denut-L

iTrader: (11)

Nice! Rock did you dyno in 3rd or 4th gear? When we pulled in 3rd the car made very little power around 240 whp and i told jordan to try it in 4th and the car made more power in that gear. A little confused with that. Looks like the peak tq is around 3800k in yours, I thought it was around 2800k as mines started with max tq already and went down from there. I'm thinking jordan started the dyno at something like 3500k rpms. I can't tell from my dyno graph as it's shown in mph. Should be interesting if you got another tune and gain more power. I know you got the stock cats replaced with oem one's, what made you decide not to go with hi-flow cats or straight pipe? Almost the same price if not cheaper. How do you like the 3.7gears and have you topped out in mph yet, what did it top out at? I would love to see a video of your speedometer when going full throttle from a rolling 30mph to whatever. Wanna see how the 3.7gears are compare to the 3.9.

Rock-a-Lex

iTrader: (4)

Thanks! I believe, if my memory serves me correct it was done in 3rd gear because it gives the closest 1:1 ratio for tuning. It took a while for the guy to get use to "holding the gear" for tuning. In the beginning it kept on downshifting or upshifting but when he got it down pat he was able to properly tune it.

IMHO, I just got any nice direct bolt-on cats. I am sure if I would have shopped around a little more I couldn't found something that yielded a little more power...but not enough difference to make me spend a lot of time looking for different cats. No straight pipe for me...I need it to pass emissions.

I havn't FULLY topped out yet but I got damn near close to 130mph the other day and I think I had a little room left on the tach. The 3.76 and 3.92 gears are so close in ratio that the mechanical top speed limit would be similar.

One day, hopefully soon enough I'll post some videos.

sam430

iTrader: (10)

I have the supra LSD with GS430 gearing.

TLcoats

iTrader: (11)

You better get some new videos up!!! When i was shopping around and stumbled upon your 0-80mph run video, It made me decide that the GS was my car. When you stomped it and i heard Wheelspin from a Lexus. I new i wanted to get whatever you had. LOL

Do you plan on upgrading your exhaust anymore in the future? You would prob benefit from larger tubing. I can't wait to see your future dyno numbers. I wonder if theres a way to get to 300whp....

Rock-a-Lex

iTrader: (4)

Yeah, that 0-80 mph run was without headers and the re-tune. I think in that vid I was running around 265ish whp and 290ish torque.

Not sure if I am going to do anymore upgrades. I tell you what though...if I EVER decide to keep my car indefinitely and make it my weekend car I will do something serious to the drivtrain that NO ONE one these forums has done to my knowledge. Let's just say I would contact Lextreme and buy one of their high performance 1UZ long blocks; complete with port, polish, bored over, racing pistons etc etc...good for a minimum of 450whp from what I've read...of yeah and ALL NORMALLY ASPIRATED. The car would be a monster...not having to wait for any boost to build up or anything. It WILL cost a lot though. I think their longblocks start at around $7-8K from what I can recall. They range from "mild" to "wild". You would obviously need an EMS to control the functions of the larger engine and I'm sure the tranny would need to be beefed up.

Also, aside from the aforementioned I am sure you can crack or come DAMN NEAR close to cracking 300whp. Keep in mind, the addition of a high stall troque converter makes the car perform (feels like) an additional 50hp was added! So if you're putting down 300whp or 370hp (crank) the car will feel like a ~420hp (crank) car! If you can hook off the line; it is a ROCKET. I know that if I REALLY wanted to make my car a strictly peforming ride; i would consider weight reduction in key areas, weight transfer to the rear, the best tires (or drag radials) with very lightweight wheels.

There is a CL member Shinobi-X (IIRC) that has a set of 18" (?) wheels that he says are only 17lbs each!!! this is TREMENDOUS when racing. Currently my wheels are 28 and 29.5; front and rear respectively. The only problem is usually the super lightweight wheels aren't really that appealing (looks-wise) IMHO.

