DrewGS4

Hey lexguynj,

Glad to see you liked the l-tuned shocks and springs. I am in NJ and wondered who did your install. My guess is that lexus of englewood performed it. They are the only dealership that has a little bit of a clue of what L-tuned is.
Would you mind if I ask how much they charged? Like yourself, I was hesitant at first to upgrade the GS in terms of mods. But after quickly driving my GS on the stock suspension I thought I was going to crash the car as it felt very "unsafe". I was thinking of doing L-tuned, but i went with the TEIN flex. We should meet up one day and you can drive my car and I can drive yours just to compare.
If you ever see a spectra mica blue GS430 with L-tuned side skirts, TTE front lip spoiler, and sportdesign grill give me a honk. I am usually up driving around north jersey.
Congrads on your new suspension.

lexguynj

DrewGS4,

Ahhhhh finally a fellow NJ CL friend out there!

I used this website's sponsor, Lexus of Manhattan for this install, which gives a pretty good deal with the 15% off labor and parts. They also have experience installling L-Tune components which is also important. I think they did installs for some other members on here too.

I was exactly like you in the beginning, something had to be done to fix this situation. You spent all this money on this car and you feel somewhat short changed in the steering and handling dept.

I have said this before, I am a guy that does NOT MOD my cars, but when Lexus of Manhattan was offerring 15% off PARTS & LABOR, I could not resist and had to go for it. I am sure your Tein Flex set up is even better and what you wanted. You GS430 sounds beautiful! Any photos of your car on here? I am sure I could learn a lot from you about mods, since there is still much to be done. By the way I am in Central NJ here, suburbia (Middlesex / Mercer County).

Stage 1 for me will be complete when I get the L-Tuned Steering ECU installed and the new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires. I hope this will be completed by the end of this month or sooner.

RNM GS3

lexguynj,

Im also seriously considering getting the ltuned suspension, most likely from Lexus of Manhattan. Are you satisfied with the quality of the install by them and how much did they charge for the parts and the install.

Thanks.

lexguynj

RNM3 GS3.

Great news that you are thinking about making the upgrade. I should have done this long ago!

They took 15% off the MSRP for the L-tuned parts (MSRP can be found in that price list on L-Tunes website, which you probably have already). They also took off 15% off their labor charge (this amount you can email Eddie below for the total quote).

I believe this is a good deal (especially due to the 15% CL Member Discount), plus they have experience installing L-Tuned products which was a plus!

Eddie / Lexus of Manhattan has been very helpful and provides great service! You can email him for further details at:

Eddie
Internet Sales Manager
www.LexusofManhattan.com
E-Mail: ManhattanLexus@aol.com

Hope this helps & Good Luck!

Lexus of Manhattan

Cliff,

I'm glad that you're pleased with the handling. I may be out of all of your league driving an Acura TL, but I'm just waiting to pull the trigger and get a '99 GS400. We have a Black/Ivory GS400 - CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN.. Did I mention, Clean? It's got 17" Chrome wheels(not a fan of chrome though..oh well), wood kit, Nakamichi, auto starter, 37k miles etcetc.... I'm only hesitant because I'd prefer to stay away from a black car. I don't have the same time that I used to, to maintain the car's Black appearance. Eventually I'll be making my move. I just got a 2003 IS300 custom ordered for my brother and I, mostly my brother's.. Intensa Blue/Black Leather, Nav, LSD(On an E-Shift!), VSC, Heated Seats, Rear Spoiler, Black Pearl Emblems, etcetc. Soon man, reaaal soon

I noticed that a bunch of you are looking to get the Pilot Sport A/S tires.. I must warn you..the treadwear is VERY high(400, not a bad thing), but it makes the tire look VERY beefy(not good). I have 235/45/17's on my TL, I spent the first 2 months(after installing) at my dealership from everybody making fun of me and my "Truck" tires. Overall, it's a very good tire, but i'd go back to the Dunlop SP9000's I had any day. Only thing that held me back this time from getting the 9000's again was the fact that it's a summer tire, and it's a hassle to go back to stock size in the winter time. You might also want to look at the Dunlop SP5000( A/S ), Pirelli P7000 Supersport (A/S). Hope that helped!


