Personally I would not believe everything I read in Motor Trend. As we all found out at Mania III, at least one MT editor doesn't even know how to spell 'Lincoln'. :>)
I found one of these at a dealer in Houston. I seem to remember a discussion about this vehicle some time ago. Apparently it was available the first few months of production. Any thoughts?
jdonnee - IIRC there are 2 screws under the dash that hold the plastic piece just below the switch in place. Once you remove those screws, that piece also has a couple of clips holding it on that just pull out. Finally, the wud piece can then be removed.
Thanks to all the Lincoln folks for showing us a great time. Tracey and I both had a blast!! To Brian and Debbie, thanks for all the hard work and hospitaliity you showed us. You guys made it the great time that it was. To all the wonderful club members, it was truly a pleasure to meet you all and spend time getting to know you. I look forward to the next event.
I'm the new owner of a 2000 V8 Sport. Its my first used car in 20 years, but I expect to enjoy its next 32,000 miles. Last car I drove that felt this good was an XR4TI.
I've read hundreds of posts here, and appreciate the opportunity to learn from all of you long-term owners. I've especially appreciated your insight and experience on things I'll be needing soon such as tires and brakes.
I'm experiencing a few "nits" that I haven't seen discussed previously (but then I only read the last couple thousand posts).
First is a hum through the sound system. It's intermittant, but present in all modes (Radio/Tape/CD), and varies with RPM. Suspect its more altenator oriented than a spark suppression issue. Car has the Alpine audio system.
Second is the climate control system which seems to hit me continuousy with a cold draft, apparently through the defrosters. I'm in central Virginia, and I'm experiencing this at temps between 25 and 45. This my third Ford product with ACC, but I've never had this problem. I know the A/C cycles for dehumidification purposes. Has anyone experienced blend door problems with too much chilled air routed to the defroster vents? I keep the temp setting at about 72.
Finally, can anyone tell me the purpose of the amber light shining from inside the rearview mirror mount but visible only from the outside of the car when the car is running? Sometimes it burns steadily, and sometimes it flashes. I read the owner's manual before buying the car, and I just don't find it referenced anywhere.
I have a 10/99 build Autumn Red V8 Sport with orange peel on almost every surface. You have to be up close to notice it. I assume it's in the color coat and can't be wet sanded without first taking off the clearcoat (which I'm not about to do). I'm glad to hear that and the other problems have been fixed in Wixom.
If they fix those problems, spruce up the interior and add more horsepower, what will be left to complain about?
Not even another 1000+ miles on the road has taken the edge off the excitement of the weekend. Mania 2 was hard to top; Mania 3 did it. I'm repeating what's already been posted but it all bears repeating. I'll never be able to adequately express my appreciation and admiration to the people at Lincoln. Once again they rolled out the red carpet for a bunch of car nuts. We were at PAG Headquarters from about 8AM till around 6PM and they kept us wined, dined, entertained and informed the whole time. As for comments on the '03: 1) I saw it (actually there were two of them, and 2) I like it.
Another great job of planning and organizing to make the event happen, and the party Brian & Debbie threw at their home was above and beyond the call, and a wonderful evening.
As for the Lincoln Commitment: It's not often that rookies get to race their cars and have engineers from the manufacturer running in the same event, including the guy who designed the suspension. I wonder if that ever happens to Brand B owners.:) BTW, as Brian suggested, autocrossing really opened my eyes to the handling abilities of the LS. I thought I was pretty hot stuff playing around on public roads; now I am downright awed by what this car is capable of.
If anyone is cynical about Lincoln's commitment to this car, join LLSOC and come to the next event. If you just want to be a cynic, it's your loss.
Again & as always, many, many thanks to Brian, Debbie, Steve, Ray, & everyone else in the club who made this happen.
The light from the rearview mirror mount is the sensor for the automatic wipers.
Sounds like a bad ground on the audiophile amp in the trunk. Adding a second ground wire might fix it. If it's still under warranty have the dealer check it and the ACC.
Non-sport brake pads have been recommended for the fronts - less dust. Braking is almost as good as the sport pads. If you want high performance, there is a link on llsoc.com for aftermarket pads that are also highly recommended.
For tires, the Michelins come highly recommended. MXM4 is the new OEM tire and a decent all-around performer. The Pilot Sport A/S is a great all-season tire that's especially good in the wet but handles better than some ultra high performance summer tires. The Pilot Sport is probably the ulitmate in dry grip. These aren't cheap but they're great tires. There are several other choices and brands depending on your tastes and budget. Go to www.tirerack.com and do a size search. The OEM size is 235/50R17 (8 or so choices) but you can also use 245/45R17 (30+ choices).
As for the grin you can't get rid of and the uncontrollable desire to go drive somewhere - well, we haven't found a cure for that yet.
Congrats on your new, used, LS. Have you joined LLSOC yet?
Akirby's advice is right on. Let me add:
On tires: I just returned from MANIA III where the LS program engineer who led the design team for the suspension and I'm pretty sure had a big hand in specifying the OEM tires for the LS said, paraphrasing IIRC: 'If I needed to put new tires on an LS I wouldn't hesitate to get another set of the OEM Firehawks, after all, they were designed for this car.' Lincoln moved away from the Firestone Firehawks in large part due to the Explorer/Firestone flap. Some on this board don't like em. Only complaint I have is I think they have too much road noise, but then I haven't had another tire on my LS yet. Also let me say that I blasted my LS around the SCCA autocross course at MANIA III on Sat and the Firehawks performed admirably.
Now, the cold air problem: I know what you're talking about cause mine does it too. I get hit with cold air in my face even when warm air is coming out of the center vents. I finally traced it to the small defroster vent for the side window, as well as the windshield defroster. I don't think you'll like what the dealer service dept told me any more than I did, again paraphrasing from memory: 'Well, that vent is farther from the plenum than others so it will naturally lose heat.' I argued the point but had to quit when he offered to explain the laws of physics to me. I declined since I am an engineer and have a pretty good grasp of physics. I was going to ask how in the heck physics changes when I get home and the farthest vent from my furnace still blows hot air, but I knew that hot air would just be blown back on me, so I left it at that, for now. His solution does work, but only if you're not needing the defroster: change the HVAC from 'AUTO' to the little icon that points to chest vents and floor vents only. While this negates the auto blend feature, it does not turn off the temp control. I know, not very satisfactory, but that's where I'm at at this time. If you have any more luck with your dealer, please post it. Next time, I'm going in with my darkroom thermometer. I'm going to show him how much colder the defrost is than the chest (IP) vents and ask him to please show me the calculations for this much thermal loss over a distance of what, a few inches or at most a couple of feet.
Many thanks to everyone who helped organize this event.
The all-day event at PAG HQ went by so fast. Mike's right - the food was great: Continental (or was it Town Car?:>) breakfast, full lunch and, at 5PM or so, great appetizers including California roll, crab cakes, teriyaki beef etc along with cabernet and chardonnay. Great job, Lincoln.
The PAG HQ building is a marvelously beautiful piece of architecture. Very 'LA modern'. Lots of long, straight lines mixed with angles and curves. Huge doors and window glass. Skylights. Light colors-white, bright grey, brushed chrome etc IIRC. A lobby maybe 50 yards wide (???) with one vehicle from each of the 6 PAG lines on display. There was a green LS V6 manual, a Land Rover Freelander, a Volvo, an X-type Jag, and I think a Cougar and, this might be heresy, my favorite: a white Aston-Martin convertible.
