karmaz

I've a German made 'Fox' exhaust on mine, sounds amazing. I also have a DC Sports (same as Injen) short ram intake which is where the real noise comes from. The exhaust on it's own didn't do too much, but the two combined is heaven. The intake is great. Car is as silent as per usual under light throttle, but now sounds like a beast when you put the foot down.

Thanks for all your help guys, it's really appreciated

Since I bought the car over a year ago, I noticed it there was a very very slight coolant leak, as the level was dipping (over the course of months not weeks), but just topped up with a little water and didn't worry any more. I got an LPG installation done about 2 months ago, and since then, the leak has accelerated quite a bit and i've had to top up with pre mixed red coolant. Obviously, this needed further investigation. My suspicion was that it was the waterpump (original pump, at 97k miles, not done with TB at 70k) I brought it to Toyota, and got a pressure test done, and it held pressure fine. He also said it's not the head gaskets so not to worry about that. He said there was a very tiny leak at the waterpump, but in his experience that was normal enough, and felt they all do that. He filled the coolant to the high line, and told me to come back in a weeks time to reassess. So today, three days later, the coolant level has dropped by and inch & 1/2 on the reservoir. I'm trying to figure this one out. It seems that having the LPG installation (which has been perfect, running great and getting almost same MPG as petrol), has accelerated the leak quite a bit. I don't exactly know how the LPG system runs, but could it be taking coolant? Any thoughts on this one folks? It's a bit perplexing, and with LPG running hotter than petrol, the cooling system needs to be tip top.

Anyone here running large size alloys? Personally, i'm really on the fence about it. There's a set of deep dish 20's that I love, and suit the car incredibly well, but the ride on the 18 oem wheels is just about perfect. The 20's would require a sidewall height of 35, as opposed to the 45 that i'm currently running. This in itself would make a difference, but going up two rim sizes to boot... Looking at the US forums, there's plenty who say it makes the ride very slightly firmer, but the roads here in Ireland (and the UK) may not be as kind. Your thoughts Gentlemen? Would I be ruining the ride for looks? If anyone is using wheels of this size, i'd love to hear from you.

Cheers, I think i'm hoping for 30 mpg at a steady 80-85 and it's not happening so far! Might change the o2 sensors and see if that changes things.

>Mark If you wouldn't mind, could you let me know what MPG you're getting for town and motorway? There's not many of these 2004 6 speeds on the site, and i'm not sure if mine is running as well as it could be, as my mpg seems lower than it should. I'd really appreciate if you could take a minute to respond to my question. Cheers

I'd advise Michelin Pilot super sports. I put them on mine, and the ride quality/ road noise reduction is amazing. How's the MPG on yours by the way? Town stop/start, and Motorway? Mine is about 16'ish town, and 28-30 motorway.

William, Just for reference, as i'm in Ireland too: The 600h can be VRT'ed for less than the 460, as it's co2 bring it under the top rate. Next year, you'll be able to vrt a 2006 600h for 4,500 euro and a 2007 model for 6,500 euro Considering you can buy a 2006/2007 600h, with 100k for about £17k, that means the car is landed and taxed for between 25-27k euro. That's a very decent price for a cleared 600h, and with the improved mpg in the city it makes financial sense. Obviously the major issue is moving on your own car as a private sale, at a decent rate, which may be very tricky. Seemingly the VRT refunds (on exporting your own car from the state) that were proposed, will be coming in next year, so that would open the possibility of you trading in against your new car in the UK. Best of luck whatever route you choose, but I just wanted to throw that out as an option for you.

Thanks lads. Yep, I know the extra speed is a contributing factor indeed, but my interest is just to make sure that the car is running at it's most optimum. I had a V12 7 series that would return 37 mpg sitting at 60 mph and 30mpg at 80 mph, so i've got to be able to do better than that in the Lexus. Lpg is looking mighty tempting with current petrol prices!

Howdy Folks, New to the forum, long time lurker, first time poster. Just picked up a 2004 LS430, and am absolutely thrilled with it. Car has a full Lexus service history, and thankfully has had the rear shocks done by the previous owner, so only half as much worry now! So here's what i'm wondering: Took a 500 mile trip in the car over the weekend (all motorway), and after resetting the trip, and driving mostly at 80 on cruise, I was disappointed to see that i'd averaged 26.5 mpg. I specifically bought the facelift model for the 6 speed box, figuring that it would be capable of delivering good economy at these speeds. About 15'ish in town, where I was hoping for 18 or so. I drive gentle in case you're wondering. I've read of owners getting 30-34 mpg on these cars and motorway and 20mpg in town, so that was the only let down. Other than that, the car was a delight to be in for the journey. The car had a service about 4,000 miles ago, so not due one yet. I'm thinking that new sparks, MAF, cleaning the throttle body might help me to achieve the figures i'm after. Any advice for me here Gents?