SteveAvery

I've just noticed that I've not yet changed my profile picture. (I am trying to sell my black SC430 now.) I must take a picture of my red one and post it.

These stories show that Lexus Cheltenham is consistent in their good attitude and service. Yes, mine was the mesa red SC430. We collected it in early April. It cost us £20k, but, oh, what a car!

Buying my SC430 at Lexus Cheltenham was a very pleasant experience. All the staff were attentive, friendly, and seemed to be genuinely interested in satisfying the customer's needs. They made us feel comfortable during the transaction, and were easy to deal with. Mention should be made of Adrian Sparey, who agreed to pay for correcting a fault locally (not covered by the Lexus warranty), which had been overlooked during their pre-sale inspection. There's little wonder that Lexus Cheltenham hold the "top dealer" position in customer surveys. In stark contrast, Lexus Southend, which, unfortunately, is my local dealer, is at the opposite end of the scale of customer satisfaction: uncaring, unfriendly, intractable and untrustworthy.

I've just seen this. I wonder if you were talking about Lexus Southend. I've just had a very irritating experience with them, as a result of which they have kept £83.50 of my money.

I've learned a lot from this, which will help with my research. Thank you. You will certainly save me some money!

Regarding the SC430 exhaust system, by an amazing coincidence I trotted along to a local specialist, and guess what he had up on the ramp when I arrived... Only a 2001 Lexus SC430! He had just fitted a custom-made stainless steel system up to the forward cats. The rear cat had been replaced by an X-tube for balance, and the single tail-pipes were larger. Although the car had more of a burble than usual, it didn't make a lot of difference to the sound, even when the engine was revved; so, I couldn't really see the point of the owner spending £700 on it. The mechanic berated the forward cats as being "ridiculously small", and therefore very restrictive. He quoted £500 each for supplying and fitting sports cats that would make a big difference to the power. That's £1,000! Do you think that this is a reasonable cost? As for equal-length manifolds, he said that there was not enough room in the engine bay to make them of equal length, but he would get as close as possible. It seems that the steering column goes right through the pipes, and that would be difficult to work around. That, along with a cost of £800 per side, has made the decision for me to leave them alone.

Thanks for the valuable advice. Food for thought, indeed.

Lexus SC430 wanted. Deep metallic red; I think the colour is pomegranate or massa, perhaps? I might consider a plain red SC430. 6-speed. Lowest possible mileage, but definitely under 50k miles. No black or grey interior. No black interior 'A' pillars or windscreen upper beam. After-market extras are acceptable, even a body kit. Mechanical modifications are also acceptable.

Oh, dear. The words "slippery slope" spring to mind, and I certainly don't want the problems heard from the car in the video. Perhaps I got the mistaken impression that new cams were necessary when installing sports headers and exhaust. If it's OK to install the exhaust system without changing the cams, I'd much rather just do that. You all probably think that I'm naïve. That's because I am.

Thank you for the summary, Craig, and for the note about the cams. What the reasoning behind the necessity for a change of cams, then?

Hello again, Neil. Thanks for that info. It's taken a while and input from several knowledgeable enthusiasts, but I think that, finally, I'm getting to where I want to be.

I think that, thanks to your advice, I've come to a decision. I'll drop the switchable opening straight-through valve. I'll fit: - the SR intake and ECU mod, - equal-length headers, - stainless steel sports exhaust system with sports cats. Thank you.

That's very disappointing. It's greater acceleration at low speeds that I want. I thought that a sports exhaust system with sports cats would give me that. Or are you referring solely to the switchable opening valve that I mentioned, when you say that I'd lose low-end torque?

I want to increase power only by adding a cold air induction system and a sports exhaust system with a 'Fast 'n' Loud' / Mustang-type switchable opening exhaust valve before the two rear cats. I'm guessing that this could take it close to 350 hp, perhaps. Does anyone have a notion of the maximum horse-power that the SC430 can take without the need to uprate or strengthen anything on the car?

I wanted to add a body kit to my black SC430, and have the car painted red, as the new panels would need to be painted, anyway. On getting quotations, however, I think that it'd be more economical to sell my car and buy a red one, because changing the colour of an SC430 is costly to get a good, professional finish in all the cracks and crevices. So, would anyone like to swap their red, 6-speed SC430 with any interior except black or grey, under 50k miles, for my late 2007 (57) black, 6-speed SC430, tan interior, 57k miles plus some cash? If yours has damage to the bumpers or front wings, it doesn't matter, as these will be changed for the kit panels. I could also do a straight swap for a red car with similar mileage to mine.

Why are there so few late SC430s? I love my 2007 SC430 so much that I want a later model with fewer miles. I want to spend some money on it, including for a sports exhaust system, a cold air induction gizmo and a body kit. I figure that it would be more sensible to spend the money on a car that is going to last longer than mine. Although they were manufactured until 2010, I was astounded to find only one 2008 example on the Web! I would have bought that one because it had low mileage, but it had a black interior, which I dislike. There are many available for sale up to 2007, but why are there almost none after 2007? It seems very strange, but there must be a reason, I suppose.

Thanks for this valuable info, Neil. I'd like the item number of those reversing lights, please, if you still have your Ebay purchase details. I couldn't find anything that small, except number plate lights, which, I assume, are not as bright. I'd also like to read the chronicle of your build, if you can tell me its URL, please. I'll let you know how I get on with the Poles, and publish "before" and "after" pictures when the job's done.