A huge showroom on the first floor (behind closed doors) with three turntables, on which were a Vivid Red 2002 LS and one each V8 and V6 2003 LS.
Outside in front of the building was another auto-display area where there were 4 vehicles, including a Navigator. This area was made more interesting in that it was canted very slightly away from the building and a thin coating of water gently and continuously flowed down the platform and under the cars. Probably provides nice reflections of the cars under the right light. We didn't have the right light!
We were shown 5 of the 6 floors. The one we didn't see housed the design studio. Bummer, but understandable. As mentioned previously each floor (and each elevator for that matter) had it's own theme relating to the car line(s) HQ'd on that floor. Each one was spectacularly done. The best, IMHO and perhaps not surprisingly, belonged to Jaguar/Aston-Martin. Not only was the theme curvaceous with luxurious wood and coated glass, but it was on the second floor and had a large 'balcony' area overlooking the huge first floor display area, affording a great view of the 6 shiny vehicles on display below.
I took several photos of each floor's lobby area and will get them posted to my web site or LLSOC ASAP, which probably means at least a week into the future.
There was a 2+ hour 'round table' in the morning with IIRC, 7 Lincoln representatives. Many kudos and gripes were aired and responded to. Very open discussion. A beautiful placque was awarded to Brian _____, (can someone post his name?) a wunderbar Lincoln tech at our Kahuna's home dealership.
Then lunch and lots of gabbing with the Lincoln folks.
Then 3+ hours in the showroom looking at, drooling over, sitting in, maybe even fondling, the 3 LSes on display. Many, if not all, of the changes and new features of the freshened 2003 LSes were presented to us in a slide show, just as they were to LM dealerships in Vegas just a day or 2 before. Many LM ads were previewed for us (some of which I personally didn't like, but then I surf to another channel whenever the ads come on anyway) and one of the Lincoln designers gave a presentation describing Lincoln's intended future direction. For anyone who's been following LMs' concept car introductions and press reports, there wasn't a whole lot new there, but there was a whole lot of info and perspective presented. And there was one particularly hilarious slide which had a tag line something like 'Simplicity of design' with a photo of the concept Continental we've all seen, this juxtaposed with a sub-tag-line something like 'no wild over-the-top designs for us' - which accompanied 2 photos - one of the monstrous tail fins of the '59 Eldorado and the other of the front end of the '03 Cadillac CTS. What a hoot. This was followed by another long Q&A session about the 2003 LSes in which every question was answered quickly and forthrightly. Well, every question but one. There are some things they won't tell us!
I was able to take some photos of the vivid red 2002 LS which will also get posted somewhere, along with our motley crew surrounding the car. I was asked (surprise) not to photo the 2003s with which, to the chagrin of my small but sometimes influential anarchistic side, I complied.
Oh, and BTW, we were not introduced to this new 'Travel well with Lincoln' theme. I must admit, this tag line 'Doesn't sit well with me'. Just MHO.
I just came from my garage and noticed that my blue LS is turning green ... No wait, that's me who's turning green. :-0
Boy I wish I could have gone to Mania III with you all but such is fate. I won't miss Mania IV.
Hope you all found someone to drive the vans!
For those of you who haven't gone to one of these events yet, or whose cynical side precludes you from accepting that LM is being truthful and honest in their dealings with us owners ... GO. You can't imagine what you're missing.
Allen, you've got good eyes to see me grinning all the way up here, but grinning I am. Darn car just feels good. Fell in love with the styling first time I saw one, but now I know that's just the frosting; the cake's in the drive train and suspension.
It’s really good to hear how dedicated the PAG group is to this car and its drivers. I hope to get involved over time, and already printed out my LLSOC application. Brian, my check's almost in the mail.
For all of you out there having problems with your LSs, or any other car for that matter, let me share some wisdom I was granted back in the late 70s when I went to school a few miles west of Detroit (Go Blue).
This was a period of tremendous turmoil in the domestic auto industry. Reeling from the first serious import influx, they were still designing and building the wrong cars, and the designs weren't especially good. (Shall we talk GM's quality revolution based on the X-car, followed by the J-car? How about Cadillac's 4-6-8-cylinder solution to fuel economy? The K-car hadn't quite happened yet, nor had the first generation Escort. Anyway, I had a roommate with close ties to the industry who explained, "For 75 years, automobiles had been incredibly complex machines designed by incredibly talented people so that the average shade tree mechanic with a hammer, screwdriver, and crescent wrench could repair them. Well, that's all changing now, but give those incredibly talented people a few years to get things figured out".
To a large degree, my roommate was right. Cars have grown more sophisticated over the last 20 or 25 years, and there's even less that average shade tree mechanic can do to keep them running (you can't set the points with a matchbook cover anymore, or tune a carburetor by ear), but generally, drive train and suspension components just don't fail anymore. Yes, windows fall down, and stereo systems can hum, but the window in my Mustang used to fall too, and my eight track never worked especially well.
Does this make a crashing window today less frustrating, or poor parts availability more tolerable? No, but sometimes, even simple things break, more complexity means more parts to break, and when we choose to drive complex but relatively low-volume cars, parts availability is more likely to be a problem
Is the LS the pinnacle of automotive design? No, but it seems to be an awesome machine, incredibly complex, designed by incredibly talented and apparently highly dedicated people.
Lets give them a chance. They’ve licked the biggies, and will work out the various relatively minor problems too.
Though we had to get up earlier than at least I'd like (around 5:45). We had close to an hour drive to the speedway and we had to be there by 7:30 or 8. We all caravanned over there. I think there were about 15-20 (???) LSes following each other, jockeying for position, sometimes at up to 90 mph over, under, around and thru the freeways of LA. Finally we got there. It was foggy and surprisingly cold.
First we had to completely empty our cars, including the trunk and even the driver's floor mat. Then, we lined up to have our cars given a brief check by the SCCA folks to be sure the wheels wouldn't fall off or the engine wouldn't fall out. Everything went smoothly and quickly. Then we met a pair of SCCA drivers, a husband and wife team actually, who were extremely helpful to us novices. They explained the rules of the road and then we 'walked the course' with them.
The course was set up in the immense parking lot of the speeday with orange cones and white chalk. I would estimate the course was 3/4 mile long. As we walked, the SCCA instructor, whose name was Brian, explained how he would try to handle each turn, slalom and straight-away on the course. (I thought this would be really instructive. But when I got in my car for my first run and took off as fast as I could, suddenly I couldn't even tell where the heck the course went, never mind technique, and found myself going past the cones, scaring the hell out of a few workers in the middle of the course! Lesson learned the hard way - take it slow the first run or 2 til the layout sinks in.) After that, we picked up our group assignments and waited our turn to race the clock.
There were 4 groups and we LSers were divided amougnst them. There were lots of other cars there as well: Corvettes, a Camaro, SVT Contours, Mustang Cobras, 2 Audi S4s, a Mercedes or 3, 2 LEXUS is300S, Subaru WRXes (faster than hell, but look out! they sure seemed to me to hit a lot of cones), Civics, an older model Celica etc. Come to think of it, I think I saw only one BMW and that was one of the small 2 seater convertibles, can't recall the designation. Most of these cars were modified in some way. I'm pretty sure either one of the Mustang Cobras or the Camaro had the fastest time of the day, around 51 secs.
