Topshelf

Yes, I do understand the benefits of lighter wheels and tires. It is proven and true. But I still say it's not worth the cost unless you are mainly interested in bling. Do you have any records of mpg or 1/4 mile times before and after changing out the rims/tires to show the improvement gained? And ofcourse putting a heavier combo on one side will cause the vehicle to pull in that direction, might as well put a smaller tire on one side and see what happens. I'm not telling anyone not to do it. I'm simply saying that unless your goal is to put some fancy looking rims on you car, there's no point in spending the extra money expecially since going to a larger rim size is most likely going to decrease the comfort of the ride. I personally prefer the factory look over these ill proportioned giant rims, but my opinions shouldn't make anyones decision. You seem happy with your purchase which is great, and I'm happy with my stock setup. Just want to make sure that tmh has both sides of the story before running out and spending all his money on something he may or may not be happy with. ;)

Hold on there cowboy! Yes, unsprung weight is always something you want to minimize. However, on a truck like ours, you would spend a whole lot of money to gain almost nothing in return. Yes, the truck will accelerate a little quicker, but that would be almost imperceptible under normal driving conditions. As far as braking goes..your still stopping a 3700lb vehicle, so the brakes still have to do their job. If this was a race car, there would be absolutely no question about going with the lightest rims possible. Hell, I raced motorcycles for 5 years and even the weight of the tires were a factor in which brand to buy, and they only varied by 1 or 2lbs. But you're also talking about 400lb machines where every ounce was huge. tmhtmh seems to me like he's just looking for a nice riding and reliable luxury SUV. If that's the case, his best bet would be to put new tires on the factory rims and find some cheap steelies for his dedicated winters. That gives him the perfect setup for what Lexus had in mind. If he, or anyone else is worried about 0-60 times and lateral g's, then some 20" low profile high performance summer tires on carbon fiber rims is the way to go. Everyone needs to make that decision based on their wants out of their vehicle. I just don't want anyone thinking that dumping $2500 into tires and rims is going to drop their 0-60 times by 2 seconds, make their brake pads last 3 times as long and give them 27mpg. But if .2 seconds, 3 months longer and maybe .5mpg is what's important, by all means spend the money and enjoy your new bling. ;)

Haha, sorry to use my exhaustive research and experience on you. Yeah, they are a Highway All-Season in the stock 225/70-R16 size. You can check them out here. I don't think you can go wrong with either these or the Michelin CT's, and the guy at BJ's Wholesale Club said they are going to have a sale right around mid April....tax refund money. Anyway, I know they carry the Michelins and I'm not sure about the Stones. But they have really good prices and an excellent deal with the mounting/balancing/roadside plan. Good luck with your choice, but I don't think you can make a bad one at this point.

Don't overlook the Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza. It is not the same crappy OEM tire that came on these trucks. The RX I purchased had these mounted on them and I am incredibly impressed with the comfort, quietness, traction and superb handling these tires provide. The guy I bought the RX from used these to get out of an insanely steep driveway and some twisty roads during the past winter with no problems at all. Right now they are listed as #1 on tireracks chart, but they only have about 1/8 the miles as the Yokohamas and 1/26 as much as the Michelins. If you actually read the Lexus reviews on tirerack for the Yoko's you might change you mind...I did. I was fully prepared to drop the coin on the Michelins, but am so impressed with these tires, I have no thoughts about changing and $650 back in my pocket. I just thought I'd share since you are asking for opinons.;)

Yes guys, make sure you know what you want before upsizing your rims. Going to a larger 18/19/20" rim will have a considerable negative effect on the smoothness of your ride. Also remember that there's a lot more to body roll than just rim size, so don't think that throwing some 20's on there is going to give you a perfectly flat cornering experience. Most likely you'll notice the harsher ride more than the slight decrease in roll. These are vehicles designed for a nice smooth highway ride, not sporty cornering. So moving up to a 17, maybe an 18 would be a good compromise if body roll is that much of a problem, but I'd find someone with a similar mod first since it isn't cheap if you don't like it. Personally, I'll stick with my 16's and enjoy the quiet comfort of my B-Stone Alenza's.:)

Yeah, thanks man. I should have replied a few days back I guess. I walked out, took a quick peak and popped it right off. There was a clip that wasn't locked in that was rattling. Pushed it in place, popped the cover back on and everything is perfectly quiet now. :) But thanks for the help! ;)

Ah, so that means I need to take apart the cargo area to get to the antenna then? I was hoping for an easier way to do it, but I guess I'll just rip in to it. Thanks And no, I have no care about anybody else's needs. :) Seriously, there is a window antenna also, so I would guess that would be good enough in a pinch.

Is there any way to disconnect that antenna so that it will NOT go up when on FM? I just installed my Sirius and have absolutely no need for FM anymore. And I hate that the antenna has to go up and start up and down on shut down. I tried disconnecting some of the plugs from behind the radio while I was there. But the radio wouldn't even turn on unless everything was plugged in. Is there a wire that I can just remove from the harness?

