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Comments
Got 34,xxx miles on my LS right now. Plan to probably have the tires installed just before the 1st winter snow hits, so I can get the most life out of my current original tires. Hoping these 3 tires will fit under my bed until that time!
"the LS - well, it's a Lincoln" in a kind of disparaging manner, but without explanation. I'm wondering what he meant, did he own or know people who owned Lincolns that had a lot of problems with them, or is it just an image thing that he feels he won't look exclusive/rich/whatever enough if he's in a Lincoln? While the Audi and BMW are both fine automobiles, they are much more expensive (perhaps that's not a consideration), they haven't shown superior reliability in my opinion, and are more expensive to repair and harder to find dealers for. I looked at the A6, but the only local Audi dealer has a horrible reputation as having the worst repair technicians this side of Elbonia.
With regard to tires, when I bought my 2000 in early October, 2000 (LS V8 Sport) part of the deal was I didn't want Firestones (and not just because of the latest Explorer problems, Firestone made tires that had massive tread seperation problems with the 500 in the 70's and the 721 in the early 80's). They gladly changed tires (and I got a good deal on the car) to Michelin XGT Z's, 245/45ZR17. Much better, I had driven on the Firestones about a week before the tires came in, and the Michelins are much smoother, corner better, and have much better turn-in. Perhaps Michelin will be the supplier, or perhaps Goodyear or Conti. It'll be interesting to see, but I'd bet Goodyear or Michelin.
Another interesting thing, there are 3 LS's at the office complex where I work. A pearl white LS V8 Sport, an estate green non-sport LS, and my estate green V8 Sport. The other day we managed to all park together, I'm half expecting my LS to turn up pregnant anyday now.
Also, I've been playing with the select shift. I've found that on my route to work, with pretty heavy traffic, that shifting myself and more aggressively (not upshifting as rapidly, holding a lower gear while waiting for a chance to squirt into a traffic break, etc.) the car performs better but manages to get at least about 3 mpg less than the auto mode. Guess the tranny guys optimized it pretty well for fuel economy.
(I live in Southern Calif. San Fernando Valley Los Angeles Suburb).
I owe you an apology. I have got to stop reading posts while I'm at work. After dealing with a problematic ERP implementation all day and dealing with knuckleheaded users, I shouldn't look at posts until I've had about two hours to wind down, otherwise my sense of balance seems to disappear.
I went back and re-read your initial post. You don't call it a defect. You noticed an issue and reported it. I jumped on your case. Sorry about that. I'll do better next time.
P.S. Can you open the trunk after you lock the doors with the key fob after this happens? Can you open the trunk if you just insert the key into the ignition without turning it to the start position?
Brian
2. OK I guess this is really the 3rd question. For Brian again. I haven't had much time to visit this site or LLSOC recently. I tried to log into the LLSOC chat to see if the cabin filter info was there, but the LLSOC chat now goes to CNBCI and it doesn't recongnize my log in.
Has the old LLSOC chat been wiped out and replced buy the CNBCI stuff?
Thanks for any help.
Your #2 son has good taste in cars :-D! I bought an 87 Fiero GT for autocrossing to avoid the wear & tear on my LS. If he follows web forums send him to Pennock's Fiero Forum for some like minded chat and good info.
You just HAVE to join your sons some weekend in your LS and at least try it. In fact, working the course is almost as fun as driving it. It's a great reason not to do yardwork and get some quality time!
slunar: Thanks. I've added the ford PN for the filter to the how-to.
Are you sure you meant the chat room and not the message board? The chat room has always been hooked to NBCi(this is going to change in the next couple of months to our own). The message board was changed about three months ago to the Ultimate Bulletin Board. It does require you to register to post.
If you have questions about it email me at brian.gowing@llsoc.com and I'll help you through it.
Brian
If you notice there is more to the URL than is highlighted. For whatever reason this board won't let me put the whole thing in and highlight it. There is a second line underneath the highlighted one that goes along with it.
And if you enter the whole thing it will take you to the supress page, which is what you want. This isn't something I would ever think of as a joke or gimmick because I really hate those pop-up ads.
Brian
One more thought on my never ending vibration saga. I had lunch today with a friend who bought a S-Type 3.0. He was curious if I had any problems with my LS, which I replied "Nothing significant other than my 72-73 MPH vibration, which so far is uncurable". My friend said that there has been a lot of discussion on the Edmunds S-Type forum on vibrations in the S-Type. It got me wondering if the extreme wheel offset may contribute to the problem. That is any out of round or shape distortion in either the wheel or tire becomes more of a problem with a high offset wheel vs. one where the hub is more to the tire / wheel center. Trying to think logically about it, if there was a 1/16" bend at the inside of the wheel it is magnified by the 7" wheel width that is to the front of the wheel where it attached to the hub making it act like a 7/16" imperfection. If the hub was in the center of the wheel (width) the worse case is 3.5" x the 1/16" imperfection. Any dynamic analysis type ME's out there who have any thoughts on this?
http://www.onthenet.com.au/~billzila/vvtvtec.htm
has excellent explanations of the Toyota VVT-i and the Honda VTEC.
