I have decided to keep my wife's 02 LS for a project car instead of trading it in for next to nothing on her new LS460. What are the priority modifications to make it a better car?

 

Grab some coffee, and have a read in the LS430 forum.

 

Like GRAND_LS 4 said, reading up is the place to start. You'll want to figure out what you want out of the car and carefully select any modifications in light of your objectives. As you may know, MOST modifications, particularly on an already outstanding car like the LS, are likely to also be a downgrade in certain respects. For example, I do not think it's possible to make the LS quieter or more comfortable on a cruise than it is stock (assuming you have a good set of tires and nothing is wrong with the car). So, 'upgrades' to larger wheels, performance tires, and aftermarket suspension components are generally going to call for some 'sacrafices' in this area in order to make the car look and feel a bit more performance oriented.

That being said, I have lightweight 19" wheels and tires on my '03 and it's lowered a little on Tein CS coilover suspension. I also built a stainless cat-back exhaust just because I did not like the look of the factory setup (not because I thought it'd improve power output). I like the car significantly better now, but that's because I WANTED to move the car a little in bit in the direction of the feel of a BMW or MB AMG car. I chose the components in attempt to minimize the 'downgrade' aspect as much as possible. I'm very happy with it (except I'd try different tires next time), but I'm sure some people would rather have the stock feel. Research is key, and if you are going to make wheel, tire, and suspension changes, it'd be best if you could drive a similarly modified one before making the changes to see if you like it.

 

Good Points. I think the acceleration is fine. I really want to start by focusing on improving the handling and firming up the ride without totally sacrificing ride quality. I would also like to give it a more aggressive stance/appearance.

 

First step......Wheels & drop. Go with correct wheel sizes & specs, there are many LS430s riding on wrong wheel specs. With this, ur car should be really nice already.

Note: Don't get those ugly looking, one piece cast, BLING BLING chrome DUB MTV cribs wheels.

 

OK, so how do I go about lowering the car and what wheel/tire size works best on a lowered car? I am from Chicago, a pothole capital where I have flattened more than one too low profile tire. What about sway bars?

 

Go with 19-inch wheels and fat tire setup.
I would go with 19x9 +38 & 19x10 +42. Make sure the front wheels are High-Disk setup so u can clear front brake calipers.245-40-19 & 275-35-19.

As for the suspension, u can either go with adjustable coilover like TEINs or just replace the springs. If u have the Ultra Luxury package, then u can buy a control unit to control the ride heights.

Get dish style wheels, so u don't have to go too low on the car & u'll still get the visual effect.

 

Hi guys, interesting discussions! My post is a bit long, so my apologies if I break etiquette rules--I'm new. I'd love to get your feedback on the following:

Problem: I have the stock(non-sport) suspension on a 2006 LS430 w/ 18'' stock sport wheels and stock tires(Dunlop SP Sport 5000 M). The ride wallows and is surprisingly intolerant of sharp features/creases/pot holes/perforation. A high degree(for the design intent of the car) of coarseness while on interstates and the like are transmitted to the steering wheel and cabin. The ride over smooth undulations on the road surface is fine. Talking to the south east Lexus sales engineer, he mentioned that he was against offering the LS430 with the non-sport suspension and the 18'' wheels due to the problems that I'm experiencing. He said the sport suspension is designed to better handle the increased NVH(noise, vibration, harshness) levels of the sport wheel/tire combination.

Potential Solution: Install Tein CS Coilovers
I think this may be an answer to the problem since Tein ships the coilovers with a rubber pillow mount. Also, Tein claims that since the shell casing diameters is increased 30% over the stock dampers that it is designed to ease the reduced ride quality associated with upsizing(bigger wheel and lower aspect ratio tires). I don't intend on upsizing, I just want to keep the existing(stock) 18'' sport wheels and get lower NVH levels. I want to firm-up the ride a little bit as well, but this is a much lower priority. Later when it's time for tire replacements, I intend on using Continental ContiProContact tires of the same size.


Questions for forum members:
1. To owners of LS430 cars with the Tein CS kits and 18''(or greater) wheels, does the Tein CS kit provide noticeably lower NVH levels. If so, could you quantify the difference or provide real-world examples of the difference? Please let me know the details of your wheel/tire combination.
2. Will installing/using the Tein CS kit involve any drawbacks?
3. I hear that Tein has introduced a newer version of the CS kit. What's the difference between old and new on the spec sheet, and in the real world.
4. For users of the Continental ContiProContact tires, does using it in place of the stock 18'' tires make a noticeable difference in NVH levels? Provide examples if you could please.