Well let's all remember that most of these mechanics are being paid by the amount of time that the book says it should take to do the job. So if the book says it's a 2 hour job, and they get it done in 1 hour and 15 minutes, and then they get a 1 hour job done in that other 45 minute span, they just got paid for 3 hours of work while only doing 2. So speed is definitely the most important thing on these guys minds, which unfortunately puts our biggest concern at the bottem of their list. However, I don't care if it's a Kia dealership or a Lexus dealership, you're going to have both extremes here. Some will be a total money based, screw the customer stealership, while others will provide a good service with friendly people and good work. Sure, they are still money based, but some are just blatant about how much they don't care. Best bet is to ask around for people's experiences with your local shops. One thing people don't have a problem with is bad mouthing others. So it should be easy to find the ones to stay away from. But if you can find a small local import shop that has near spotless garage bays, a small amount of long time employees and a smart !Removed! old guy who knows everything, then you just found the best place to take your new pride and joy. ;)

I'll be honest here and say I haven't even attempted it yet. Infact, I haven't even looked at it yet. But there is a rattling coming from inside the gate, below the rear window that MUST be fixed asap. I'm geussing it can't be that hard to do, but just thought I would ask before I went tearing into it. Should be a 5 minute job, but I hate removing anything that doesn't need to be removed. :) Oh, it would be a 2002 RX300.

Hey tmh, Congrats man!!! I just picked up my 2002 AWD on Saturday. Bought it from Jim on this board and fricken love the truck. Been driving it all weekend and couldn't be happier, so I know you're excitement. :D Oh, about adding the heated seats...I have a buddy who added them to his wife's Sequioa (sp) 2 years back. I THINK it cost him like $700. But, the install was extremely professional and he was happy with the result. Ofcourse she doesn't like leather or her butt getting hot, so she installed seat covers later and *BLEEP*ed away all that money. But it can be done. Anyway, congrats and enjoy!

I'm no expert...yet :) But I believe this would be your best bet... Master Key Shell

Hey, I was just wondering if any of the Lexus electronic gurus have come across a modified direct aux in for the stock RX300 stereo system. I've done one on our C230 that basically modifies the tape portion so that it can be used for something more practical like a Satellite radio install. It isn't that bad at all, but I don't know enough about electronics to start hacking away without instructions. Here's the quick how-to for the MB version if it would be helpful to any EE's out there. And the link to it if you want to get more info and pics. Link Pictures 0. Insert tape into W203 radio while power is available to the radio. 1. Remove W203 radio. 2. Remove screws from top panel. 3. Remove screws from cassette mechanism. 4. Remove cassette mechanism. 5. Cut or desolder ground wires going to the motors on the cassette mechanism (there are two motors). 6. There is a trace to cut on the tape mechanism board and a surface mount resistor to remove in order to get pins 1 and 3 on the ribbon connector to be disconnected from the tape mechanism board. 7. Cut one end off of an RCA cable, preferably the type with twisted pairs of wires inside a somewhat hollow sheath. 8. Figure out a way to run that cable in through the back of the radio. 9. Solder the left channel wire to pin 1 on the tape mech ribbon cable. 10. Solder the right channel to pin 3 on the tape mech ribbon cable. 11. Close everything up and reinstall with the end of the RCA cable sticking out somewhere useful like into the glovebox or ashtray. You could maybe run it under the center console past the shifter to the center storage area or the cup holder spot. Anyway, that's the mod. Here's how it works. You just switch to tape mode and the tape doesn't spin (because there's no power to the motors) and you don't hear anything from the tape (because the tape mech board is disconnected from the output going to the radio's main board). Instead your input goes through the RCA's into the radio in place of the tape audio. The radio doesn't even notice that the tape is essentially "stuck".

Here's the most amazing thing.... Recent Sales Figures Reported by company email, March 5, 2006 Total Sales for December, 2005: $760,962.00 Total Sales for January, 2006: $2,163,941.00 Total Sales in February, 2006: $4,331,050.00 This scam has been out so many times in so many variants, and it still suckers people in after all these years. Funny thing is that all it does is add cleaners and octane boosters, yet people refuse to understand the fact that using octane higher than required will drop both performance and gas milage. There is no benefit to using 93 octane on an engine that needs 87. Infact, it's detrimental. But, as you can see by the numbers above, it's a good business to be in.

