Blank canvas: Bone Stock 2001 GS 430

$10k saved from not buying a E430 or 540

How would you mod out this car and why??

Personally I would do this:

H&R/Bilstein combo
WIN front bumper
RMM side skirts and rear bumper
18" Lowenhart Chrome LD1's (staggered setup) with Nitto or Yoko's
Borla S/S exhaust
Complete wood trim kit
2 Club Lexus Stickers for my rear non movable windows

Ok I know the first thing I will hear when I post this is why in the world would you just put 18" rims/tires on your GS.. My car is a daily driver where I take clients out on a weekly basis and if I show up with 20" wheels the odds of me getting an order is slim to none.. To tell you the truth showing up with what I have listed up there might not help either but thats how I would spend my $10k..

First, I would go with Tein or Tom's and not use the H&R/Bilstein. That would be a better set-up.
Why would you add an exhaust Are you looking for the sound cause its not going to help with the speed.
As for the bodyKit>we all have different style so have fun.
Rims: stay with the 18's if your looking for speed cause anything bigger than that will slow your ride

If you are into and need more speed. I would get the Tom's 4.7 upgrade or maybe consider the SC from Swift.
I am sure that in the near future, there might or will be a Turbo kit for the GS4 if you want to wait.

For now, add the TC and Intake for Swift along with the mods you've listed.

First of all, I don't see ANYTHING wrong with 18s. I'm sure alot of people here would agree that 18s it the best compromise between performance and looks (17s too small to look good, 19s getting heavy).



As for the 10k:

2 ways I can settle it:

1st way=
APEXi WS coilovers
18" VolkRacing LE37K
Egoist Kit
SRT intake
N1 exhaust (must have these! )
custom interior


2nd way=
wait for Top Secret to finish their 3UZ-FE turbo kit. (In progress..... testing it on their new Celsior) Shouldn't cost more than 10k. Heh heh heh....

Are we talking $10K and paying RETAIL (dumb) or getting some "bro" prices?

If it's "bro" prices:

1) Coilovers (H&R/Tein CS/APEXi WS. Other are too harsh.)
2) Factory JDM Toyota Kit (See below)
3) Machine Finished 18" or 19" wheels w/Lip (good brand)
4) A QUITE exhaust (you need to LISTEN to your clients)
5) TRD STB, SB, and LCB
6) L-Tuned Steering ECU

I picked a very mild kit as you don't want to have your clients think you're a "ricer" which many people who are NOT into fixed up cars will think if you go with a kit that's too aggressive or even mildly aggressive.

No chrome IMO. Too flash, "look at me", ghetto, rap-star, bling-bling. Ok I'm done with that item.

On the rims, whether you do 1, 2, or 3 piece, I think a machine finish (diamond cut, whatever you want to call it) center with a high polish lip is the way to go. I think I would go with more of a Luxury rim than race style rim on this GS (sorry GlobeCLK!)

I would skip the wood trim because I think it's sorta lame as it's all "stick on". It's basically thick stickers! The stock interior looks good as is...if they had a grey wood interior that fit 100% (the JDM one does NOT) and it's was REAL one (the JDM one is NOT), then I would do that on a black or grey interior only.

You should have approx. $2000 (or so) left over. With that, you can do something like a raffle ($5 to enter and that would go towards Club Lexus's maintanance or Mike's pocket) and the winner would get the prize money to put towards their Lexus...(so long as they don't buy fake rims with it!)

Of course, you could always send me the 2G's! Actually, I would end up giving it to another Club Lexus member to help them fix up their car (I have the money to do mine)...and that's no bullshit...but no fake rims. No matter what!

Why no "speed" upgrades? Honestly, I think the GS430 is fast enough for most people and since it's new, you don't want to kill the drivetrain or engine warranty that FAST...

Globe - Did you see Top Secret's Gold/Black Skyline GT-R34? WOW! What a SICK, SICK, SICK ride! The color combo even looks good! Now THAT is a car you put race rims on!

Manaray,

PICK ME, PICK ME!!! I promise I'll buy HRE's!!!

Zushwa - Hehehe...Ok, but if I see some Katana's on your car, I'll have to hunt you down!

But don't you think we should save 1SickLex?! We could give him $1000 so that he can get some C5's and the other $1000 can go towards your JDM rims...the Dollar/Yen conversion is really strong for us right now!

OK, $1000 to the save 1sicklex fund, but how would we get the JDM WHEELS here???

I would say if you want to look profesional yet a little sporty go with this combo

1. RMM body kit ( not too agressive but has a nice sporty finish )

2. L-tuned suspension ( wont void your warrenty if done by dealers)

3. L-tuned exaust its not loud at all ( again wont void warrenty)

4. L-tuned ECU

5. mirror fade to black tint ( always looks good )

6. HRE rims preferably anything from 540 series in chrome (to compliment your tinting) 18x8.5 F/18x10 back qnd make sure you get thick tyres to complimant the ride quality I would suggest 245/45 up front but not sure about the back since I never had that thick of a rim on my car yet. But I know that 245/45 tyers work well with the L-tuned suspension as it has about a finger width between the wheel and the well

7. polarg M6 wedge bulbs

8. PIA 9005 high beam conversion ( 7+8 to get the whole HID conversion )

that would put you at around 10k even right there give or take $100 but I think it would look very classy with a hint of sporty'ness to it I dont think you should change the interior at all like manary said and the ML system is over qualified if your gonna use it on business since its very clear and not loud at all.

If i have a lot of driving experiance (over age 20)

- Toyomoto Turbo
- Coilovers
- Sway Bars

If i have less driving experiance (still 17 or 18)

- Supra 6-speed
- Coilovers
- Intake

Manaray:

Whats a JDM Toyota kit? Body kit? Is there a link to see it?

With $10,000 I would get:

1.Bilstein Coilovers (just released, put them in yesterday)
2. Tanabe Exhaust (it's the quietest)
3.Body Kit (something that's an add on to the original bumper)
4. 19" Rims (it's a big car so you need big rims)


That's a little over $10,000 but close enough.

Rodney

Rodney,

Any pics and/or info on the Bilstein coilovers??

Ken

I will have some pics monday but they adjust 1-2.5 inches and comfort level is very good. Retail price is $1900 if you are intrested call me at 650-869-6800 Mas Wheelhouse. I'll give you a good deal on them.


Rodney

Bobcat - JDM = Japanese Domestic Market. Basically, stuff that's sold is Japan in their retail market is considered JDM. The GS300 is the American equiavlent of a JDM Aristo S300 (Normally Asperated inline 3 liter 6 cylinder).

The JDM Toyota body kit is the one that Hiro Imports. It's a Toyota factory kit that's sold in Japan...here's a picture of the body kit on his Black GS...

As you can see, it's a VERY clean and mild kit that won't make your car scream RICER (which I KNOW you don't want! )...it attached to your factory bumpers and there are already dimples on your factory bumpers where you drill to attach the kit...plus the kits come prepainted (so long as you have Black/Silver/White)

It's $2500 list (I think Hiro does a better price for Club Lexus member or people who buy through Steve Ganz @ Carson Toyota)

Any decent body shop can install it for a minimal cost...

Here it is in white so you can see the lines better...