Hey guys, its about that time of the year. And for good ole X-mas im spending all my cash on my baby.
So I was wondering:

Exhaust:
LMS exhaust: would it pass emisions?
HKS/Lexus: can you tell by the looks its aftermarket? does it have HKS on the tips like they usually do? Can you put the aftermarket HKS Universal Mufflers on it, or are the resonators in the Mufflers?

Rims:
I have a matador red is350, and im planning on blacking out the tailights and getting a tint, Would you suggest chrome or black rims?
These are the two im looking at:
Chrome Various TR-5s
Black Ones like these

Tint/Lip:
I want to get a 20% Tint, though the shop I went to that had the non metallic, really long lasting, and authorized 3M dealer said they wouldnt do illegal tints...so I was wondering if 35% was dark enough. Finally haha still with me, I reaaaaally like the Wald lip, but since there are only knock offs, I was looking at the fabulous.

Suggestions would be verry much appreciated.

 

While I don't really have the answers for your exhaust questions, I do believe that I have read that the LMS exhaust doesn't pass inspection in certain states. You might be able to search and find more info.

I really like the idea of black rims on a Matador Red IS. However I must say I am not a big fan of a 10 spoke wheel. I prefer 5 or 6 spoke rims (much like the Various rims). I think black rims similar to the Various rims would look sweet.

As far as the tint goes, if you have a black interior, 35% will be more than enough.

Keep us posted on what you choose!

 

Woah... I don't mean to derail your thread, but is there a reason those black wheels are so cheap? I had gotten the impression that pretty much all after market rims will run you at least $1-4K for a set of four. Is it a lower end brand or something?

EDIT: But to try to help you out a little, I'm in a very similar boat, actually. Red IS350, deciding between black or chrome rims and trying to decide on an exhaust.

From what I understand, the LMS exhaust is generally considered unacceptable for daily driving. I think they even advertise it as a no-no for street cars. I am pretty much squared on getting the HKS exhaust, but considering that the CL group buy discount lasts until the end of December, I'm going to keep thinking about that one.

As for the wheels, I'm leaning towards chrome because black doesn't seem to look nearly as good to me on non-black cars, regardless of what other changes there are. I'm actually thinking about getting chromed ISP-mode wheels from lexus-parts.com.

... The pretty nice advantage to black wheels, though, is that the dark color might mean slightly lower maintenance since brake dust would be less visible. But I'm not sure.

 

haha that was just the style i was looking at. I wonder if anyone could photoshop the two for me/us

 

I think black would look really intresting on a red car, its not something i have really seen alot of. I have black on black and im changing to somthing with more offset in color between the black. I think a machined rim like HRE would look good, the machine finnish looks very high end and exotic.

also get a wheel that is easy to clean, i find with my black rims with the stock pads they look brown with all the dust and i spend way too much time cleaning them

 

Sorry for my ignorance but whats a Machine Lip?

 

Yeah, I made a thread a while back asking if anyone had pictures of a red IS (or hell, ANY IS) with chromed ISP-mode wheels, and came up empty handed...

... I forgot about the possibility of photoshopping, though. That would be really cool if someone had/could do one of those.

 

I really like the 10 spoke with black finish, but im definetly gonna research that company first.