im removing it shortly to put my diamond audio d6 setup in shortly! but as far is if u can just replace the sub and run a power wire? sorry i dont know im not a audiophile......i have a shop that i use!

[2whitelexus]

Hey everyone,

I just received a 2001 gs 300 with only 28,000 on it from my grandpa, and its unquestionably a fantastic car! Ive been looking into doing a few basic mods on it just to make it mine, and honestly its such a great car so why not! I need some help deciding on a few things though.

Borla Exhaust - I dont want anything too loud or too expensive so this looks pretty good?

Srt Intake - Get a few more horses?

Lextasy Strut brace - Get the rear one also?

SOMEONE please recommend some type of cheep ecu upgrade if there is one!

I also wanted to put a sub in, but i like the stock speakers and radio, can I just run power to a box and connect the wires from the sub thats already in there?

Does anyone know of a good tire for the stock rim that isnt too expensive?

Any info or experience with any of this would be helpful!

Thanks alot, also someone tell me if the California driving test is hard, cause im gonna have to take it in a week, and im really nervous :(

Borla Exhaust - I dont want anything too loud or too expensive so this looks pretty good? - I WOULDNT RECOMMEND UNLESS YOU GOT MONEY TO SPEND. CONSIDER THE FACT THAT IT NEEDS TO BE WELDED ON. 2ND IF YOU GET PULLED OVER, YOU HAVE TO EITHER REVERSE IT BACK TO STOCK OR PAY THE ENTIRE FINE. 3RD WHEN ITS TIME TO SELL, OR WHEN U GET TIRED, OR IF ITS TOO LOUD OR WHATEVER THE REASON MAY BE, NOW YOU MUST PAY FOR THE EXHAUTS TO BE CUT, PROBABLY RESHAPE THE ORIGINAL PIPING AND REWELD YOUR STOCK ONES BACK ON = MONEY. THE BEST THING I WOULD RECOMMEND IS TO GET A NICE SET OF TIPS AND CREATE AN AIR LEAK SO YOU CAN ADJUST THE VOLUME WITHOUT DAMAGE AND TOTALY REVERSABLE UNDER 2 MINUTES AND WILL COST YOU 20 CENTS. JUST LIKE MY GS YOU SEE IN THE PICTURE. THOSE ARE NOT EXHAUTS BUT SOUND JUST LIKE THEM AND YOU WONT TELL THE DIFFERENCE. IN OTHER WORDS EXHAUTS = WASTE OF MONEY. GIVE IT TO ME ILL HAVE MORE FUN WITH IT

Srt Intake - Get a few more horses? - NO INTAKE IVE EVER HEARD ON THESE CARS THAT ACTUALLY DID GIVE HORSES. IVE HEARD THIS ONE COMES WITH SOME COMPUTER SO IM NOT SURE BUT THE INTAKES ALONE WONT DO ANYTHING. I AND ALOT OF FRIENDS HAVE EXPERIENCE. "YOUR STOCK IS ACTUALLY BETTER" - A FRIEND OF MINE WHOS ON THE RACE TRACK WITH HIS 98 GS400 ON A DAILY BASES. THE MAN ALSO OWNS A TUNING SHOP AND HAS AN OLDER SKYLINE WHO PLAYS WITH Z06.....HE KNOWS WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT. PLUS I HAD IT ON MY CAR. IN OTHER WORDS, WASTE OF $$$ GIVE IT TO ME ILL HAVE MORE FUN WITH IT

Lextasy Strut brace - Get the rear one also? - IVE HEARD TONS OF TIME FROM PEOPLE WHO HAVE IT....NO DIFFERANCE WHAT SO EVER. U THINK THERES A DIFFERANCE BUT UR MIND LIES TOO MUCH. GUYS AT THE RACE TRACK WITH THE STRUT THING - "NOTHING, NOT ON THESE CAR BRO" BMW MAKES SENSE, THE LEXUS IS TOO HIGH/SOFT/NOT STIFF ENOUGH/LOOSE STEERING FOR IT TO WORK PROPERLY. PLUS ITS ONLY GOOD FOR HIGH SPEED TURNS MEANING FREEWAY TURNS 100+ IF YOU'RE IN LA AND AGAIN U WONT FEEL. GET COILOVERS AND GET OVER WITH IT. IN OTHER WORDS, WASTE OF $$$. GIVE IT TO ME ILL HAVE MORE FUN WITH IT