Yes, Neil, that's exactly the kit I bought. I think that it's the best-looking one on the market. It makes your car look great. No, I'd make a complete mess of it, if I were to attempt to fit it myself. There's a local body repair shop here where even supercar owners take their cars, because they are so good at what they do. Fortunately, the owner is a buddy of mine. I'm guessing that you fitted yours yourself. It looks like a perfect job from your photos. Can you tell me where you had any problems with its fitting? I'm particularly concerned about difficulties re-fitting the headlamp washers and the front and rear parking sensors. Was that hard to do? I've spent ages scouring the Web for LED reversing lights small enough to fit into those little holes, but you seem to have managed it. Where did you get them, please? Are they bright enough? The original ones on my car don't throw out much light at all. I'm thinking that it may be because they're tucked way down low below the bumper. I therefore thought that I'd bring them higher, and position them just inside the rear fog lamps, which would occupy their original positions in the new rear end. I heard from the Poles. They admitted that they were having problems, and told me that they'd lost their moulds. (How on Earth can anyone lose such large items, I wonder?) They asked me to be patient and to wait a couple of weeks, when they hope to be able to send a kit. I always buy stuff through PayPal; so, I know that I'll get my money back if they fail to deliver.

Thanks for the info and advice, guys. I'll try to track down that UK company that makes intakes for the SC430, and compare it to SRT's. 9.5" wheels sound good to me. I'll look for some. Neil: The kit I've ordered does not include a rear spoiler, I'm afraid, but only front, rear and side skirts. I've just had bad news about it, though. I bought it from Poland, because it was £300 cheaper than anywhere else. They said that they'd send me shipping details on Monday 05 Jan, but, when I reminded them yesterday, I got an out-of-office message saying that they'd gone on holiday on Sunday 04 Jan for two months! £500 goes a long way in Poland, and I suspect that they have, too. John: Sorry if this thread upsets you, but I am getting much valuable info from it. I don't want a track car per se. (Indeed, I wish to sell my other car, which is too powerful for me now in my dotage: replicars.co.uk ) I just want a little more "oomf" from my smooth, luxurious SC430, so that it acts and sounds a bit like the body kit suggests (if I ever get it).

Sound advice, indeed, Neil. Thank you. I'm happy with the handling as it is. I want only increased acceleration in a straight line, with a bit of noise. I got the cold air induction idea, because I always notice that my car is considerably quicker off the mark when the engine is cold. I discovered that this occurs because cold air is denser, with more oxygen..Therefore I am hoping that, with the SRT system installed, I'll be able to get the same effect all the time. But perhaps this layman's logic is too simplistic... We shall see. I'll look into re-mapping after the induction and exhaust systems are installed. Perhaps they'll be enough for me. I do love this car. It's the best I've ever owned, by far. I am serious about giving it "the treatment". In fact, I am awaiting delivery of a very attractive body kit as the first step.

Great advice again. Thanks, Craig. You're a gem!

Very good info, Craig. Thanks. I've decided against a torque converter, and await Neil's results of his check into the gearbox adjustment settings that he mentioned above. I assume that your comments about the behaviour of the ECT with the torque converter applies equally to the "gearbox adjustment settings" referred to. Thanks for the tip about equal-length headers. I'd have had no inkling of this without your advice. A "good remap" sounds great: More power without using more fuel! It beats me why this isn't standard. I hope that I can find someone to do this who knows what he's doing and doesn't screw it up. How about my local Lexus service centre? They should know how to do it, shouldn't they?

Your comments are encouraging, Neil. Thank you very much. I'll go for the SRT induction system and a performance exhaust system to start with. I'm glad that you pointed out that removing a cat is not allowed, because I have heard suggestions to remove them. In that case I'll just replace them with sports cats, as you suggest. Any recommendations? For track days, I could have a console switch installed to open a valve so that the exhaust escapes through a hole in front of the rear cats, à la 'Fast 'n' Loud'. Do you like this idea? As you think that the gearbox adjustment setting for faster changes would be a cost-effective improvement, I'll consider that also, once you've completed your checks on it. How would that affect the ECT switch, which itself provides quicker throttle response and holds each gear longer than when it is switched off? Would that continue to function in the same way, but with even quicker response, or would it be rendered irrelevant? I'll pass on the torque converter. It sounds a bit OTT. My wheels are in awful condition; so, I need to renew them, anyway. I've been told that increasing the diameter upsets the speedo and odo; so, that's a no-no. But I would like to have wider wheels and tyres. How wide can they be, without fouling the wheel arches? I think that coil-overs and shocks will take the mods beyond what I can afford. So, induction, exhaust, gearbox adjustment (perhaps) and wheels will be my limit. If these can get my car to 60 mph in about 5 secs, I'll be happy.

Thanks for all this info. After reading it all, I've done some investigation. As a non-auto-engineer, I'm a bit out of my depth, but It seems that there are three things that could be done without uprating the engine itself: 1. SRT (Swift Racing Technologies) cold air induction system with heat shield and chip. + 15-20 bhp. 2. Custom-built outlet manifolds and a performance exhaust system, minus a catalytic converter or two. + 20-40 bhp. 3. Higher stall speed torque converter. This would launch the car MUCH faster and provide faster downshifts and gear changes. I'd appreciate comments on these three options, please.

I like the RegNum "XI OUT" in that picture. Are you a cricketer?