Performance Upgrade Advice Needed

[Lkevon]

Hi,

Here are my plans for my GS400: SRT intake w/ecu, torque converter, exhaust. Can anyone recommend me an exuast system with adequate hp gains. Yet it is not to loud. The brla system looks nice, but heard its pretty loud like most borlas. I would like the car to keep some of it's original traits. I've heard that HKS systems are not as loud as others like greddy? Also how hard is it to install the torque converter? Any tips and recommendations are welcome. Thanks in advance!!!

Kevin

[zeta]

welcome to LOC, Lkevon.

what year GS do you have?

i'm not sure on the exhaust systems for the GS as to power gains. i like greddy somewhat, but i'm sure there's better peformance exhausts out there.

as to the torque converter, i'm not even sure if my FWD ES has one.

post up some pics of the GS in the gallery. :)

kevin

[Lkevon]

Hello Zeta,

My GS is a 1999. I'm new to this forum. Where is the gallery section? But here is 1 pix!!!

Kevin

[zeta]

that's a nice gs.

gallery

kevin

[MrSypher]

Here, maybe I can help you out a bit.. If you don't want a loud exhaust then you'll probably want to go with the Borla or the L-Tuned.. Both are the quietest you'll find and I guarantee that.. And as far as which system will give you the most HP gain.. They are pretty much the same, with just the mufflers your a bit more restricted than a full cat-back but with the cat-back your looking at a louder sound.. With the upgrades you are planning I think you'll be fine with one of the 2 I mentioned above.. It's all about the ECU and how's it's programed though, that's really how you get the real gain in HP.. If you run a intake and exhaust with your stock ECU you really won't see much gains if you get it dyno'd but with those 2 mod's and piggyback ECU or something like a Apexi S-AFC to tune the air/fuel mixture... you'll see some real gains then... I myself had the Borla's already and I loved them, the sound was also nice.. Not too loud and when I hit the gas you heard a nice deep rumble.. Now I have an Apexi World-Sport cat-back Exhaust.. It's much louder than the Borla's but I went with those because I'm having SRT install a stage 4 Turbo in my GS sometime late Spring and I need to be less restricted... Here's a pic of the Borla's and apic of the Apexi's for you to see... I hope this helped...

[MrSypher]

Here are the Borla's.... (just mufflers)

And here is the Apexi World-Sport (cat-back)

[MrSypher]

One more thing... The Borla's and L-Tuned are almost the same... The only difference is the Borla's have oval tips and they give you different hangers to mount the mufflers on.. The L-Tuned have round tips and they mount on the factory hangers also the L-Tuned are Toyota manufactured and therefore if installed my Lexus service they are covered in your warranty and won't void anything if your still covered.. But most Lexus service don't care about upgraded exhaust systems so you really have no worries either way... If I had to choose for you and what you said you wanted, I'd say go with the L-Tuned...

[0260n5.7]

I had L-Tuned on the GS. One consideration is that the L-tuned seems to drone @ 2k RPM. It didn't bother me because I expected it from an aftermarklet exhaust. Just know that once you change the exhaust, don't expect it to be as quiet as OEM. It seems that some expect the exhaust to be like OEM under normal driving conditions, while "great sounding" @ WOT.

MAC

[MrSypher]

What are you running now back there??

[0260n5.7]

MrSypher,

I sold the car last Sept., but the new owner is still running the L-Tuned and he seems to love it.

MAC

[MrSypher]

gotcha...

[Lkevon]

Thanks for the info's. I will look into the L-Tune exhaust! That's a nice ride you have there MrSypher. What kit do you have on your GS?RMM or L-tune?

Kevin

[MrSypher]

I have right now the L-Sport... But I'm looking into finding someone who can get me the Wise front bumper so I can import it in from Japan....

[MrSypher]

Kevin, BTW, thanks...... :P

[zeta]

i wish i had a GS to add exhaust and a body kit to.

but i guess being a high school kid has its limits. :D

hopefully my mom will consider an IS or GS... if/when the ES is gone.

[Lkevon]

I wished that I had an ES when I was in H.S Zeta . Still a nice car :) .

[zeta]

yeah it's still a nice car. minus the off front grille and hood (repaired front accident by dad), two scratched rims (curb rash from dad), and the entire rear end (rear end collision by other person hitting dad). none of this stuff is fixed. because my mom's not sure she wants to spend the money to fix the ES at the moment. it runs fine despite the accident in the back. there's just a bit of condensation after car washes. :)

still a good car none the less.

[Lkevon]

Does anyobody know which fuel management system would be of a better choice for the GS? SRT or the Apexi s-afc??? MrSypher?

[Matthew_McNally]

Does anyobody know which fuel management system would be of a better choice for the GS? SRT or the Apexi s-afc??? MrSypher?

theres a whole bunch of guys on here running Apexi S-AFC.

sure Mr Sypher will be along to answer your question Lkevon - but thought you would like to know the volumes!

[Lkevon]

Actually MrSypher brought this up to my attention regarding fuel management along with other mods. I would definetly appreciate all advices from all members of this club :) . Regarding the apexi s-afc. I don't know much about this product. Is it as simple to install as the SRT ecu upgrade?

Kevin

[MrSypher]

Here I am guys, you miss me?? :D :D

The SRT piggy-back is a snap to install.. The first time I did it, it only look me about 1/2hr, and the second time was done is 15 min.. piece of cake all you need is a wire cutter/stripper and a soder iron with soder.. Oh, and you'll probably need to be able to read. From what I know, I think the SRT would be the easiest way to go, an S-AFC or an equivalent are great don't get me wrong but you'll need to bring your car to a dyno and have someone fine tune it for you.. Also when the weather changes or you do something to your car, like ie. if you decide to get an exhaust after, you'll need to bring your car back to have it dyno'd and tuned again.. Personally I think it's a pain in the butt to keep on having someone tune it once and awhile.. Plus the money you have to spend on the dyno...

[zeta]

the SRT piggyback seems to be the simpler add-on without any extra complications.

the S-AFC is a nice piece, though. it covers many things. i didn't know there was so much tuning needed for the S-AFC when other mods are done though. i guess having an S-AFC costs more than the $400 you pay for the piece itself.

[Lkevon]

Thanks with the insights....Guess I'll go with my original plan with the srt :) .

[gslx4s]

Hi,

Here are my plans for my GS400: SRT intake w/ecu, torque converter, exhaust. Can anyone recommend me an exuast system with adequate hp gains. Yet it is not to loud. The brla system looks nice, but heard its pretty loud like most borlas. I would like the car to keep some of it's original traits. I've heard that HKS systems are not as loud as others like greddy? Also how hard is it to install the torque converter? Any tips and recommendations are welcome. Thanks in advance!!!

Kevin

We may have already done this, but if you give me your e-mail address i will send you a video clip of my GS 430 with the GReddy EVO echaust of it. The video clip show my gs 430 being reved to 4k a few times. Let me know.

[Lkevon]

We may have already done this, but if you give me your e-mail address i will send you a video clip of my GS 430 with the GReddy EVO echaust of it. The video clip show my gs 430 being reved to 4k a few times. Let me know.

Hey what's up gslx4s, Would appreciate if you can send me the video! Would like to hear the exhaust tune of your GS :) . My email is : Lkevon@aol.com.

Thanks,

Kevin