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Before I start I just want to point out that I finished up my eulogy for my old whip 2009 Lexus IS250 (In case you wanted to get a bigger picture of how I got here)
As you can see this is now my second Lexus car. After the accident I was absolutely heartbroken. I had put so many hours into customizing the exterior, the sounds of the car (exhaust, intake midpipe) and the interior of my IS250 exactly to my tastes. It was my favorite car of any car Ive ever owned...till now...
While driving in my IS was amazing, I always had a soft spot for the GS, which I thought looked like an older brother of the IS.
Now obviously the GS is not a cheap car, and I have 2 young boys, so the probability of acquiring a car of this magnitude never seemed within reach
One day while driving back home from work in my temporary rental (chrysler 200) all depressed and s#@t Im totally daydreaming of owning a white Lexus GS350, F-Sport of course ...all of a sudden I feel this "glow" (you know the kind of feeling you get when you know theres an amazing car near by) well what do you know, there was this absolutely gorgeous all white F-Sport Lexus GS just floating by me on the highway. My mouth was on the floor, I HAD to have this car. I'd already gone through what it would look like modded out in my head a million times...I had to go to the dealer...
A week later I picked this beautiful car up from dealer. Came equipped with everything except the auto breaking, lane departure and rear wheel steering:
The IS was a fun car to drive but my main grip with it is that its a super TINY car, no elbow room and forget bringing your ankles with you when you get into the rear..yikes! The GS was right up my alley. I LOVE bigger sporty cars. Smaller cars and coupes are not really my thing . I want to be comfortable, and I want those around me to be comfortable as well, and you cant do that with a coupe or smaller car.
This car had everything that I upgraded the IS with:
Perforated steering wheel
Side bolsters on seats
Black headliner/interior
And then some:
Variable suspension
Stiffened steering on Sport+ (was going to add an IS-F ECU to achieve this on IS)
Parking assist
Upgraded electronics
Navigation
GS is an amazing car. I still can't believe it! Wow I was so happy. But enough sentimental stuff...I knew what had to be done, time to mod!
Here's the finished masterpiece!
Here's how I got here:
Masking the front to paint the lip black. I chose plastidip because I wanted all the painted areas to match in color, texture and more importantly, if anything got messed up or needed touching up I wanted to be able to do it myself.
Looked decent enough, but damn that gap was super nasty, bothered me just looking at it. And while Im a fan of the F-Sport OEM Wheels, I needed something more.
While I have dropped cars before and added some aftermarket wheels I did not want to deal with the headache that comes with such an adjustment, such as blown tires, rough ride and suspension/camber issues. Should I drop her? I think this pic speaks for itself.
After about a month of searching I finally settled on some wheels, Avante Garde M359, combined with Tanabe NF210s for the drop:
Awesome! ( At least I thought so) Except for one thing, these wheels are made specifically for BMW
No worries, Jason from GetYourWheels.com could get these for me, custom drilled to fit my whip! Not only that but they also shaved 3mm off the back of the rear from 20x10.5 +38 to 20x10.5 +41 because I didnt want any rubbing.
(If you want wheels contact Jason, he will guide you through the entire process, thanks again Jason! : thumbup
Which is great and all but how do they look on the car!?
All business from the side
But from an angle....its a totally different animal
MONEY SHOT! (without side skirt)
Obviously the wheels didnt come with a L lexus logo on the center cap, which bothered me so I custom made some L center caps for these wheels. I took the original Avante Garde Center caps, bought some OEM Lexus center caps and transferred the logos over, then painted:
Here are more angles:
FRONT
I wish I could take credit for this amazing design on the front bumper but actually another member on here posted it a while back (sorry dont know your username, but thanks!)
Remember when doing any lines with plastidip to remove the painters tape while its still wet. I painted the inside with a few coats, when I was ready to finish I went around edges heavily then carefully pulled the tape.