The Irvine event in January showed me what these cone courses were about, so I'm interested in seeing what the LS will do against other vehicles. Many of us hope/think the LS is competitive against the "ultimate driving machine," the 300M, the I30t, various Acuras and who knows what else, but actual performance on these courses would tend to prove the point. Seems no one brings actual data.
I'm not inclined modify the car at all, as opposed to many of the participants, who tweak their vehicles heavily to do well on these things. Just curious I guess.
Still disappointing to me how few of the people who buy LS's do so because they want to drive the thing rather than ride in it or (worse yet) be seen in it.
Per my previous post on tires, the new T Bird is sporting the same size tires as the sport pkg LS: 235/50R17 but they come from the factory with Michelins in this size. I'm almost positive they're MXM4s (H and V rated grand touring). Those are definitely in my future, although I have to admit I can't complain about the Firehawks. But nothing beats Michelins in my book. Also remember that 245/45R17 is an acceptable replacement size as well. I think there are at least 30 or more choices on tirerack in that size and speed rating.
I printed the specs & price from Tire Rack, then went to my local Discount Tire dealer who has provided excellent service over many years. As I walked through the door, too far away for him to read it, I held the paper up & said "can you match this?" He said "yes", and he did, no questions asked.
It's at a pretty high level but gives some insight into why the problems are sometimes difficult to deal with. A little bit of real-world data never hurts...
With my LS I noticed one time there was a Lexus IS300 that was beating me by 1-2 seconds. At first I thought wow that's impressive. But then last weekend I was working the grid area and got up close to see it had a set of Kumho bubblegum tires on it. No wonder! Another week I ran with a 528i and a 540i. The 528 beat me by 0.5 seconds - probably the manual giving him an edge. The 540 was a good 1 sec+ ahead. But then again, it could be crappy driving on my part - hard to tell.
Last weekend I was racing my Fiero and there was a father & son team from the Fiero club racing too. Both cars with identical drivetrains 2.8L EFI V6 and 4 speeds. He had decent tires all around and Koni coil-overs. I had some work Pirellis up front and fresh Sumitomos on the back, all riding on 167k mile OEM chassis. Even with mine pushing BAD in corners, I beat the Dad by 5 seconds and his son by 3 secs (both drove the same car). To tell the truth I was just glad I beat the guy in the Dodge Dakota ;-D
WRT ordering tires on the Internet - I bought the two Sumitomos for my Fiero on tirerack.com for $50 each. My favorite tire place charged me $20 each to mount & balance. Not a fantastic bargain, but not bad either. I could have gotten something off the shelf for about the same, but this way I got exactly what I wanted. The tires arrived at my house in 2 days in perfect condition. It might be better if you ordered a wheel & tire package that ship already mounted/balanced. I've heard many speak highly of tirerack and my purchase was a good one.
Now to all yous that think I'm obsessive. Since we're going out tomorrow, I have to wash the Infinity rental as Enterprise didn't wash it too well and they're water spots all over it and the windows are DIRTY!
I used it and it looked legit. And I haven't seen any pop-up ads today either. If you copy the whole link from 3105 and paste it, it will work.
Brian
Enjoy!
Brian
I'm sitting here right now with a VariCam ad from the 6/67 issue of Hot Rod magazine. There's an illustration of a spring-loaded (and apparently adjustable) cam sprocket that goes in place of the stock sprocket "in minutes." "Gives you more low end torque...plus horses on the top end." Price:$65.00.
So, like ABS, air bags, and countless other advances, that old chestnut about there being "nothing new under the sun" has some credibility. It just took the IC to make these things viable and reliable for mass production.
Incidentally, if you or anyone else would like a copy of the VariCam ad, email me your mailing address @ amgreen2001@yahoo.com and I'll be happy to send you one.
Artie
Thomas_l: Its definitely possible the Firehawks have been on special for awhile, but with the recent decision by Ford to drop Firestone, I have a strong feeling production of these unique sized Firehawks may be going away. Additionally, Im personally not interested in the alternative size of 245/45 17 for other brands. Wider contact patch plus lower sidewall height usually means decreased (albeit however slight) ride comfort, and the Sport Packaged LS is stiff enough for me in stock form with the 50 series tires.
Plus, the Firehawks are the only tires for the LS that are in the All-Season Performance category. The other 2 choices for the Sport Package LS are listed as summer only type tires, and dont have all-season capabilities, a must for me in the DC area, as the winters are not bad enough to warrant separate snow tires, but the occasional snow storms that can hit, can cause issues if you dont have at least all-seasons on your car. Plus, I only need 3 Firehawks, where I would have had to order 4 of any other brand. At $106 per tire, its worth it for me to have ordered 3 now, instead of risking them being no longer available.
