KING OF FITMENT

The Q is back in original condition, after new inner barrels for the rear wheels. I had them mounted on Saturday after this happened:

Anyway, I missed driving this beast! <3

LULZ

So… I might be picking up a new toy soon. More news will be forthcoming when I pick it up :D

I’ll be returning to my roots. I won’t be giving up on the LS, but I wanted to add something sporty to the stable again. I’ll talk more about it when I get closer to taking delivery!

So I’ve been looking into lip/half-bumper style kits for the LS, because I really want to run the JDM optional HID/LED fogs. Also, it’s because the Mode Parfume aero is helllllllllaaaa expensive.

I’ve been looking at the Junction Produce Sports lip kit:

I think it’s pretty slick, and it’s way less ubiquitous than the Wald. Thoughts?

So I just got back from my friend’s Lexus dealership (at 2:17 in the morning, haha). Turns out the harness is being weird on the Data Systems controller, and that’s why the car was throwing AFS/height sensor codes. The ECU wasn’t seeing a reading from the front height sensors. Interestingly enough, a quick multimeter read of the harness showed it was OK, and after we put everything back together, the error disappeared. Must’ve been a loose pin somewhere. Hmm.

We also put in the 10.1 navigation map update for this car. Holy shit. 22 pages of instructions and 1 hour later, we were done, haha. Here’s an in-progress shot:

The printed instructions are sitting on the roof of the car, the nav update special service tool is sitting on the ground by the driver’s side door, and that’s a battery tender hooked up to the trunk-mounted 12v battery.

FML. I can’t believe it took all that for a silly nav update.

Yay! I updated the blog theme on Friday, and I’ve been working out the kinks. I think it’s good enough to use now…

So I’ve been a huge fan of the Mode Parfume 600h (turns out a lot of hits to this site are from people searching for the car on Google). Tanabe/SSR just released some photos of the car on different wheels (I think it’s a Photoshop, though):

This is awesome because the Werfens in the photo look very similar to the Radenergie R5′s I have sitting in the garage (this is just a stock photo, not the actual set I own):

So now I know the wheels are going to look good on the car.

The other day, I also priced some AST coilovers for the car, and they’re not going to be cheap. But look at them, they’re beautiful:

Those are photos of AST’s 5000 series coilover — I think I’m going to spring for a set of those, without remote reservoir, single adjustable, and double tap. I don’t think I’d be able to find someone who could help me tune a double-adjustable shock on a VIP-styled car and it’s probably not worth it for a street cruiser.

Anyway, other than that, I picked up a new smart key card for the car. The previous owner had broken the one that came with the car. I need to get it programmed soon. Hmm. This is what it looks like:

So that’s all the progress on the car so far. Nothing too cool, huh?

Mode Parfume GA-MU Regalia LS600hL <3

The specs list on this car is pretty insane too. Here it is, copied-and-pasted:

【TANABE with MODE PARFUME EXHAUST SYSTEM】REGALIA FULL EXHAUST SYSTEM, FRONT&CENTER MUFFLER, REAR MUFFLER

FRONT STYLISH BUMPER with CARBON UNDER SPOILER, SIDE SKIRT with CARBON UNDER FLAP, REAR STYLISH BUMPER with CARBON UNDER WING, CARBON TRUNK SPOLER, PRISM SYNC FOG LIGHT (BLACK CHROME SPECIFICATIONS), LED REAR FOG LIGHT

【TANABE with MODE PARFUME SUSPENSION SYSTEM】REGALIA SUSPENSION SYSTEM, REAGLIA TEAS SYSTEM, ROBERUTA LIFTER SYSTEM

【ENDLESS with MODE PARFUME BRAKE SYSTEM】REGALIA BREAK CALIPER SYSTEM FRONT:FORGED 12 POT CALIPER & 2 PIECE(400Φ)ROTOR REAR:FORGED 8 POT CALIPER & 2 PIECE(400Φ)ROTOR

BBS LM-R
21inch×10.0J +35
21inch×10.0J +35
TOYO TIRES PROXES C1S
255/30-21
255/30-21

【T-DEMAND with MODE PARFUME PRO ARM SYSTEM】FRONT UPPER ARM, FRON SHORT KNUCKLE ARM, FRONT TENSION ARM, REAR UPPER ARM, REAR TRACTION ARM, REAR LOWER ARM, REAR TENSION ARM, REAR TOECONTROL ARM, REAR STABILINK ROD

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. My car’s totally changed in the past few months.

Here’s some visuals of what’s transpired since I last posted (about the FYC cruise, if I’m not mistaken):

Then I sold the wheels.

I got new FLCA’s.

The car now looks like this:

The new wheel spec is 18×10 ET-6 18×12 ET-7, with Nankang NS-II in 225/40 and 255/35, respectively. The car now has a straight pipe exhaust setup, terminated with 3″ Magnaflow tips (the car still has all of the emissions control equipment — we just got rid of all the old piping, resonators, and mufflers. The car sounds bossy now).

Recently, though, I picked up a set of S13 Zeal Super Functions. Those will be getting dropped off at Endless/Zeal USA for a rebuild and revalve. I’m thinking of going 22/18 kg/mm spring rates for this iteration. Hopefully Ganesh at Endless/Zeal gets back to me soon about what length spring I should be running. I still need S14 ABS spindles/hubs, S14 rear upper pillowball mounts, and brakes — I can either bore out the S14 spindles for the stock Y33 brakes, or I can do S14/Z32 brakes. I’ve been seriously considering just going BBK, but I still need to do some measuring of the front wheel caliper clearance. If I got a BBK, I’d like to do a 6-piston, 380mm setup in the front, so inner diameter clearance on the Stitches might be an issue. Anyway, I have the fitment template in hand, but I haven’t had the time to take the wheel off and actually measure the damn clearance.

One of my new year’s resolutions is to post here more often. Let’s see if I can stick to that goal.

Happy new year!