tbilisi79

I'm sure some of you realize that we live in a sweet time in automotive history. For all of us horsepower freaks this is an amazing period in life.
300 hp out of a v6 is a norm now, and a v8 has to make 370 and up . 400 plus if it's force fed.

With that said. My first car was a lincoln coupe, I took it from 225 hp to about 310 and I remember what a drastic difference that was.
I remember my 94 mercedes s500 was 325 hp and that felt like a rocket ship. In fact that is the car that steered me towards my Ls 460. Heavy feel with a powerful motor.
98 LS400 I owned after was even faster, 290hp
06gs 430 was very fast as well and felt like it never needed more,

But 460 rules them all. Motor has a wide range of power, plenty of torque and hp.
It's no s63 , but 385 HP out of a 4.6 motor that can go 200+ k miles is great.

I always thought 300 hp would be enough, but Im starting to think 400 is a good norm now, for me at least.
It's been 5 month and I still smile every time I get in the car. It's ability to drive so smooth at moderate speeds is amazing, considering how fast it can go when you put the hammer down.


Just wondering what sort of HP numbers you've had in your past.

roadfrog

So true. When I bouight my 88 Mustang GT 5.0, it turned the Automotive World on it's ****. 225 hp!!!! 300 ft/lbs torque, one of the fastest production cars of it's time. LOL. My neighbour's KIA has more hp now.

But, OMG.....the music that car makes from it's 302 cubic inches.....

I still have it and can't wait to take it out in the Summer.

Devh

My other car is faster then the LS and it only has 180hp and 128ft torque.

tbilisi79

Trust me Sir. I know. My current Lsc has Bassani x pipe and Dynomax mufflers. 5.0s are dear to me.

konradl

I definitely agree with you tibilis... The 'norm' HP has been increasing steadily over with newer technology and I'm anxious to see where it continues to go. I've had 3 Z06s, but like you, I do love the 'large and fast' category equally as much, which started with a S500.

The LS is surprisingly faster than I thought it would be. And, like the Vettes, this burns the tires off when I want it to, just have to remember to push the button first. It's nice to be able to commute in comfort, but step on it and blow away the unsuspected victims.

7milesout

1993 Mazda RX-7. 350 hp, 2,700 lbs. I've only had 2 cars beat it. Sitting in the garage with the LS. As is a golf cart ... and a big ATV ... and a CRF 450X with a license plate. And 3 cars outside. I have to stop this obsession...

yoshirocks

Yes when I test drove my LS I stepped on it and thought, not bad for a heavy *** car, it may not smoke the newest and greatest but at least its faster than my 110hp cavalier. I have an 09 WR450F plated sitting in my garage too its an awesome hooligan machine especially hitting the streets of downtown Toronto haha

I just put a deposit on a 2000 R34 Skyline GTT 5spd coming from Japan (I should grab some JDM fogs for the LS while I'm at it lol) that should be a good blast too!

LS460LSKYE

My LS460L is disappointingly slow... Actually took it to the track a few weeks ago because my Camaro was giving me issues and it was running mid 15s... The boat anchor 22s probably don't help lol I've had/have much faster cars, in fact I think this is among the top 5 slowest (probably owned 50 cars in my life). I do still love the car though and it's quick enough to get out of its own way. I'd be much happier if it had at least 100hp more though.

tbilisi79

So the first sedan to peek into 300hp territory is one of my favorites as well, an 88 BMW 750iL. 296 Hp. MB 560 had 236hp if I am correct.
Infiniti q45 kicked it off at 278' in 89 and that I would say was the start.
Im excluding various sports cars at this time. M6 and GNX to name a few,

roadfrog

Sorry, but 0-60 times in the mid 5's to mid 6's is good for ANY car....let alone a 4500 lb luxury car.

You guys are killin' me.

7milesout

I think he was saying that he's 22's were slowing him down more than he expected. I can't say I'm satisfied with the power. But I doubt I would be satisfied with 500 hp. But I'm fine with what it has.

I would be curious to take it to the drag strip to see what it would do. But I think I would be a bit embarrassed, not because it's slow, but because it's not the kind of car you would expect to see out there.

I think it would be a blast to have a 100 hp shot of nitrous. But I'll never do it to this car.


7milesout

R Z

Never one to race, I'm perfectly satisfied when I step heavy on the pedal. It may not be like the 76 Corvette my brother owned that threw my head back against the seat, but it's purty nice.

roadfrog

Make no mistake.....given unlimited resources, my ride would already have an HKS Supercharger in it. Not neccesarily for the power, but the sheer sexiness of that sound and how absoulutely gorgeous that system looks under the hood. However, to call the LS underpowered....uh no.

http://mkimg.carview.co.jp/minkara/b...1726844/p1.jpg

http://cdn.speedhunters.com/wp-conte...KSPD11-334.jpg

tbilisi79

Road and track has 07 LS doing 14 flat in a quarter .
That's plenty fast for any car. I don't need more.
A 4000 Lb + car doing 14 flat in quarter and doing 27mpg on a highway is great:
Again a 4.6 motor doing 385 hp is awesome .

Those twin turbo Bmw and Mercedes motors will never reach 120k miles without major problems . Meanwhile Lexus will keep running.

I will never forget how I raced a a Subaru forester with a Wrx motor, 5 speed, in my 98 ls400 . I couldn't pass him and he couldn't pass me either.
Mae had a laugh afterwards, both asking each other what gives.

LexiJeff

This may be particular to us F-sport people, but as impressed as I am with the power and grace of this land yacht, it is the braking ...

Like pretty much all F-Sports, I have the infamous squeal, which is immediately and entirely silenced with just a little more pressure ... the problem is, and it's not so much a problem as something to continually remember, is that when one does apply a little more foot to the little square thing on the left, this Lumbering Brembo-footed beast STOPS, and quickly. In my ~20 cars, I've never had one with such excellent braking prowess.

But, I've digressed... back on track... alas, the *mere* 385HP seems indeed a little lacking to me, a bit made up for when moving to S/S+ but still, I'd love another 50-100. I heard someone recently comment about Lexus being particularly receptive to ECU mods. Curious... I know there are threads about it, but since we're all here reading in this one, thoughts?