meccanoble

just thinking of the future and what i would like my next car to be. Everything about the SC300 points in my favor except one thing.

Positives:

very classy interior
very classy and sporty outside look
REAR WHEEL DRIVE!!!!!!
lots of potential due to supra engine and RWD
very reliable engine
everything similar to the maxima except i think the SC looks better



^^^ that picture above is my new wall paper! i love it dearly





and there's also a huge debate about the quality of lexus SC leather, atleast the earlier years.

But thats not whats giving me my main worry.

the dam SC is heavy as ***** and to only run 15.4 @ the 1/4 makes it slightly slower than the maxima (190 hp, 210 tq, 3000 lbs)

I'm cool with a few bolt ons or whatever is needed to get me into the low 14's. Maxima, I can invest a good 500-700 tops to get into the low to mid 14's (y-pipe, catback, intake, udp). I'm worried lexus may take a little more work and a lot more money to do so. Can someone ease this worry for me?

SupraCoup3

We don't bother w/ the 14s... we go right from 15 second slips to 13 ;-)

meccanoble

lol, nice. Even so, a maxima can run 12's with a 5k kit. If i wanted complete speed, i would stick to a maxima or get a much lighter RWD car. I was looking for a combination of descent power (more than what i have stock vs stock) and a lot of everything else. Intakes, exhaust, these type of mods, how much hp gain do they give and how much do they run?

Also what would u guys consider the best power for the buck mod besides FI for the SC300? i got a feeling a chip might do wonders for u guys.

/Aerostar\

iTrader: (2)

Haha, this is funny, I have a 92 SC3 5-speed and one of my good friends has a 97 Maxima 5-speed. I of course like my car better, and he of course likes his better. My leather seems to be softer, and mine is RWD. I cant make the decision for you, but I would of course recommend the SC, especially if you want to focus on performance (Dave-h single turbo kit perhaps...)

Good luck

meccanoble

it is a very tough decision. Have u guys ever raced?

qtb33

The SC is heavy, very true. Make sure you drive both cars if they are that close in comparison for you. After drving my SC, any FWD car I drive I just can't enjoy. It may just be my driving style but being unable to power through corners kills me. For a RWD car the stock suspension is fairly soft and rides well but it is very neutral in nature and can be put into oversteer with the throttle.

Power wise. Yes the SC will lose to the Maxima in a drag. But be sure to look at their trap speeds. I would bet the SC has a higher trap everytime. That being said, run that year Maxima and an SC from a 60+MPH roll on. I am also fairly sure you can get a Stock SC (5 speed) todo 15.1 with a good driver. Many car magazines got them to do it. So 14's are a few bolts ons away. However someday should you want 900HP, you can do it. Is there a streetable 900HP Maxima?

Other part concerns. Simple, we steal everything from the Supra, engines, suspension, seats, etc. This also makes upgrades cheaper. What can you do with the Maxima in regards to trading parts from a Hi-Perf. Model. If your not big into Modding a car then this may not be a big concern for you.

Then shear looks, line the two up. It may be me, I am jagged, but is it even close? Interior included. I have had the chance to spend much time in both, I'll take my Sc hands down everytime. Now if we are talking a newer Maxima, things may be a little different and much closer in my eyes, but I don't think I could have a FWD car as my only car.

Good luck. Both are great cars and have much potential.

meccanoble

thats one of the main things i like about the SC, the potential. Maxima's dont really have an engine they can swap for better performance, now we are working on the new maxima engines but in all honsety swapping engines isnt really necessary. It has been proven with great tuning that our VQ30De engines can take over 500 hp, even close to 600 hp with no internals done, just a change of spark plugs, and bigger injectors. Even though i'm pretty sure these engines cant come close to 900 hp, because we are FWD, its kind of a waste cause we lose so much traction at such an earlier hp range. Plus we dont need 900 hp to run sick times (11's or lower).

BTW, while shopping today i seen a 94 SC400 for sale. I wanted 300 cause of 5 speed conversion or whatever but looking at body, i can honestly say i dont feel bad for falling for the look. These small bolt ons u speak of that will bring the SC300 into mid 14's, how much and what are they?

Also i'm very certain the 300 *****s on the 4th gen max (95-99) on the highway, i guess its just the weight that hurts the low end

qtb33

well I would start with the bigger gains like a header intake and exhaust. If you want more one of my personal favs is a Light weight FW. There are UD pulleys and if you want to go nuts you can look in to custom cam re-grinds and head work. Then you might as well do a high CR pistons.

That should be a good start. Actually all that will probably get you 13s, not to mention some serious debt, but the basics should give you a 20HP gain. Although I don't really know, I havn't seen any dynos but a good guess seems to be half of what manufactures claim. So my guesstimation would be: header = 17HP Exhaust = 10 Intake = 10 Total 37HP / 2 = ~19HP approx. If you get more then sweet.

siaxazn

i must disagree i highly doubt an intake gives 10hp, probably 5rwhp at most. best bang for the buck besides the exhuast and headers is the safc. dyno proven 8rwhp.

the main reason i like the sc is becuase of its manueverability, I just love how the sc shares a suspension with the supra. I believe the stock sc300 5spd is better than the maxima in all aspects except for low end straight line acceleration due to its weight. when you slap on a kit and some dubs you got one of the hottest cars around.

qtb33

Please re-read my previous post, I said half of 10 HP which is 5HP.

MoogieBoogie

I had two 4th gen Maximas 5 speeds before I bought my first SC300 5 speed. I like the SC300 a lot better. The Maxima was faster and more roomy, able to be driven in snow, didn't cost a fortune for tires, but I still like the SC300 better.

CleanSC

LOL that ratty thing?

It was hastily taken, I'll be sure to replace it with nicer ones soon.

Thanks for the love.

soarer479

iTrader: (2)

all i have to say is ... come on!! lexus or nissan? my grandma drives a maxima if your worried about the sc being heavey .. there are many many ways to make it lighter with out ripping out your entire interrior.
and it being the younger luxury brother of the supra helps out a ton, easy to find mods very easy to find help or suggestions of which way you should take your engine. and finally in a maxima.... no drifting for you!!!!!!!!!! come on SC300 is the way too go!!!!

haha ok im a little bias

5spd97

Lets see, a Lexus that listed new for $40 - $50k or a Maxima that listed for $20k? They're not even close to being in the same league. IMHO

Movingviolation

My dad had a '95 Maxima SE 5spd. It was one of the first 3 5spd's sold in the US when the car came out. I currently have a '93 SC300 5spd.

I think the Maxima felt 'sportier' out of the box, and it's definatly faster. I also think the maxima has a better interior, at least that's my opinion since the needles in my SC are dieing and the display is starting to turn to crap on the HVAC.

The white on black faces on the maxima look great IMHO.


The SC has more potential, but only if your willing to invest a lot of money into it (turbo, engine swap, Ect).
If you want a light RWD car that drives and performs nice why not look into a 240sx. Get an S14 SE or LE with leather. It's got the same nice dash as the maxima, performance parts are reasonable, and if you want the SR20DET swap is cake. I've built up 3 240sx's (all 12 second cars or better) and I can't say enough nice things about them. I just bought the lexus to do a 2jz swap and try somthing different. So far I can still honestly say I miss my Nissan.

That's my opinion. Check out www.nissaninfiniticlub.net It's the largest Nissan forum on the web, and is full of info. Also try www.maxima.org

Hope that helps a little

Paul