Thanks very much in advance!

 

First of all, I'm surprised that your car is acting like that if it's all stock. When mine was completely stock, it didn't matter WHAT kind of road surface I was on, it was practically silent and perfectly smooth and straight-tracking. BUT, I was on the tall side-wall grandpa 17" wheels with the Bridgestone tires. But the ride quality was nothing short of amazing in terms of smoothness and quiet.

That being said, I'll post my answers to your questions based upon my experiences with Tein CS suspension and Volk 19" wheels running Dunlop SP 01A tires in 245/45/19 and 275/40/19 on an '03 LS430. I specifically bought these taller sidewall tires in attempt to minimize the compromise in ride and NVH as much as possible, and so that I wouldn't have to lower the car TOO much in order for the tires to fill the fender openings, and thereby preserve proper suspension geometry and steering and handling response. These tires are the sidewall height that comes from the factory on the 7-series BMW and some other such cars, so while they are taller sidewall than most aftermarket setups, I think the fit the LS pretty well looks wise.

I think it's unavoidable that the 18s or 19s will be louder and ride harsher than the cushy factory 17s that I had. I've never had my 17s on the Tein CS suspension, so I can't say for sure how the suspensions alone would compare. However, I had the aftermarket wheels and tires on the factory suspension, and I don't think there's much difference between the factory suspension and the Teins when the Teins are set to the softest setting. However, if anything, I THINK the Teins may transmit slightly more NVH than the factory setup, but if so, it's minimal. I do not think that the Teins exhibited LESS NVH, though.

None that I can think of, other than the possibility that I've noted above. Some aftermarket coilovers are reportedly noisy, but my Teins have never made a sound that I've noticed. If you install the Teins and don't use the EDFC (remote electronic valving adjustment unit) you can put a tiny hole in the rear window deck just behind the head rests so that you can take an allen wrench and reach down and adjust the valving without loosening the rear seat back and so forth like you'll have to do when installing the kit. The tiny hole will be covered by the fuzz on the rear deck and won't be visible. You can adjust the front valving by removing the plastic inner fender covers (a 2-minute job, total).

I spoke with Tein about this before buying my CS kit. The person I spoke with told me the following:
-- The new kit will use a heavier steel body instead of aluminum
-- The new kit will be rebuildable in the field instead of having to send it back to Tein
-- The new kit may be a long time in arriving because Tein will launch kits for the more popular cars before working their way down to the rarely-modified LS
-- The engineer/representative that I spoke with told me that he would probably rather have the current aluminum version than the new steel version, so long as the use wasn't so severe that a frequent rebuild would be needed.
-- Another Tein person told me that part of the reason for the re-design was to build them cheaper so the price could be reduced.

No experience with the Continentals. But, I can say that I would not buy the Dunlops again. I tried to research and find the quietest tire available in the size I wanted, and some that would last a few miles since I wasn't really after ultimate grip or traction, but I think these Dunlops aren't as quiet as I'd hoped. They aren't nearly as bad as some I've heard, but I think there must be quieter tires -- likely Michelins.

 

Thanks so much for the quick and detailed response. One option I did not mention is to get the stock lexus sport suspension coilovers. When I went to the lexus dealer to buy the stock sport coilovers, I was told that the stock regular suspension and the stock sport suspension only differed in the springs that were used. Talking to the south east sales engineer contradicted that point since he said that different sway bars, bushings and damping settings were used. Does anyone know first-hand how the stock regular and stock sport suspensions differ? I'd prefer not to do any tuning(buy aftermarket) since that would be an endless affair for me--it can never be too good in my book.

 

If no one here knows, you could, of course, get the parts guy to cross-reference the part numbers on all those items (std. vs. Sport suspension). Let us know what the result is.

Based upon the All Data specifications that I have, there's a slight difference in the alignment specs with the Sport Suspension -- difference in Vehicle Height, Caster, and Steering Axis Inclination, but I don't suppose that necessarily means that there are any more parts that are involved than what you mentioned -- it's probably just adjustments that are available from the standard items....

 

Dunlop SP5000's are not that great of tires, which may be part of your issue. I'm not familiar with the cheaper tires like the Falken stuff they're making for VIP, but they are probably pretty decent. I would lean towards a Michelin tire if you are looking for quality and a nice smooth ride, though Conti's are probably decent for the price as well.

 

You can make your car look like my sig.
I'm your next door neighbor in Milwaukee.

 

so, what is what with DUB wheels like these

http://customwheel.com/custom_wheels...roducts_id/445

 

Exactly........
Stay away from those.