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HeftyJoe

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  • Lexus Model
    RX330

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  1. No, you shouldn't have the side view mirrors adjusts so that you can see down the side of the vehicle for any reason. When your sitting normally in the seat looking forward, adjust the rear view mirror so that it is level and squarely places the rear window in your field of view. Then, look at the far edges on either side of the rear view mirror and note what you can see behind the vehicle completely to the left and the right. Look in your side view mirror now and adjust the mirror up and down to accommodate your height. Then push the mirror outwards until you cannot see anything that you could normally see in the rear view mirror. Visual information in the side view mirrors should not duplicate anything you can normally see in the rear view mirror. If, when driving, you need to see straight back down the side of the vehicle for any reason, all it should take is a slight head bob to the left or right to change your perspective through the mirror. If this is not the case then it is not the mirror fault but in fact the seating position that is your problem. Adjust the seat to put your head and eyes in the best possible position to see outward. Using this method you should be able to take optimal advantage of the entire surface area of your mirror. If you duplicate information in the side view mirror that you can normally see in the rear then you are wasting valuable mirror space and increasing the blind areas around your vehicle. Think about the fact that the majority of the time the vehicle is in forward motion. Don't adjust the mirrors to improve your site when driving backwards when in fact your only moving this way maybe 5-10% of the time.
  2. Hefty, which model specifically? Road Venture APT KL51 Road Venture HT Road Venture MT KL71 Road Venture AT KL-78 Road Venture ST ? Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I cut off the end of the model when I copied and pasted that the first time, my bad. They are the Road Venture APT KL51 The Lexus came with the Michelin Energy tires which were rated as one of the best at MPG efficiency out of most any other tire compared on Consumer Reports. So, going with any tire other then the Michelin energy you are going to drop 1-2 MPG. However, the harder compound in the Michelin energy meant that the tires would squeal like crazy especially with the Lexus's short first gear (as far as automatics go). These new Kumho's hook up like a champ in the dry. I could get a good 5 foot peel out in the Michelin's but these just hook and go. "I have Yokohama's on my truck and like them but I tried a set on my wife's car and after putting up with random vibration for 20k mi. and 3 rebalances" Some of the Yokohama or Kumho passenger tires find themselves on the cheaper end of the price spectrum because they are completely nylon wound tires. These are more prone to flat spotting and vibration for the first 10-15 minutes of driving. The vibration disappears after the tires warm back up. The vibration will be more pronounced in colder weather. The Yokohama Avid Vs4 or Ws4 is an excellent passenger care tire hands down. Absolutely, glued to the road during heavy rain storms. A bit of a sizzle at lower parking lot speeds during heavy turn in. Otherwise, great compromise between performance/comfort.
  3. I just put a set of 235/55R-18 KUMHO ROAD VENTURE from http://tirerack.com They have lots of siping and also some additional knobs on the shoulder of the tire to help kick up some mud and light snow. On the highway they are smooth and quiet.
  4. Sorry, was searching on tires and came across this old thread I thought I'd bump. For street use a slotted rotor would be the best upgrade. Drilled rotors do produce crazed lines and cracking from the drilled areas. Slotted or drilled rotors will help with braking performance but at the expense of driveability. Driveability is a a metric that compares comfort versus performance. A track car can haul butt but is rough on the backside versus a Cadillac with air ride suspension that floats down the highway but doesn't stay there for long when you push it. Anyways, a slotted or drilled rotor will cause a vibrating pedal feel and brake squeal will become impossible to eliminate. On an all out track car the track conditions are relatively clean and pads wear out so fast that they are replaced before they squeal. However, listen to a WRC rally car which is exposed to real world dirt and water conditions and those brakes squeal like crazy - like ear piercing loud. One last thing, keep in mind that a set of high quality brake pads are already slotted to deal with the out-gassing of hot brake material. To continue with my rant I will say that with most any performance upgrade you have to look at the bigger picture. Does the stock caliper exert enough braking force to warrant the slotted rotor? I have a Nissan 350z Track edition which comes with the Brembo 4 piston calipers but has a smooth face rotor. That setup would benefit enormously from a slotted rotor to take advantage of that 4 piston caliper. Our Lexus RX3xx just has a 1 piston caliper. Nissan probably didn't put a slotted rotor on there from the factory because of increased cost, increased brake noise, and increased pad wear. In other words if you thinking of going with the slotted rotor I would probably look into a caliper upgrade as well. I will admit though that after having driven in a car that has 4 piston calipers I would advocate that every car should have them at the very least as a safety feature. I've had situations were someone slammed on there brakes in front of me for some reason or another and I can outperform them in braking distance so well that I can quickly back off and stay out of "too close for comfort" situations. Since owning the 350z I've been hooked on looking at a vehicles 0-60-0 times which gauges both acceleration and braking times.
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