Carlos_SC

Like this? :D I wanted to get to GT Battle but couldn't get off work :( Hope it was good for you :)

Simon - you should be ashamed of yourself :o How can you even consider joining the unimaginative flock of Skyline owners? :P OK, they are nice cars - but you must love being different with a Soarer. Go for a drive to get rid of the thought :D

Never heard of this before either! I'd go with a converter chip too. Its a strange one, thats for sure! Not the traditional blinky-dash - thats something different, with the dash not displaying anything for a while. Could be a variation of it though - do you have any problems with the dash not coming on for a while? Could be a slightly loose solder or something - maybe from when its been fixed before.

Yup, definitely try changing the bushes - lower arm + ARB first as they make the biggest difference to driving anyway, then if its not solved, try other bushes - upper arms, then look at the sus struts - sometimes they creak quite a bit.

Was just about to post this This is our regular (now) annual ToyotaImportsForum meet, so mainly will be Soarer's there, but it would be great to get some other models too (particularly, but not necessarily imports). We hope to get a few Sera's along. Hatfield House, for anyone who hasn't been there, is a lovely place to look around if you want, with gardens and the house open to the public. We will be parked in the cricket field car park, in front of the house, and hopefully we will be able to organise a decent photo shoot of the cars in front of the house or surroundings. We might then get some posters made up :) Kids are welcome - there is plenty of space to run around in! And there is a restaurant/cafe for food. Fingers crossed for a nice day, and I hope to see some of you there :) Its on the 15th May by the way, a couple of weeks to get polishing :)

Advise NOT to use the flare at all!!! They go a bit dodgy after a while apparently and can be dangerous! The speedo converter, if not behind the dash, will probably be under the passenger carpet with the main ECU. Some can be a bit iffy, with problems showing speed while stationary, gearchange problems at full throttle over 112Mph, and just bad conversion. If you don't seem to have any of these, you should be OK - if you do, then think about changing it, as it gets a bit annoying, trust me!

Just to clarify; ALL RHD Soarers are imported from Japan as Toyotas. Some say Lexus on the docs, but not many, so its probably not easy to do! LHD cars were sold in the USA (where Lexus exists!) as Lexus SC400 and SC300's (4ltr and 3ltr). Insurance co's are what you come to expect from insurance co's.....generally a bunch of useless (insert abusive name here)!! Some will tell you that Toyota Soarer's don't exist, some will tell you Lexus Soarer's don't exist (true), most will only have one version on their books and it will be a diferent price if they have both! Some call it Lexus SC400's, some call it Lexus Soarer, some call it Toyota Soarer, some call it anywhere in between....one has Lexus 400CS on their books!! Best bet is to buy it as it comes and just re-badge it as you want once you have it. Just remember that its a Toyota after all ;) Good luck!

No need to spend that much really! All the same principles apply to upgrading the S14, so the costing would be similar. The engine is easily OK with handling that, and the gearbox too. Maybe up to around 400 for the gearbox - I've heard they are not as strong as the auto, which handles around 450 comfortably. So its maily turbo work, cool running, boost control, intake/exhaust, electronics. But DON'T do anything on the cheap! It will be unreliable at best, catastrophic at worst! Expect a good few grand. There are a few more extreme options, like fitting a Supra bottom end (2JZ-GTE) to create a 1.5JZ! Thats good for higher HP. No Soarers have been used for drift in the UK, but there is one over here now that used to be drifted in Japan, and one of the VERY high profile drifters in Japan loves his Soarers! They are heavy, but quite well-balanced.

PLEASE Sponsor me :) I am participating in a cycle ride later this year (in September) around Madagascar to raise money for charity. I need to raise a LOT of money before I go, so I ask, please, sponsor me all you can to help me on my way :) Look here to see my sponsorship page. I have only just started, so there is a long way to go, but I'll get there in the end http://www.justgiving.com/carlsbikeride Thank you all very much in advance :D PS. I know a lot of you don't know me on here, so it could look a bit dodgy but I am very active on ToyotaImportsForum and Steve and a few others know me here(and I hope would vouch for me:P ). I'm not conning you, honest :P

I've just had 4 Kumho's on. I suppose they never will be as good as some of the tyres costing half as much again, but they seem to be great value. I can't really comment on them because a) I haven't got much to compare them to and B) its been bloody slippery out since I got them anyway!

Hey Mark Both of those tyres are meant to be pretty good, but the Pirelli's, people seem to like a lot. Probably worth it if you can stretch to them. What size are the wheels? I'd guess you can fit wider tyres on to them, which would definately be worth doing. On 8" wheels, you can get 245s on (its what I've just had fitted).

You have a UZZ31 air suspension right? Its the easiest thing to do! http://www.planetsoarer.com/lower/Lower.html

Best speak to Steve here http://www.smiffiessoarersanctuary.com/ He often has lots in to look at, at least.

Supercharger could give you 350Bhp easy with just bolt on stuff. Not an easy bolt on job, mind, but possible! Then 450Bhp should be possible with a lot of cash with custom management and lots of bits! Turbos are NOT easy jobs!! Only 1 (maybe a couple) of people have done it with a lot of custom work. Its either a DIY job or mega bucks! Probably 5-10k easy!! 0-60 times are more like 6.8secs for the 4ltr, with a basic supercharger kit I'd guess a second or more off that. You can buy kits from Aus that include everything you need to get going, I think they are £4.5k or so.

