jrmckinley

I have to poke a little fun at myself here. I'm 37, have an '04 LS with 244k on the odometer (I have had it 8 1/2 years and put 175k miles on it). Ever since I got the car, I know I have "babied" it in the way I drive- especially around town (acceleration time from a stop). My wife has a heavy foot and has always poked fun at me about how slow I drive. Yesterday I had a 500 mile one-way trip for work and towards the end of my trip I was driving along a back road through very small towns with stop lights and a 35mph speed limit. I was bored out of my mind from driving so much and thought "I wonder how long it takes me to go from 0-35mph" - I pulled out my phone, activated the stop watch, and to my amazement.... 16.04 seconds! I'm officially a 37 year old that drives like an 87 year old. I hit another light and tried it again- and the result was 16.42 seconds...so I am unfortunately pretty consistent with my "takeoff" speed. Then I started thinking about my fun car (Audi S5 - V8 6 speed manual) and what speed I could get that car up to in 16 seconds...

But, maybe it's part of the reason I have almost a quarter-million miles with no engine or tranny troubles whatsoever. When I hit 250k I am going to copy and paste my service history from the Lexus Drivers Site and post it here for folks to see how trouble free the LS has been.

I may be the slowest guy from 0-35mph but it's a bit of a different story on the highway...

rkw77080

Noticed you have the "Maintenance Required" warning light shown on the display. In case if you have not cleared it, here's how...

1. Turn ignition switch to the "ACC" (first) position, but don't start car
2. Press the "Trip" button until the odometer displays
3. Turn ignition switch back to off
4. Press and hold "Reset" button below the speedometer (not the one on the steering wheel), and turn ignition switch to the "ACC" (first) position again, but don't start engine
5. Keep holding down the "Reset" button until the "Maintenance Required" warning light disappears

jrmckinley

I appreciate you posting this. My service guy forgot to reset it at my last oil change, so it was illuminated for quite a while (this pic was taken about 6 weeks ago- I've since gotten an oil change and they reset it). I've never known how to reset it if/when they forget, but now I know. Thanks,

tallcaguy

How did you take the picture while driving that fast? The Audi does sound like fun

campisi

I'm one to 'baby' my cars, wife likes to comment that "even 18wheelers are passing you, speed it up!". I think it adds years of low maintainence life to any car. The road, where my life (and others) is in your hands, is not the place to 'have fun'. I have my fun off-road on my dirtbikes and 4 wheelers where the only one I can hurt if I make a mistake is myself.

jrmckinley

Left hand on the wheel, right hand snapping the pic. I took a few at slightly different angles and just picked the best one once I had gotten somewhere for a stop and could really look at the pic. I'm a road warrior sales rep (averaging 40k/year for last 12 years) so I feel comfortable behind the wheel. Seen some crazy stuff so I'm not complacent and always hyper-aware of surroundings yet have learned how to multi-task in my mobile office.

The Audi is very fun- especially when hitting the on-ramps and country roads. I actually don't really enjoy it at all in city driving...too rough/harsh as I've been spoiled in a smooth ride of an LS for the last 11 years. It'll be sold in a few months and putting the cash towards my next LS.

LS430cb

How did you get your display to show a compass?

2KHarrier

My guess... No nav in his car?

jrmckinley

Correct, no nav.

yardie876

By the time I press the gas pedal I'm at 35, right behind your tail hoping you'd speed up. I wouldn't blow my horn though because that's rude.