Lexus LS 400 Silver State UnChallenged

The statute of limitations allow for unprosecutable acts after a certain amount of years.    So we waited more than ten years to tell this.  In keeping with Toysport’s policy of anonymous characters in all project cars, you will have to guess who were involved. The cast of characters have dispersed, and are safely remote from possible sanctions. 

This all happened in 1989.

A statement of fact- we were first to modify the original LS 400, so technically the first to modify a Lexus !.   The conspirators involved ranged from the highest positions in Toyota USA: the Executive Office, Product Planning, Technical Center, Vehicle Services, ……in each department there was a Toyota enthusiast who despite the conservative corporate structure at Lexus, helped out.  This actually was not a conspiracy- since they really did not know what collective support they individually have given and what we were doing.

When the Lexus brand was introduced, the product was well protected in terms of market positioning, magazine editorials, and so on.  The Lexus as delivered is as perfect a car can be.  So when we received a silver LS 400, for “product evaluation”- we were not suppose to modify anything.  We were bound and honored that premise.  .At Toysport, the aura of LEXUS, that Toyota heavily invested in, is and  was well respected. 

In the course of evaluation, we happened to receive a set of the European Spec brakes- these were original factory issue front calipers and big rotors (for European bound- Celsiors).  These were factory parts, so they were upgrades- no modification needed.  They were put on.  The catalytic converters on the vehicle were damaged in a curb incident, so they were replaced with Supra Turbo units.  The LS stopped quicker and accelerated better.  For the first time, a Lexus driver was seen with a bigger grin and not just a discrete smile!  Yes it beat a Q45, no sweat, driven by the Nissan Motorsport Director.

There was talk of racing the 1UZFE engines (in a US based sports car series) and we found 2 engines to teardown and inspect.  For the class the car was suppose to enter- we gave an honest opinion that the buttom-end was not strong enough to run at the RPM level needed to develop the HP required.  But we found some interesting things to do to the head.  And so we prepared a pair.

A good old friend Mr. HH, happened to stop by to visit.  He was a publisher of one of the original Sports Car magazines (so much unlike the current crop) and a Bonneville veteran.  He was inquiring about the LS for a magazine article he wanted to do for Toyota.  Put two-guys who like cars together- and you are immediately talking about racing.  The topic quickly changed about a Lexus magazine article- into entering the Lexus in the Nevada Silver State challenge (1990).  A 100+ mile flat-out race against the clock on closed public highway.  So officially I turned over the Lexus to the magazine.

And we were all laughing at how the people at Lexus would react-

By sheer coincidence, the same week we had a visitor from Germany, Mr. Eibach, accompanied by another pioneer in the suspension technology business.  Talk revolved around how Japanese cars were not cut out for the high-speed autobahns of Europe.  So we gave them the springs and sway bars off the Lexus to prototype some pieces.  We needed a high speed suspension set-up for the Nevada event and they had the experience to design the set-up.

The engine was set-up with modified heads, the exhaust with turbo cats and custom exhaust.  Suspension was custom wound by Eibach and tires were by Goodyear.  Gearing was adjusted to reach 160 MPH @ 500RPM below redline.  We figured a Class win was all we needed.  The car had two runs to San Francisco and the set-up was finalized.  For sure a lot of people will be surprised.

Two weeks before the event, there was a PR problem with Goodyear tires on the Lexus LS 400’s- and Lexus in their obsessive protection of name and product absolutely clamped down on all news sources and events.  Goodyear argued that tire was not the problem, but the specification Lexus supplied (for the OE tire)…and wanted us to run wiyh Goodyear Performance tires to prove their point.  But we parked the car- we can always choose a different tire brand, but we prefer driving Toyotas- even if says Lexus on the trunk.