My car has quite a few mods added to it, in the suspension side, Comptech Springs and Sway Bars, and the wheel/tire setup..






If anyone is interested in pricing and install details, please PM or E-mail me at ManhattanLexus@aol.com. If you prefer to call, I can be reached at 212-977-4400. I am always running around though, you might be best off catching me via PM/E-mail..

Eddie

lexguynj

By the way to all my friends and fellow CL members reading this thread:

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Sign up while it's still available!

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Link:

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bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Just wanted to put in a plug for Eddie at Manhattan Lexus. I bought something (RX300 roof rack) through him recently and he was a pleasure to do business with. He even made good for no charge on additional parts which didn't come with the roof rack (the mounting hardware) when we realized they weren't included.

lexguynj

Today I had the L-Tuned Steering ECU installed by Lexus of Manhattan our CL sponsor (thanks to Eddie at LOM for your great service over there).

Is it in all in my head? I have been anticipating and hoping that it would tighten and firm up the loose stock steering.

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. I can feel it and since I can feel it, then that means there is a noticeable difference.

For many months now I have read reports on this great website that the L-tuned Steering ECU made either a difference or no difference at all, per the members on here.

I feel the difference, it feels a little firmer in steering which is what I wanted. Maybe people are right, it's not a huge difference, but it's a difference that is worth upgrading too. I simply hated the stock steering, it was too loose, which in turns feels unsafe at times.

Maybe the key is to have the L-tuned Steering ECU installed with the L-Tuned Shocks and Springs to really feel this difference and effect. This is what I had done. I'm not sure if the steering ECU alone would be the same.

I will drive the rest of the night into the morning and keep you updated!

LS4fun

NJ representing!

NJ folks should get together sometimes....


(I'm just sick of all these cali boys... )

I have L-tuned on my car as well. I agree, one of the best mods ever...

DrewGS4, wonder if I ever met you before?

LS4fun

Eddie,
How about a 15% credit towards my recent passenger door mirror purchase for >$500 at your dealer?

lexguynj

GS4Fun,

That's a good idea, I could learn a lot from the rest of you fellow CL members in terms of further mods to the car. NJ needs some representation!

lexguynj

I hope to have my new Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires installed this week to finalize this mod stage (they are finally shipping the backorders - I've been waiting 2 months for these tires in this stock 17" replacement size). I'll keep you updated when they are installed and I can take them out for a spin.

I hope to eliminate the road noise from the horrible stock RE030s and provide some better cornering and handling due to these new tires.

All I have to say again if you have a GS, you have to at least get the L-Tuned Shocks, Springs and Steering ECU installed as well as better tires. This should be a mandatory thing to do since Lexus doesn't even offer it when you purchase your car.

Take this advise from me, a guy that hardly ever modifies his car, but just had to do it, because I had no choice.

LS4fun

Is that a good winter tire?

lexguynj

GS4FUN,

It's one of the best ULTRA HIGH PERFORMANCE ALL SEASON TIRES and actually has a good Winter performance rating at tire rack. I have not heard one bad thing about these tires.

I'm the kind of guy that hates to switch to a different set of wheels with winter tires, so I hope to get away with these All Seasons that I can use all year round.

Winter tires are still probably better for snow, but All Seasons at least are going to be better than these stock RE030 summer tires.

Check out the reviews for this tire at the link to tire rack below (I am impressed):

http://www.tirerack.com/survey/Surve...ommentStatus=P

Also the link to this tire can be found at the Michelin site too:

http://tires.michelin-us.com/catalog...tsportas.html#

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Yup, I completely agree, and I had never modified a car before my GS. It's crazy that Lexus doesn't offer it this way from the factory.


A co-worker just bought a 2000 GS400 and said to me 'the steering feels loose' and I told him about the ECU, so he's going to get it. He's also seen all the other mods I've done, so I think I'm going to cause his bank account to drain fairly soon.