All this and a couple of other things and you will see a 2nd gen GS4XX hitting as low as 13.4's in the 1/4 mile; no FI and no Nos needed. It just will take a good amount of effort.

denut-L

iTrader: (11)

I will be looking forward to those videos. When are you getting a dyno tune?
Is that a slap on kinda thing or have to modify to fit? How much did you pick it up for?
Where's the video? If it is possible to hit 300whp with just minor bolt on's i'm down for more mods.
Wouldn't you think with some slicks that you could possibly hit low to mid 13's rock, with the setup you have now. I would love to see an all out N/A monster like you mentioned above. Now get started I think with the lightweight wheels on and going full throttle on the hwy, it would fly for sure.

What do you guys think of MVP's built head w/Cams? They said it could produce up to i think it was 75-90hp.Would having a bigger intake pipe hel with hp, currently i have a 3" pipe in mines..

sam430

iTrader: (10)

No mods needed, just remove the ring from the supra and put the gs430 ring on. You probably can customize to the gear you want. I had it done at jawsgear.com in Sacramento CA.

paid $375 for it.
$240 to put it in... with the tools they have, they did it really quick, reasonable price (even if it was easy for them).

Here's the link to the DIY.

TLcoats

iTrader: (11)

Rock,

If you were smart you'd keep your car and do what you said! But really, the short time i've been on the forums i've read ALOT. And i found TONS of post from previous GS owners who traded in their car and got ANOTHER GS. I think you would miss your baby too much after all the blood, sweat and money put into your car.

Anyways, I would definately be interested in finding a way to make 300whp NA with bolt ons. Rock's at 281whp, Im thinking with a good retune realistically, 285-290whp? That leaves another 10-15whp or about 20 crank to work for. Is there anything we could do with the exhaust to extract some extra ponys? What about the intake manifold? or a throttle body spacer. I know that on G35 there is an intake plenum spacer that adds 10whp. This is definately something that should be looked into! And the G35 is about the same displacment as ours.

Aside from weight reduction, Which for me at least isnt too realistic (I mean its a lexus.) I think there are other ways to harness power that havent been tried yet. I could be me just talking outta my butt, but lexus built a very solid engine and i know for a fact theres much more power to be made without going FI. We just need to find the missing pieces.

Frankdorn

iTrader: (7)

Lightweight pulleys, grounding kit, intake plenum spacer (I'm building one this/next week to trial), custom X-pipe, cams, etc...

* The plenum spacer may not yield any gains. From what I've read, our heads' design is excellent; the G35's design left 2 cylinders starving for air.

Rock-a-Lex

iTrader: (4)

I am not talking about weight reduction as to what you may be thinking of. I am not into removing back seats and door panels and such. I am talking about other weight reduction methods; they WILL be expensive though. Such as:

1) Carbon Fiber hood replacing the oem hood ($600-hood); saving ~30lbs off the front end.

2) Lightweight battery AND relocate to the rear. ($120-battery) and ($50 relocate kit); savings of 20lbs off the front end (oem battery weight?) AND the a little weight transfer to the rear end...which is GOOD!

3) 18" or 19" lightweight wheels (such as OZ Racing wheels) AND lightweight tires (such as T1R) - (~$4K for all); savings of ~10-15lbs of UNSPRUNG weight PER CORNER over normal oem or aftermarket wheels! Unsprung weight savings is greatly magnified as opposed to regular weight savings.

4) Lightweight braking system - lightweight brake calipers (such as LS400 swap) - (~$250-fronts only) and lightweight 2-piece rotors ($800-fronts only); savings of ~5lbs of UNSPRUNG weight PER CORNER over oem braking system. FYI, LS400 brake calipers are 3.5lbs lighter than the GS calipers alone.

5) Lightweight racing radiator; not sure how much they cost but I am sure pretty damn expensive. Probable weight savings of 20lbs off the front end.

6) Custom lightweight driveshaft; since it's a custom job it would probably cost a lot of money...upwards of $700 or so. Could be a weight savings of 15lbs or more; but again this is UNSPRUNG weight savings as it is rotational mass that you are reducing.

