Bought a new freeway cruiser

New to me at least. 1998 Lexus GS400 - I was looking at LS400s but this came up with low miles - 98k! Owned by a couple from 99-09 who were snowbirds, and they only put 30k miles on it in that time. It drove back way nicer than the Montero, according to the fiancé. I probably won't do anything too crazy, although I want to make it sound a little mean on acceleration without making it loud while cruising - wonder if that's possible.

First step, headlight polishing. I also replaced trans fluid (needed it) and the rear diff fluid.

Very cool

See if you can open the air box or put a cold air induction system in it. That'll give you some terrific induction sound on hard acceleration but will be just as quit as stock while cruising.

If they are like my LS400's, they have cold air induction now. I was looking for a LS or GS when I got my 98 LS400.

Oh, I know a guy with a 99 LS400, 106K miles, needs the maintenance work done (starter, timing belt, etc.). Otherwise in good shape. He went to a used car lot and they told him it was worth 2200. He said he'd sell it for 2200. If I didn't have 2 of them now, I'd been all over that.

What product / process did you use on the headlights?

Here's a shot of the stock engine bay - the stock cold air intake is over the radiator on the left side.
Maybe theres a silencer in the airbox I could remove - i'll have to investigate that.

On the headlights, I wetsanded with 2000 grit and then used compound then polish (with a cheapie Harbor Freight buffer, works fine but is LOUD) and finally went over it with clear coat. When the paint cures I'll go through and polish and wax. Hopefully it will last a few years that way!

Dude. Fantastic. I love the color!

I have a little 3" air buffer i bought from HF for headlights. I usually start way lower than 2000 by hand but that just depends how picky you are about what they look like from 1 foot away. I'm probably an idiot.

Count me as another fan of that color.

I while back I was looking at LS/GS Lexus's and from the original brochures I knew the factory offered a bunch of really cool colors for both the exterior and interior. But locally I kept finding the same boring white/tan cars. I would have jumped on a deal like that on a low-miles rare color GS.

Yea, I'm a fan of the color as well. I think my favorite is the blue they offered, but all the ones I found had 200k+ miles.

Vigo wrote: Dude. Fantastic. I love the color! I have a little 3" air buffer i bought from HF for headlights. I usually start way lower than 2000 by hand but that just depends how picky you are about what they look like from 1 foot away. I'm probably an idiot.

I'm sure starting lower than 2000 would give you a better final look, I'm just lazy

Nothing major, but annoying enough that I had to do something. Since I'm not a smoker, it made sense!

There is unfortunately no sort of easily removable silencer in the airbox/intake - I'm going to try some Borla axle back exhausts, they're supposed to be fairly quiet. I don't want any droning on the freeway!

Cheapo backup camera, but if it prevents 1 parking lot incident while the fiance is driving it'll be worth it. She's used to a Miata - much easier to drive!

Nice. Also, wow these seem to be cheap... Would be a great commuter companion to the little BMW.

BlueInGreen44 wrote: Nice. Also, wow these seem to be cheap... Would be a great commuter companion to the little BMW.

Yea, the only downsides are mileage (I got 26mpg at 75mph on the trip home with it) and premium required. But for the price you can find them or LS400s for, you can drive alot of miles vs something newer with better MPG.

In reply to Brokeback:

26mpg at 75mpg with a v8 that weighs a bit under 4k is awesome. Expecially when epa is rated to 21 highway.

I really like these cars, seem perfect except from timing belt and crappy starter placement, but for how reliable they generally are its probably worth it compaired to other cars its size, im talking to you bmw 540i

chiodos wrote: In reply to Brokeback: 26mpg at 75mpg with a v8 that weighs a bit under 4k is awesome. Expecially when epa is rated to 21 highway. I really like these cars, seem perfect except from timing belt and crappy starter placement, but for how reliable they generally are its probably worth it compaired to other cars its size, im talking to you bmw 540i

I know, I shouldn't complain too much Timing belt was cheaper than I thought - basic kit starts at $200 for OEM parts, and it looks like theres decent room in front of the engine. I will be praying my starter doesn't go though - removing intake manifolds won't be fun.

but for how reliable they generally are its probably worth it compaired to other cars its size, im talking to you bmw 540i

I've spent a decent amount of time crawling around this generation GS and i think aesthetically it's not as obviously 'premium' as an e39 (neither are old LS400s, to be honest), and there's no manual trans option. But other than that, i like these cars a lot.

What kind of ponies are available with budget friendly mods? Have seen the 300's turboed but never seen any mods to the 400 or 450h?

In reply to 84FSP:

Speaking from sc400, same motor, none. Pre vvti they are really weak for a v8, like 170whp and not any torque to speak of. Only budget friendly mod to actually give power is nitrous. Exhaust, intakes, they exist but lexus did well from the beginning and all it adds is noise and a tiny bit of power. I recally 200whp sc400's with all the bolt ons being the norm.

Now vvti helped but its no ls1

The vvti is 290 hp and 300 ft lbs - not too bad, but yea not exactly an LSJuan.

I don't think there's much out there for more power without doing big changes like custom tunes, or forced induction. I Honestly haven't looked into it too much - not a priority for this car.

Any of you owners have input as to how quiet they are inside the cabin? Notably better than your average car or no?

I've been steadily falling back in love with mine and just put a set of 18s and Michelin AS3+ tires on it and damn it's a hell of a car for the price.

RedGT wrote: Any of you owners have input as to how quiet they are inside the cabin? Notably better than your average car or no?

I'm quite happy with how quiet it is inside the cabin, but my comparisons aren't exactly quiet - 1990 Miata, 1997 Mitsubishi Montero with roof rack and 33" tires, 1999 7.3 f350, and a 2005 ford ranger with the 2.3l. If you can come up with a reliable way to compare them let me know

Well everything you've owned has been deafening by comparison. If only you'd had a recent stint in a 2004 Cam/cord or something for reference.

RedGT wrote: Well everything you've owned has been deafening by comparison. If only you'd had a recent stint in a 2004 Cam/cord or something for reference.

I know, that's the problem This is a whole new world of quietness, but I find myself missing some of the noises. Something about the sound of the 7.3 clacking and the turbo whistling while driving down the highway is comforting.

I do have friends with a newer TDI I could compare it to on the highway, I might have to stop by their house and do some comparisons.

I put some new mufflers on yesterday! Video is fairly accurate of the different sounds - the Borla is still quiet enough at idle that you can't hear it with all the doors and windows closed. I'll see how it does on the highway soon. I filmed vertically like a noob - sorry.

Stock mufflers:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/E-YdBbS5EkM

Borla: https://www.youtube.com/embed/mfbTgtmgXWU

The Borlas are definitely deeper sounding, and slightly louder at idle - but not much. I'm going to ignore the slight smoke in the second video - the car had been sitting for awhile after some short starts while I was testing things.