From Skyline To Lex

[CrailLoser]

Might seem like a strange one but thats life, sold my Skyline and took a GS300 Sport in PX.

Actually really looking forward to owning the Lex for a change, I have only ever worked on/driven the Aristo Vertex and that was ok, really liked the drive of the car.

Due to get the car on the 21st so though I would pop in and say hello B)

Nice forum BTW

[Scorpion]

Hi and welcome,yeah your right that is a strange one but hey i hope you enjoy it all the same.

[CrailLoser]

I am going through a transitional period, I kind pooped myself with all the racing/events I have done over the last 5 years, last year especially was a bit much.

Unfortunatly I have always modified all my cars, the Skyline was no exception, however I want a break from that as well.

I didnt want to go to a non Jap manufactor and I didnt want another out and out sports car, the Lex seems to be the way forward for me.

Plan is I give it a year and go for a NSX I think, or who knows ..... could the Lex swing me to go VIP stlye :) :P

Thanks for the welcome :D

[wills]

Welcome! The GS 300 is a great car.......certainly not the fastest i've owned but its smooth, fairly decent power and it starts first time every time (and the ladies do like it).....i want an R34 GTR or supra TT but for some reason not done it yet??......sport is a good car...just make sure the front lower ball joints are ok

[SHAHZ]

Welcome to LOC mate B)

[nigel f]

Hello Marc,

I know you from the GTR Site,

I have a GS300 Sport, and it is a fantastic car, I still use the Skyline when I can come up with an excuse, but the GS is Great. (could do with been a bit faster)

I keep thinking about getting a Astrio.

What year, spce, colour is Your GS

Regards

Nigel

[Fidgits]

interesting choice, but hello and welcome..

[Claire G]

Welcome to the Club!

[Bobski]

You coulda taken us all for a spin in it before it went :)

Welcome

[CrailLoser]

Spin would have been the word Bobski, as Nigel F will tell you it was a very high powered RWD model, great fun B)

Good to see you on here Nigel, I always found your posts informative on the GTROC, I look forward to reading much of the same.

Its a 1999 GS300 Sport in silver, its coming with two sets of alloys, one set are 19" and the others are 20" chrome jobbies ........ the chrome numbers may not be all to your liking but I have been know to go for some lairy looks on my cars so we will see how they look first before decrying them completely.

I keep reading about these front ball joints, seems to be a week point, afaik the car comes with a full dealer service history, sounds good but as a mechanic I am generally less than impressed with FSH.

Thanks for the comments all, not long to go now :D

[eMJay]

One extreme to the other.

Welcome!

I own a Series I Sport and I love it: reliable and comfortable. The Series II has a better spec, more interior appointments etc.

Enjoy.

[yoshi]

Jist cos you got a Lex doesn't mean you can't race or tune - see the evidence at : http://www.lexusvertex.com/movies.htm

If you want to meet up for a race a Crail in your GS 300 Sport let me know, otherwise Knockhill is a good venue. Maybe you should join the SS-R - www.ss-r.com - the track events are safe & the members all have very different cars, bit of a Gran Turismo showdown.

[CrailLoser]

Shut up Mark, lol.

Who do you know from Scotland that has a high power GTSt, owns a garage and incidently used to be a commity member and founder of the club you are talking about

I recon I could still kick your ***** in the GS300 anyway, you are always too busy playing with your cameras :P

[yoshi]

You obviously shat your pants too often pressing that NOS button on the Skyliner...gets awful expensive replacing Recarros ever 1/4 mile, he, he!

If you're very very lucky, you might pass me if I'm driving the Mondeo with 4-people + we just ran out of fuel. Otherwise you'll be smelling my exhaust fumes homie!

The V300 goes like the clappers now, even the Lotus crew move over for me now. Terrorising scoobies is the norm, sideways the trademark.

[CrailLoser]

Talk to me when you get over 650 ponies m8, believe me when I say its another world ...............

Shame its replacment makes it look slow, expect it to make its knockhill appearance late next year ;)

The Lex is just a chance for my heart rate to return to normal :D

[yoshi]

I'm not touching the engine until I can afford the 1000bhp rebuild - I might opt for a Turbo + ECU as a quick short cut but probably not.

I still can make Lotus lap times with the standard block/gearbox and a lot less chance of it going bang. Until that ***** Willy at Crail gets the finger out to sweep the stones up, I won't be doing the 1/4 mile.

Next for me will be full suspension mods so I can tailgate the Exiges.

Maybe in the future a proper racing car is probably what I'll buy e.g.ex-BTCC, DTM or ex-Rally. I also fancy the Clio cup 1600 class, but it's all dollars. The VW 1600 track prepped car new is £80K.

[randyreindeer]

I went from Lexus to 300ZX. Not had a Skyline but there is still time.

[nigel f]

Marc,

The GS sounds Nice, I am not in to Crohme, but it does look good on some things,

I want a V300 TT, having looked at Yoshi's Site.

I am very impressed with my GS it is great.

I hope that you like yours.

Nigel

[CrailLoser]

Thanks Nigel, the car also comes with a set of less traumatising 19" rims so at least I have an option if the cries of "PIMP" from the pavements become too much :D

I am sure I will enjoy the GS its exactly what I am after at this point in time.

