irishvol

It will probably make no difference but the manufacturer has a reason for recommending a paticular weight. With newer autos the bearing clearences are much closer than in the past thus a "thinner" oil is recommended to improve penetration. I would suggest that you stick with the man. recommendation unless you are operating in very hot temperatures. Hope this helps

Let me first say this, I am not familiar with BG products at all. I would througherly read any such warrenty. I agree with the dealer...you do not need to flush the trans at this point. HOWEVER, let me add that I have flushed my '02 and replaced with Mobil 1 Synthetic and the difference in the way the trans shifts is amazing. The cost was $160.00. I believe money well spent. I also use Mobil 1 Motor Oil. More expensive but only needs changing every 15,000 miles. I change mine every 7,000. Good luck. Hope this helps.

These are the 2 Dyno tests run on my '02. First is stock base line and then with airbox removed. Second is with Injen Intake and then additionally with the muffler removed. As you can see the stock baseline was around 212hp. With airbox removed it jumped to 218. Test 2 shows 215 with Injen and it dropped to 212 with muffler removed. That surprised me. I thought we'd pick up some power with reduced back pressure without muffler. Well, Injen still sounds pretty good.

Thanks The tape around the Injen is insulation and a heat shield box. The heat from the engine is absorbed more by the metal intake than by plastic. This will, of course, affect performance. Sooo in order to keep from adversely affecting the temperature of air taken in the intake is insulated and a heat shield built around the filter. The car is dark blue, saddle interior.

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PS....The first thing most folks do is REPLACE THE DOG UGLY WHEELS! Tire Rack is an excellent place to check wheels and replacing the Run Flat Tires. These things seem to be a real sore spot and drive folks nuts....loud and rough riding.

Hey guys, I'd like some help with this problem. Are the speakers you're talking about installed in stock location? Will these speakers solve the proble or do all of the speakers need to be replaced? Costs? My system really STINKS! Any help appreciated. Thanks :(

As far as the intake/exhaust mods you are looking at, it amounts to money spent for nothing but a really nice sound. As I've posted before, I did dyno tests on my '02 with the Injen and with freed up exhaust.....showed 2 hp gain over stock. There are lots of Bull*BLEEP* claims made by some folks, who don't know their azz from their elbow, about ridiculous power gains........all fantasy! The machine don't lie. There is also another popular fantasy floating about that the ECU must be reprogramed after these modifications....more baloney. There are two types of programs controled by the ECU; open programs and closed programs. These mods are controled by the open program which adjust itself to any change in air/fuel mixture changes. These guys don't like to hear this stuff and the real pfoney-baloneies will let out a howl. Thes types of BSers have always been around hot rodding.....for as long as I can remember. Good luck and I hope this helps.

I bought a Certified Pre-owned '02 from Sewell Lexus last year sight unseen (just web pics). 63,000 miles. These people are TOPS in my book. Car was perfect and has remained that way. Only complaints are the usual seemingly universal ones: Run Flat Tires SUCK!! and the sound system SUCKS!! Hope this helps.

I recently had my '2 battery replaced with a Bosch, 96 month battery for $117.00 installed at Pep Boys. Also can't go wrong with good old Sears DieHard. Hope this helps

What I've learned from the 3 Dyno tests we've run on my car is this: 1. "Ram air intakes" have little, if any, impact on power. In fact if not insulated against additional heat of intake gasses created by using the more heat absorbing metal (absorbs and retains heat from motor more than the stock plastic airbox) intake tube, may actually cause loss of power due to additional heat of intake gasses. That's why I wrapped my intake in insulation and built an insulated "cool box" around the air filter. It's not pretty and shiney but helps keep the intake cooler. 2. Most apparent effect of the intakes is the sound created. I think it sounds great! 3. Removal of the muffler made ZERO change in power. This tells us that the source of major power robbing back preassure is in the Cats and/or resonators. I know that low restriction Cats are available but I'm afraid of how they might affect passing emmissions testing. I now believe the resonators can be removed without major noise increase and some power increase. Some type of muffler will have to be used to keep the law away. Now....having said all of this let me share my plans based on test findings. At some point in the near future (house is being remodeled right now and wife has plans for ALL desposible income at present) I will have muffler and resonators removed and replaced with 3" straight pipes running into a pair of low restriction mufflers (Thrush, FlowMaster, etc.). I fully expect this to give some major power improvements in the neighborhood of 15 - 20 hp. This may take me a month or so to complete. It won't be all pretty and shiney like commercially sold "Catback" systems but I'm confident it will work and costs sould be in the neighborhood of $300.00. When completed we'll run another Dyno test and advise of results. My hope is to provide fellow SC folks with asmuch useful performance info as possible PS Man, I just re-read all of this and DAMN....I can ramble on can't I!!