We (well, most of us:>) got 6 course runs in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. Each and every run was a blast, and I think most will agree that our times improved almost each time we ran. The course was tough, IMHO having little to compare it to. There was a 90 degree just after breaking the start light, a short straight, then a 270 degree really tight 'loop' which is what I missed on my first (and second) runs. Then you could do WOT while hugging cones doing turns and slaloms until the tight 180 at the other end, then back toward the start with a series of slaloms this way and that, several causing you to have to brake after you just accelerated. It was tough to see the speedometer, but I saw mine poke past 60 at one point. I might have gone faster, I dunno. SCCA Brian said 70-80 was probably what the good drivers would do on the fastest part of the course.
(Kahuna)Brian brought lots of sandwich fixins for lunch and we all enjoyed talking trash about our runs while eating. Each group also had to work the course while 2 other groups did their runs. This consisted of being responsible for a small area of the course by staying in the middle, out of the way of most (but not all:>) cars, and picking up any cones that got hit and placing them back in their chalked squares. Even this was pretty fun, though my group was out there for 1hour 50minutes, and I did more running (after cones) than I have in some time.
About 4:30 or 5 the event was wrapping up and we again terrified the freeways of LA while travelling to Brian Gowing's house for a pasta dinner, a Happy Birthday song to Brian's wife, Debi, another award to another Lincoln tech, some more great conversation, a raffle of a couple dozen donated goodies some with values of $200-300! Then we auctioned about 1/2 dozen great items including designer's renderings of the LS, 2 leather Lincoln folding chairs and more.
Finally at about 10PM, this long, exciting day was done and it was time for me to head back to the Doubletree to try to get some sleep. Sleep came tough cause my adrenaline was (and still is a bit as I write this) still flowing.
George, your recall is exceeded only by your skill as a wordsmith.
It was a blast. To those who weren't present: you missed a memorable event. Try to make the next one. To the nay-sayers and cynics: it's easy to shoot from the hip when you haven't a clue.
Artie, tired but happy with a 3rd LS Mania under my belt.
Nice summary, I think you've captured the major events and flavor of the entire weekend very well. I think its also noteworthy to point out that two of our favorite Lincoln Engineers joined us at the SCCA autocross event in a rented LS and showed us novices a thing or two!
The autocross event really taught me a lot more about the handling characteristics of LS and how it behaves at the limit. I'll definitely be doing more autocrossing in the next few months, 'cause that was a ton o' fun that ultimately improves your driving skills. Despite killing a few cones, the car cleaned up really well such that you'd never know what I had done with it.
The LS certainly showed it was within its element out there on the course, as it handled the twisties as well as anything else out there, most of which were specially tuned for the event. We got lots of encouraging and complementary statements thrown our way by the autocross regulars/SCCA members. The best remark drolds (Artie) and I got was "that's a Lincoln?" with a tone of astonishment. The LS really made people look up and take notice!
Chris - LLSOC Charter Member & Veteran of Mania I, II, & III
Joe, you were missed. But no vans this time. MUCH more fun driving the cars from place to place. We were quite a sight as we caravaned along the freeways, especially when a dozen or so of us went around a slow BMW 528 in a steady stream. And a long line of us cruising from the race track down to Brian & Debbie's with the numbers still painted on the rear side windows of the cars! Hint: It's a long drive to Michigan, but think about bringing your car to M IV. Or, I may have to extend my previous offer.
Artie, I agree, George is documenting this with words as well as he has on film. We may have an Official Chronicler in our midst. How about a coffee table book, George?
it's me, you know the married guy now. Shame I had to miss the fun at Mania III, you know I would have been the first one there Brian. Now I got to get approval, guess I will be seeking advice from you Mike :-).
I went to the SD Autoshow today to check out the latest. Of course I wanted to see if a 2003 LS was there, but it wasn't. The Blackwood was nice though, a lot of fit and finish for a truck, true to the lincoln name.
I checked out the CTS and I find it hard to believe that Caddy thinks they can charge near $40K for that car fully loaded with a V6 and the few options that they don't have compared to the LS. And, if the 2003 LS comes out with the subtle fixes, it will be no comparison on the value for price/performance. I did notice that the CTS and G35 eliminated ITH's in favor of pnuematic hinges. I also didn't like the olive drab interior of the CTS and seats were no where as nice. I have been spoiled by Lincoln and I hope they continue to do so.
Sat in an M5, didn't move me at all, seemed the same as a 530i sitting next to it with the difference being under the hood which I couldn't experience in a parked car. The 740 was much nicer, BMW put much more room in the interior of the new model and all the features. They actually have push button hydraulic trunk that opens and closes completely. Pretty neat, but what you should expect in a $75K car.
The Audi quattro had nice fit and finish, but I could not see what was in the car that required the extra $10K. The sports seats were great on lumbar, but sucked on the thighs, guess they only want small framed buyers.
Hey, thanks Artie, Chris, Scott. I'm glad you enjoy the posts. I had such a great time, I couldn't help but blather on about it. And I've got one more post to go.
A coffee table book! Great idea. I could add it to that little Lincoln trinkets sales book, eh? Let's see, leather bound coffee table book with the Lincoln star on the front, I'd say retail would be about $750 in the Lincoln collection. Anyone want to beat the rush and order early? :>)
Like most everyone else on this board, I think of my LS as a truly fantastic vehicle. After driving her on Sat at the SCCA autocross, and then flying home up Hiway 101, I have even more respect and admiration for the LS, and for Jonathon and the team behind this car.
I heard Jonathon say on Sat how it's quite difficult to design and build a car that can perform well both on the track and as a family city/hiway vehicle. I don't doubt that for a minute. And I say kudos to JC and the team, for they did a remarkable job doing just that.
My red V6 manual LS had about 12600 miles on it when I arrived in LA. Barely broken in as Stanny and others will claim. I've become real comfortable with red over the last year (today is my 1 year anniversary with the car) and I thought I knew what she could do. But I was pleasantly surprised.
In the AM we had 6 runs on the course. As I mentioned, on my first 2 runs I couldn't even find the course. My 3rd run was better - I thought I had a clean run with the exception of missing one slalom. My time was like 72 secs. But on the 4th run, I found that I had been missing another gate as well. I learned this because I asked SCCA Brian to ride with me to tutor me a bit. He did and it was very helpful. Do this, don't do that. Look ahead, stay left! Hey, you missed that slalom! etc. Then he asked if I'd like to ride while he drove my car. Sure!
He was totally unfamiliar with the LS but he got comfortable real quick and promised he wouldn't push the car too hard. Then - zoom, off we went. I quickly grabbed the handle above the passenger door and held on tight! He was describing what he was doing, sometimes even before he did it. I learned quickly that if this was 'not pushing the car too hard', then I was driving it like my Grandma would have. 'Don't push thru the loop, keep up speed and then go WOT on exit, cut the cones close (*real close*), keep as straight a line as possible, WOT here, brake here!, WOT again' Wow, he was really driving this car and blasting thru the course. He missed no gates, hit no cones - a clean run - and his time was 61.1 seconds. This turned out to be the best time all day in an LS, AFAIK. Someone said Jonathon got a 59, but he admitted to a few of us later that he got the time keeper to jot down 59 as a joke on us.
SCCA Brian told me as he got out how impressed he was with the car. Later, he told Kahuna Brian, Jonathon, myself and others that he was sure he could do a 57 or better in my *stock* LS if he pushed it.
Having seen what the car *could* do, I got a lot more aggressive. I had 2 more runs and got my times to 67.8 and 66.8 secs. Better. Then I worked the course, dodging cones and Subarus for almost 2 hours. After lunch, my group got 5 more runs at it. What was great about this for me was that I decreased my time by close to a second each run except the last, finishing with a best time of 64.0 secs. I had really pushed hard I thought, but could do no better than that. BTW, I let a few pounds of air out of the tires before this second round as I thought I had lost some grip during my last 2 AM runs. I did the PM runs at 38 pounds, hot.
