My GS400 modding journal - updated Aug. 07 - Page 56

[Richie]

Getting the car in the Paper, nice!!!!!!

[GS4fun]

Originally posted by SUPRATRD
GS4fun...............Carson who?

[Hameed]

Thanks everyone for the compliments!! The actual article was bit longer and had even more postive comments about the car, Clublexus etc. I will get Laurance's permission to put that up here for everyone to see. The editor just took out so much of it in the printed version - space limitations probably.

[MCV20]

hey i saw it yesterday on Toronto star.........
congrats...

i remeber the article said thay u spent $4000 on labor

[chuckisc]

Brother Hameed,

Don't forget to send me a copy of the Star.... Thanks

[Hameed]

Hey guys, here's the original write-up as written by Laurance Yap. I got his permission to post this here. It makes for very interesting reading regarding the mods I have done to my car:

I get a fair amount of email from readers telling me about their cars and what, often, they've done to them, but until a couple of weeks ago, I'd never received an offer to actually drive a reader's car. This is probably for good reason - heck, if I'd just poured my hard-earned cash and a huge amount of time into building my own dream machine, just about the last person I'd want near it would be a car tester used to week-long stints in other companies' playthings. Who knows what they would do with my car?

Hameed Bhatti, a programmer and IT/Web consultant in Mississauga, isn't your average reader, then. His email came with a link to a page full of photos and a laundry list of TTE (Toyota Team Europe), TRD (Toyota Racing Development) and Lexus L-Tuned parts which he had fitted to his pride-and-joy GS400, a car he bought used 8 months ago for $42,500. With memories of a L-Tuned IS300 still dancing in my head, and the desire to see the car's cosmetic modifications--which looked so cool on his Web site--it took me all of three seconds to write him back and say, sure.

See, what's weird is that even though you can get the full gamut of L-Tuned parts for IS300s in Canada, parts for the slow-selling GS aren't sold here. Hameed ordered all of his tuning parts--mostly suspension bits such as strut tower bars, different springs and dampers, as well as a retuned power-steering assist computer--from one of California's largest dealers, Carson Toyota. Total cost for all of the parts, including a burbly new exhaust system, an L-tuned body kit with side skirts and a Toyota Team Europe front spoiler, was about $6000. Were it not for his brother-in-law Ayub Yaqoob being a professional mechanic at Prestige Auto Repair in Kitchener, labour would have run probably another $4000 on top of that.

What does he have to show for it? Well, for one thing, a GS that looks like no other on the road, especially thanks to its lowered stance. "After doing the suspension work," Hameed says, "every other GS out there just looks wrong with the three inch gap between the tire and the fender. Like they're on tip toes or something." The new grille's horizontal slats visually lower the car, the side skirts are well-integrated, and the big exhaust pipes jutting from the bumper are just right. Catch its new high-intensity fogs bearing down on you in the fast lane, and you'll know the meaning of intimidation.

Hameed's quick to admit that his car, despite the new noises (and his plans to install a high-flow K&N filter system) is no faster in a straight line than a stock GS. But power has never been this car's problem. "I bought it because of the power," he says. "When it came out in 1998, it offered 300 horses for a similar price to the six-cylinder Mercedes E-Class I was driving at the time. I was blown away by the power the first time I drove it, the only problem being that it was just too quiet." The new exhaust has certainly fixed that. Odd resonance around 2200 rpm aside, it has a delicious, almost American, V8 burble that hardens to an angry snarl when you floor the gas. the>> sound is intoxicating, but isn't intrusive when cruising, the sign of a well-designed system.

What his car does do is handle a lot better than a stock GS does. Even on 17-inch all-season Michelins, turn-in bite is markedly better, and there's virtually no body roll in corners. With the extra rigidity provided by the various braces added to the body--one boldly bridging two halves of the trunk area--the car has a much more solid feel, exhibiting none of the slight wobbliness that characterizes the GS typical rear-end behaviour. The result? You can dive into corners faster and get on the gas a bit earlier on the way out.

That's not the end of it, however. Hameed's already planning on replacing the stock tires with 18- or 19-inch Toyos, which should further improve the already-impressive cornering grip and will also hopefully improve the slightly lifeless steering feel. Big brakes will be needed to properly fill the wheels out--the brakes on Hameed's car are currently the stock items and feel a bit soft under hard use--and he's also got his eyes on a six-point brace for the rear suspension that's supposed to cure whatever residual wobbliness is left--not that I could feel any from the driver's seat.

I ask him why he chose a Lexus to modify. "Well, precisely because it's not the obvious choice," he responds. "It's rare, for one thing. You go on auto trader, and there are pages and pages of BMW 540s for sale, but only a handful of GSs. I like the looks, too. And most importantly, because it's a Lexus, I was pretty sure it would run trouble-free, no matter what I did to it." He's right. Even with all of the suspension modifications, it drives and rides almost as smoothly as a regular GS in normal conditions, with only that burble and a bit of extra impact harshness from the suspension to indicate you're driving something special. "When I bought my car, it had 50,000 km on it; there are people on ClubLexus.com who have already racked up 300,000 km and are still going strong."

It was ClubLexus that was probably responsible for him catching the tuning bug. He'd only owned the car two months before stories of superchargers, big wheels, and other mods started getting to Hameed--indeed, the variety of cars and photos on ClubLexus is pretty astounding. "I'd like to get something started in the Toronto area," he mentions, telling me he's approached Toyota Canada and various Lexus dealers to no avail. "Even if there aren't a lot of tuned GSs out there, a lot of people are into modifying IS300s, and there should be an owner's club in any case."

[DrewGS4]

Hameed congrads on your car being featured in the paper. Now you know you can never sell your car. It will always have a special place for you. Very nice writeup. How many copies of the paper did you end up getting? You should call him back when you get the flex and the full TOMS supension setup. Did he really push the car when he test drove it?

