new big400

Just a contact e-mail on their website; info@lextreme.com. They got back to me pretty quickly... I guess they are eager to get business. Anyway good luck. Oh, BTW which do you have gears or TC?

Both,I prefer the gears.

Cough up the dough and take it to the dealer.They know your car better than anyone else.IF you do your scheduled maint. at your dealer and have a premature failure Lexus will likely take care of you.

Check this out... I have 82K on my car now, I'll wait another year and drop one of these babies in. Probably the least extreme engine, but it will be a "new" engine and high performance at that. I just won't suggest going anythin bigger like the Stage 2 or Stage 3 because then you have to beef up your tranny a lot to hold that torque! Website:

http://www.lextreme.com/longblock.html

BTW I'm leaning towards the gears because:

1. When do I ever drive 145MPH? I don't mind if I can only hit 130MPH or so for the gain of extra low-end grunt.

2. I have heard good things about the TC however through my research I have found that the low-end gains (results) are the same between the taller gears and the TC. The gears will also enable you to have a more powerful launch at EVERY speed interval whereas the TC is ONLY for off-the-line launches (plus it adds a lot of heat and wear and tear on the tranny; why you need to also add a good tranny cooler w/this mod.) Your thoughts???

Nick

Good decision on the gears over TC.The tranny cooler is for in town driving all the stop and go traffic.How did you contact them do you have a #?Id like to see if theyll set one up with FI.

These are GS400 motors?Can you provide a link I cant seem to find them.Also what do you decide on your gears or TC?Thanks

I agree not to go aftermarket but the 03 GS300 has o2s not AFRS.

never use an unviversal, because most lexus/toyota vehicles don't actually have oxygen sensors. they are air fuel ration sensors. yes they look like oxygen sensors, but they operate in a different manner.

Nonsense.Please elaborate

Thanks for the great and quick feedback. Is this a safety issue at all?

i've had this problem for almost 2 years...thought it was warped rotors at first (replaced them with brembo discs) but the problem never went away...i just ignored it. if it is a safety issue i haven't had problems yet. if it is, someone please let us know...

Not at all and its a pretty easy and quick fix.

GS300 is a V6 and GS400 is a V8 engine. Therefore, V6 will get you a better gas mileage. However, I would go with the GS400 because it provides more power (300hp vs 225), and probably has a better ride handling than a GS300. In addition, GS400 is more comparable to a BMW 540 series, but the GS400 is probably priced at a 3 series.

Yes, they do take synthetic oil.

Good luck.

yes the 3-series competed with the lexus is series.

the gs was in the same category as the 5-series, but the 5-series is a better car to drive from a performance point of view... but i cannot say the same of it's reliability however. what you enjoyed with your 3-series does is not reflected in the 5-series' breakdown and repair history.

if you want to go synthetic, do not get a high mileage car like i did... i went synthetic after almost 60-70k mi of dealer oil changes with conventional oil and it smoked on me :cries:

No they do not take synthetic.Alot of people choose to use synthetic though.And buying a higher mileage car and using synthetic oil should not cause it to smoke.

its not verizon, its the phones, motorola e815s were the best, but they discontinued them, what also works great is LG phones for any carrier, razar is just one of the worst phones out there, not reconmended

It is absolutely Verizon.Other carriers using the razr have no problems at all.What makes you say its not verizon??

because i work for verizon and i used to work for cingular, and i had never had a problem with this issue. its actually not the carriers that have the problem, bluetooth is bluetooth. the same technology is used for all phones. the razar and all other flat phones are just not good phones, the quality is low, it just looks cool.

Oh come on the quality is low it just looks cool?If you look at other carriers the razr works fine.There are numerous examples of the same phone working perfectly with one carrier but not so well with verizon.Look through the threads here most people complaing are verizon users.I work for Lexus and deal with bluetooth all day and can tell you from personal experience verizon HAS the most problems.

its not verizon, its the phones, motorola e815s were the best, but they discontinued them, what also works great is LG phones for any carrier, razar is just one of the worst phones out there, not reconmended

It is absolutely Verizon.Other carriers using the razr have no problems at all.What makes you say its not verizon??

