RE: SOTW: Lexus LS400

[williamp]

Great cr. I'm surprised Garlick hasnt bought one!

A Toyota V8 engine must be a good bet to be transplanted into something more....lightweight?

[nsmith1180]

Fantastic Shed. Lovely barge.

Sent one of these to scrappage on wednesday. me and the general manager spent time mourning its passing.

[carinaman]

Didn't PPC put a Supra manual box on one of these V8s to put in a 200SX S13?

[RAZ666]

I have the 1996 face lift model and what a car,you can barely hear hear the engine,very comfortable and powerful v8 motor,would definitely recommend.Mines a daily driver by the way!!

[turbouberman]

carinaman said:

Didn't PPC put a Supra manual box on one of these V8s to put in a 200SX S13?

im not sure about that, but i know thor racing put the soarer v8 in supras with a manual box fitted. so i assume a manual box will go with them, and ive heard of v8 sx's

back to the ls400, slam it on airbags with some massive chromes, budget pimpin!!

[Prolex-UK]

In japan toyota offered a supercharged version............(twas badged as a Celsior)

[EDLT]

carinaman said:

Didn't PPC put a Supra manual box on one of these V8s to put in a 200SX S13?

They got half-way through then the car (and the bloke writing about it!) seemed to disappear.

[someoneelse]

You could always turn it into a TG-style police cruiser.

"Freemasonry opens doors, James!"

[jbi]

Prolex-UK said:

In japan toyota offered a supercharged version............(twas badged as a Celsior)

Yup... I've got one, and no it was not supercharged

Only real differences are the rear light cluster and the jap spec radio...

Won't pick up on UK frequencies as they are too high for it's range...

No biggie... radio was one of the first things to be swapped out

Absolutely love my car... would have another in a heartbeat.

Edited by jbi on Friday 22 January 20:06

[XB70]

jbi said:

Prolex-UK said:

In japan toyota offered a supercharged version............(twas badged as a Celsior)

Yup... I've got one, and no it was not supercharged

Only real differences are the rear light cluster and the jap spec radio...

Won't pick up on UK frequencies as they are too high for it's range...

No biggie... radio was one of the first things to be swapped out

Absolutely love my car... would have another in a heartbeat.

Edited by jbi on Friday 22 January 20:06

Don't forget the JDM speed limiter too.

[jbi]

XB70 said:

jbi said:

Prolex-UK said:

In japan toyota offered a supercharged version............(twas badged as a Celsior)

Yup... I've got one, and no it was not supercharged

Only real differences are the rear light cluster and the jap spec radio...

Won't pick up on UK frequencies as they are too high for it's range...

No biggie... radio was one of the first things to be swapped out

Absolutely love my car... would have another in a heartbeat.

Edited by jbi on Friday 22 January 20:06

Don't forget the JDM speed limiter too.

for some reason mine won't work

[hairykrishna]

skid said:

GuinnessMK said:

Did any of these come with a manual box??

Or is there a manual that will bolt up to the V8?

No and Yes.

No manual option but huge easy tuning potential and conversion kits for many manual gearboxes, including for mid mounting.

Remember this engine was built and tuned for comfort so is consequentially massively over engineered. 400 or 500 bhp is no problem with very modest investment with a megasquirt ECU (other aftermarket engine management systems are available) and some second hand turbos, or maybe a Jag or Merc Eaton supercharger. When the engine goes bang go and buy another one because the cars in scrap yards will have working engines because they far out live the rest of the car.

If you want this alloy 32valve V8 for tuning go for the earlier ones as they have the thickest conrods.

Also for all transmission and tuning check out:

www.lextreme.com

large antipodean and US members who have many of these vehicles originally in their markets so now abundance of used to play with. I kid you not, this V8 has been used in Speed boats, planes, drag racers, track day cars, circuit single seaters, sleepers, show cars, oval racers etc etc.

I've actually got 2 or 3 of them in my garage. Definately keeping one for future project, but if any one's interested in having one I could probably do with the space so drop me a line.

Cheers
Mark

Edited by skid on Friday 22 January 17:03

I've got an adaptor plate and flywheel to mount one up to an MR2 turbo gearbox. A project I need to get on with at some point this year!

Great engines.

[Oelholm]

Schermerhorn said:

JayMan said:

Great Shed. Right up my street this one.

Did you know that LEXUS stands for Luxury EXecutives for the US?

Yup, I did.

But then again, I'm probably one of the biggest car nerds around and I'm in a job where I have to know such things (hence the high nerd rating )

- I always thought it meant "Luxury EXport U.S."...

Wiki (almost!) says I'm right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus

[ianwayne]

One poster asked how much new. I have an old car guide here, a 1993 (K) Lexus LS400 (listed under Toyota) was £38657.

And some insurance companies will do this as a 'classic' at 15 y.o.

[dbdb]

They were an excellent car. I prefer the charm of a Jag, but have to admire the Lexus for its engineering.

David

[Athlon]

I have a '99 model, facelift car, Xenon headlights (first in the UK?) sat nav, electic everything, just a great car, damn fast as well, twice I have said I will sell it and backed down! Sounds awesome at 6100 on full throttle as well

[FRED SLIPPAGE]

Dint Toyota put the same engine in the Soarer coupe ? it would also be nice transplanted in a Supra if it can be done

[theironduke]

mr_fibuli said:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRU2lDCSfBU

That noise sir, is obscene!!

[gareth_r]

FRED SLIPPAGE said:

Didn't Toyota put the same engine in the Soarer coupe? It would also be nice transplanted in a Supra if it can be done

A Soarer V8 drops straight into a Mk4 Supra - same chassis/crossmember.

GuinnessMK said:

...is there a manual that will bolt up to the V8?

The usual gearbox choices (weakest to strongest) are W58 from a non-turbo Mk3 or Mk4 Supra, R154 from a Mk3 Supra turbo or anything fitted with a 1JZ-GTE, or for extreme cases the Getrag 6-speed from a Supra or even a T56. None of them bolt on, but there are plenty of choices of engine to bellhousing adaptors, bellhousing to gearbox adaptors, bellhousings, or even CAD files if you want to DIY.

Lextreme has already been mentioned, there's also http://v-eight.com.

Edited by gareth_r on Friday 22 January 23:32

[Rollcage]

Oelholm said:

Schermerhorn said:

JayMan said:

Great Shed. Right up my street this one.

Did you know that LEXUS stands for Luxury EXecutives for the US?

Yup, I did.

But then again, I'm probably one of the biggest car nerds around and I'm in a job where I have to know such things (hence the high nerd rating )

- I always thought it meant "Luxury EXport U.S."...

Wiki (almost!) says I'm right

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus

LEXUS does not stand for anything. I knew that looooong before Wiki did!