For the next hour or so, I shot a roll and a half of slides from the center of the course at my fellow LSers with a big, fast lens. I hope I was able to capture something interesting.
Then, I went back to our 'pit area' and got 4 more runs on the course - by borrowing the id sticker from one of our LSes whose owner (thanks Jay!!!) had decided not to run in the afternoon. And man, I got aggressive knowing I couldn't beg, borrow or steal any more runs after this. I don't know how I did it, partly I think I was showing off for Stanny, Vic and some other LSers who were working the course, but I flew around that course. Again, a second or so better each time with a final time of 61.6 secs. Still 1/2 sec slower than SCCA Brian, but I was psyched. What a car. I had been watching some more while photoing and picked up a few more good 'lines' to follow and I also decided to downshift into first in 2 places to get back on the torque curve. I was really winding that Duratech up. Actually getting rubber on all shifts. Man,I'm getting pumped up again just writing this. I'm gonna look up the N. Cal. chapter of SCCA and go out and have some fun. Whitney's up for it too.
So I flew up 101 to get home. First time I've ever had a totally hiway run so I was anxious to see the mileage. I had to use pencil, paper and calculator cause the V6 has no trip computer - grrrr. Ave speed was probably 75-80 and mpg was 23.9. Best I've ever seen. An overdrive tranny would really help the gas mileage, but I was pleased anyway.
Loved the event, enjoyed the ride home and can't wait to autocross again. This stuff's covered under warrantee, right? :>)
George
PS: I hope I was able to get some great photos of the event and of some folks in their cars and on the course. As soon as I see what I got, I'll let folks know.
Well spoken!! I am glad you used my "blue group" sticker to get some more runs in. I had a stall and an engine light on so I was not going to push my luck in the afternoon. You did great!
I started with a 103 and with some coaching from Vic, I got my times down to 70. If I had run the afternoon, I know I would have gotten my times down a bit. As it was, I had a grand time riding with some of the other guys observing and coaching them to better times. It was interesting how slightly different each car was and the different driving styles that made a unique adrenaline-pumping experience! Another surprise to me was that when we finished each lap, I was completely relaxed and at ease while awaiting the next run.... probably a great substitute for acupuncture:)
Since my current lease is up in April I have to decide on a course of action. Would those of you who have seen the 2003 LS give me your opinion on the following: Wait for the 2003 LS until November or buy a 2002 LS now and save $3,000 to $5,000 (my guesstimates).
I have a 2001 LS V-8 Sport that was purchased in May of 2001. It has 8700 miles on it and the message center reads out a/c filter change required....change oil soon....and my brakes scrubs everytime I get in a lil bumper to bumper traffic as if they are worn.
The dealership said that its not time to change the oil, the brakes noise was normal and to ignore the a/c filter change required message. I am a bit disturbed by all of this...have any other LS owner had these problems??
The V6 or the V8? Also, did any of you guys actually get to check out the 2003 "High Performance version" of the LS up close, as in looking under the hood and sitting in the car? Not asking any details, just wondering if you guys got to check it out.
I think George (heyjewel) was quickest at 61 seconds through the course using his V6 manual. The SCCA instructor also used George's car to go through the course (first time in the car) and covered the course in 61 seconds. The best I was able to do was 65.320 seconds (with no hit cones!) in my V8 sport, but I could never put an entire run together where I was happy with my performance. My best run was in the morning, but my afternoon session I was hitting the tougher parts of course better, but got careless in the easier portions. Patience, technique, and a cool head definitely help. I think George had the benefit of a couple of extra runs where he was really able to pull everything together at the end. Nice driving George! (I was out on he course keeping track of cones when you were going through at the end of the day).
Overall, I'm not inclined to think that Saturday's autocrossing event was a definitive measure of which LS model was the better handler/performer. With all of us novices running out there, there were far greater variances in driver performance than car performance! Just MHO.
Trying not to reveal anything, I'd DEFINITELY wait. That's all I feel comfortable saying, hoping I didn't go too far.
gschwartz: that yellow light is visible only from the outside, inside the black rectangle. It is the sensor for the moisture sensing wipers.
heyjewel: What a fantastic way you have with words. You've summed up in a quite eloquent way the adrenalin rush the entire weekend was. I STILL have that stupid grin on my face! I hope you will put words with your pictures!
alphanstien: The "permission" you're looking for is commonly called a kitchen pass. Mine are dolled out sparingly I had to miss the auto show this year due to my attendance at MANIA III. That was a trade I will do every time! The technique I use is to work up to the event gradually. Float the balloon, launch a bigger one a week or two later, let her know how much fun she will have shopping (it helps if there is actually shopping nearby) and generally you're in! Sometimes though, you will need to get, how do I put this?, manly and just go!
IIRC, George had the fastest, clean time and he has the 6. Jonathon did have a 59.??? in my car, but we killed a cone or 2 or 3 or 4....
What would be a good Wide track tape you could put on the sides of the Car up to the moulding to prevent Cone Scuffs, (Not that I would hit any cones!) Your input is appreciated.
Regards, Airwolf P.S. Had a great time seeing,chatting, and collaborating with all of you in our endeavour to beat the clock!
I had about 5 or 6 coats of Zaino on my car and the one long scuff mark, below the the molding, just wiped off when I washed the car. I didn't have Zaino on my front bumper and I had to use Scratch Remover (by KIT, I believe) to get the mark off. The mark did come off with very little effort. SCCA Brian said he had some white tape but the adhesive was almost as hard to get off as the marks. That ZO6 Vette looked like it just had clear packing tape.
SCCA Brian also suggested using Blue Coral Clear Coat safe polish. I spent yesterday searching for a clear coat polish, and could only find the Meguiar's brand (Clear Coat Body Scrub). It worked well, but required a little effort. However, you'd never know I'd been autocrossing/cone killing on Saturday! :-)
To clarify: The "AC filter" monitor is for the cabin air filter; there's not a monitor for the engine air filter.
I checked the owner's manual & maintenance guide to refresh my memory on this, and there's not a definitive answer for the cabin air filter. The maintenance guide says that the filter should be changed at 15,000 miles if you're following the "normal" maintenance schedule. The owner's manual says: "When A/C filter life reaches 0%, the AC FILTER CHANGE REQUIRED message will be displayed." It does not specifically say, however, that the change IS required (as opposed to the oil filter; see below), but I wonder why the monitor is there in the first place if it's OK for the dealer to ignore it.
As a point of reference, my monitor went to 0% at 12,000 miles, and my dealer changed the filter without any quibbles and without charging me. (Note: I upgraded my "free" service to the heavy-duty schedule--oil & filter changes every 3k miles--so that may be the reason there was no charge. I don't know for sure.)
Did you happen to check the monitor when your car was new? If so, did it start out at 100%? Mine did & I assume they all do. Do you drive in unusually dusty or dirty conditions? I'm not sure how the monitor "knows" to count down, but it's not based exclusively on mileage. I've driven about 8500 miles since the A/C filter change, and the monitor is now at 44%.
Now, regarding the oil filter monitor, the owner's manual specifically states: "An oil change is required whenever indicated by the message center." To me, that's black and white; the manual says "required", so I figure that's what it means.
A few questions: When was your last oil change? Was it done at 5k miles & was it done by the dealer? The more important question is, did you check the monitor after the oil change to be sure it was reset to 100%? I always check mine; my dealer missed resetting it once. It's possible that your dealer didn't reset it, which would cause it to hit 0% faster than you'd expect; HOWEVER, I'd probably insist on a change by pointing out to the dealer that the manual says it's required when the monitor goes to 0%.