THANK YOU TRAILER!!! I'm really tired of the nonsense (that includes me). I really enjoy sharing info with the folks here and want to continue to do so. I'm really tired of the personal attacks......damn, what's the point? Let's move on.

I ran them with the badge.....and it added 200 HORSEPOWER !!! Now that sounds like you and blister and pearl and lexiss and the other jawjacking, knownothings.....Did all of you looooosers go to the Pimp MY Ride shop at the same time? You dopes don't even know what a dyno is...... stick to the Pimp My Ride/Mall Cruiser stuff little boys......leave performance to those who know what they're talking about.........now get lost

FYI....I just instlled an Injen on my '02 and then dyno tested.....gained about 3hp. The sound is great but minimal power increase. Expect same with other brand intakes. Just thought I'd let you know my experience from actual tests so you'd not have to rely on some of the BS claims made by some in here. Good luck

You're one of those I referenced earlier....a know nothing. Anybody who knows anything about interanal combustion engines knows that reduction of backpressure increases power.....that's why racers use HEADERS and NO MUFFLERS idiot. As far as spelling goes, genius, it's "YOU'RE" not "YOUR". I doubt seriously you'd know a muffler from a water melon. Just keep that thing you're driving in the "hood" with the rest of the pimps....that's something you obviously know something about. Leave performance discussions to those who know what they're talking about. Now please go away and stop bothering me.

The only complaint I've heard from folks about the SC is the RFTs. Mine were loud and rough and I removed them ASAP! I had great luck with Tire Rack. I ended up with Goodyear Eagle GT allseasons......they have been great! Great wet and dry performance. Relatively quiet, smooth and handle very well at a great price. If you're going to have the TPMS hooked up the price of installation goes up and in my opinion the feature is worthless....I've disconnected it. Hope this helps.

Well, I do agree with you about the resonators. I was really surprised at the lack of aditional noise when the muffler was removed and the lack of power increase. Both indicate that muffler is not main sorce of backpressure. The source must then be in the resonators. I'm hesitant to remove them however because I'd like to be able to return to stock at some point. I also agree that the SC is not really an all out performance car and that has to be taken into consideration. I do however enjoy the prospect of a little additional power without just plain messing up the basic car. There are some others on another sight whose cars look like they were guests on "Pimp My Ride" (Blister) and who like to spread a lot of baloney about power output (Lexiss). The look achieved looks like something out of a high school shop class and destroys the basic elegance of the car. And They don't realize that the BS power claims make people who know about performance LAUGH OUT LOUD !! It is amazing to me how absolutely ignorant these kids are. In one sense it's a shame that they have access to such a great car like the SC. The responses here to my Dyno information show some readers with some good automotive knowledge.......not just a bunch of Mall cruising dumbos.

I'm glad this helps. I know there has been a long running discussion about the benefits of the Injen intake. It did produce about 3 hp and the new sound was really cool but I'm not sure it was worth the costs. I had seen some claims of 20-30hp increase with the muffler removal (reduced back pressure) but I was skeptical. I did expect some increase and was quite surpried when the result was "0". I've tried to post this info on the other "Lexus" webcite but I've been barred. Those kids aren't really interested in this kind of info. They don't want to hear it. Some of them are claiming 40-50 hp increases from addition of intakes and catbacks (one is "Lexiss" who is claiming 262.5 whp). Most of them are more interested in "Pimping" their cars. They don't want to deal with the reality of these "performance" pieces.

Tests 2 and 3 were run yesterday..........VERY disappointing but informative. Test 2: Injen intake addition = 2hp. But a great sound! Test 3: Injen with the muffler removed = 0hp gains. This really surprised me. I thought reduced back preasure would add some power. Also surprised at how quiet car remained. Main discovery is effect of the intake....minimal at best

I am running 3 different dyno tests on my 2002 SC430. The first is complete and the results are shown here. Results are in the range to be expected for a stock engine rated at 300 hp. Rule of thumb is a result of about 30% less at the wheels. We got about 212hp and 230 tq. With airbox removed figures increased some to around 218 and 235. This afternoon I will run tests 2 and 3. Test 2 will be run with the addition of an insulated Injen Ramair Intake. I know there has been much contraversey about the benefits of this piece......we'll see. In addition to the intake test 3 will be run with the muffler removed. I've seen data showing as much as 30hp gain but I'm skeptical. I'm also curious about additional noise created. Again we'll see. I hope this information will help in making decisions on mods to your cars. Tests 2 and 3 results should be posted by 4pm cst. PS Someone please advise on how to post copy of the dyno results .......I can't seem to find a way to attach