Check out lexus.com there is a bluetooth link with all kinds of infoAnd yes verizon does have the most problems especially the razr.If you check out that link it will give you info on every carrier and every phone that works and how well they work.

i was just on clublexus and someone over there is talking about getting the dealer to readjust the steering rack pretensioner... i don't know much about it because my 99 dosen't have it, but i think yours does.

if it's bushings, it's not cheap... not sure of the exact prices (don't have time to search), but i think it's in the $500-700 range w/parts. again, it's very labor-intensive to do.

Yours absolutely has a pre tensioner and is likely the culprit

Where is the link?Id get the whole pumpkin if not youll spend 4-$500 on bearings and another 200 on installation.Are you a member of CL?These tend to be pretty common around there.If you get the whole pumpkin you can always remove it and sell it when your done or if you dont like it for some reason.

Great! Thanks for the response, I think you covered everything I asked! If you don't mind I just have a couple of questions about the gears, you seem very knowledgeable.

I realize that I want 3.76 gears (rear diff gears); does that mean I have to get an LSD such as the one sold @ L-tuned.com for $1,699?

Do I have to buy an LSD unit in order to have these 3.76 gears?

Does the LSD come with the 3.76 gears included or do I have to buy these gears separately?

Does the GS400 come stock with an LSD?

I am totally clueless when it comes to rear diffs and LSD's (aren't they the same thing?). Also, By researching what an LSD does I'm not sure if I will benefit from my (kind of stock) car. Doesn't it transfer the power from the slipping wheels to the grabbing wheels on launches and cornering? If so my car never even breaks the tires from a stand still, I'm not sure if I need something that will increase my traction. What am I not getting here? Please help! Oh, and I understand there is another option you mentioned of getting gears from an older turbo Supra, not sure if I want to do that though - eventhough there is large cost savings. I will probably have my local dealership install these gears.

Nick

No you dont have to buy the l-tuned part to get the gears.This is the trd LSD im referring to.http://l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=657 You say your car wont spin the tires now but with these gears it will have no problem.Thats why I bought this carrier was to help with traction but its not necessary for the gears.A used Supra diff. is the way to go I wouldnt be afraid to install one with 200k+.These are highly sought after and if you didnt like it or sold the car you could recoop your investment.You could swap the whole diff. in a couple of hours.If you just purchase gears youll be using your existing diff. and if you were unhappy or selling the car they would have to be removed and this would cost the same as installing them.I would be surprised if your dealer would install gears mine wouldnt.And it could be costly.I bought all my parts at dealer cost and the gears were $550,bearings$300,trd lsd $800,labor$190.So if you just do the gears and no lsd and can buy the parts at cost youre looking at $1040.And to remove for any reason $490.And that labor price was with the diff out of the car if you dont remove it yourself add a couple more hours of labor.Mine ran just over 2k to build and that was at cost.Buy the supra diff swap the whole unit in a couple of hours and when youre done with it remove it and sell it for what you paid.Thats my 2 cents.

Do you have the proper shims in your brakes?

Thanks bro, you are extremely helpful. I think your car is hooked up exactly how I want to mod my car. I was thinking about new rear gears (3.76) but I don't know too much about it. Please if you wouldn't mind let me know your experience with your gears such as from the above scenerios; dead stop, rolling, freeway etc. What type to get? Price? Would you or did you do this mod before or after the TC?

Also, at freeway speeds of 80mph I am running around 2500RPM's (normal I guess for a stock GS400) what RPM would you say you were at 80mph? I realize more fuel will be consumed but I was also putting into consideration my exhaust (I know at a certain RPM at freeway speeds you sometimes can get the "droning" sound inside the cabin from the exhaust.) Your car sounds like it has a lot done to it, I'm sure you have now intake, exhaust, TC, gears and maybe you just got headers done. Everything but FI, which to me is good. Don't get me wrong FI is good but when you don't have a tuning shop nearby and something goes wrong your screwed! I'd rather bolt on everything I can! How quick would you say your car is given that a stock GS4XX does 14.2 (1/4) and 5.8 (0-60mph)? Just need somethng to look forward to. Cheers!

