Tuning the Lexus LS and best LS performance parts.

LS based modified car projects

You can do a lot worse than choose the Lexus LS for a tuning project, as it can make quite an effective track day car given the right modifications despite it's large size. Weight reduction should obviously be a priority if you want to take the car to the maximum.

Uprating your LS's cornering and general handling is often a big priority. We would go to a maximum drop of 45mm in most siltations. You will if you are not careful risk rubbing on the arches if you go lower than this but rolling or pulling the arches can get round this.

Lowering the car needs to be subtly done due to the terrible road surfaces we have to contend with. We would also recommend fitting polyurethane bushings to tighten up the suspension, especially on older or high mileage examples.

We shall now turn our focus to the LS engine. If you want to get a little more power out of the top end we need to choose our mods carefully. The early 4.0 V8 engines were very strong units and from the factory made reasonable power figures. The later 4.3 and 4.6 benefited from a major power hike without too much of a fuel economy compromise. In 2007 Lexus switched in the most powerful engine yet, the 5.0L Hybrid V8 unit making around 440hp!

We've seen people spend £1000's and only getting a relatively small power gain of 10-20bhp on the massive V8 engines. So choose your mods carefully and have a thorough read of our tuning articles for an overview on what works and what doesn't.

Lexus LS Tuning modifications.

Peak power is all well and good but if you want a truly driveable car it will need a wide power band and lots of low down torque. Fast road cams can really transform an engine and in most engines you make pretty good power gains but don't go too mad with the cam profile or it will be undrivable in heavy traffic.

If your car is making more power then it will need more air and fuel so fuelling upgrades are important mods if you are serious about power. Just getting larger capacity injectors will go a long way in ensuring you deliver sufficient fuel in your tuned LS project.

Lexus LS intake and exhaust modifications.

Let's move on to the engine intake and exhaust and ensure proper flow through the engine. Derestricting the airflow into the engine is the primary part of tuning so get a better flowing air filter. Induction kits sound great with the induction roar they create but due to the warm air in the engine bay they will not add noticeable power and actually rob you of power.

Please do not go with the biggest exhaust you can find this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best for power gains are usually between 2.5 to 3.0 inches. See our article on performance exhausts for details of the issue around large bore exhausts and how to choose the right size for your engine.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased with some professional porting and polishing. These should match and be setup to take into account any other engine mods. A good fast road power clutch will help to keep that power going where it should. Never just hope that a standard worn clutch will cope. NASP engines do not achieve big power gains if you remap them, unless you have done extensive modifications. With turbocharged engines this is another story.

Despite the large cost involved adding forced induction to a NASP engine will give large power gains. It is easier to bolt on a supercharger than it is to get a turbo working. See our fitting a turbo kit article for guidance on this. With a turbo the boost curve is related exponentially to the engine speed making it hard to map. Superchargers however will give a boost which is proportional to engine speed so is easier to map. To cope with forced induction you will usually need to decrease the compression ratio of the engine. Keep an eye out for a Lexus LS supercharger kit and enjoy the benefits of forced induction.

Lexus LS Wheel modifications.

Because alloy wheels are lighter they improve performance and they help to cool the brake discs. Large LS alloy wheels can decrease performance. If you get big alloy wheels you will be changing your final drive ratio. For this reason we would advise sticking to a maximum wheel size of  17 or 18 inches, although we know some of our members have gone larger than this with no problems.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss LS options in more detail with our LS owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Lexus tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Lexus. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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