Game Of Details: The Stance Nation Lexus LS
More than skin deep

I’m going to get this out of the way right now. This feature is about a lowered Lexus with some cool wheels and a small, but choice selection of aftermarket parts. Aside from those major points, this is a simple and straightforward automobile. There is no extensive fabrication involved here, no crazy horsepower and no long history behind this car (in fact it went from stock to looking like this in less than a year).

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-12

Yet for a car whose main calling card is a slammed ride height and a wicked set of wheels, there’s a lot going on here. And that’s no surprise since its owner is the guy who founded Stance Nation – a website dedicated to the art of low heights and wide wheels.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-3

Before buying this Lexus LS400, Elvis Skender drove a ground-scraping Dodge Charger SRT8, which I’m sure you’ve seen images of floating around on the internet.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-35

And while the Charger was certainly unique, after some thought Elvis decided it was time to switch things up for a car that would have more aftermarket support when it came to his idea of car customization.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-2

So with the Dodge gone, Elvis went out and picked up a very clean and well-taken-care-of second generation Lexus LS and immediately got to work injecting it with some style.

Redefining VIP
Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-28

Of course this wasn’t as simple as just going out and finding the lowest suspension and widest wheels he could. Like all the good VIP cars, it’s really the details that make this sedan come alive.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-4

When building the car, Elvis drew a lot of inspiration from VIP cars in Japan but at the same time he also wanted to include some of the elements that define the American VIP scene.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-32

The way he sees it, many VIP builders in Japan are constantly trying to outdo each other with increasingly aggressive bodywork, paint and of course wheel and suspension set-ups.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-7

VIP cars in the United States in the meanwhile tend to a follow a safer route. Subtle OE colors, mild body modifications and aggressive but not obnoxious wheels.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-17

What Elvis wanted was a car that that mixed both the creative side of Japan’s VIP builders and the subtlety of their counterparts across the Pacific. I’d say he’s succeeded.

VIP anatomy
Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-10

Since this is the Stance Nation Lexus, let’s begin with, well, the stance. In Japan, it’s amazing how many VIP sedans are running around on traditional coilover set-ups, but for Elvis’s plan, air suspension was the way to go.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-5

The car is equipped with an Air Runner On The Ground kit with an additional 400c compressor – easily allowing the car to be driven on California’s less-than-ideal roads without too much stress.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-20

Suspension adjustment is handled with ease from the cockpit via one of Accuair’s eLevel and iLevel controllers.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-6

Of course the air suspension itself was just one part of the equation needed to get the car sitting and driving like it does.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-8

The car is also equipped with Battle Version toe links, traction links and rear lower control arms. There’s also Studio camber RCA dialed to -10 at each corner.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-15

Next comes the wheels and in the short time Elvis has owned the car, it’s already had a few different sets of rollers attached to it. The current wheels are Work VS-XX 19″x10 up front and 19″x12 in the rear with Falken FK452 tires. True Japanese wheel aficionados might notice that these VS-XXs have a unique stepped lip, and the new design is planned to be released in the US early next year.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-9

Making an equally large visual impact are the giant Futura brakes with eight-pot calipers and 380mm rotors in front, and six-pot calipers with 356mm rotors out back.

Neon cruising
Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-31

Next comes the body and while it might look pretty stock to the untrained eye, there’s once again a lot of keen details here.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-30

The front bumper and sideskirts are from Aimgain, as is the rear bumper.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-14

Additionally, the rear fenders have been pulled and slightly radiused, while the front fenders have been pulled by about three or four inches. With the bodywork done, the whole thing was coated in a custom layer of Audi’s attractive Candy White paint.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-11

The lighting set-up on the car is pretty trick as well. The front corners are LED, as are the tail lights, which were built by an outfit in Japan called LED-Shop SILVA. They’ve got 12oo individual LEDS and can be arranged into 40 different patterns via a wireless controller.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-19

Inside, the interior remains stock for now with the exception of a Nardi steering wheel, but I say it’s hard to complain given how well kept everything is. The 1UZFE V8 also remains stock for now while Elvis figures out what his future plans for the car are. There’s a custom exhaust system to make the V8 growl though…

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-24

So while this Lexus might not have the most extensive modification list ever seen on Speedhunters, you can see the way it absolutely comes alive – especially when seen through the lens of Larry Chen, who got hold of the car for a night in Vegas during the SEMA Show. It just looks so right in the middle of the neon oasis.

Larry_Chen_Speedhunters_Stance_Nation_elvis_lexus-33

So yes, at its core this machine is nothing more than a Lexus with a dropped height, fancy wheels and some mild bodywork. But like so many great cars, VIP or otherwise, its impact is much greater than the sum of its parts.

ADVERTISEMENT

Comments



Comments are closed.

44 comments

by Oldest
by Best by Newest by Oldest
1

see dino? night photos of vip cars with tuned leds. makes all the difference =)

2

I will be so scared to hit a cat's eye with this car...

3

Gotta say, this looks excellent! Very tasteful, I'm loving those LED tails :D

4

Another one?! What is this, stance/air ride month???

5

kphillips9936 hmmmm did you miss the Gasser and the Time Attack cars we just published yesterday?

6

"I'd like a Double-Double, animal style, with a side of fries and a Sprite... I mean 7-up"
"Would you like to eat in the car?"
"Fuck no!"

7

whenever i talk about winning the lottery, i always talk about my small collection of vegas cars. i would definitely make room in my garage for this bad mammy.

8

kphillips9936 "Stop liking what i don't like!"..man crybabies all the time. Why don't you just ignore the articles about stanced/airride cars.

