well again this is just my opinion here since everybody's got em'... i love the sound or loved the sound when i wanted to hear it.. but when i just get in my car and i'm idling (massive speed bumps throughout) out of my neighborhood at 6am on a cold 25degree winter morning i really really hated the droning exhaust note. when i was at a stop light or stop sign and began accelerating without wanting to show off/ have fun/ or prove anything it was obnoxiously loud in a droning echoing sound through out the 99gs400's cabin. my wife, co-workers, and all non car peoples constantly commented on why my car was so loud and i should go get my exhaust leak checked out

but when i wanted to have fun it was badass. i just want a bypass switch installed to make the sound as stock as possible if i ever do it to a luxury car again. i should have just bought an s2000 and left the gs alone in the first place but i bojangled too much and the deal of the century slipped through my hands.

not sure about the amg though, and i was always led to believe by guys with american muscle type cars that after installing headers your car got all that much more loud and annoying¿

thanks for that link to that varex site that shiz looks pretty freakin sweet and exactly what i should have gotten before. are they expensive.??

 

+1, a good design equal length header actually make the car quietly as it smooth out the exhaust pulses.

The confusion of header makes a car louder came from because when most people put a header into their cars, they usually open up the cats/mufflers at the same time. Cats/mufflers restriction is what determine the exhaust volume.

 

You sure it was a S65? It is hard to make a turbocharged V12 obnoxiously loud and rumbled like an old american muscle car, turbocharged motor are naturally quiet due to the turbos muffling the exhaust sounds, also V12 don't rumbled like an old american muscle car if they are open up, V12 naturally sounds different then a V8. I would guess you saw a S63 with the naturally aspirated V8, those things with a high flow exhaust does rumbled like an old american muscle car.

Also it is not necessary to mod a S65, they are already traction limited with their stock power, the only way to make them faster is put bigger/wider/stickier tires on them. So to gain speed, a high flow exhaust on a S65 is pointless, unless your goal is to make it loud, not to gain speed/acceleration. To proved my point, just look at all those 800 hp Brabus S-class, their acceleration times are identical to a stock S65.......because they are all traction limited.

The old saying is, all Supras are 12s seconds car on street tires, regardless of if they have 400 hp or 1500 hp.........due to them being traction limited.

 

Although it would be awesome to have a 750hp motor, what kind of transmission would one need to handle all this power? Surely, a stock tranny wouldn't last long with that much power.

 

you are most likely correct, and now i am even more excited about the 65... and yes i noticed that the brabus's or even a 65 with the brabus chip(tune) even though it makes a hell of a lot more power doesn't seem to get much better numbers, but i for one would be putting the tune and super wide tires on it,, you know just for protection ... oh if only i had the money,, s65 + brabus front facia & fogs, brabus tune (chip), brabus bbk breaks all the way around and brabus mufflers and i think i would call it a day. this is what i dream about every night when i close my eyes. the reason i don't dream about owning a straight complete brabus s65 is cuz its not realistic for this stage in my life, but an 09 s65 amg (in the next 12 months) (+ extras in the next 2 years is)..

 

Those cars are easy to buy since they depreciate so much so quickly, but the cost to keep it running can be scary if is out of warranty.

I personally want a 2011+ Bentley Mulsanne in 5-10 years

 

a nice choice too. my only problem is that there are a lot of cars new that i want when i can afford them in 3-5 years but by the time it comes down in price i am usually over that model or that design. only 3 so far have fit the bill, the gs400, the ls430, and as long as i don't change my mind in the next 6-12 months the s600 or s65 amg will be next. do you think you will still want the mulsanne in 5 years time??

 

I still want an R34 GTR,and it's been over a decade since they came out... I halfway convinced myself to buy one last year too,as the cash was there,as were the cars. Decided on the 430 in the end. Can't leave a GTR in a westfield parking lot,or drive more than a few km without the police or some kid with something to prove giving you trouble.
Going fast on the street here these days is just asking for trouble too. Most other drivers are on autopilot,and there's a VERY good chance that one of them will pull out in front of you without looking when you're up to no good,and that'll be game over.


Justin...

 

Sojah: I completely understand your obsession with AMG S-classes. You get all the benefits of a top notch luxo car with rocketship performance (and the AMG bodykit makes me drool....). I saw an S63 walking from the parking structure to the Detroit auto show. I wasn't expecting it to make any noise, but it just rumbled as it went by.... It is the perfect balance between too much/too little sound.

