SteveO

This afternoon, I turned my SC430 into a convertible. Looks great! Tonight, I turned it back into a hardtop. Decisions, decisions...

My unfortunate neighbor totaled his LS400 on the freeway yesterday. He is a meticulous guy, nearly as fanatical about his cars as I am... and I am helping him to search for a 2001/2 LS430 for sale, in excellent condition, as his replacement car. He lives in San Diego, but would consider cars in Orange County, Los Angeles, or Riverside. Help this nice-but-battered guy out, and sell him your well-maintained LS. It couldn't hope for a nicer home.

I'm still LOVING my Fuzions (made by Bridgestone), and think it's the best-performing value tire on the market. Read the online reviews, they're true... this is an amazing tire.

I've tried THREE brands of FM modulators for the iPod, and they were all horrible. The static comes and goes. These products have gotten better, so maybe one day they'll be perfected.

I shopped for my SC430 for a year before finding the right one. I found the best luck with cars.com, and ended up locating my car via that source. For what it's worth, the cars owned by who advertised on cars.com seemed to be in better condition than those advertised elsewhere. Maybe it was my imagination, or just a small sampling. Also, it seemed to me that cars.com lets you more easily screen out the dealer ads. Good luck!

2002 Lexus SC430

2002 Honda Insight (current daily driver - 85 MPG)

2000 Mazda Miata Special Edition - most fun car

1999 Acura Integra GSR

1990 Honda CRX Si

1990 Mazda Miata

1988 Acura Legend Coupe

1983 Honda Accord

1981 Honda Civic

1976 Honda Civic

1975 VW Rabbit

1974 Porsche 914

1973 VW Super Beetle

1972 BMW Bavaria

1971 Porsche 911

1971 VW Super Beetle

1970 BMW 1600

1970 Mini Cooper

1968 Mercedes 230

1967 VW Bug

1965 Porsche 356C

1962 Porsche 356B

1957 BMW Isetta (2)

1955 Porsche Speedster (featured in Road & Track)

While you're tire shopping, have a look at my forum post on Fuzion tires. I bought mine a month ago for my SC430. They are fantastic, and $125 per tire at TireRack, compared to $225 for Michelin Pilot Sport 2. Additionally, they should wear longer, are very comfortable, have great handling characteristics in wet and dry conditions. They are an ultra-performance tire, and while they will not quite match the PS2 for handling, they definitely come close... I doubt many SC430 owners would be able to discern the difference. I like the Fuzion, too, because of its extra rubber protection on the sidewall, designed to save rims from curb damage. Fuzion is manufactured by Bridgestone.

In addition to ride quality, another advantage of swtiching FROM run-flats is that run-flat tires cannot be repaired, as a standard tire can. Your only option is to replace it, and you'll likely have to do that in pairs.

The best solution to the spare tire issue, in my mind, is still Lexus Care (free towing), AAA, and a road hazard protection package when you buy your tires.

Steve

San Diego, 2002 Silver SC430

Got 27,000 miles from original run-flats

Happy New Year, y'all,

I couldn't find any posts here with experiential information with the K&N air filter. I've used this filter on prior cars with noticeable improvement in horsepower, acceleration, and gas mileage.

So, I checked online, and there is a K&N for the SC430. Has anyone tried it, and if so, with what result? The filters are inexpensive (typically under $35), reusable, and are designed to allow virtually unrestricted air flow.

Looking forward to your feedback!

Steve

2002 Silver SC430, 26,000 miles

Rear badges removed

Still love my new Fuzion tires!

For anyone who may have stumbled onto this post looking for SC tire recommendations, check out my recent post on the Fuzion ZRi tire. Every mile with them makes me happier, but my biggest smile comes from having paid just $125 each for this amazing tire. It sticks like glue in wet or dry weather, has a better treadlife than other ultra-performance tires, and is super quiet.

Gotta put my two cents in about tire installation. I had Firestone install my Fuzions. They ruined the tire pressure sensors, and had to replace them at a cost of $130 each. Then Lexus had to reinitialize the sensors at a cost of $100 (paid by Firestone). That still didn't solve the installation problems, however... Firestone over-tightened the valve stems that caused two O-rings to fail, resulting in TWO tires not holding pressure.

My recommendation: think twice before getting non-Lexus installation. Go buy yourself some Fuzions online (tirerack.com) and have them drop-shipped to your local Lexus dealer.

For those who worry about flats without a spare, Lexus Roadside Assistance had a tow truck to me within 15 minutes. If your Assistance program has expired, AAA is a perfect alternative at just $45 per year.

The sensor units are color-coded, one for each wheel. They are flat, thin (about 1/4", I believe), and oblong (about 3") units, with a valve stem attached. It is also necessary to retain the stock valve stem cap, so make sure that NOTHING gets discarded!

You can ask your parts department to show you one, or to print you a schematic drawing from their computerized parts inventory.

It wouldn't surprise me if BMW made run-flats standard on all their cars. They are already standard equipment on the 6 series and Z4.

A standard tire weighs less than a run-flat... I'll go with my standard tire, plus Lexus care or AAA for roadside assistance. The best of all worlds!

By the way, run-flats are still prone to blowouts, and they can rarely be repaired if damaged.

The Fuzion ZRi is a summer tire in the "ultra high performance" category. It has a "W" speed rating (168 mph), and a treadwear rating of 320 (original Bridgestone run-flats are rated 140; higher number is better). I doubt you would have much fun with this tire in the snow, to say the least, but wet traction is supposed to be phenomenal.

By the way, in my original post, I indicated that owner surveys for the Fuzions were available at 1010tire.com... however, their site is 1010tires.com (note added "s"). Noticed you are from Canada, and this is a Canadian company, their prices are not good for US customers compared to Tirerack, due to added duties and shipping.

See my new post titled, "A great tire find." Your SC430 will love you for it.

After drooling on everyone else's SC430s for several years, this week I bought a flawless used one. The ORIGINAL Bridgestone run-flats had 27,000 miles (must be a record), although they were literally down to the steel cords on all four.

I spent many late nights researching tires, and knew I didn't want run-flats as replacements. The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 was my "dream" tire, but at $226 apiece at Tirerack, I started reading about the Fuzions, manufactured under a separate name by Bridgestone.

The Fuzion tech and owners' reviews sounded too good to be true... wet and dry adhesion, noise/comfort, tread life... all got heaps of praise. This tire seemed to have it all. The cost at Tirerack... $125 apiece. It is actually one of the most technologically advanced tires on the market, depsite its bargain price.

I bought a set, and inflated them to 38 psi all around. They are truly a fantastic tire, and a major find. You can read 56 reviews of the Fuzions by people who purchased them, at 1010tire.com. Most of those review were by performance-oriented drivers.

As happy as I am with the tires, the installation through my local Firestone dealer was a nightmare. The @#$% tech threw away all the sensors, costing Firestone $130 apiece to replace them, and another $100 Lexus charge to initialize the new sensors.

In the end, it was worth it, and I'll reaffirm what has been said many times: YOU'LL NEVER BE AS HAPPY AS THE DAY YOU GET RID OF YOUR RUN-FLATS. Check out the amazing Fuzion tires.

P.S. One nice advantage of the Fuzions is their rim guard... the rubber protrudes farther than on typical tires, by design, to protect expensive rims from curb damage.