ahjensc4

A friend of mine has a 2002 Lexus is300 (stock) and wants race my 93 sc400(injen intake). Who would win?

1sWt2GS

iTrader: (6)

Is this even a question?

your sc400 anyday. your comparing a v6 to a v8. on paper you make ~250hp vs the 2jz-ge which makes about ~215 hp (numbers taken from edmunds.com)

INTIMAZY

iTrader: (5)

*inline 6

...and it depends more on driver and transmission choice. The IS is significantly lighter than an SC and even a SC300 with a 5-speed can win against a 400 with a slush box.

Driver will be ultimately the deciding factor since they're both painfully slow (IMO) in the form you mentioned.

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

That is also flywheel HP, not RWHP. I took the time to search dyno results of both cars stock and am finding averages of the following:

SC400 (bone stock): 181rwhp to 207rwhp (low mileage, with CAI)

IS300 (also stock): 164rwhp (over 90k miles) to 187 (with CAI)


The IS300 has more parasitic drag through the stock auto than the SC400 does apparently, but there are WAYY to many factors here. Flywheel numbers dont mean anything if your trans is garbage, and factory HP ratings are good for nothing if you have over 70k miles (where most cars start to lose power due to wear).

The big factor between the 2 cars is weight. The SC400 as we all know is a pig at 3,604 lb (average weight) not including driver. The IS300 depending on the transmission is anywhere from 3,255 lb up to 3,410 lb. Even on the heavy end for the IS, there is a 200lb disadvantage on the SC400.

Also you have to take gear ratios (trans and diff) into account. I cannot find definitive info on either transmission, but Im sure that after Toyota realized the trans ratio for the SC400 was sluggish on the low end, they made improvements over the years to better the IS300's acceleration.

Threads like this are like a blind man deciding what color car he should drive to get sunglasses cause its too bright outside. Best thing to do, is go to the track and run best 2 out of 3 heads up and focus on the E.T. and trap speeds, ignore the reaction times, let the clock decide who won. Then post up pics of the slips with the car number assigned and a pic of each car to confirm the numbers. That will get your solid answer.

oldManTan

numbers don't mean much really. i used to have an 08 auto xB and my friend has an 08 IS250 AWD, also auto (pretty sure they don't make them manual) and he won against me in a straight line by a half car length. so the only real test is to actually test it, not talk numbers, cz thats wat hondas and mustangs do.

CatManD3W

iTrader: (18)

IS250 do come in 6 spd manual...but they are only available RWD

Personally I believe a proper test should be done on a track....best lap time.....say for 3 laps....but like others have mentioned it really depends on driver skill.....its easy to mash the gas but cornering at high speed is a different ball game

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

While you have a point about just mashing the gas, there is more to a drag race than that. Regardless of what most think, there is still a good amount of skill required, but it something that can give a definitive result as to which car has the advantage.

Racing on a track with the twistiest takes more than just skill, and based on the OP's question I feel that its beyond that and his question is based solely on a drag race basis. Not knowing if either drive knows how to preload throttle, understand what deep-staging is, or any other drag racing tricks (skills) may give one or the other the advantage. But I see the best end to this argument is for them to head to a local drag strip, and just mash the gas when the tree hits green. While it may not be the best test for either car, the traps and times wont lie.

Dayton92

Your SC will take him any day! Who's with me?

turbodremz

iTrader: (18)

I personally would like to think so simply cause I think the IS300/250/350 are hideous, but with only an average 20hp advantage and a 200lb disadvantage I would have to say its going to be very close.