My point was that they said thry would match the deal I had on paper, before they saw the paper. I assume that they will match any valid price offer.
I thought wood was spelled wUd
So ends my trunk opening saga.
Mike
Mine is a glow-in-the-dark T-handle that's on the passenger side of the trunk lid, sorta behind the license plate. If you have one, maybe it got caught on the ice chest somehow and caused the lid to release.
JLinc, with too much time on his hands...:)
Cobra went 0-60 in 4.8 secs, Panoz at 4.9 secs. Cobra top speed was drag limited 148 mph; Panoz governed at 155 mph.
EPA stickers both at 17/25. C&D observed 17 mpg in Cobra and 18 mpg in Panoz. Having the numerically lower 5th overdrive helps with highway mileage.
I just completed a small journey in my LS, 4672 miles to be exact. For the whole trip, I averaged 24.031 m.p.g., mostly at 80 miles per while the air was on. I thought that was quite respectable. Best tank was 26.8 and the worse was 18.68 in SoCal, must have been the re formatted fuel ;-)
The average for the fuel prices was $1.973, which isn't as good as $.35, but it something I'm willing to live with. It may sound expensive, but adjusted for inflation, fuel is still cheap. Nothing like the $4.00 per gallon I paid for regular in Ireland last October!
Like I said, most of the cruising was at 80. There were times when traffic allowed for a bit more, so I obliged. I was also able to enjoy some triple digit speeds, and the car handles those speeds like it were 70, a truly amazing chassis with a great planted feeling. Absolutely no float or bob along the highway, and the miles accumulate in an alarmingly comfortable fashion. 1000 miles make one wonder what a 1500 mile trek would be like. The car pampers the driver while performing it's act to a high degree of refinement.
I cannot help but realize that this car is a gas!
PS..pic for best overall performance car is the BMW M3, which was described as having the best automotive chassis ever. No argument here.
Jlinc: the release was pretty far from the chest. Once I turned it latch in, the trunk stayed closed.
Mike
It's as exciting as a mashed potato sandwich.
To be fair to the Q45, it has to be at least as exciting as the LS6 automatic.
The way ezaircon drives I'd be willing to be the LS-6 automatic is way more exciting than the Q45. Bet he'd roll the tires off the bead of the Q!
gschwartz: Mashed potato sandwich? I'm guessing the boxed version, no less
Brian (wishing everyone Dad a Happy Fathers Day!)
Mike, also wishing all you daddies out there a Happy Fathers Day! We have a VERY important job!
I would like to add an idea for a future small convenience feature. I have remote entry key fobs for the LS, an Explorer, and my Ranger. If I try to carry all of these and those big black keys, I will have to wear cargo pants with very big pockets. I suggest having a universal remote that would learn the other codes so I could get by carrying only one. This would both reduce clutter and encourage multiple FOMOCO ownership!
Take all the remotes that you want to use on all the cars. I had one for me, one for the wife, and one for the one kid that had a license last time I did this.
Follow the directions in the owner's manual to have the car recognize a new remote. One the cars I did last time it involved turning the key in the ignition on and off five times. Then push any one button on each remote that you want that car to recognize. Then do the same in the other cars.
After doing this the one remote I had on my ring operated all three cars in the driveway at the same time. After starting the one I was driving I would hit the lock buton again and it would lock the other two. A running car ignores the remotes.
Mark
My choice ius between the LS, i30 and tl-s. I've been reading here for a month or so, and I'm leaning LS. I really like the car overall. I have to have good legroom in back for the kids since they will have to ride with me SOMEtimes. I thought the LS was pretty roomy, although not as roomy as the i30, which I thought was a very well put together car offfering lots of confort. It ran very smoothly, albeit less exciting then the LS. The TL-S was a bit on the taut side not as attractive as the other two but certainly a speedster! With a nice tranny/shifter.
Only worry about the LS is quality/Tranny issue..hmm. My neighbor, who is gonna get an LS as well, or so he says, has read up on the lS and read that the transmission is supposed to "learn" your driving habits and that if you don't like how it has "learned" them, you can disconnect the battery and start again. Anything to this?
What kind of lease deal has anyone received on a well equipped V-8?
Thanks!
James
Quality is always a question mark with any make, and if you read all the anecdotal evidence you get from forums such as this, you can go nuts. Be sure to run the car you might buy up to 70-75 mph on a test drive; some LSs have had vibration problems at speed which have been difficult to diagnose. FWIW, my 2000 V8 Sport just turned 20k miles and has been flawless. If you can live with the back seat room, the LS is a great choice. You seem to be doing your homework so as to make a well-informed choice; I think you'll be happy with whatever you get.
Please come back & let us know what you decided on, and why.
Scott