[Silver GS300]

WOW! Thanks alot "2whitelexus" !!!! You saved me a bunch of money, and aggravation. Im definitely going to get an exhaust that just bolts on, and forget about intake and strut braces. BTW NICE CAR!

[BD Mobile Electronics]

I am not sure what you mean but run a wire to the box. You would either have to replace the factory sub with an after market sub or you will have to add a hi to low converter and do a full amp install with an after market amp. It just depends on the amount of bass you would like. I hope this helps. Enjoy your car.

[2whitelexus]

WOW! Thanks alot "2whitelexus" !!!! You saved me a bunch of money, and aggravation. Im definitely going to get an exhaust that just bolts on, and forget about intake and strut braces. BTW NICE CAR!

thank you. check out silverline muffler tips, its whats on my car. they make the perfect shape to fit into the cut of the lower bumper just like in the pic.

i have the grill on mine all white with black stripes, which i did a clean job on and also id recommend do your calipers like that and itll cost u $20-25. Most people paint it red but i dont like it, it doesnt look nice on these cars plus red gets dirty too soon. But the way i have it looks nice, especially when your driving.

I also noticed you are in LA and i was talking to my friend who wants to start some sort of lexus club where we can meet. now i dont know of any in existance, do u? anyways me and him can bring atleast 4 gs ... any way to get people from here to meet? theres a topic by sakataj where i have an interesting post about all this. check it out but it may be confusing http://us.lexusownersclub.com/forums/index...showtopic=46175

[sakataj]

all right alex where did u get the calipers that say lexus or did u just paint them on?

[2whitelexus]

all right alex where did u get the calipers that say lexus or did u just paint them on?

hey brian what you do is paint the caliper black then you can get the logo printed out at any local print shop excluding office depot/max staples...i doubt they print stickers....then measure the size and have ur local print shop print it out but make sure its not paper. shouldnt cost you more than 20 bucks. nicely sticks on and stays on because it gets heated and sticks on even better.

[sakataj]

yeah my goal this summer is to pull the back calipers/rotors off and spray the rotor hat! i bought my car up north in new jersey and on the long drive home the brakes went out so i had to pay a shop for them.........I KNOW i coulda saved some green when i got home but i was on a time schedukle and gave them the $511.90 for front ceramic pads/fropnt rotors..... rear ceramic pads/rear rotors and the rotor hat is already rusted out looking and that wasnt but 6 months ago! so im gonna get some high temp brake caliper paint and do that this summer! did u remove your calipers to paint them or just tape everything off? the heat doesnt fade them or did u put the sticker on and clear coat it on?

[2whitelexus]

yeah my goal this summer is to pull the back calipers/rotors off and spray the rotor hat! i bought my car up north in new jersey and on the long drive home the brakes went out so i had to pay a shop for them.........I KNOW i coulda saved some green when i got home but i was on a time schedukle and gave them the $511.90 for front ceramic pads/fropnt rotors..... rear ceramic pads/rear rotors and the rotor hat is already rusted out looking and that wasnt but 6 months ago! so im gonna get some high temp brake caliper paint and do that this summer! did u remove your calipers to paint them or just tape everything off? the heat doesnt fade them or did u put the sticker on and clear coat it on?

remove them, no way. Tape, no it takes too long. I took off the tire, simply placed some newspaper and spray with regular paint. no high temp. no caliper paint none of those. just regular black paint. they try to sell you "high temp" "caliper paint" and put the price up to make money, the truth is 99% of the cars on the road today dont need just "special" paint because the brakes never get that hot. your most likely to smoke your pads out than mess up the paint. plus what happens when the caliper actually does get too hot... does it turn the paint into liquid and drip off? chip off? well i've never seen it happen nor have heard. maybe someone in here would like to share. (remember my calipers are stock)

anyways its been painted while the caliper was on the car. i just put 3 sheets of news paper. give it a while to dry than just put the decal on. no clear coat over it or nothing. just buy extra stickers cause u wanna do this every 8 months cause after a while it just gets too dirty to clean like u can see in my picture...those have been on for over a year.

