Well, I'm not new to the LX570 but new to toying with it. It's a late production 2008 we bought brand new for family duty (i.e. for my wife) back in 2008. Prior to this we swapped cars every 3 years but this car proved to be so good it became the exception. 6 years and 110k miles later it was time for a new car but I couldn't bear to trade it or sell it. We ended up replacing it with something new for full-time family duty but it was still in such good condition I couldn't resist keeping it for myself. It literally drives as good as new. I confirmed this after (recently) I drove my brother's 2014 LX570 on a 1000 mile trip.
However, as much as we loved the car, I never thought it was a particularly masculine vehicle. To fellow LX570 owners, please don't take offense. My perception stems from it being exclusively my wife's car for the better part of 6 years.
To change it up a little, the first thing I did was change the wheels. I looked long and hard for a style that would look good and did my homework on what would clear without rubbing. I was surprised to find that there is little to no info on mods/upgrades for the LX570, so I figured I'd share as much as I can on what ended up working for me.
For the wheels, I chose the Enkei ST6 in 20x9.5 ET30 ( +30 offset ) with the stock sized Michelin Latitude 285/50/20.
I then blacked out the trim with plastidip to give it a sportier look. Believe me, it looks much more impressive in person. I like it enough I may end up doing it permanently.:
While "sporty" is good, I still wanted a tougher look. I decided to go with a beefier tire. I wasn't sure if I should stick with the stock size or go bigger.
In the end, I picked the Toyo AT2 Xtreme in 285/55/20. Coming out of the tire shop the front rubbed a bit, but after some strategic trimming of the mud flaps and molding the inner fenders with a heat gun the issue was solved. The rubbing is most likely due to the offset and width of the Enkei wheels and may not rub if these were fitted on stock wheels.
BTW, I found out how necessary the mudflaps are on this setup as my initial remedy was complete removal, hence trimming and re-installing them. In this pic you will also see the grill is now completely blacked out vs just the chrome bits:
The main concerns I had was the speed rating is lower than the stock and the speedometer reading. I'll just have to keep it under 118mph from now on. I also checked the speedo with GPS and it reads dead on. The tires did change the ride/handling very slightly but Michelin is tough to beat in this regard. The reality is it is so slight it was well worth it for the trade-off in looks and off-read performance.
Even though the changes may be minimal, I'm quite happy with the outcome. Next up maybe some LED lighting and skid plate. Long-term, maybe a coilover setup if/when the AHC setup gives up the ghost.
However, as much as we loved the car, I never thought it was a particularly masculine vehicle. To fellow LX570 owners, please don't take offense. My perception stems from it being exclusively my wife's car for the better part of 6 years.
To change it up a little, the first thing I did was change the wheels. I looked long and hard for a style that would look good and did my homework on what would clear without rubbing. I was surprised to find that there is little to no info on mods/upgrades for the LX570, so I figured I'd share as much as I can on what ended up working for me.
For the wheels, I chose the Enkei ST6 in 20x9.5 ET30 ( +30 offset ) with the stock sized Michelin Latitude 285/50/20.
I then blacked out the trim with plastidip to give it a sportier look. Believe me, it looks much more impressive in person. I like it enough I may end up doing it permanently.:
While "sporty" is good, I still wanted a tougher look. I decided to go with a beefier tire. I wasn't sure if I should stick with the stock size or go bigger.
In the end, I picked the Toyo AT2 Xtreme in 285/55/20. Coming out of the tire shop the front rubbed a bit, but after some strategic trimming of the mud flaps and molding the inner fenders with a heat gun the issue was solved. The rubbing is most likely due to the offset and width of the Enkei wheels and may not rub if these were fitted on stock wheels.
BTW, I found out how necessary the mudflaps are on this setup as my initial remedy was complete removal, hence trimming and re-installing them. In this pic you will also see the grill is now completely blacked out vs just the chrome bits:
The main concerns I had was the speed rating is lower than the stock and the speedometer reading. I'll just have to keep it under 118mph from now on. I also checked the speedo with GPS and it reads dead on. The tires did change the ride/handling very slightly but Michelin is tough to beat in this regard. The reality is it is so slight it was well worth it for the trade-off in looks and off-read performance.
Even though the changes may be minimal, I'm quite happy with the outcome. Next up maybe some LED lighting and skid plate. Long-term, maybe a coilover setup if/when the AHC setup gives up the ghost.
