amcdonal86

If I could add my 2 cents: I have a '97 LS400 with 97k miles or so. It drives like a brand new car (literally), especially after I installed new strut rods and upper strut mounts. The acceleration is quite good for such a heavy car, I have no doubts that the car can match its published 7.2 second 0-60 time. The car looks great, too. If you can get one for a good price, buy it! Just make sure it has the major maintenance done already. When I was test driving LS400 before purchase, I had a chance to drive a 2000 LS400 as well. That one felt a lot more "modern"--maybe it was just the looks, but the engine feels a lot more free-breathing and the transmission shifts more readily. But I kind of like how the 4 speed doesn't shift very much in normal mode. It makes it feel like a really torquey car (which it is)!

Awesome. Are we talking about the lower ball joints? I was looking at the LexLS.com tutorials and it looked like I had to remove the entire front wheel assembly to get that piece out! Thanks for the help everybody!

How many km should you expect? Close to infinity! These are definitely among the most reliable engines produced. These cars have an open differential with electronic traction control. With all season tires, it should be okay in up to 2-3" of snow. With snows, I've heard of people doing quite well with a bit more. Although any model year LS400 will probably drive reliably, I would be wary of older LS400s (perhaps more than 10 years old) because there are a lot of rubber parts in the suspension that will inevitably dry out, which can cost a lot of money to replace to restore the original ride quality.

Can you do us a favor? We know you are underwhelmed with your LS, but can you stop bringing a pall to everybody else's threads? We know you think your LS is bland and soulless, we know you're going to trade it for an RX-8. I'm tired of seeing other member's threads drug off track by this. This post serves no purpose but as flamebait and as you can tell by the responses its completely derailed the purpose of nc's thread. Every post you make is only about that. Thats not a request by the way. You're free to have your opinions, but if you can't express them without disrupting other people's threads you should hit the bricks. We've done you the courtesy of answering all your questions and helping you with your vehicle and people have been very respectful of your opinions, you need to show us the same courtesy by leaving us alone to enjoy our vehicles and our forum. Check this out: www.rx8club.com Thanks for that link. I am already a member of RX8 club. My post was explaining why he will probably not find the owner of the car on the forum. I don't see what's so upsetting about it. I apologize if I killed anyone's buzz.

I love my '91 LS400--what do I need to do to become an enthusiast? Nothing. I said most Lexus owners are not enthusiasts. What I meant to say is most LS owners are not enthusiasts.Just look at the size of this forum compared to that of other cars. It's TINY! Mazda forums, Honda forums, BMW forums, Benz forums, Porsche, etc. Now, that may not be the only metric of enthusiasm for a particular model of car, but you could also look at the breadth of aftermarket accessories available for the LS--also an incredibly limited selection. There is nothing wrong with you if you are enthusiastic about your LS. Just know that you are in a pretty small group, and if you sold your LS400 recently, the chance that the OP will actually find the person who purchased his car a couple of years ago on this forum is incredibly tiny! But then again, the same would be true of virtually any car.

I'm selling my '97 LS to my parents and I think my ball joints need to be replaced because I hear a popping noise occasionally when turning the wheel to the right. I requested a quote by email from a local shop, but they don't open until tomorrow. Does anyone know roughly how much it will cost? I really don't think I have it in me to replace them myself. Thanks! The car has about 97k miles.

You have a Miata? At least I know one other person is sane on this forum! (I used to have one. Wish I had kept it--would've made a great team with the LS.)

Most Lexus owners are not enthusiasts.

Sounds like you need to check your trunk wiring harness. No it's not normal for your wheels to be turning when the car is in neutral.

If you're not bouncing off the rev-limiter every once in a while, you're driving it wrong! :P

I believe you are wrong. There are only a few cars where what you say might be true (80s-90s Corvettes, virtually all diesel cars, etc.), but virtually all modern cars today perform best running the engine all the way to the redline. That's where all the torque/power is! ESPECIALLY on Hondas with VTEC and Toyotas with VTTi or whatever it's called.If you look at a horsepower/torque curve, you'll usually see the power start to taper off just a few hundred RPM before redline, but that's still much more than what's available when you shift to the next gear at that point (or sooner). (No wonder you guys are getting smoked! )

But the LS is no good at making turns! How do you know? Have you ever slid the car into oversteer? Just because it leans and "feels" like it can't turn, doesn't mean anything. Most of the time the car's limits are way past what the driver thinks. And most drivers shy away from the limit, and that's how a "slower" car can beat a "faster" car. All other things being equal, the LS does not handle very well compared to other cars in its class (E class, 5 series). I have driven the hell out of this car a few times. It has pretty neutral handling with a tendency toward understeer. At the speed that the LS begins to understeer through a turn, my old Miata could've taken the same turn at LEAST 10mph faster without any loss of grip. But then again, we're not comparing the LS to the Miata. We're comparing it to an Accord. Despite being FWD, I think the Accord still has the handling advantage, having driven both cars for an extended period of time.

This sounds suspiciously like the sudden acceleration thread...

Let him learn the hard way. :lol: I don't know what state everyone else lives in, but where I live, you need to have a muffler to pass inspection! (I sure as hell wouldn't enjoy installing/removing the muffler every time state inspection came around.)

I guess technically the 1990-1994 LS400 would win in a straight line 2 mile race against an Accord by virtue of its higher top speed. :P

You're right, the Accord would have even more. Lol, are you drunk?????? haha The LS would beat and Accord like a red-headed step child!!!! :D :D :D :D Are you in the right forum son? ;) You must be blinded by that "L" badge on your grill. :P I tend to give credit where credit is due. The 2009 Accord V6 is a very quick car. I would love to see you try to drag race one!

I have NEVER worked on any car's exhaust where the bolts weren't completely seized and rusted. You'll have to constantly spray the bolts with PB Blaster for an entire week twice a day, and even then, they might not come off. You may have to cut them off and have new studs welded in. I would also advise against just removing the mufflers and not replacing them with some sort of pipe. You do not want hot exhaust coming out right underneath your gas tank or trunk. Best of luck!

But the LS is no good at making turns!

You're right, the Accord would have even more.

Does changing the transmission mount alone stop the "lurch" when putting the LS in gear when it is cold and idling high?

Oops, those were Blake's photos.

OP, if you look at your own photos, you will see that they were badly cracked. I consider that to be broken!

A 2002 Accord V6 could easily take on a '90-'94 LS.Keep in mind the current Accord V6 has 271 horsepower and 254 lb-ft of torque and weighs at least 200-300 pounds less than the LS. but i know for sure the 95 and up LS will outrun the accords up to the 06' V6 model. I dunno about that. I drove an '05 Accord V6 for two years or so, and that car definitely seemed a lot faster than my LS does.The UCF20 I's weight and 4-speed automatic are really what hold it back.

I do have a few kills myself. I beat a new Chevy Malibu (probably a 4cylinder) loaded up with kids who was trying to prevent me from merging into his lane. Unfortunately he was loaded up with 3 other friends. He must've been really embarrassed. I figure if you're going to try to show off, do it 100% or not at all. Plenty of slow cars driving at 100% can beat your Lexus when you're only giving it 70%. I did not know that they had an S position for the LS430, but now I know. Why they have it I'm not sure.

That's probably because it has an open differential. Only one wheel is losing traction.