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Wowwww. That car needs to be restored. The red ones like that were almost looked at as exotics back then. We both waved, he was an older AA gentleman…. I hope I catch him sometime out.
I just couldn’t imagine my SL with a 4 cylinder like it has now.
Like it or not, 4-bangers in higher-line vehicles (at least until they all go electric), will probably be the wave of the future. The Cadillac CT-6, for example, had a turbo-4 as its base engine...wth V6s and V8s as options. Lincoln had better sense than to use a 4 as the base engine in the latest Continental, but, even so, at the time, nether car was successful in the U.S. Now, however, more and more manufacturers are going that way. Buick's new 2025 Enclave, for example, the company's American-market flagship, now uses a turbo 4.
Everything is downsizing to meet CAFE and emissions regulations. NA V8's are replaced with turbo V6's, NA V6's are replaced with turbo 4 cylinders, NA 4 cylinders are replaced with turbo 3 cylinders. The latest generation of BMW's has shaved off the largest cylinder counts from the lineups. The 7 series no longer has an available V12. The 5 series ditched the V8(outside of the upcoming M5 which will use a PHEV V8). I believe similar events are happening at Audi and Mercedes.
That is really interesting, I had no idea they did that. So for a while the Camry had an I4 and two V6s…
yea only the SE had the 3MZ, for that reason i've always jokingly referred to my dad's 2004 camry as the 'ES 330 GT3' lol
that 3MZ is a lovely engine btw... it's nothing like the 2GR that replaced it in terms of outright speed but it's maybe the silkiest V6 i've ever used and it makes great torque low down that gives it a very effortless, wafting acceleration feel... mind you it's still plenty quick enough to easily pull on a 4 cyl camry from over a decade later
If it really has 435k miles, they must've restored the interior.
Should be a beater by the time it hits that mileage.
my LS has 225k miles and with just a quick detail my interior would basically look just like this:
from day one in 1999 my grandparents kept it in the garage, and ever since it was passed down to me in late 2011 i've kept it in one too... it's kept in one now at the townhouse i split with two others and initially i insisted my dad help me clean the garage so both cars could fit (before that he just kept the camry in there lol)
it all depends on the type of use, how careful you are, i always try to park in the shade if possible, whether those are primarily city or highway miles, and it also helps that a 90s lexus was just about the most high quality product to begin with
The last Mercedes V8 I’d count on for reliability and durability would be the M113.
The cars you speak of were all high end cars, just FWIW.
But for example, you could still have fun back then. You could get an Impala SS with the 5.3L small block from the trucks back then that was just silly in a FWD application, but I’ll be damned if they didn’t say they didn’t have fun with it roasting the tires and flying down the 1/4.
Unheard of now.
the M273 got pretty good again toward the end of its run, but yea initially was known to be on the more problematic side as with the M156 in the original C63
i do wish the M273 had a better reputation since on paper it's superior to an M113 in every way, even the AMG M113 for both power and torque
my LS has 225k miles and with just a quick detail my interior would basically look just like this:
from day one in 1999 my grandparents kept it in the garage, and ever since it was passed down to me in late 2011 i've kept it in one too... it's kept in one now at the townhouse i split with two others and initially i insisted my dad help me clean the garage so both cars could fit (before that he just kept the camry in there lol)
it all depends on the type of use, how careful you are, i always try to park in the shade if possible, whether those are primarily city or highway miles, and it also helps that a 90s lexus was just about the most high quality product to begin with
Wow your interior looks amazing for its age and even ignoring its age it looks amazing.
Drove a new Ram 1500 Laramie with the 5.7 in it yesterday. First time I'd even been inside of a 5th gen Ram, let alone driven one. Very solid feeling truck, drove very well. Power felt about on par with my Coyote.
Not shopping, it was just a friend's rental vehicle while he's in town.
my LS has 225k miles and with just a quick detail my interior would basically look just like this:
definitely one of lexus' best interiors.
then wood strip above the center stack below the vents is a really nice touch. the tiny vent (?) below the glove box is nice.
obviously modern interiors have changed requirements but it would be nice if at least one modern interior used similar materials, but that's probably not going to happen.
05-19-24, 06:20 PM
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