I often do wish that the LS430 was louder. I think the V8 sounds great when revved, but doing that in local areas would lead to bad things. I want an exhaust valve/flap like those on the Lamborghinis and Ferraris that close to reduce noise when cruising below say 3k rpm and open up to give more sound as you give it a bit more gas. I don't want the LS430 to be racecar loud, but I would like it to be AMG S63 loud. As for power, I'm quite satisfied right now. I can beat or keep up with just about everything around Lansing...save the occasional Ferrari or GTR I bump into.

 

wow this post went waaay left field! lol. at least it's still on the lines of horsepower.

Don't know enough about Lexus engines/tranny limits to know what gains are to be had through mods - I for one like the balance of power,Luxury, safety, gas mileage these cars already have. Mercs/Beemers and punk kids with something to prove pass me up all the time and so what? my Lex will be for transporting my babies around.

Though it would be beneficial to have just a single Modded link/page for all Lexus Models showing performance parts available, comparisons, cost, HP/TQ gains, and links. probably cant justify it though since there is only a handful of businesses that actually bother to do R&D for performance parts for Lexus.

or just save up for a 2011 GT500 - affordable with a reasonable amount of tractionable (HA!) horsepower and great handling ability to boot.
at least that's my future dream car. lol

 

+1 on the Mustang...excellent value for money and a sweet idle rumble.

I have yet to be picked on by other executive car drivers, but I attract 90s Camaro owners quite a bit (I am 21 btw so that's probably more the reason). I drive pretty slowly most of the time, but when the right challenger lines up next to me and the roads ahead are clear...it's go time

 

i think this car just doesn't really have many people doing hp mods or many mods for HP at all... i know i am rare for putting on any parts in my area of the world to my ls430 and i have never seen one with performance mods, unless you count susp and brakes but then again those don't add HP so not relevant to the op's questions. i've read about people doing a turbo or supercharger just never seen one in real life

 

I would honestly say look into trading for a similarly priced executive sedan....like an older Jag XJR. Another piece of timeless styling with high build quality, but a supercharged V8 putting out around 400 horses....or an older BMW M5, still very comfy with 400 hp and a 6 speed. Just throwing it out there, these are some of the best combinations of luxury and speed.

 

Jaguar and build quality are two terms that do not go together. Maybe the ford built ones are better,but as a whole,english cars in general are rubbish.
You need to get into a rolls before they become worth the bother. Anything south of a DB9 has been done better,and cheaper by Japan.

As for the variable noise level thing,I posted about that before: http://www.xforce.com.au/about-varex...ts-muffler.php
These things work.


Justin...

 

[QUOTE=fergo308;6064980]I don't think JATO rockets are available at your local auto one...

In all seriousness,I asked the same question a couple of months ago,and got similar replies,mostly along the lines of 'why bother?', 'you bought the wrong car.' and 'go buy a mustang'.

My suggestion is headers,high flow cats,and a good quality dual cat-back exhaust. Try an Injen or other branded intake,but I doubt that will make a lot of difference,the std airbox is pretty big,and well fed.
A proper free-flowing exhaust should net a nice gain on this car. My old UCF11 went up by 30kw atw with a cat-back swap to dual 2.5". The fuel mixtures were pretty average,so with a re-tune and new cats it likely would have gone up by another 5kw or so.
A similarly-sized cat-back,with a re-tune if necessary,PPE headers,and new metal cats should net you a better improvement again on the 430.

If you have deep pockets,there is the Tom's option - bolt on supercharger kit.
Blitz and Trust both make a kit for the LS as well.
Bullet supercars here in Australia also do work on the 4L 1UZ,and when I approached them about possibly doing a kit for the 3UZ they were interested.

I also suggest that you take a serious look at the suspension and brakes,even before you touch the engine. Coilovers with sensible spring rates (around 8kg/mm or so),some SARD or Tom's swaybars and a good alignment will sort the suspension.
Brakes,there are myriad options. Cheapest is a BBK with offset brackets and 355mm discs,Most expensive would be Endless 8 piston callipers and discs.

The sky's the limit,the only restraint is how much you're willing to spend. There's no reason why a large sedan can't be comfortable,AND have performance. As much as I bag on my locally-built cars,they cater very well to the older enthusiast who wants a bit of go with his plushy interior.


Justin...[replying to a comment from 2011, probably not going to get a reply… lol. I wanted to do research on a supercharger for my 2001 ls430! I know about the toms supercharger and I’ve recently come across a blitz dual supercharger for the 3uz! The only things is I know nothing about them and have scoured YouTube to find nothing on them… blitz in a whole isn’t very popular on YouTube. I came across your quote and wanted to know if you know anything about them or a website I can research them?

thanks,
Angelo]