tinygs

Steve, are you saying you only got 1 pair?????????
What about me?!?!?!?!?
When are the next round arriving???

RON430

oldguy - Like a lot of people, I think I tend to get a little too carried away sometimes. I think my biggest complaints about the Michelins are noise and so so handling. Not to say they aren't better than a lot of other tires, it is just that I noticed, particularly with my MR2, that you could really tell when Michelins were worn out by the noise. I also think that the pure performance tires will outhandle the Michelins. While I am not exaclty interested in throwing money away, I can't say I am hurting and I don't feel like scrimping on tires but the price of Michelins is just getting out of proportion to the product. I have been very, very impressed with the Yokohama AVS db that we put on my wife's Maxima and it is available in 245/50-16. I think this tire is the front runner for me. Probably the alternative is the Toyo T1-S although the Yoko db just makes me shake my head everytime I drive the Maxima. I have been through several Bridgestones over the years and I am not sure exactly why but they don't impress me. Nothing bad just nothing very good either. And some of the worst hydroplaning I have ever experienced (OK, so mid engined cars are bat at this with only Porshces being worse) was Bridgestones on the MR-2. I think the Yoko db is it for me. The handling is very sure, better than the Michelins we had on previously, and the quietness, like I said, is very impressive.

Actually, I was wondering if you could post more of your thoughts about the LSD. I figure we have pretty similar tastes in ride/handling (for the rest of you, that is very important when getting someone's opinion on a mod) and would be very interested in the results and would you do it again or differently. I rarely do things for looks alone and given time I could probably talk myself out of the Wilwood brake upgrade as I really don't figure it will improve the braking in any noticeable way. I am hoping that if I do it, the EBC rotors will be available for the GS430 and Wilwood seems to do a very good job of making calipers that can use quite a few different pads. Had some experience back in the good old days on a couple of dirt cars with Wilwood brakes and they are quality pieces. Once again, it is absolutely amazing the difference in the GS with just a few mods. I think the bilsteins and TRD sways with the stock springs and 16s really make this car come alive. I don't believe that you or I really feel like increasing handling at the expense of ride and Lexus would be well served to try one of our cars and change those stock pieces. They won't lose any "soft ride" customers but will impress novitiates the same way bimmer does when they get a new customer. When you put it together with that Toyota build quality, it makes for one of the most boring ownership experiences you can get. The car delivers just about everything.

oldguy

RON430
Tires. Thanks for your thoughts. Have no experience with many brands of tires, so had not considered Yokohama. Going to a 50 and wider would be fine except in MN winter. If I get separate snows, as I did on my 98, this would be fine. But had no snows or LSD last winter and it was only a pain occasionally. And the Blizzacks are like driving on marbles.
MR2. I had two 89 S/C, and added horse power and suspension. Believe my next car will be an NSX. The MR2 on steroids.
LSD. Had this on other cars before, and great in winter. Also great with the HP of the GS on sand, grass, gravel and water. Did not look into the cost of the torsen from the Supra, I believe, with the slightly lower gearing, but understood it was maybe twice as much. Since then, I've read in an engineering mag (Automitive Engineering) that clutch LSD's wear and torsens don't. Well, you know what I mean. Much less. And what would be wrong with lower gearing? Fuel economy. Maybe a few %, or maybe not noticeable.
Steering. You said, I believe, that your sways came real soon in your experience with your GS. So you may not know they tighten the on-center feel of the GS quite a bit. And it's still only pretty good. I like the sways a lot. Hard to know how much the braces help. Others felt them more than I have. But I'm relying on TRD to know what helps a fair amount.

DoubleWhoosh

We'll have some more bars soon from a new brand of Lexus-only aftermarket parts. Our next shipment from them should be here in 2-3 weeks, but they are almost all spoken for already.

The first small batch we received had sold out pretty quickly, everyone who bought them seemed to like them a lot.

We already sold a bunch of their replacement control arm bushings for the SC300/400, and the quality and fit is top notch with no complaints.

These bars are adjustable, with custom urethane bushings made to use the stock mounting hardware.

I believe stock replacement urethane sway bar bushings are also available, which will allow for a noticeable upgrade from stock, but still keeping the stock bars on the car. If I'm not mistaken, the price is only $29. (vs. $499 for the complete sway bar set).

If anyone is interested you can email me directly for more information... todd@tmengineering.net

Todd Matsubara
TM Engineering LLC

nudderGS400

Are these bars INTRAX? What else can you tell us about them? Who has them? Any posts from thse folks about them?

Thanks!

tinygs

If Im not mistaken the sways are from Daizen Sport Tuning(www.daizensporttuning.com)......
Heres a pic....look good to me....