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You aren't a million miles away from Tony Banks exhausts in Leeds, i'd go there and ask them, they will sort you out i'm sure. Took my LS400 there to fix the usual rusted Y pipe to the Cats, sorted it no problem!

Best ever mpg. I’m visiting my mother in Pitlochry - filled up at Perth and got this up the A9 - speeds were tempered due to average speed cameras that now cover the whole route. My car is normally driven on hillier routes so to see it so nearly 50mpg is amazing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Great stories! I tell one more, from another time, another country - some moto journalists (sort of lost cousins of Top Gear, let say) put local celebrities into LS first generation, in 2007 or so. To be honest LS was mint, from some club owner. And next they ask celebrities about age and price of LS - average they given half an age and triple or quadruple the price... About lexus reliability, other old joke "after Armaggedon there will be darkness over sea and land, and there will lay dust and ashes, and lexus V8s here and there"

likewise in Yorkshire on my recent holiday one morning along a country lane where a branch from a tree had fallen overnight. Lady had stopped in her 2006 Vauxhall and exclaimed to me that I shouldn't get too close to the branches in my new car .... I was manhandling the branches over the wall to help clear a way through the road. I explained her car was 11 years younger than mine ! Malc

@FTBBCVoodoo Thanx Lee I’m pleased, the dechrome has been mentioned, a little permanent for me unless I can get the parts from a friendly dealership for a reasonable amount...... and get them smoked....... Or maybe like this...... ok maybe not....... the music would drive me insane. 🐀

Looks really good bud. If keeping mine I quite fancy getting my calipers done in an obnoxious "Valentino Rossi" Florescent Yellow 🙂 You should dechrome now for the "Murdered Out" look that the Audi RS4/6 boys (and girls) tend to go for on the VAG "Scene" 😉

Sounds great but 725bhp???, it struggled to keep with a couple of cars there...…………. As others have said it struggles to get the power down and it looks the suspension could do with some work.

@Farqui Yes I’m going with that one...... ze German was dropping oil it was coming from his emissions defeat device I guess.... 🐀

Phwaaar what a sound and very impressive output on stock internals/gearbox. As others say, it looks the suspension now needs some work. Or maybe the tyres were going off? Or that smokey 911 was dropping oil....

no traction/ grip.. cant put power down effectively

Sounds very strong down the straight but seems to have trouble using/getting the power down in the twisty bits?

Here the guys of Hybrid Assistant android app suggest some ones: http://hybridassistant.blogspot.com/p/obd.html

Your no fun!! 😉 But I have to agree that would be a mod too far 😆

@DAW David I’ll consider all you’ve said....... but a grey mullet 🤔 🐀

The later 430, post 2005 doesn’t have a clutch on the front of the compressor, it doesn’t work like 99% of other ones... All the magic works internally... so no way to tell if it’s engaged or not.. find someone with Techstream and they can read live values for all sorts... If you google LS430 aircon test you can do a diagnostic yourself IIRC it’s press recirc and auto button as you turn on ignition... top center console display then gives fault codes... google is your friend..!!

@Big Rat Hi Paul looks really smart mate & glad it’s all worked as you hoped. The mods can’t quite be finished though as the car will need a red light bar in the front to be the full “Kit” - that & of course a Hasselholf mullet 😉😆

We had to attend a funeral last week, and while leaving the car park we were approached by a very well dressed elderly Gentleman who was not known to us. He wanted to talk about our LS430 which had the moonroof open and all windows down due to the blistering heat. He was very interested in our car and informed us that he was a former Lexus Sales Executive at a major dealership before he retired. Our car is on private plates, but he was able to tell us that it was a 2005 model, and in his view was the best ever model produced by Lexus around that time. Its very rare to hear a salesman praise a car unless he's trying to sell it to you. Some of his comments were "Solid build" "Exceptional engineering" "Built to last ". We arrived for a funeral feeling sad and pensive, and left feeling happy and uplifted. Long may it continue.

IMHO the ultimate Lexus.... 2005 LS430.... (but I might be slightly biased)

Droning usually comes from resonators (center box) or cats, if you have changed the resonators and the rear boxes then it must be the cats... you will probably find that welding the rear boxes needed some use of a hammer which has dislodged the honeycomb in the cats and is making the noise... try to knock the cats gently with your hand, if they rattle or sound hollow ( the honeycomb can shatter and get blown out the tailpipe in small bits causing a hollow sound) then they have failed... a decent exhaust shop should find the culprit...