This business is a bit confusing, really--I'd be more than a little concerned if the dealer told me to "ignore" something that the monitor tells me to do, and I'd be hesitant to reset it to 100% without changing the cabin filter. What if, when you reach 15k miles, the monitor is at 65% and the dealer says that it doesn't need to be changed then, either?
I suppose you could to a visual check of the filter--there are removal instructions in the manual--but I don't know how to determine its condition. If it looks dirty, is it really dirty? If it looks clean, is it really clean?
I'm not sure I've helped; can anyone else shed light on this situation? There are some unanswered questions here...
JLinc, LLSOC charter member (who's regretting his decision to not attend Mania3 )
Jonathan's best clean run was around 61.1 with a V-8 non-sport. My best clean run was a 62.8 with a V-8 sport. After riding with SCCA Brian in the Mustang Cobra (after I was done with all of my runs of course) I then understood how someone should be driving (basically full throttle, full brake, full throttle, full brake and so on) and think that I could have had a much better time had I gone out on another run or 2 like George did. I now wish I would have ridden with one of the "pros" between my first and second sets of runs to get that true feel, but I still had loads of fun riding in the other LS's that were there. I can't wait to do it again though and, fortunately, they have Solo II's here in Denver just about every weekend.
I posted something a while back on the filters and the best I could conclude is that the A/C (or cabin) filter had 2 ways to count down because the oil filter has 2 ways to count down. One is by mileage and the other is by time. The manual says that the oil change message will happen every 5K miles or every 180 days. This means that obviously the LS has a clock running and it may affect the cabin filter replacment % as well. Nothing, however, is documented on this. I know 1 owner had the cabin filter message come up about 1 year after the car was built but had much less than 15K miles on it which goes along with krystalg's post.
Brian: Neat picture; neat color! Two questions: Is that a Premium LS? According to the product info sheet, Vivid Red is available on everything but the LSE, but it's hard to tell if those are Sport wheels. (I know it's not a Sport because of the bumper strip.) Did anyone try to sneak behind the curtain to see what was back there?
Brunobus: Good point. I checked my maintenance records and found that my A/C filter monitor went to 0% almost exactly 1 year after my build date.
Krystalg: Do you know what your build date is? It's on your window sticker at the very bottom, on the far right-hand side; it should also appear on any Oasis maintenance receipts from your dealer. There's also a month/year date on a sticker just inside your driver's door, right below the A-pillar. If your car was built in February '01, that might explain the 0% reading for your A/C filter.
It was actually a 2000 V-6 model that they had repainted the outside of for the dealer show and us. Someone looked under the car to see which engine it had after we noticed the 2000 cup holders and noticed some overspray on the undercarriage.
The curtain just covers the wall where the speakers for the audio system are and where the video projection shows up. They must have closed it for the picture, but I never noticed as I was drooling over the '03's.
I think it caught the Lincoln folks by surprise that our sharp-eyed club members were able to tell that it was a 2000 LS painted with the correct color!
The curtains were closed for the pictures to provide a contrasting background. The turntable on the left that you can see held the 2003 LS before we moved it out of the picture
Comments
JLinc
Thanks to all the Lincoln folks for showing us a great time. Tracey and I both had a blast!! To Brian and Debbie, thanks for all the hard work and hospitaliity you showed us. You guys made it the great time that it was.
To all the wonderful club members, it was truly a pleasure to meet you all and spend time getting to know you. I look forward to the next event.
Bruno
from Automotive News today Feb 18.
http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=38365&a=a&bt=Lincoln+LS&arc=n
They also mention a hipo LS
from Automotive News today Feb 18.
http://www.autonews.com/article.cms?articleId=38365&a=a&bt=Lincoln+LS&arc=n
They also mention a hipo LS
I've read hundreds of posts here, and appreciate the opportunity to learn from all of you long-term owners. I've especially appreciated your insight and experience on things I'll be needing soon such as tires and brakes.
I'm experiencing a few "nits" that I haven't seen discussed previously (but then I only read the last couple thousand posts).
First is a hum through the sound system. It's intermittant, but present in all modes (Radio/Tape/CD), and varies with RPM. Suspect its more altenator oriented than a spark suppression issue. Car has the Alpine audio system.
Second is the climate control system which seems to hit me continuousy with a cold draft, apparently through the defrosters. I'm in central Virginia, and I'm experiencing this at temps between 25 and 45. This my third Ford product with ACC, but I've never had this problem. I know the A/C cycles for dehumidification purposes. Has anyone experienced blend door problems with too much chilled air routed to the defroster vents? I keep the temp setting at about 72.
Finally, can anyone tell me the purpose of the amber light shining from inside the rearview mirror mount but visible only from the outside of the car when the car is running? Sometimes it burns steadily, and sometimes it flashes. I read the owner's manual before buying the car, and I just don't find it referenced anywhere.
Tom
If they fix those problems, spruce up the interior and add more horsepower, what will be left to complain about?
Another great job of planning and organizing to make the event happen, and the party Brian & Debbie threw at their home was above and beyond the call, and a wonderful evening.
As for the Lincoln Commitment: It's not often that rookies get to race their cars and have engineers from the manufacturer running in the same event, including the guy who designed the suspension. I wonder if that ever happens to Brand B owners.:) BTW, as Brian suggested, autocrossing really opened my eyes to the handling abilities of the LS. I thought I was pretty hot stuff playing around on public roads; now I am downright awed by what this car is capable of.
If anyone is cynical about Lincoln's commitment to this car, join LLSOC and come to the next event. If you just want to be a cynic, it's your loss.
Again & as always, many, many thanks to Brian, Debbie, Steve, Ray, & everyone else in the club who made this happen.
Scott
(proud & grateful)
LLSOC Member
Sounds like a bad ground on the audiophile amp in the trunk. Adding a second ground wire might fix it. If it's still under warranty have the dealer check it and the ACC.
Non-sport brake pads have been recommended for the fronts - less dust. Braking is almost as good as the sport pads. If you want high performance, there is a link on llsoc.com for aftermarket pads that are also highly recommended.
For tires, the Michelins come highly recommended. MXM4 is the new OEM tire and a decent all-around performer. The Pilot Sport A/S is a great all-season tire that's especially good in the wet but handles better than some ultra high performance summer tires. The Pilot Sport is probably the ulitmate in dry grip. These aren't cheap but they're great tires. There are several other choices and brands depending on your tastes and budget. Go to www.tirerack.com and do a size search. The OEM size is 235/50R17 (8 or so choices) but you can also use 245/45R17 (30+ choices).
As for the grin you can't get rid of and the uncontrollable desire to go drive somewhere - well, we haven't found a cure for that yet.
Akirby's advice is right on. Let me add:
On tires: I just returned from MANIA III where the LS program engineer who led the design team for the suspension and I'm pretty sure had a big hand in specifying the OEM tires for the LS said, paraphrasing IIRC: 'If I needed to put new tires on an LS I wouldn't hesitate to get another set of the OEM Firehawks, after all, they were designed for this car.' Lincoln moved away from the Firestone Firehawks in large part due to the Explorer/Firestone flap. Some on this board don't like em. Only complaint I have is I think they have too much road noise, but then I haven't had another tire on my LS yet. Also let me say that I blasted my LS around the SCCA autocross course at MANIA III on Sat and the Firehawks performed admirably.