9

More pictures!!! :)
 i'm drooling with envy hehehe.
 Any chance you can share the shop website for the led tail lights?
 :)

10

Bags? Weak.

11

Great pictures Larry! The Vegas environment suits the car so well.

12

Seriously, I'd run it with a proper coilover set... That ride height is making my balls soft...

13

Ahhh, a proper LS400 nicely done. Very tasteful in my opinion. Really good Pictures too! 
I always had a soft spot for these huge Luxurious Japanes Sedans, they just look so right slammed to the ground, be it static or air.

14

kphillips9936 If you knew coming in you were not going to like this why did you choose this post?

15

does LED-Shop SILVA have a webpage?

16

DaveT kphillips9936 well I guess everyone is free to speak here right? Seriously you can choose not to post your reply as well. BTW I really don't want to set off a dispute; actually I got an email notification, and the email guided me here XD. Have fun.

17

hanzr DaveT kphillips9936 I didn't say he wasn't free to post. I was just curious why he (and people in general who distaste this sort of thing) venture into posts like this. 
Not like they were tricked by a misleading title or anything.

18

I don't care what anyone says, the best VIP cars are on bags in my book.

19

LouisYio Sir please pull up to the window.
"I am at the window, you can't see me cause I am too low"

20

I love the taillights.

21
turbo BEAMS ae86

wheatgod VIP car

22
turbo BEAMS ae86

Love it.  Nice one men

23

Awesome VIP done right and amazing photography Larry Chen!

24

wheatgod How can a VIP car be without camber OR airbags, ESPECIALLY considering it's owned by a guy who founded Stance Nation. Think - it's not that hard.

25

wheatgod apex_DNA Speak for yourself, you could've at very least said something along the lines of that hardcore VIP guys in Japan run coil-overs or that VIP cars used to be more about power in a luxury and discreet package (that's how I remember them from way back), but NO - you had to ruin it with a lame comeback. Do you even like cars?

26

wonder if neons would ever make a come back... : /

27

DaveT hanzr kphillips9936 I'm just curious is all. Does the VIP thing love constant uneven tire wear, subframe damage from scraping(especially in Las Vegas) and fenders getting eaten up by the wheels. And what about the handling in that stance?

I see these setups all the time here (SH and on the streets of LV) and imo it looks like one good bump and the thing could fall apart. 
This is just my opinion on the matter and wanted to know is all. No offense to the owner, its his ride.

28

RodChong kphillips9936 I did yes, I'm more of the racing type and just curious about the air ride, stretched tires and camber thing is all.

29

thought it was bmw paint

30

SuzyWallace Yep! It certainly wouldn't look out of place in Vegas. Though I was wondering how the valet's reaction if would be if he sees one? Hmmm... priceless I think!

31

wheatgod apex_DNA Haha he's not the troll here....He's merely pointing out common aspects of the car that are almost always associated with the VIP scene, which the car is obviously  a part of. I don't understand how you can say airbags ruin a car either. There are plenty of performance airbag systems that are just as good as coilovers(not saying this car has them). And I don't think this car will ever be hitting the track so I doubt he cars about how stiff his suspension is.

There's no need to be a dick on here. If its not your scene or you just can't appreciate the car, just click on the other hundred articles on here.....

32

kphillips9936 DaveT hanzr Well, to answer the questions, most dont care about the tire wear, or the damage, or the fender abuse. They're dedicated to the look, not the performance.

33

Outstanding photography, this may be the best car feature that I've seen and I'm here every day since 2008, I'm sure taking those pictures was a challenge but the outcome is amazing. Nice work!

34
AaronSantiagoArjona

wow

35

retard named FIXNOW,....any reason most of these show up at the NFSW front page with NO fucking relevance to the community
and the dynamics of the game...CARS in the GAME...etc...fucking Canadians.

36

mat88 Thanks for the kind words!

37
iansteelmatheson

EAowesusMONEY lol calm down son they clearly have some sort of deal with speedhunters... it's been in place since the game was new 3.5 years ago and they decided to link to articles on here once a week. 
and also, yeah BlackBox/Quicklime was a mess by the end - but this was largely due to EA running the studio into the ground with overwork and not enough staff. don't generalize about people from one country based on one thing. that's just ignorance

38

kphillips9936 DaveT hanzr My car handles way better on bags than it did on coils wound all the way down at full stiff. But I can only speak for my car not for this one.
From what I can tell via social media he doesn't actually drive it all that much.
Tire life can be prolonged if you do your best to keep your toe within reason. Camber wears tires yes but if the toe isn't incredibly crazy you can get tolerable life out of your rubber.
Personally I hate bacon fenders and quarters.

39

great eye candy :)


good job larry

40

nice car <3

41

Не понимаю, что крутого в занижении =(( ужасно выглядит!

42

А вопрос должен был звучать как раз вот наоборот. Любая пониженная тачка = крутая тачка...конечно везде есть предел, не спорю, "stance" мне тоже не по душе, но на "VIP" машинах это неотъемлемая часть их стиля.

43

apex_DNA  Да он звучит как мои родители, которые советуют лучше поднять тачку чтоб можно было все переехать. Менталитет из деревни.

44

People that say a ton of negative things about bags probably just started messing with cars...

For I am someone who's gone through almost 30 cars, and knocking on an age of almost 40 years, I can appreciate bags.

Elvis' LS400 keeps evolving and done right in so many ways!  Love it!

OFFICIAL SPEEDHUNTERS SUPPLIERS