Thanks

Sorry man Ive typed this up several times and everytime I try to submit it my internet has been out.Anyhow I did the TC and gears at the same time.I prefer the gears over TC.She is a completely different car. From a stop it will light up my rears and they are 275/35/18 Nittos.When rolling and put to the floor it will downshift and atleast chirp them.Running down the highway at 80mph Im running about 3k rpms.I really like this when I want to pick up just a mph or 2 it has alot more without having to kick down a gear. The cheapest and easiest way to do this is to find a whole diff. from a 93-98 supra.(turbo automatic)You have to get the right one because there are several gear choices on the supras.This route will run you $500-800.I bought my gears from a dealer and the TRD LSD and had one built and it was very pricey.The bearing alone cost almost as much as a used supra diff.As far as gas mileage I havent noticed a difference but Im sure its there.Yes I do have headers and they are hardly worth the cost and headache of installation.Id put them at the bottom of your list.As far as stock GS4's running 14.2 I know theyre rated at that but Ive never seen one do it.Im not sure what mine is running as I havent had a chance to take it to the track since the recent mods and probably wont until I install my 125hp. zex kit. :o Let me know if I can be of further help and Good luck.

new big400:

If you don't mind could you tell me your experiences with it such as from a dead stop, from a roll, freeway speeds etc. I realize you probably answered this question a lot before but I would appreciate hearing it from you and not through a search. I will be buying this TC in the next week or so.

Also, why is it on some websites the PI TC is a single-disc and other websites show the TC as a multi-disc unit for the years 1998-2000 (I have a 2000). I contacted Precision Industries direct and found out that they are only supposed to be a single-disc unit; I just don't want the wrong one installed. Oh, which do you have a 2800 or 3000 stall? I was told the 3000 might be too high for our cars, is this true?

Thanks for your advice

If you didnt know you had the TC installed you would never be able to tell.On a rolling start you cant tell and on the freeway you cant tell the only time you can tell is from a stop if you choose to stage it.If you dont it drives normal its not like the older vehicles that would rev way up before they move.I have the 2800 and agree a 3000 would prob. be too much.As far as how many discs I have no idea just buy it from someone reputable and youll be alright.Have you considered gears?I prefer and get more use out of my gears than my TC.

my friend has an M3, and he finds my GS to be heavy (obviously), and handles too soft. basically, the hard edged peformance his BMW has is lacking my my lexus :cries:

yes they are reliable, but you have to factor in age, which no car is not suceptible to, so expect stuff like bushings, etc. to be a little bit on the tired side, depending on the condition of the car.

as for suspect stuff... door actuator failure, starter failure, front suspension bushings worn, evap core leak, headlight condensation, RMS... again, all age-related.

OEM hid headlights can be retrofitted into a non HID GS with some rewiring, but i do not think the auto-leveling features will work, so you will have to aim manually and leave it like normal headlights would.

Boy it sounds like youve had a rough experience with yours.Are you the first owner this seems like alot of probs for a GS.The GS4 tends to be an extremely reliable car.At 120K I havent had to spend one cent on repairs.

Yes sir.

Go somewhere reputable poss. your dealer but they will want alot of $$$ to do this.Just find someone who will stand behind the work.Also Im sure you know you will need a tranny cooler.

Just like the topic says. I have a CEL and I don't know how to figure out what it is... I'm hoping the OBDII scanner isn't the only way.

Also, is there a way to re-set the ECU? I imagine it's just by unplugging the battery for 5 minutes, but if there is another way to do it I'd appreciate it.

Dont reset your ecu or youll lose the cel code.Most dealers will do them free of charge.Autozone will scan for free but you have to get the code because theyre interpretation of the codes seem to always be off.

Toyota Supre brakes will be the cheapest and easiest set.The LS can be done with some modification.

Will this work for the 98+ model? I tried it, and everything worked up to the last step. I tried probably at least 5 times.

Do I need to keep trying? Or is it a different sequence?

This wont work on 98-02 your dealer has to do them and you need an extra master key otherwise youll need an ecu.

Hello all,

I have had my 2006 GS300 with nav and ML stereo for several months now, but it isn't until the end of August that I can upgrade my cell phone or even change carriers if needed to use the Bluetooth.

I currently have Verizon Wireless and am leaning toward the Razr. I am interested in what any of you have to say about any of the carriers and phones you are using in your Lexus by using the Bluetooth (good or bad).

thanks, boB

Verizon tends to have the most connectivity problems and especially the razr you may want to reconsider.

THis is not a problem it is in the design of the vehicle.My GS4 does the same thing.