Now, the cold air problem: I know what you're talking about cause mine does it too. I get hit with cold air in my face even when warm air is coming out of the center vents. I finally traced it to the small defroster vent for the side window, as well as the windshield defroster. I don't think you'll like what the dealer service dept told me any more than I did, again paraphrasing from memory: 'Well, that vent is farther from the plenum than others so it will naturally lose heat.' I argued the point but had to quit when he offered to explain the laws of physics to me. I declined since I am an engineer and have a pretty good grasp of physics. I was going to ask how in the heck physics changes when I get home and the farthest vent from my furnace still blows hot air, but I knew that hot air would just be blown back on me, so I left it at that, for now. His solution does work, but only if you're not needing the defroster: change the HVAC from 'AUTO' to the little icon that points to chest vents and floor vents only. While this negates the auto blend feature, it does not turn off the temp control. I know, not very satisfactory, but that's where I'm at at this time. If you have any more luck with your dealer, please post it. Next time, I'm going in with my darkroom thermometer. I'm going to show him how much colder the defrost is than the chest (IP) vents and ask him to please show me the calculations for this much thermal loss over a distance of what, a few inches or at most a couple of feet.
Many thanks to everyone who helped organize this event.
The all-day event at PAG HQ went by so fast. Mike's right - the food was great: Continental (or was it Town Car?:>) breakfast, full lunch and, at 5PM or so, great appetizers including California roll, crab cakes, teriyaki beef etc along with cabernet and chardonnay. Great job, Lincoln.
The PAG HQ building is a marvelously beautiful piece of architecture. Very 'LA modern'. Lots of long, straight lines mixed with angles and curves. Huge doors and window glass. Skylights. Light colors-white, bright grey, brushed chrome etc IIRC. A lobby maybe 50 yards wide (???) with one vehicle from each of the 6 PAG lines on display. There was a green LS V6 manual, a Land Rover Freelander, a Volvo, an X-type Jag, and I think a Cougar and, this might be heresy, my favorite: a white Aston-Martin convertible.
A huge showroom on the first floor (behind closed doors) with three turntables, on which were a Vivid Red 2002 LS and one each V8 and V6 2003 LS.
Outside in front of the building was another auto-display area where there were 4 vehicles, including a Navigator. This area was made more interesting in that it was canted very slightly away from the building and a thin coating of water gently and continuously flowed down the platform and under the cars. Probably provides nice reflections of the cars under the right light. We didn't have the right light!
We were shown 5 of the 6 floors. The one we didn't see housed the design studio. Bummer, but understandable. As mentioned previously each floor (and each elevator for that matter) had it's own theme relating to the car line(s) HQ'd on that floor. Each one was spectacularly done. The best, IMHO and perhaps not surprisingly, belonged to Jaguar/Aston-Martin. Not only was the theme curvaceous with luxurious wood and coated glass, but it was on the second floor and had a large 'balcony' area overlooking the huge first floor display area, affording a great view of the 6 shiny vehicles on display below.
I took several photos of each floor's lobby area and will get them posted to my web site or LLSOC ASAP, which probably means at least a week into the future.
There was a 2+ hour 'round table' in the morning with IIRC, 7 Lincoln representatives. Many kudos and gripes were aired and responded to. Very open discussion. A beautiful placque was awarded to Brian _____, (can someone post his name?) a wunderbar Lincoln tech at our Kahuna's home dealership.
Then lunch and lots of gabbing with the Lincoln folks.
Then 3+ hours in the showroom looking at, drooling over, sitting in, maybe even fondling, the 3 LSes on display. Many, if not all, of the changes and new features of the freshened 2003 LSes were presented to us in a slide show, just as they were to LM dealerships in Vegas just a day or 2 before. Many LM ads were previewed for us (some of which I personally didn't like, but then I surf to another channel whenever the ads come on anyway) and one of the Lincoln designers gave a presentation describing Lincoln's intended future direction. For anyone who's been following LMs' concept car introductions and press reports, there wasn't a whole lot new there, but there was a whole lot of info and perspective presented. And there was one particularly hilarious slide which had a tag line something like 'Simplicity of design' with a photo of the concept Continental we've all seen, this juxtaposed with a sub-tag-line something like 'no wild over-the-top designs for us' - which accompanied 2 photos - one of the monstrous tail fins of the '59 Eldorado and the other of the front end of the '03 Cadillac CTS. What a hoot.
This was followed by another long Q&A session about the 2003 LSes in which every question was answered quickly and forthrightly. Well, every question but one. There are some things they won't tell us!
I was able to take some photos of the vivid red 2002 LS which will also get posted somewhere, along with our motley crew surrounding the car. I was asked (surprise) not to photo the 2003s with which, to the chagrin of my small but sometimes influential anarchistic side, I complied.
Oh, and BTW, we were not introduced to this new 'Travel well with Lincoln' theme. I must admit, this tag line 'Doesn't sit well with me'. Just MHO.
George
Boy I wish I could have gone to Mania III with you all but such is fate. I won't miss Mania IV.
Hope you all found someone to drive the vans!
For those of you who haven't gone to one of these events yet, or whose cynical side precludes you from accepting that LM is being truthful and honest in their dealings with us owners ... GO. You can't imagine what you're missing.
Joe
Charter LLSOC Member
It’s really good to hear how dedicated the PAG group is to this car and its drivers. I hope to get involved over time, and already printed out my LLSOC application. Brian, my check's almost in the mail.
For all of you out there having problems with your LSs, or any other car for that matter, let me share some wisdom I was granted back in the late 70s when I went to school a few miles west of Detroit (Go Blue).
This was a period of tremendous turmoil in the domestic auto industry. Reeling from the first serious import influx, they were still designing and building the wrong cars, and the designs weren't especially good. (Shall we talk GM's quality revolution based on the X-car, followed by the J-car? How about Cadillac's 4-6-8-cylinder solution to fuel economy? The K-car hadn't quite happened yet, nor had the first generation Escort. Anyway, I had a roommate with close ties to the industry who explained, "For 75 years, automobiles had been incredibly complex machines designed by incredibly talented people so that the average shade tree mechanic with a hammer, screwdriver, and crescent wrench could repair them. Well, that's all changing now, but give those incredibly talented people a few years to get things figured out".
To a large degree, my roommate was right. Cars have grown more sophisticated over the last 20 or 25 years, and there's even less that average shade tree mechanic can do to keep them running (you can't set the points with a matchbook cover anymore, or tune a carburetor by ear), but generally, drive train and suspension components just don't fail anymore. Yes, windows fall down, and stereo systems can hum, but the window in my Mustang used to fall too, and my eight track never worked especially well.
Does this make a crashing window today less frustrating, or poor parts availability more tolerable? No, but sometimes, even simple things break, more complexity means more parts to break, and when we choose to drive complex but relatively low-volume cars, parts availability is more likely to be a problem
Is the LS the pinnacle of automotive design? No, but it seems to be an awesome machine, incredibly complex, designed by incredibly talented and apparently highly dedicated people.
Lets give them a chance. They’ve licked the biggies, and will work out the various relatively minor problems too.
Though we had to get up earlier than at least I'd like (around 5:45). We had close to an hour drive to the speedway and we had to be there by 7:30 or 8. We all caravanned over there. I think there were about 15-20 (???) LSes following each other, jockeying for position, sometimes at up to 90 mph over, under, around and thru the freeways of LA. Finally we got there. It was foggy and surprisingly cold.