[altaf]

Way to represent... you should frame the article

[rkytop_bob]

Very nice article. Best regards..................

[Hameed]

Originally posted by DrewGS4
Hameed congrads on your car being featured in the paper. Now you know you can never sell your car. It will always have a special place for you. Very nice writeup. How many copies of the paper did you end up getting? You should call him back when you get the flex and the full TOMS supension setup. Did he really push the car when he test drove it?

Thanks everybody for the props!!

Yeah, I don't think I will ever sell this car. I want to keep it for as long as I can. The mileage put on it will now reduce as I plan to only drive it in the summer.

I guess he did push the car quite a bit. He probably would have pushed it harder had I not sat beside him. Once I upgrade the rims and tires I will have him test the car again. The car handles well enough for the kind of driving I do, so I doubt if I will do the Toms 6-link brace mod or coilovers. I have to draw the line somewhere on this insane money drain!

[Overclocker]

Originally posted by Hameed
I have to draw the line somewhere on this insane money drain!

No you don't. What about that Xbox with monitors in the headrests for the kids? It never ends.

[Hameed]

Originally posted by Overclocker
No you don't. What about that Xbox with monitors in the headrests for the kids? It never ends.

Nah!! We won't be doing ANY long drives in the GS for a looooooooooooooong time..... The drive to NC has completely convinced me that my body cannot handle long drives like that ever again!

[1SICKLEX]

AWESOME WORK HAMEED!!!!

What a great write-up!

[Hameed]

Originally posted by 1SICKLEX
AWESOME WORK HAMEED!!!!

What a great write-up!

Thanks Mike! Laurance is an amazing guy - he has the life I can only dream of. He drives a different car every week!!

Car companies just call him up and ask him to keep their car for a week and then write about it. The day he tested my car, he had just picked up an M3 SMG for the week!

[Hameed]

Finally: Check out my HRE's!!!

Question: What do these CL members have in common?
rominl, bitkahuna, TTurboPimp, SoCalSC4, indigogrl (i think that's her SN), 2001HighTechGS ?

Answer: HRE Wheels!!!!

I just put mine on - 18 inch HRE 447R's !!!

Wheel specs:
- F - 18x8.5 OS.31 - very agressive offset!
- R - 18x9.5 OS.37 - very agressive offset!
- Satin Silver Clear, Coated Centers
- Polished Lips
- Red, White & Blue Center Caps
- Weight: ~ 22 lbs. Ea
- “High Disk” // BIG BRAKE clearance
- 245/40-18 for the fronts and 275/35-18 for the rears (Bridgestone Pole S-03's)


First I want to thank Dex for the awesome deal on them and second thank OverClocker (Wolff) for taking the time to drive them up to Troy, Michigan (1.5 hours from his home) and meet me there to put them on the car. Wolff than helped me take the OEM wheels to a local UPS store to ship out to the new owner in NYC (please chime in bro). I cannot say enough about Wolff. He changed his schedules a few times because I could not give him a definite day that I would be in Michigan to pick them up.

Here is the last pic of my car with the 17 inch OEM rims and THE MAN - Wolff!!!! with his winter beater HiLux Surf in the background.

Here is a full scale version of this image:
http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/sho...sort=1&cat=501


Here is a pic of the HRE's on my car showing the aggressive way they ever so slightly bulge past the fender on the lower half of the wheel (reminds me of an M3). I love these rims!!! You know these rims did not grab me when I first saw them on Dex's car in the pics, but now that I have seen them for myself, they look at least 2000% or more better than the pics!!!

It is hard to tell how good these rims really look unless you see them physically (and no I am not trying to justify my reasons for buying 18 inch rims )!!! Wolff will back me on this - he drove by my side and in front and the back and he thinks they look HOTT!!!

Full scale version of this image:
http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/sho...sort=1&cat=501


And here is a side shot (the car looks very high because it was not yet completely lowered to the ground by the hoist.

Full scale version of this image (if you check out this pic, you will appreciate the lip action on the rear wheels ) :
http://www.clublexus.com/gallery/sho...sort=1&cat=501

I know these pics are not the greatest. I will post some more later this week and just update this thread.

Quick summary of the mods I have done to my car:

Bought on November 20th 2002:

1st stage of mods: (February, 2003)
1. L-tuned suspension,
2. L-tuned Steering ECU
3. TRD front STB
4. TRD front LCB
5. TRD Race sway bars
6. Toms rear LCB
7. Cusco rear STB
8. L-tuned stainless steel mufflers
9. 35% tint

2nd stage of mods (Summer 2003)
1. L-tuned side skirts
2. L-tuned grille
3. TTE Front lip spoiler
4. 01 tail lights
5. Fogs upgraded to 6000K HID's
6. OEM Auto leveling headlights upgraded from 4100K HID to 6000K HID
7. Techkit Grounding kit
8. Wood ashtray
9. 3M protection film on all front lights


3rd Stage of mods (December 2003)
1. 18 inch HRE 447R. 8.5 front and 9.5 inches rear with 245/40-18 front and 275/35-18 rear S-03 tires
2. Tein Flex coilovers - to be installed March 2004 (already purchased)
3. Supra TT 3.76 gear Torsen type LSD - to be installed March 2004 (already purchased)
4. StopTech 14 inch big brake kit for the front - to be installed March 2004 (already purchased)

Future Mods planned and underway
1. Audio System upgrade - hopefully will be complete by April 2004
2. MB 01 CLK style modded side view mirrors

Wish list for the future
1. Navigation system (preferably integrated into dash)
2. DVD entertainment system with monitors in rear headrests
3. L-sportline rear bumper
4. L-sportline front bumper

Is that it? Who knows..................................