Retroplay

Filled her up with premium gas. I have shamefully always used regular but noted the thread here about the compression ratio and I was noticing ticking from the engine the other day. I also treated her to some octane boosting fuel injector cleaner.

She will be getting her first moderately long drive today as I head out to have dinner with family for Thanksgiving.

My brother is a whiz with cars on the performance side of things as well as painting and body kits. So I'll likely be coming back home with some great ideas for mods.

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving to my fellow CL brothers and sisters. Don't talk politics with your family today despite what the politicians are telling you to do.

Mazor1

Beautiful day here in the Atlanta area today, so I cleaned the windows, put the top down, set up my iPod "lexus" playlist and drove around for about an hour, headed nowhere. Priceless. Personally, I love the sound from the stock ML stereo system.

The wife and I will be headed down to So. Florida for the Winter in a few weeks so I'm trying to decide if I want to ship the car down there or just disconnect the battery cable and then just "miss" my great car for 3-4 months. Is there anything I need to know if having the SC transported? Tips? Etc.

Bgw70

We drove her up to north Florida to visit the relatives, it was about a 2.5hr drive.
This was the first extended drive in the SC since I rebuilt the front end and WOW, This car handles so WELL now!
I just could not believe the difference...
BTW, I love the feel of the new polyurethane bushings, they provide a slight difference in ride and feel, more like a sports car and yet, very much still Lexus Luxury!
The feels very planted and solid on the road now.
No more wandering, pulling, weird feelings over bumps etc. just solid!

Bgw70

Drove home today, another 2.5hr drive back to central Florida...
I now have a $60k plus car!!!
That front end and partial real end rebuild was worth the give or take $350 in parts!

If you are questioning the handling on the Interstate and do not want to take your eyes off the road for a second, because the car will wander, just spend the money!
She will be new again...its like that surgery they get, you know!

LEXZILLA

iTrader: (1)

sem'ed the console back seats
And the door panels put new wheels and cleaned my car up a very long day!!!!! Whew!!!

rouge

aerodinamic under cover & difuser

Harold57

What did the undercover / diffuser do for you?

ogjohnsmit

My 06 M5 (top speed 204 mph) had front/rear diffusers and under paneling to properly channel air under the car at high speed.

You probably wouldn't want a whole lot of air turbulence at all I'd speculate over 180 mph. My guess is aerodynamics plays a larger role above and below the car at the higher speeds.

The fastest I ever went in the M5 was the governed 155 mph and the car felt pretty steady at that speed. The fastest I've driven my SC was 120 mph for just a moment and I don't think many of us drive much over that.

Now go take a look at an M5 (or any car for that matter) going 204 mph on YouTube, it's a whole different ballgame.

I'm also stating for a period of time maintaining high speed, not just hitting a high speed for a second and then dropping back.

The M5 is a street legal race car and was designed from the ground up to go 180+ mph and the SC was not. I'm not very confident in the SC at high speeds, and a few pieces of sheet metal under the car wouldn't change that.

I'm no expert but I would think air flow above and below the car have to match or at least be designed to create downforce. The performance of randomly attaching pieces of sheet metal to the bottom of your car is anybody's guess.

bb430

iTrader: (1)

Most of aero aids are really pointless unless you are at triple digits speed as said by ogjohnsmith, even so sometimes the aids you attach to the car might just become drags and slows you down. Pretty much all the spoilers you see others have on their cars are really to add visual than factual. As far as rouge's under car adds, Looks great if you were able to see it at all time and I would even say that might just help with the improvement of gas mileage. Great job but I would not use those zip ties as close to the mufflers.

Moonstruck

I don't know adopt you guys, but the 70mph sped limit on US95 doing to Florida is fast enough for me. I also have a 1987 Cadillac Allante with the hand built 4.1 liter V8. I tried to see how fast she would go, but chickened out at around 95mph. I have never tried it in my SC430. Anyone out there know how fast a stock SC is?

Retroplay

I wouldn't dare try it in my State, but when I lived in Upstate NY, if you weren't doing at least 90 on the thruways, you were going to get run over. I think my max speed was about 120mph before my '88 Corolla at the time started shaking too much. 100mph was pretty common on long commutes back to Michigan.

I think I would want to do the anti-sway bar upgrade before I would feel comfortable taking the SC430 up to those speeds. 80-85 is the max I have driven mine. The grip on the road just doesn't feel confident on my stock.

Bgw70

After my suspension rebuild, I took her up to 90, then eased up to 100 and kept increasing to 115mph. The car was solid and smooth...the new bushings are worth every penny and the weekend I spent working on the car.

BTW, the interstate was empty when I did this...

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

I've gotten my SC up to 120mph with top down on a straight stretch of highway in KC. This was waaaaaaaay before any of my mods, so pretty much stock. I remember it to be a terrifying experience, for sure. I had a passenger. He nearly had a massive coronary.

Blackwing

I got a car cover fo my SC430 to help with the elements this winter...

Harold57

Moonstruck, there have been a few members that have taken their cars up to the governed speed of about 155 mph.