I can highly recomend the Aristo Vertex as I have had both the pleasure of driving and racing against Yoshis, with basically the Supra TT powerplant tuning options are endless and rewarding, even without tuning its still a very capable car to drive.

Yoshi is right though, suspension is certainly its downfall with the ride being tailored for comfort, I see Tein have released the "Flexi" series of dampers for the car though. Having had experiance of Jap coilovers in the past I found them far to stiff and over valved for British roads.

I am pleased to say that the "Flex" range however doesnt fall into this catagory, we have fitted it to a few cars now and can highly recomend it.

[yoshi]

Eibach lowering springs are the budget weapon of choice for sharper handling without the crap ride. I can highly recommend, although not sure with those 20's or 19s, could scrub, but hey you know that already.

I found the Eibachs only bedded in properly after my 2nd Knockhill and now the car is nailed to the road. Your GS will be about 40MM higher than my Vertex, so it's quite a big drop. The springs definitely get lower as you drive it harder round benders. Pictures from the track show there being zero arch gap at some points when the power is on full. I guess a stiffer spring will be required for the correct re-bound.

I'm saving for the Bilstein PSS suspension kit, combination shock with adjustability. Tein not good rep so I hear from my US Lexus guy.

The Eibach spring/shock/anti-roll kit might be a nice setup but not heard anything on this.

I hope this GS300 isn't Black marc....people will be mistaking me for you and vice versa (could be embarrassing, you not having turbos and all lol, only kinding big man we's knows you're married now and you need the back seats for the kids).

[yoshi]

Hey Marc, maybe I should post up some video on my Vertex racing your Skyline at Crail so all these Lexus forum guys can see the beef...I do believe I won that race...lol...you made the mistake of not driving it yourself.

[nigel f]

I have Eibac Springs on my GS and I rate them.

Have used Tein HA on My GTI-R but the Spring rates where to high,

As Marc says the Newer Flex and some others have been revalved and had the Spring rates reduced for the UK roads.

Tim With the Nur Skyline Runs the PSS9 set up and they are fantastic !

Less Crashy than standard Nur Skyline Suspension (now on my R33 GTR)

Nigel

[CrailLoser]

Its Billies I have on the Skyline, got to agree they were the best avaliable when I did the Skyline. I wish they had the adjustability of the Tein units especially for the rear though.

Mark, I though the GS Sport came with a bit of a drop and better anti-roll bars etc as standard, not that I expect it to be tight on the road anyway. Dunno about the wheels scrubbing, not actually driven the car yet.

Dont worry though Mark its Silver so no chance of people getting us mixed up (I hope), not even worried about the turbos, I dont need them for what the Lex is intended for as you said yourself, I have other things that are important to me now not just a fast car.

I guess actually having owned a fast car as opposed to just wanting one can give you a slightly different perspective on things as well. Add in the fact that I will be building some very fast cars to compete next year for customers ........ it kinda makes owning one seem a bit pointless.

I get to design and build them, it doesnt cost me anything in fact I get paid for it. I get to watch em race and I get to drive them, my buisness also gets the cudos when they win ..........

So what am I missing out on ....... being part of events and driving on the day, putting up with all the bitching and stress of having to compete and organise all the crap that goes along with it ........

As opposed to cruising down to events in the Lex stressfree ........ mmmmmm,lol

Hopefully you will see the point I am trying to make, I enjoy fast cars, chances are we both know its doubtfull that I wont buy one again soon. However I dont want to go through all the stress and hassle that racing the Skyline gave me. I never got a weekend off, any spare minuet I was working on it or looking for new directions to advance the car it. It became a monster something that just sooked up all my time and energy. Hell dont get me wrong on those odd days when someone gets out of my way and I actually get the rare chance to plant my foot down its all worth while. I pulled out of a slip road in front of a new M5 last week, was in 2nd when I noticed him in my rear view mirror. I planted down the foot, he went to go past me. I hit 3rd and began to pull away, I went into 4th at 120 and sank the foot and he became a dot. It felt good.

What felt better was when I pulled into a petrol station (wont miss that bit) and returned to the car after paying he was standing next to the car. His exact words were "that was amazing, I have never seen anything on the road accelerate like that. At one point I honestly thought something was broken on my car as it appear to be going backwards"

That I will miss, but only that and thats now not enough to make all the hassle worthwhile.

I was looking back on some of those old SSR movies, my *** how things have changed, I didnt even recognise it in one of them, still red and gold. I tell you it brought a lump to my throat :)

Cheers for the blast back down memory lane though its been amusing :winky:

[yoshi]

Hey homer - your GS300 Sport will handle like a pig (in your opinion anyway). It's got the UK suspension setup but it'll be like riding on air man. I do believe you will lower it immediately or I'll eat my brake pads. Once it's lowered, you'll dig it more.

I guess I forgot you get to 'pinch' all those customer rides for some overnight fun....I guess the G force will still be available.

Nothing better than blowing away an M5, what over-rated crap. Gold star and tick.

I still have the vintage Racewars videos, I'll need to convert it to MP4 and upload. It's got the old Skyline + new Skyline kit/spray job in the same vid - howzat?!?!?

[yoshi]

GS300 Sport does seem to have some sports suspension - maybe same as the Aristo V300 but I still say you'll lower it.