First we had to completely empty our cars, including the trunk and even the driver's floor mat. Then, we lined up to have our cars given a brief check by the SCCA folks to be sure the wheels wouldn't fall off or the engine wouldn't fall out. Everything went smoothly and quickly. Then we met a pair of SCCA drivers, a husband and wife team actually, who were extremely helpful to us novices. They explained the rules of the road and then we 'walked the course' with them.
The course was set up in the immense parking lot of the speeday with orange cones and white chalk. I would estimate the course was 3/4 mile long. As we walked, the SCCA instructor, whose name was Brian, explained how he would try to handle each turn, slalom and straight-away on the course. (I thought this would be really instructive. But when I got in my car for my first run and took off as fast as I could, suddenly I couldn't even tell where the heck the course went, never mind technique, and found myself going past the cones, scaring the hell out of a few workers in the middle of the course! Lesson learned the hard way - take it slow the first run or 2 til the layout sinks in.) After that, we picked up our group assignments and waited our turn to race the clock.
There were 4 groups and we LSers were divided amougnst them. There were lots of other cars there as well: Corvettes, a Camaro, SVT Contours, Mustang Cobras, 2 Audi S4s, a Mercedes or 3, 2 LEXUS is300S, Subaru WRXes (faster than hell, but look out! they sure seemed to me to hit a lot of cones), Civics, an older model Celica etc. Come to think of it, I think I saw only one BMW and that was one of the small 2 seater convertibles, can't recall the designation. Most of these cars were modified in some way. I'm pretty sure either one of the Mustang Cobras or the Camaro had the fastest time of the day, around 51 secs.
We (well, most of us:>) got 6 course runs in the morning and 5 in the afternoon. Each and every run was a blast, and I think most will agree that our times improved almost each time we ran. The course was tough, IMHO having little to compare it to. There was a 90 degree just after breaking the start light, a short straight, then a 270 degree really tight 'loop' which is what I missed on my first (and second) runs. Then you could do WOT while hugging cones doing turns and slaloms until the tight 180 at the other end, then back toward the start with a series of slaloms this way and that, several causing you to have to brake after you just accelerated. It was tough to see the speedometer, but I saw mine poke past 60 at one point. I might have gone faster, I dunno. SCCA Brian said 70-80 was probably what the good drivers would do on the fastest part of the course.
(Kahuna)Brian brought lots of sandwich fixins for lunch and we all enjoyed talking trash about our runs while eating. Each group also had to work the course while 2 other groups did their runs. This consisted of being responsible for a small area of the course by staying in the middle, out of the way of most (but not all:>) cars, and picking up any cones that got hit and placing them back in their chalked squares. Even this was pretty fun, though my group was out there for 1hour 50minutes, and I did more running (after cones) than I have in some time.
About 4:30 or 5 the event was wrapping up and we again terrified the freeways of LA while travelling to Brian Gowing's house for a pasta dinner, a Happy Birthday song to Brian's wife, Debi, another award to another Lincoln tech, some more great conversation, a raffle of a couple dozen donated goodies some with values of $200-300! Then we auctioned about 1/2 dozen great items including designer's renderings of the LS, 2 leather Lincoln folding chairs and more.
Finally at about 10PM, this long, exciting day was done and it was time for me to head back to the Doubletree to try to get some sleep. Sleep came tough cause my adrenaline was (and still is a bit as I write this) still flowing.
George
It was a blast. To those who weren't present: you missed a memorable event. Try to make the next one. To the nay-sayers and cynics: it's easy to shoot from the hip when you haven't a clue.
Artie,
tired but happy with a 3rd LS Mania under my belt.
The autocross event really taught me a lot more about the handling characteristics of LS and how it behaves at the limit. I'll definitely be doing more autocrossing in the next few months, 'cause that was a ton o' fun that ultimately improves your driving skills. Despite killing a few cones, the car cleaned up really well such that you'd never know what I had done with it.
The LS certainly showed it was within its element out there on the course, as it handled the twisties as well as anything else out there, most of which were specially tuned for the event. We got lots of encouraging and complementary statements thrown our way by the autocross regulars/SCCA members. The best remark drolds (Artie) and I got was "that's a Lincoln?" with a tone of astonishment. The LS really made people look up and take notice!
Chris - LLSOC Charter Member & Veteran of Mania I, II, & III
Artie, I agree, George is documenting this with words as well as he has on film. We may have an Official Chronicler in our midst. How about a coffee table book, George?
I went to the SD Autoshow today to check out the latest. Of course I wanted to see if a 2003 LS was there, but it wasn't. The Blackwood was nice though, a lot of fit and finish for a truck, true to the lincoln name.
I checked out the CTS and I find it hard to believe that Caddy thinks they can charge near $40K for that car fully loaded with a V6 and the few options that they don't have compared to the LS. And, if the 2003 LS comes out with the subtle fixes, it will be no comparison on the value for price/performance. I did notice that the CTS and G35 eliminated ITH's in favor of pnuematic hinges. I also didn't like the olive drab interior of the CTS and seats were no where as nice. I have been spoiled by Lincoln and I hope they continue to do so.
Sat in an M5, didn't move me at all, seemed the same as a 530i sitting next to it with the difference being under the hood which I couldn't experience in a parked car. The 740 was much nicer, BMW put much more room in the interior of the new model and all the features. They actually have push button hydraulic trunk that opens and closes completely. Pretty neat, but what you should expect in a $75K car.
The Audi quattro had nice fit and finish, but I could not see what was in the car that required the extra $10K. The sports seats were great on lumbar, but sucked on the thighs, guess they only want small framed buyers.
Well, back to married life.
A coffee table book! Great idea. I could add it to that little Lincoln trinkets sales book, eh? Let's see, leather bound coffee table book with the Lincoln star on the front, I'd say retail would be about $750 in the Lincoln collection. Anyone want to beat the rush and order early? :>)
I heard Jonathon say on Sat how it's quite difficult to design and build a car that can perform well both on the track and as a family city/hiway vehicle. I don't doubt that for a minute. And I say kudos to JC and the team, for they did a remarkable job doing just that.
My red V6 manual LS had about 12600 miles on it when I arrived in LA. Barely broken in as Stanny and others will claim. I've become real comfortable with red over the last year (today is my 1 year anniversary with the car) and I thought I knew what she could do. But I was pleasantly surprised.
In the AM we had 6 runs on the course. As I mentioned, on my first 2 runs I couldn't even find the course. My 3rd run was better - I thought I had a clean run with the exception of missing one slalom. My time was like 72 secs. But on the 4th run, I found that I had been missing another gate as well. I learned this because I asked SCCA Brian to ride with me to tutor me a bit. He did and it was very helpful. Do this, don't do that. Look ahead, stay left! Hey, you missed that slalom! etc. Then he asked if I'd like to ride while he drove my car. Sure!
He was totally unfamiliar with the LS but he got comfortable real quick and promised he wouldn't push the car too hard. Then - zoom, off we went. I quickly grabbed the handle above the passenger door and held on tight! He was describing what he was doing, sometimes even before he did it. I learned quickly that if this was 'not pushing the car too hard', then I was driving it like my Grandma would have. 'Don't push thru the loop, keep up speed and then go WOT on exit, cut the cones close (*real close*), keep as straight a line as possible, WOT here, brake here!, WOT again' Wow, he was really driving this car and blasting thru the course. He missed no gates, hit no cones - a clean run - and his time was 61.1 seconds. This turned out to be the best time all day in an LS, AFAIK. Someone said Jonathon got a 59, but he admitted to a few of us later that he got the time keeper to jot down 59 as a joke on us.
