redgs4

Anyone mention loss of the steering wheel mounted e-shift? I use it all the time on my 400 and would not go to a 430 without significant financial incentive.

rheiy

My 430 has great response. Don't know if this is a good comparison, but when I had my 00GS300,
the response was very poor. I especially noticed it on the freeway in the 10 to 15mph range. I always had to allow for extra space when I wanted to make that quick change into the next lane. I would hit the gas, and the car would delay about 2 or 3 tenth's of a second before taking off. No so with my 430. Hit it and I go.... zero delay. I guess I should consider myself lucky in that mine does not have this problem.

chuckb

I'll admit, my 430 doesn't feel like a 300HP muscle car. I don't think Lexus wanted it to. A 300hp car that you can barely hear or feel ideling is still amazing to me. But when it's time for buisness, she's there I think they are just like that to be smooth still for most people. When I had a 300 HP mustang five o coupe, you push the gas a little and go alot. I think the 430 is just intentionally smooth. And I really wouldn't have probably even noticed anything if I hadn't heard about this issue. GO DRIVE ONE E Let's get another perspective.

fasted1953

I have a 99 gs400, and there are a lot of twisty, hilly roads here in Austin. I'd never want to give up the e-shift. I did at one point look into trading up to get the nav and the mark levinson stereo, but the dealer wanted too much cash on the deal.

Someone hinted at warranty as an issue. If you love the car, it might be worth getting a fresher one with an extended warranty. Its tempting.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

nop, that's the case for the 430, the pedal seems very heavy and you have to push it all the way down to get the power. i think it's just the ecu setup? you go drive the 04 ls430 and you get another feel

e-man

I did drive quite a few 430s, Chuck, prior to buying the 98. I think I may have mentioned this before, but I recall the 430 being a little "softer" than the 400. And, I don't think that's a bad thing. I think you hit the nail on the head when you said that it's intentionally that way. If you want a 300hp muscle car, go buy a GT or Z28. The throttle response (or lack thereof) certainly wouldn't stop me from trading up to a 430. In addition to all the nice touches that my car doesn't have, if I went with a CPO, the 430 would also give me a warranty up to 100,000 miles (as fasted1953 mentioned). The thing is that I love the car. It has basically everything I want in a car, but in a year or so, it's going to start costing me serious money to maintain it (90k maintenance, tires, etc.), and why dump that money into a 7-8 year old car when I can use that money, plus my car on trade, as a downpayment towards a newer car, possibly CPO, that has slightly more than 30k miles, fully serviced, new tires, etc.

The reality is that maybe I should have done that in the first place. The problem was that I had my wife's old 1999 ES300 (40k miles), and most Lexus dealers were only willing to give me $12k for the car, and wouldn't budge below $34k on the 01 430 (this was in March of 2004). I ended up selling the ES on autotrader for $17k ($5,000 more than the dealer offered), and picked up the 98 gs4 for $20k (which at the time I think was an okay deal). So, instead of spending my wife's car plus $22k (which is where the dealer was at), I ended up spending my wife's car plus $3,000. Seemed like a no brainer at the time.

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00lexondub

iTrader: (2)

i dotn have any prob with hesitation in my 430.. now my 00 gs300 that is a different story i mean WOW lots of hesitation.. the 430 is nuice.. i also drove a sc 430 for a wfew weeks and i liked alot .. also drove the 02 ls430 UL and same wa.. i dunno they all seem to me to have no hesitation

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well i think it's more important to compare 400 to 430. 300 we have too many variables

00lexondub

iTrader: (2)

hahaha understandable due to motors..

rominl

iTrader: (4)

so maybe it's not the throttle problem, its power problems

heck this thread is about 400 and 430 anyway

flossn

I too had a mustang (93 cobra) running around 300hp and that car was running 12.7 at the drag strip. My GS400 was running 14.4's all day long. The weight difference plays a huge roll in this (the gs weighed 3785 w/out me and 1/2 tank of gas). Once the car got going, it pulled pretty strong through the traps. I raced a 94 v8 stang convertible 3 times and each time we were dead even until he had to hit 4th gear and I walked him from there.

As far as the 400 vs 430, They supposedly have the same horsepower, but i've heard that the 430 weighed more. I wouldn't give up by spectra blue either 'cause you can add the wood, nav and tail lights if you really have to have them. One other difference people are forgetting about however are the curtain airbags on the 430.

flossn

chuckb

When using e-shift, if you have it floored and tell it to shift at like 5200 will it shift or does it still rev to redline before shifting?

LexFather

RealMarty did this back in 2001. His lease on his 400 was up and he bought a 430. I'm looking for the thread.
The biggest deal was "Did the 430 include the L-tuned steering ECU". bikahuna and him took a Sunday (with beer) to figure it out.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight=realmarty

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well, it will start the shifting right the way, but to complete the shift it's probably 1/2 sec later already.

chuckb

Interesting
So it will shift under WOT when you tell it no matter the rpm, but there is a .5 sec delay, right?
If you shift it manually with the shifter ****(like I have to do) is the delay as long as with e-shift?