The OEM logo was not embossed, so I purchased a 2013 Lexus logo for front bumper and painted it with white plastidip. Lucky for me the white matches pretty well with the Ultra White.
As you can see the Plastidip holds up well. This was painted almost 6 months ago! To care gently wash it to remove bug guts after hosing it down.
REAR:
The F was hand painted white. Not trying to pose, just didnt have a brush on hand that could fit into the "sport" letters on hand lol
A shot of rear diffuser, also plastidipped black. Its hiding our very own Joe-Z Full Exhaust! GROWL!
WHEELS:
Very concerned about ruining the ride of the car. I've had a previous experience with a drop + wheels + rubber band tires and driving turned from leisure to dreadful. Not to mention I purchased about 10 tires in the span that I had the car. The Tanabes eliminated any concern that I had with the gaps, dropping them just enough and not slammed since I didnt want to deal with rubbing issues.
Ride still feels great! Its not factory but I bet my wife couldnt tell difference, whicih I would say is about 5-7% stiffer (at least by my latest guestimates)
Brake calipers painted matte black with white F-Sport decal. Also added SPC rear camber arms to make sure I dont run holes on the sides of the tires, while the outside stays new.
OTHER:
front at night with 6000k bulbs on fogs and headlights
Close-up of plasti dipped window trim (as you can tell, not a fan of chrome)
Prep for plastidipping wheels ans side skirts. I usually do this every 2-3 months to refresh the plastidip, which makes it look darker and wet, old plastidip tends to look dusty.
Obligatory "artistic" shot:
INTERIOR:
This is the USB drive I use
32GB Sandisk "Ultra Fit" USB Drive
and this is how it fits into the GS
My black/silver interior, with illuminated door sills:
Heres my neighbors F and my GS
Heres the full list of mods:
Lots of Plasti Dip
Joe-Z Exhaust (this thing sounds amazing. Highly Recommended!)
Avante Garde 20 Inch Black M359's
Nitto 20 inch Tires
SPC Rear Camber Kit
Tanabe NF210 Lowering Springs
Illuminated Door Sills
Skipper Replica Front Lip
Lexon Replica Side Skirts
Fog Lights
30% Tints
Matte Black Calipers with F-Sport decal
Plastidipped Front Bumper
Plastidipped Rear Diffuser
Plastidipped Wheels
Plastidipped Window Trim
Plastidipped Lexon Rep Side Skirts
Plastidipped White Front Bumper L Logo
Plastidipped Tailights + Reflectors
Thanks for the chance to share these images and my story and thanks for all the help, without this forum I would never have been able to accomplish this. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.
Your car looks awesome I have the same color combo. How is the ride on tanabe compare to stock? Did you the side lip on ebay or do you have the name for it, I like how it looks a lot. Was plasti dipping the front hard?
Your car looks awesome I have the same color combo. How is the ride on tanabe compare to stock? Did you the side lip on ebay or do you have the name for it, I like how it looks a lot. Was plasti dipping the front hard?
Tanabe is about 5-7% stiffer than stock ride. Feels great, almost no difference at all.
The side lip I actually got from my guy in china. He promised me PU, but could only get carbon fiber side skirts, which I just painted with black plastidip. Price for them was $600 shipped :/
Plastidipping the front wasnt hard but it was time consuming. The prep and masking. Did it twice to finish it completely. If you mess up you can remove it, get a beer, and try it again next weekend
06-29-15, 01:52 AM
MEAHT's Ultra White/Black Beast - Chromeless F-Sport 2015 Lexus GS350
...all of a sudden I feel this "glow" (you know the kind of feeling you get when you know theres an amazing car near by) well what do you know, there was this absolutely gorgeous all white F-Sport Lexus GS just floating by me on the highway. My mouth was on the floor, I HAD to have this car. I'd already gone through what it would look like modded out in my head a million times...I had to go to the dealer...
. I want to be comfortable, and I want those around me to be comfortable as well, and you cant do that with a coupe or smaller car.
, but thanks!)