[sakataj]

i have seen paint get to hot it discolors and cracks.......looks bobo as hell! thats y i asked if u clear coated it with the sticker on.......u shouldnt ever have to replace it again! the clear coat will get dirty and u can just wash the clear coat off and viola your sticker UNDERNEATH still looks 1 day old!

[2whitelexus]

i have seen paint get to hot it discolors and cracks.......looks bobo as hell! thats y i asked if u clear coated it with the sticker on.......u shouldnt ever have to replace it again! the clear coat will get dirty and u can just wash the clear coat off and viola your sticker UNDERNEATH still looks 1 day old!

ive seen ultraviolet rays discolor paint/plastic/clothes and just about anything but never seen heat discolor paint. I like the idea of the clear coat keeping it clean maybe i should clean this one and coat it. Let us know when you get yours done. We'd love to see it.

[sakataj]

sigh, alex where does the time go? last week i was like 2 weeks ahead at work and now im like 4 days behind! anyways, i wish i could do this like i did when i had my turboed greenhatchback i bought a spare set of calipers and had them professionally painted/clear coated but i know i cant find a set for the gs series cheaply! so i guess this friday i will pick up the caliper paint (i think im just gonna do black) im gonna use and try to make some time! (oh i attached some pics of ONE of my old honda's you should be able to see the matching calipers in the pics! the bumper was off as the tsunami bumper in the last pic was being painted and after i got it on the car, my baby got the h22a3 motor swap and a hybrid t3/t4 turbo swap done!) i will try a sticker place shortly to get them! guess im gonna chug this beer and head to bed.......

oh off the subject u been watching the forum alex? see what i mean its the same 10 people answering everyones ?'s everytime! where are all the members?

[2whitelexus]

sigh, alex where does the time go? last week i was like 2 weeks ahead at work and now im like 4 days behind! anyways, i wish i could do this like i did when i had my turboed greenhatchback i bought a spare set of calipers and had them professionally painted/clear coated but i know i cant find a set for the gs series cheaply! so i guess this friday i will pick up the caliper paint (i think im just gonna do black) im gonna use and try to make some time! (oh i attached some pics of ONE of my old honda's you should be able to see the matching calipers in the pics! the bumper was off as the tsunami bumper in the last pic was being painted and after i got it on the car, my baby got the h22a3 motor swap and a hybrid t3/t4 turbo swap done!) i will try a sticker place shortly to get them! guess im gonna chug this beer and head to bed.......

oh off the subject u been watching the forum alex? see what i mean its the same 10 people answering everyones ?'s everytime! where are all the members?

Man you could make those little things into rockets and cheap too. I got a guy here down the block he has a 911 turbo with 650 HP and the other day someone came with a civic just like that and wanted to race for slips, the 911 refused after finding out the civic does 10 seconds on a 1/4 mile. And yes i do know what you mean, ive been trying to get my friend to join but he's too lazy. I guess people only come when they need help. Just like this one song says "when live was alright, God wasn't important"

[sakataj]

well they were fairly cheap........best i mustered was a high 11 on a automatic in the green car (i built it for the fiance who of course totaled my baby) my black hatch ran into the 10's a few times but was a more consistent 11's car! my mechanic built a old dodge colt........gutted it completely (even sawzawed some of it) put a mitsi 4g63 eclipse turbo motor in it, a front mount intercooler, and a after market clutch and ran 10.3's @ 109 ALL day long...was the ugliest thing and u would NEVER think it would run yet alone almost run 9's!

i need a personal assistant! l8r

brian