From 1998 the USA SC400 had VVTI, so a bit more power and better economy. 290 sounds about right for that. Before then, its the same engine as the JDM Soarer @ 265Bhp. Unfourtunately for us, the JDM Soarer never got VVTI:( The VVTI SC400 should be a lovely car to drive. They are normally lower specs than the Soarer, but I think the later ones got more toys (still not as many as JDM though). The SC300 has the 2JZGE engine with about 225Bhp, but a lot are highly tuned over there. I think 1000Bhp has just been hit!! Not as many toys and slower than the SC400, but more economy and tuning potential if you want it:) If you go for the VVTI 4ltr, I'll do you an engine swap:D I'd love that engine:D

You don't/can't replace the actual screen, you just wire in the Pana satnav box into the existing screen. The remote is easy to use once you get the hang of it, you generally just set the journey before you go and leave it to guide you. The only drawbacks with mine are that it is designed for widescreen, so you lose a bit of the sides, but I cope OK with that as your position stays central in the screen anyway, plus I really just use the voice guidance and don't watch the screen too much. Plus, you need to be on TV mode to get the guidance, so you can't listen to music while being guided! It should be easy enough to wire in the voice guidance to kick in and cut off the CD/radio when it has something to say. I'll do this when I get around to it! Let m know if you are serious about doing it soon and I'll do some research into the units out there now:)

The active is the top of the range Soarer. The main differences are that it has 4 wheel steering and hydraulic suspension, the 'active' bit meaning it levels itself constantly. So it stays level when going round corners, and under accellaration and braking. As it was so expensive when new, and only rich people could afford it, most of them have a lot of options too. They all have leather and EMV screen, and most have reversing cam, sensors, heated memory seats ect ect. ect.! The drawback is that they are VERY heavy! That and extra pumps for the suspension means that it is noticably slower and more thirsty than the other 4ltrs. Plus there were only 873 made :P Oh, and Soarer's are TOYOTA by the way! They were only sold as Lexus in the USA as left hand drive basic models:) Check out my one, you won't see many in red/black (if any other's!)

Hi I haven't visited here for ages, then when I do, there is shout for me:) Its not possible to convert the existing satnav, but the EMV (the screen) can accept inputs via the TV tuner, which is under the rear seat. So you can buy a satnav unit with auxilliary outputs, and run them into the tuner. When you want the satnav, you just select the TV function. The only thing is that you need a remote, as you can't use the touchscreen. The unit I have costs about £800, and is sat in the boot with a remote sensor in the cabin. I just removed the old satnav unit and sat this in the same place. Its not a particularly easy job, you need to run cables to: a power source (under the rear seat), the TV tuner inputs under the rear seat, the remote sensor in the dash, the ECU under the glovebox, the aerial on the parcel shelf, the car's light circuits, handbrake, reverse gear selector! Have a look here http://www.toyotaimportsforum.co.uk/forum/...ighlight=satnav

The backlight can be replaced, but modification is needed to fit a slightly different bulb, as the originals aren't available anymore. Luke does these repairs, so if you contact him, he should be able to sort you out. Not sure if this will work, you may have to register and be logged in to view it; http://www.toyotaimportsforum.co.uk/forum/...info&userid=171

P.S. If you are looking at spending that sort of money for a good Soarer, then I MAY be looking at selling for a good price! Its a 1994 very rare active suspension UZZ32, in a very rare red, with very rare black interior, with a very rare FULL optioned spec! It is number 838 of 873, so one of the very latest UZZ32's to be built. Its in very nice condition with nearly full Lexus history from new (imported from new). A few minor bits to do, of which I will probably do before I sell (couple of tyres + brake pads, oil change ect.) I just feel the pull of a Celica turbo drawing me in to buy one!! So obviously I need to sell first. It is very hard for me to sell, as I do love the car, I just fancy something a bit different! So I'm not desperate to sell, but probably would be tempted for a good price. Probably over £7k. I spent £1k on maintenance bits when I bought it in March - fluids/filters ect. , a lot of which I haven't got around to doing yet, so ALL the fluids are either changed or included ready to do! Plus UK satnav and DVD included (another nearly £1k spent on it!). It is a very nice and very unique car! Go on - make my mind up for me and help me buy a Celica!

In theory that is right, but a lot of cars have been known to have had a declared manufactured date that is actually an imported date! Due to human stupidity! You only have to 'declare' manufactured dates on imports (at least thats how it was - probably changed now due to the stricter laws on importing), so the importer could declare anything they want really if the person actually doing the registration (DVLA) doesn't know any better! That car is a strange one! It has '91 - '94 rear lights, so almost certainly a '91, but with new front and spoiler, but it has non-standard wheels aswell! They are wheels off the TT or UZZ32, not the UZZ31! So if you are very lucky, it could actually be UZZ32, just with cloth seats at the original owners request from the factory (or changed afterwards)! On the dash around the gearstick, does it have a TEMS 'Sport' button? If so, then it is a UZZ31, if not, its a UZZ32 :D Or look under the bonnet and on top of the sus struts - does it say TEMS, or ACTIVE SUSENSION?

Not massively knowledgeable on turbos myself! But, they should be audible, but only as a slight background noise. No loud whining or anything. 42k Kms it should be pretty mint still! Just make as sure as you can that the milage is genuine. There should be no signs of wearing on the steering wheel and very little on the seats for that sort of milage. Check service history if you can. A few of the turbo owners should be along soon to tell you everything you need to know, plus a lot more probably!

Thats Bill's V8.

By 'off the line', Al means literally to about 5metres! Look at the 2nd vid...the V8 does get off quicker. I'd guess the TT boys have honed their starts more than the V8 men :P Before the turbos kick in, its basically a 2.5l engine against a 4l engine with (a lot) more torque!

So what does everyone think of this then? :P Most of you have probably seen my car by now, but its quite relevant to this thread (even though its really old, but I've just come across it!). It is quite 'a really large car' :P