Results?
Approx. weight savings off the front end - 70lbs
Approx. unsprung weight savings in total - 85lbs
Approx. weight added to rear 12lbs (lightweight battery) - good for traction

All of these things are rought estimates but combined would be DRAMATIC NOT just on the GS but on ANY car. however, if you add all these things up it is damn near close to $7K and your car wouldn't look like it is stripped to hell to save that weight. But IMHO I wouldn't do all these things at once because if you can afford to spend $7K on weight reduction (with added benefits of better braking power etc etc) then you mayt as well use that money and a little more towards a supercharger.

However, if you are doing things in pieces this is a GREAT way to go about weight reduction. For example, let's say you already have a carbon fiber hood and are looking to do your brakes soon; consider an LS400 swap or something similar to give you great weight savings. Or if you are in the market for new wheels; consider the weight of the wheels and tires BEFORE only looking at the looks of them...looks are important though.

These are just some ideas that I have had swimming in my head. lol!

I am sorry Denut-L, I apologize if I am coming off as hijacking your thread; I don't mean anything by it...just trying to help everyone make the most out of their GS' //

denut-L

iTrader: (11)

Damn that looks like something i'm not even gonna try myself. Looks like i'll be going the same route as you, but have a shop put the lsd in for me. I love hwy pulls and couldn't imagine topping out at 135 all the time. But if you like 1/4 mile runs then yeah maybe the 3.7 or 3.9 is perfect for you.
Frank, when you find someone selling lightweight pulleys LMK as i'm looking for a set also. Let us know how the intake plenum spacer goes. What kind of material did you use?
Not a thing at all Rock. I love it when people are brainstorming and coming up with ways to make this car faster. I've checked other threads and have people asking how to make a gs430 faster, but there really was no good clue as most people would just say FI. I love it when people come in to a thread and say something like this. I'm pretty sure everybody knows how to make a car faster w/o FI but where do you start and $ is an object.
All of the above are great ways to make this heavy car lighter and if you would like to go N/A route, weight kills performance. I've had done many things to reduce that.

Next is, taking this new setup to the track and see what it does. Will be hitting the track at the next sport compact race in Wisconsin. Last time i ran best of 14.6@99 mph my 60ft was 2.6 and that was with intake and rear l-tuned mufflers, stock wheels. 3/4 tank of gas. With my setup now i would probably kill the stock tires but i have 19x10's with 275/30's now and i'm hoping for better traction. also gonna run with 1/4 of a tank gas to see if that helps a little.

Rock-a-Lex

iTrader: (4)

^ I'm rooting for ya! I too have 275/30's on my car but on 19X9.5's...definitely bring that tire pressure down to around low 30's psi. The sidewall on 30 series tires are pretty thin...which sucks for tire flex when trying to get traction off the line.

Frankdorn

iTrader: (7)

denut-L -- lemme know when you're in Wisconsin. I this the races you're referring to are at WIR in Kaukauna, which is like 10 minutes away from me.

I haven't found a high-temp plastic that can withstand temps I'm comfortable with (roughly 250º), so I think I'm going to go with aluminum. As far as puleys, I asked a couple friends of mine who are engineers to do some looking...if I hear anything, I'll definitely post up!

TLcoats

iTrader: (11)

This is good news! Great work, My ex girlfriends dad owns a very good machine shop. So if you could get the rough 'design' I could help you out from there. Im looking forward to seeing if we can get any good numbers out of these upgrades.

denut-L

iTrader: (11)

ThanksYou're so correct about the 30 series tires. I'm thinking maybe setting them at 30 psi for the first run and we'll see after how it goes. But bad news as i checked the schedule and the next sport compact day is in julyso far away.
Where in Wis are you at? I'll be going to Rockfalls raceway, it's like 2 hours away from me. For sure let us know when you come up with something else for our cars. We need more options!

I talked to a friend of mine who has a k20 civic and he was showing me a hondata intake manifold gasket that is going on his car. It's supposed to reduce intake temperature for gains in hp. Looks like it was made out of some kind of material looking like plastic, anyone knows anything about this. Frank are you trying to make something like this? With this you don't even need a gasket, it's the manifold gasket itself. Sounds interesting.