Ive updated my plans with my 04 LS430 Sport package and am posting them here to get your guys feedback. There's three categories, 1) The ones I know I'm doing. 2) The ones I'm not 100% sure Im doing. 3) small stuff that I wouldn't consider an upgrade, most will not care at all. That being said here's the list:

1) Guaranteed upgrades:

• 70% Tint all the way around, With clear or 95% UV block on windshield and sunroof. This will significantly help keep the car cooler, give it a better more uniform look while being legal, and have virtually no effect on visibility.
• 19mm Ultra racing rear sway bar. I have never been a fan of body roll, my civic literally has none (Yes I know this is not an EG and it'll never feel that way) with what I've done to it, and personally it feels a lot better and more planted when you eliminate body roll. Is this a sports car? No. Can you make this feel like a sports car? No. I understand all of this. Im doing the sway bar upgrade because I like to feel more planted around turns. That does not mean I drive my car like its a sports car, it simply means it feels a lot better to me when there is less body roll.
• Ultra racing front strut bar. Every vehicles chassis wears down over time and becomes more flexible. Strut bars help reduce the chassis from flexing which can help improve handling and braking(As well as keeping the chassis from wearing out as quickly obviously). Im doing this to help the chassis not wear out and be as solid as possible. Like I said, Is this a sports car? No. Can you make this feel like a sports car? No. This is to improve the strength of the chassis and while it will slightly help handling around turns and braking by having a more stable and responsive front end that is not the main reason I'm doing this.
• Front poly sway bar bushings. Poly is obviously a lot stiffer than rubber, upgrading to poly bushings makes the sway bar have less play which equals it doing what its supposed to do better.
• Brown floormats. Floormats obviously help keep your carpet in better condition, so some nice brown ones that match the wood interior would look very good I think. I heard I should look for floor mats from a LS460 LWB, if anyone else has other suggestions I'd love to hear them as well

2) Not for sure upgrades:

• PPE headers. I'm interested in the PPE headers and keeping my stock cats and exhaust. PPE says you gain 18-20 HP and 20+ ft.tq, some people are skeptical but almost every Toyota vehicle I've researched about everyone says one of the best ways if not the best way to gain power is by getting an aftermarket header(s). A lot of people say when getting bolt ons you should get your vehicle tuned after, I don't know anything about tunes, and I care about reliability more than anything, so if anyone can explain how tunes work and why it wont make your engine unreliable (compared to the factory tune) that would be a lot of help. Also, Yes I know the headers are 1600, but if you get a little more power and tq it seems worth it, plus I plan on keeping this car until it cant go any further
• 3mm wheel spacers. I get a lot of hate when I mentioned this before. Yes I'm aware 3mm wont be noticeable to almost everyone and having your wheel track increase by .25" isn't going to improve handling or the looks any more than 1% at max. But I don't want to go with larger spacers because then you start to wear out suspension components and and its not as safe. I plan on keeping the 5 spoke, 18" rims and I just feel like the 3mm spacers will have no negative effects, there could only be good ones. Plus they're only like 45$ for 4
• .5" Larger exhaust tips. I know people think this is "ricer stuff" and I get that. But itd be nice to fill some of the gap between the exhaust tip and bumper and thats why I'm considering it, for that reason only. I'm not an idiot, I know it has no effect on the exhaust sound.
• Dash cover. Havent looked for any yet but itd be nice to keep the dash in as good of shape as possible. If anyone has any suggestions I'd appreciate that.

3) Small stuff that does not matter

• Mats for the cup holders
• 2 cooler bags in the trunk. One larger one for groceries, another for hot food / left overs.
• Fold out chair. I am a smoker but refuse to smoke in this car, plus its always nice to have a chair on hand
• Small first Aid kit in the trunk
• License plate frame

Thanks for any feedback!