@Jon B Thanx Jon sorry to hear about the driveway predicament let's hope it resolved soon certainly in time for Goodwood...... cmax no oh no 🤦‍♂️ So talking of driveways my current customer can't use theirs either at the moment........... No mini digger for me on this one collapsed manhole needs replacing as well......... so taking it all up by wrecking bar and Kango...... good job I've got some nice cool weather.........😂 Big Rat

Just a couple of short vids, best enjoyed with earphones on max volume 😁 Big Rat

Thanks Wayne, that's a huge compliment I will happily take that. Combination of PPE headers, H&S exhaust and the Rotrex supercharger. In other exciting news, RR-Racing are looking at a bigger supercharger unit due to be released by Rotrex next month. Apparently this one can handle up to 900hp! Thing is the standard high compression engine setup won't cope, so would also mean a forged engine build. Won't be cheap, but tempted to see how far we can go!

@Stuno1 Thanx the colour I’m leaving localised to the callipers I accept you could pick it up elsewhere on the car to link things in but I’m not going to. The materials are negligible really just sourced via Brembo online and 3 hours labour to remove all the callipers strip them down and carry out the painting process and reassemble. The wheels took quite sometime longer as Lexus Cheltenham insist on removing the tyres and TPMS themselves deliver and pickup the wheels to the refurbers before refitting and I fully agree with that. The finish to the wheels in the flesh is flawless. Big Rat

@J Henderson Couldn’t discribe the finish better myself, no that’s it now I’ve been itching to do this aspect for some weeks now and having had the Quicksilver exhaust fitted some months back it completes my little personalisation. None if it’s permanent and easily reversible having kept the original exhaust system. Big Rat

Can never tell what works and what doesn’t with videos. here’s a YouTube link as well:

Catastrophe Naturelle Thought I'd use the holiday in France to tidy up my front Drivers side wing which was rusting under the arch. Fabulous weather until the 4th July. Not especially happy with the resultant filler job and the supposedly "wetlook" lacquer turned out not to be "wetlook" after several coats applied. Used the remains of a tin of £2.99 (ten years old?) pearlescent paint finish which did give a bit of a sheen. After uncovering the bonnet and door, found the Paint colour was not the match I was expecting so stopped further work. My touch up paint is correct colour as seen on a cap I've painted to show the supplier. Next day I gave the Car its annual wash (true) pre the basking 36 degree heat of the day, but in the afternoon the sky darkened and large droplets of rain followed and the bushes and trees started thrashing about in a state of sheer madness as the rain turned into Hail Stones many the size of Golf balls and larger! They were not only falling but throwing themselves horizontally at our House in a vortex. The glass panelled door and the Windows were being battered and I had to don a Hard Hat to open the door to close the Shutters to prevent the door glass being shattered. Doing this I had around twenty hailstones come into the Kitchen and a bruised leg. I lowered the Electric blind to protect the fragile glass in the Kitchen Windows and thats when the lights went out. No Electricity for the next 24 hours! It may have only lasted five minutes but in my local area there was devastation. I hadn't put the Car back in the Garage and it was peppered with dents. Fortunately only the passenger side mirror was cracked enabling us to drive home yesterday. My neighbours A class rear hatch was smashed. House roof tiles were broken (not on our roof) and the Pompieres were out in force on roofs stretching temporary plastic sheeting over damaged areas. Vines were totally smashed and Nursery Green houses destroyed. The Plastic gutters all around the house were peppered with holes and it was lucky I hadn't put the car in the Garage as the Placo / Asbestos Roof was also peppered with holes. So, it could have been worse for the Car. If I'd not washed off the Saharan Sand it could have been embedded into the paint dimples or worse still shards of asbestos falling on the car would have scratched the paint surface. Somehow the paint mismatch doesn't now seem so important, We had a great holiday up until then and on the plus side the Insurance will cover the roof and gutter replacement at only the cost of the excess. The Car Insurers would write it off if a claim is made. This would seem a shame, so I will live with a battle scarred LS400.