Well, I don't want to argue any of the traction control operations because I honestly don't know that much about them. So for now I'm going to believe all that info. :P However, if you are claiming that dedicated summer tires are better than a well designed all season tire, then we certainly have a disagreement here. If we throw out the dozens of tests that have proved this fact over and over again, there's still a very basic feature that would prove that theory wrong. Tire compound. If you were to take your summer tire with it's "superior" tread design and duplicate it using an all season compound, and a winter compound, there would be no doubt be huge traction increases as the compound became softer with each design. Summer tires are very hard compared to the other types since they are strictly designed to cope with higher ground temps as well as higher cornering forces. As the road gets cooler, the summer tire will not be able to get to optimal operating temp and will have no grip whatsoever. I've been racing motorcycles for over 5 years, and I have first hand experience of how important it is having the proper tire for the conditions. In the same manner, a winter tire on a hot day would simply overheat and become greasy, causing a massive loss of traction. Tire compounds are just as important as the tread design, and summer tires are not designed for winter whereas the all-season obviously takes both extremes into consideration. All season tires on a luxury awd suv is the ideal compromise since you don't need the high grip levels of a summer tire for cornering, or the extreme grip of a winter tire unless you are in an area that gets alot of snow and ice. Driving on a summer tire on a cold day, let alone a snowy or icy day, is not only dangerous to the driver, but to everyone around him who could possibly get caught up in the mayhem that will ensue once that performace tire lets go due to improper operating temps. Without heat, there is zero grip on a high performance tire. Trust me, riding around at 150mph on 2 wheels teaches you alot about your tires. I'll agree that chains on an icerink might be better than a winter tire, but how often do you drive on an icerink? Not to mention the damage it does to roadways and the loss of traction when not on pure ice. Personally, a good all-season and a smart head is the best choice, but that's just my useless $.02. B)

Yeah, I can understand your point. But once you come to terms with traction control, it's really nice. I remember last year trying to get up my hill in my wifes C230 coupe (rwd hatchback). Got about halfway up and then the tc kicked in. I just stayed on the gas and let the electronics do it's thing. Pretty wild actually. It made all kinds of strange noises, but slowly, and in a controlled manner walked right up the hill. Could I have gotten up it without it? Maybe, but remembering the days of my '67 camaro in the snow, I'll take traction control over fishtailing and spinning tires anyday. Also, I honestly think alot of people underestimate the importance of good tires. Not saying expensive, but good. There's only 4 contact points with the ground (hopefully :)), and it amazes me everytime I see people driving around on bald, or worn, or summer, or underinflated tires complaining about bad wet and snow traction. There's a girl at my work who sold her C230 coupe, exact same car as my wifes, because the car was terrible in the rain and snow. I wanted so bad to tell her that a $300 investment in new tires would have totally transformed her car. But no point now. I just always get a chuckle when people blame a car or truck for bad traction when 90% of the time it's the tires. Sorry for the rant...bored at work. lol Anyway, good luck with your search as I'm also picking up an '02 RX300 soon. ;) Well, all I can say is next year I'll let you know if I change my opinion on this one. I've never run into a situation like that, so until then, I'm sticking with my proper tires and tc are better than any other option.;)

I was just wondering, what would the advantage of turning off the stability/traction control be? I could understand if you had the new IS350 and wanted to play a little. But for the life of me I can't figure out the benefit on an RX300. Just curious.

Jim, I'm definitely interested. You have any pics? Does it have HID's and/or Heated seats? We're only about 45 minutes from each other, so I would be very interested in checking it out. You can either reply here or drop me a line at me e-mail addy if you want to take it off the board. Thanks, Paul Everyone else, thanks for all the help. Checking the transmission dipstick was soo easy I never even thought of it. lol And I wonder if I'm wasting my money on the nav sometimes. I know there's better units out there, but I'm such a gadget guy and having it built in seems cooler. Soo lame! :P Thanks again and I'll report back with my findings....and I'll be waiting to hear from you Jim.

Ah, forgot that. It's AWD. Is there a slipping or a banging or something you can feel that would warn you of the trans failure? I just located 2 white coach editions that I'm going to check out tomorrow now. One has 65k the other has 37k. I'd rather go with the 37k, but the 65k has the nav which I would love to get. Odd, I thought all coach's had the nav?

Hey all, newbie here. I'm looking to get my wife into a nice RX300. I found a 2002 silver with 61,000 miles, tan leather and heated seats that she really likes. Took it for a test drive and it seemed nice. I know that the transmissions and the engine sludge are the 2 concerns, so I was wondering if you guys could tell me exactly what it is that I should be looking for or trying to feel while driving the car that would tip me off to any problems. I did notice the tiniest ticking noise while idling, but it didn't sound like anything to be overly concerned about, but that's why I'm asking. I do have 1 relatively major concern though...there was an extreme amount of wind noise coming from the windshield. I went back today since nobody was there for a thorough check, and I noticed 2 things that I believe are causing it. First, the passenger side glass moulding is not tight from the mid-point down. I don't know how it's held in place, but this needs to be addressed. Secondly, the top of the windshield appears to have a gap between the moulding and the roof line. There was a '99 right next to it, and that was butted up tight as a drum. My guess is some second rate installer replaced the windshield. Do you think this could all be easily fixed by having a pro remove eveything and reinstall the windshield? If so, any idea on cost? I was thinking about $200. Lastly, do you think it would be a good deal for around $19,000-$19,500? They are asking $21k, but I figure between the new tires ($600), windshield reseal ($200?), transmission service ($150?), inspection ($100...currently NJ, need PA) and the 60k service ($500?) I should be able to get them down to about $19k. If not, there's way too many out there to overpay. Thanks for any help you guys have to give on this as I'm looking to get the wife into something I don't have to be concerned about. OH, one other question. I always hear people say to check the service records. How the heck do you do that? Can I just call up a Lexus dealer with the vin? Is it free? Or do I need to go into a dealer to have this done?