 

I've never heard of anyone making more HP with headers, the 3uz isn't really all that friendly with tuning or getting more HP. The engineers at Toyota pretty much maxed out what it can do (Not including forced induction!)
I have wheel spacers on mine, and i think it really looks right with them. I can't remember what sizes i got, but I did need to get extended studs on the front, not too big of a deal.
It has caused my tires to wear a bit more quickly, but the tires on these wear fast anyway. The "stance" looks right with the OEM 5 spokes and the wheel spacers.

 

Only one comment here - on the tint. I got rid of the dark tint on the side windows as I felt they hurt visibility too much at night. Where I live (western WA) we deal with a lot of dark cloudy days and the sun sets at 4:30 in the winter so I felt safety more important that the looks of the car or keeping the car cool in the summer. My car was originally from AZ and dark tint makes at lot more sense for a car living down there. I replaced the side window dark tint with a clear UV blocking film.

 

about the headers, yeah, the power gain is just what they claim, they do give the the specs on the runner size and outlet but they dont show proof and when I emailed them the guy replied back saying he cant find any dyno charts. Like I said, a lot of toyota engines get a decent power increase from headers (like the 22-re in my 89 pickup) but this is a lexus engine that wasnt used in toyotas, and they spent million of dollars creating this engine (I found a few articles that said they spent a billion) so it would make sense that the power increase wouldnt be much at all for this engine. I feel like if you have a lot of money and paying 1600 for headers is no sweat and you plan on keeping the car for a long time then its worth it, even if you only gain 10 hp and 10 ft.tq. It wont make the car much louder at all but it'll have a little bit better sounding exhaust note.
I watch the car care nut a lot and I know OEM parts for these cars are definitely not cheap, I also just got this car from my grandfather who passed away and left it for me, so getting spacers that wear out suspension components noticeably quicker is not ideal for me. But there is no question about it looking better with big 15-25mm spacers

 

That makes sense. I live in Nor Cal about 2 hours North of San Francisco and am moving down to Sacramento in 2-3 months, it gets super hot both where I live and Sac, plus in the summer, fall and spring we get a lot of sunny days. So for that reason I plan on getting tint, I know I'd be happier during the day with darker tint but I care about night time visibility as well

 

Also Im debating getting a nice small 8" Subwoofer. I had a 13.5 JL audio in my EG civic with a 600Watt amp and that was awesome (Till they got stolen), the only con was my interior pieces started rattling and becoming looser. Now before everyone goes off, Yes, I know how amazing Lexus's build quality is, Especially for the LS430, its arguably the best built lexus ever made. But with any vehicle over time trim pieces as well as other interior parts start to rattle. So thats why I was thinking of getting a small 8" sub, it wouldnt hit the beautiful deep nots like my 13.5 did, but itll make music a lot better and hopefully not make the trim pieces rattle anytime soon.

 

“Can’t find the dyno chart”??? On a product that claims those numbers that should be readily available, Pass. Since you’re talking about improving handling and power I have a question: Have you done a full tuneup and checked for existing suspension bushings that should be replaced. Honestly I’d skip everything except for the tint, but that’s me. Do what you want with your car.

 

There was a dyno chart these headers are very old now the dyno chart, used to be on there website I am suprised they have not discontinued them. No one is ordering these headers they are a custom order type deal. I believe the build time is 2-3 weeks minium. They do increase hp. Unless you are doing what I am doing there is no point in putting headers on the car. I spent 8 hours in my friends shop with a torch, heating up each bolt etc. Get a quantum auto/all4swap ecu tune and call it a day. If you dont install the headers yourself your looking at $3k with installation.

I have a bunch of performance stuff done to the car I also have stock 430's that I DD and have modified some others. Enjoy the car for what it is they ride better than almost most new cars and have almost the same tech. There is a reason these cars have a cult like following.


If your gonna do anything get dynamat take the interior out and make the car interior even more sound proof, also get a set of 16" rims and make the ride better.

 

what does the ALL4SWAP do exactly?