SCCA Brian told me as he got out how impressed he was with the car. Later, he told Kahuna Brian, Jonathon, myself and others that he was sure he could do a 57 or better in my *stock* LS if he pushed it.
Having seen what the car *could* do, I got a lot more aggressive. I had 2 more runs and got my times to 67.8 and 66.8 secs. Better. Then I worked the course, dodging cones and Subarus for almost 2 hours. After lunch, my group got 5 more runs at it. What was great about this for me was that I decreased my time by close to a second each run except the last, finishing with a best time of 64.0 secs. I had really pushed hard I thought, but could do no better than that. BTW, I let a few pounds of air out of the tires before this second round as I thought I had lost some grip during my last 2 AM runs. I did the PM runs at 38 pounds, hot.
For the next hour or so, I shot a roll and a half of slides from the center of the course at my fellow LSers with a big, fast lens. I hope I was able to capture something interesting.
Then, I went back to our 'pit area' and got 4 more runs on the course - by borrowing the id sticker from one of our LSes whose owner (thanks Jay!!!) had decided not to run in the afternoon. And man, I got aggressive knowing I couldn't beg, borrow or steal any more runs after this. I don't know how I did it, partly I think I was showing off for Stanny, Vic and some other LSers who were working the course, but I flew around that course. Again, a second or so better each time with a final time of 61.6 secs. Still 1/2 sec slower than SCCA Brian, but I was psyched. What a car. I had been watching some more while photoing and picked up a few more good 'lines' to follow and I also decided to downshift into first in 2 places to get back on the torque curve. I was really winding that Duratech up. Actually getting rubber on all shifts. Man,I'm getting pumped up again just writing this. I'm gonna look up the N. Cal. chapter of SCCA and go out and have some fun. Whitney's up for it too.
So I flew up 101 to get home. First time I've ever had a totally hiway run so I was anxious to see the mileage. I had to use pencil, paper and calculator cause the V6 has no trip computer - grrrr. Ave speed was probably 75-80 and mpg was 23.9. Best I've ever seen. An overdrive tranny would really help the gas mileage, but I was pleased anyway.
Loved the event, enjoyed the ride home and can't wait to autocross again. This stuff's covered under warrantee, right? :>)
George
PS: I hope I was able to get some great photos of the event and of some folks in their cars and on the course. As soon as I see what I got, I'll let folks know.
I am glad you used my "blue group" sticker to get some more runs in. I had a stall and an engine light on so I was not going to push my luck in the afternoon. You did great!
I started with a 103 and with some coaching from Vic, I got my times down to 70. If I had run the afternoon, I know I would have gotten my times down a bit. As it was, I had a grand time riding with some of the other guys observing and coaching them to better times. It was interesting how slightly different each car was and the different driving styles that made a unique adrenaline-pumping experience!
Another surprise to me was that when we finished each lap, I was completely relaxed and at ease while awaiting the next run.... probably a great substitute for acupuncture:)
Jay
Wait for the 2003 LS until November or buy a 2002 LS now and save $3,000 to $5,000 (my guesstimates).
The dealership said that its not time to change the oil, the brakes noise was normal and to ignore the a/c filter change required message. I am a bit disturbed by all of this...have any other LS owner had these problems??
sounds like mania was great don't go making the poor folk on here to bad
Overall, I'm not inclined to think that Saturday's autocrossing event was a definitive measure of which LS model was the better handler/performer. With all of us novices running out there, there were far greater variances in driver performance than car performance! Just MHO.
gschwartz: that yellow light is visible only from the outside, inside the black rectangle. It is the sensor for the moisture sensing wipers.
heyjewel: What a fantastic way you have with words. You've summed up in a quite eloquent way the adrenalin rush the entire weekend was. I STILL have that stupid grin on my face!
alphanstien: The "permission" you're looking for is commonly called a kitchen pass. Mine are dolled out sparingly
IIRC, George had the fastest, clean time and he has the 6. Jonathon did have a 59.??? in my car, but we killed a cone or 2 or 3 or 4....
Mike
Charter Member and Mania 1 & 3.
Regards,
Airwolf
P.S. Had a great time seeing,chatting, and collaborating with all of you in our endeavour to beat the clock!
Mike
LLSOC Member and STILL grinning
I checked the owner's manual & maintenance guide to refresh my memory on this, and there's not a definitive answer for the cabin air filter. The maintenance guide says that the filter should be changed at 15,000 miles if you're following the "normal" maintenance schedule. The owner's manual says: "When A/C filter life reaches 0%, the AC FILTER CHANGE REQUIRED message will be displayed." It does not specifically say, however, that the change IS required (as opposed to the oil filter; see below), but I wonder why the monitor is there in the first place if it's OK for the dealer to ignore it.
As a point of reference, my monitor went to 0% at 12,000 miles, and my dealer changed the filter without any quibbles and without charging me. (Note: I upgraded my "free" service to the heavy-duty schedule--oil & filter changes every 3k miles--so that may be the reason there was no charge. I don't know for sure.)
Did you happen to check the monitor when your car was new? If so, did it start out at 100%? Mine did & I assume they all do. Do you drive in unusually dusty or dirty conditions? I'm not sure how the monitor "knows" to count down, but it's not based exclusively on mileage. I've driven about 8500 miles since the A/C filter change, and the monitor is now at 44%.
Now, regarding the oil filter monitor, the owner's manual specifically states: "An oil change is required whenever indicated by the message center." To me, that's black and white; the manual says "required", so I figure that's what it means.
A few questions: When was your last oil change? Was it done at 5k miles & was it done by the dealer? The more important question is, did you check the monitor after the oil change to be sure it was reset to 100%? I always check mine; my dealer missed resetting it once. It's possible that your dealer didn't reset it, which would cause it to hit 0% faster than you'd expect; HOWEVER, I'd probably insist on a change by pointing out to the dealer that the manual says it's required when the monitor goes to 0%.
This business is a bit confusing, really--I'd be more than a little concerned if the dealer told me to "ignore" something that the monitor tells me to do, and I'd be hesitant to reset it to 100% without changing the cabin filter. What if, when you reach 15k miles, the monitor is at 65% and the dealer says that it doesn't need to be changed then, either?
I suppose you could to a visual check of the filter--there are removal instructions in the manual--but I don't know how to determine its condition. If it looks dirty, is it really dirty? If it looks clean, is it really clean?
I'm not sure I've helped; can anyone else shed light on this situation? There are some unanswered questions here...
JLinc, LLSOC charter member (who's regretting his decision to not attend Mania3
BTW, I also have an '01 V8 Sport.
I think I'm going to have to find a SCAA event somewhere in my "area" and try it out for myself.
Bruno
Hope that helps.
Bruno
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=11159&make_id=trust
Brunobus: Good point. I checked my maintenance records and found that my A/C filter monitor went to 0% almost exactly 1 year after my build date.
Krystalg: Do you know what your build date is? It's on your window sticker at the very bottom, on the far right-hand side; it should also appear on any Oasis maintenance receipts from your dealer. There's also a month/year date on a sticker just inside your driver's door, right below the A-pillar. If your car was built in February '01, that might explain the 0% reading for your A/C filter.
JLinc, still a bit confused (as usual)
What's missing? A DEW98 ***Mercury Cougar*** IMHO.
The curtain just covers the wall where the speakers for the audio system are and where the video projection shows up. They must have closed it for the picture, but I never noticed as I was drooling over the '03's.
Bruno
The curtains were closed for the pictures to provide a contrasting background. The turntable on the left that you can see held the 2003 LS before we moved it out of the picture