ciscokid

I am compiling a list of performance enhancements I am thinking about doing and would like some feedback on manufactures of items, whether you think a particular performance mod will be worth it, etc. Thanks in advance.

-CK

Air Filter system - The Injen Technology intake system.
Computer Chip Upgrade - any recommendations on manufacturer? Worth doing?
Exhaust System - what manufacturer, unit?
Springs and Shock Absorbers - what manufacturer, recommended make and model
Torque converter - Precision Industries was recommnended, any other recommendations? Worth doing?

Anything else?

SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

Unless you make ungodly amounts of money, I wouldnt mod your car. Just keep it stock and in mint, clean condition. I have doen one mod and I'm fairly satisfied with it, the Lexuspros ecu upgrade. The thing about that is, It remains fast only for a few days after reseting the ecu and recalibrating it by doing 0-100 full throttle a few times, and seems to return to normal. The torque converter Ive heard is worthwhile and will take about half a second off 0-60 times or so. Besides these two things, dont bother.

When you install a less restrictive intake system you may be compromising the quality of filtered air going into your engine, over the course of a few years, engine wear would be much greater.

rushgator

Supra TT brake upgrade is probably one of the most practical mods from a cost/benfit standpoint. It's never bad to invest in increased safety. As far as the engine, like the man said, unless you got major $, just leave it alone.

Sc400Tuner

jay, I was noticing your signature, I dont see how that ecu upgrade gives you 40hp gain? is that correct? That seems near impossible based on what I have read.

SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

The dynos from lexuspros.com indicate that the full ECU upgrade like the one I bought gives an additional 30 hp at the wheels and 50 pounds of torque at the wheels. The 4 speed automatic transmission found in the SC coupes of 92-97 unfortunately only effectively transfer 69-70% of the power from the engine to the wheels. 30 wheel hp would be roughly 40 at the crankshaft, and 50 pounds of torque at the wheels would be closer to about 70 at the crank. Dont get me wrong, when you first reset it and calibrate it, it is blazingly fast in first gear, and the shift from 1st to second litterally kicks the car an extra 5 mph, unfortunately after a few days, the power tends to fade, still better than stock and quite impressive, but i seriously need to find a way to make the power gains permanent.

nextlevelcoupe

iTrader: (1)

IS THAT ECU MOD SAFE?? how does the car feel otherwise? stock??

SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

The ecu upgrade is good in such a way that it does NOT change the stock feel of the car at all. It drives normal just like a stock SC would, just a bit more power to it, and the shifts have a little more oomph, also a little smoother.

Having talked to a few experienced guys from here, the reason why the ecu is only truly effective for a frew days and then fades to be only marginally better than stock is because the computer learns to change the fuel mixture to save fuel, and retards the spark timing to save fuel also, so if it could be calibrated and locked into those settings the upgrade would definitely be worth it... but having to reset and run 0-100 a few times to set it up right every few days is such a chore... I'll figure out how to solve this problem soon.

Yes the ecu is safe. Many people have had this mod for several years and it doesnt have any negative affects from what I know. This and the PI torque converter are the only mods that dont compromise the luxury aspect, which is important.

mrshabo

forget all those mods and make yourself a bfi. it should cost you at most 15 bucks.

SC400-V8

iTrader: (1)

Say, could you find us the site where you can make the bfi?

mrshabo

http://www.lextreme.com/BFI.htm

there is one of the sites. i don' t it is fully finished but if you do a search on it you can find the full diy. they claimed to have like an 18 hp increase. way better than these injen/blitz/jwt intakes make. I got the jwt intake and it is bigger than most of the other intakes and i don't notice much difference. Gonna try the bfi myself soon

Nick T

BFI : http://www.planetsoarer.com/#BFI

Peter Scott also has alot of other goodies you want to read over if you plan on modifying the SC400

NRG

those basic bolt ons are what ever. but their's no reason to get a ecu upgrade, if you have a stock built motor. When your motor is stock, it will never take the advantage of the programs on the ecu.
Even if you do shove one in your car, the ecu will tell the car to do this, but the motor will be like (im not built for that application).

I wish more people knew how a car work.

Vegassc400

If the engine will not take advatage of the program, how did they get the dyno information? There is a dyno sheet on the Lexus pros site that shows the actual HP and torque increase.

Yeah. me too

NRG

are you asking me how they dyno the car with the ecu.
Or are you trying to say, how did they get the performance gain from the ecu.

because you dont need a programed ecu to do a dyno test on any car.
and for the other thing, even if you did slap on the ecu, it will be only using 10% of the ecu's program.

Vegassc400

What I'm asking is if the stock motor will not take advantage of the new ECU program, how did they come by those dyno numbers?