mikee72

Cool! Sounds like enough lifting power to compensate for additional sound deadening. Would you mind telling us what the brand name is?

I've seen the McCulloch kit in person at night and they look like someone put purple bulbs in a Honduh. Not convincing as OEM at all, IMHO.

I usually average 20-ish with mixed driving, but if you do any long-distance driving, your mileage will increase substantially. I got 26-28 MPG driving my car home to WA from TX.

I'd say that leaking is the product of age and mileage. My '92 had ~70k on it when I noticed that it losing fluid. If it is leaking, fix it ASAP, or it can ruin the alternator as well.

Depends on how you go about fixing it. (PS pump) I did mine in a couple of hours for ~$200. Search to see all of your options.

Since I don't own an ES, I can't really compare maintenance costs, but I can tell you that if you need dealer-only work, the Toyota dealerships around here are clueless when it comes to "Soarer," but obviously well versed in "Camry." Just from a production number standpoint, I'd say that the ES is going to be cheaper, but I wouldn't say that the SC is a maintenance hog, but it isn't a Camry, either. IMHO, it's an "Apples to Oranges" comparison anyway. One is a high-performance luxury coupe, while the other is pretty much a warmed up FWD grocery-getter. Personally, I wouldn't buy a salvage title car, especially not a Lexus. Maintenance and TLC from a previous owner's standpoint means too much for me, since any major problem + fixing the known issues could cost you the difference between a salvage title SC and a legit car with service history. From looking at a fair number of salvage title cars, I can tell you that most were never fixed properly enough to be safe, not to mention the inevitable issues such as water leaks, messed up wiring, and poor fitting body panels. I'm guessing that those bags are going to cost you $1500-2k alone.

PM a guy that goes by PIONEERSUBY. He sells Lexus audio stuff, and is very helpful.

My changer seems to error more frequently as the temperature goes up. I never have a problem at night, but on an 80+ day, can expect it not to find the beginning of a song, or simply refuse to play altogether. This with burned TDK CDR's that are always designated as Music before the burn process.

http://www.lextech.org/

I guess you didn't bother to search, since this has been covered literally hundreds of times. In addition, the ES changer is totally different than the SC changer, so why would you ask the question here? :whistles:

Between the two WA threads, I'm pretty confused who will be where and when. I'll be in Bellevue until ~7PM Friday and can meet people wherever they end up. I probably won't have time to check the board, but if anyone wants to call and meet up, my cell is (four-two-five) 231-2966. (Spelled out just in case there's some sort of number bot searching)

So, Friday the 13th? I might be able to make that. Unless I get a date or something. :)

Nope. Three different systems. The Nak system is clearly marked on the head unit, and mine is clearly marked "Premium Sound."

I didn't see Lexus listed on their site.

Thanks for the heads up. I just might stop by. Still hoping to find a person with a Nak system sooner, though.

I have just discovered that my SC has the "Premium" system as opposed to the Nakamichi system, and would like to hear the difference. If anyone would be so kind as to meet up with me, I'll come to you and kick in $20 for your trouble. This is very important to me, since I'm about to decide wheter to upgrade to the Nak system or go aftermarket. Weeknights work fine for me.

Pics please!

I think I already know the answer to this, but just in case someone out there has a good working knowledge of the Nak internals and is able to lower the hi-pass cutoff for the mid's, I thought I'd try anyway. The situation is, I really like the stock SC Nak system, but after hearing a '98 ES with the Nak and the 5 1/4" front speakers, I'd like to upgrade my front speakers to at least 5 1/4's. Obviously, that would be pointless without the ability to lower the hi-pass to take advantage of the larger speaker. Suggestions? I assume that the ES Nak amp isn't compatible, harness-wise.

The fact that he mentions going 130+ MPH means he was obviously racing for longer than a quarter mile.

FWIW, the issue of Road and Track that I have in front of me tested it at 13.7. I'm sure it's possible to go quicker, but a half a second is a lot.

Yeah, it cracks me up that just people seem to think that anything with 8 cylinders is fast. It reminds me of why I always had little respect for V8 owners before I bought my SC. For every 11-second car, there was ten 15-second idiots blabbing about how fast they were. I love me SC, but the fact is, it's a slow !Removed! that isn't going to get much faster without cubic dollars. It's a big, heavy, comfortable cruiser that was never meant to compete with sport compacts or muscle cars. I could care less if someone has a faster Honda, since I didn't buy this car to go fast in. The attitude of "I own a V8, therefore I'm fast" is going to get you laughed at by many a' four-banger, so I'd suggest dropping that attitude or start reaching deep into your wallet.

I can't believe in this day and age of information people still say things like this. My "other" car has half the displacement and half the cylinders of my SC, yet still manages to be ~3 seconds quicker 0-60 than my SC. Using the number of cylinders as the only way to judge a car's speed will get you beat in a hurry. Go find yourself a lowly 6-cylinder 996TT to race.

I'd replace the seal, regardless of what the dealer says. My 1992's roof makes almost *zero* noise, even without the shade pulled. Something is definitely wrong.

I'm in Everett and open to get-togethers. Weekdays work best for me.

I wonder if a rubber softener would help? Quoting skperformance from the ES FAQ: "also i use meguires tire endurance dressing to help it seal along the sela of all the windows door edges ,trunk and sunroof, once done it will improve the less of air whistle"