I would maybe do it now as a used car, but it was $70k in 2001. Wouldn't want to wreck my new car.

Having said that, taking a $120k 1000hp sedan sideways on the tracks soon.... 😂

 

I have to say it was a lot of fun beating the snot out of many slow cars I've owned.
Nothing like working the engine to it's limits and chirping them tires!

"I'm givin it all she's got!"


 

Oh I'm sure LS430 is a blast to drift, it's balanced beautifully and has an deftly engineered chassis. People used to write LSs off because they had no idea it's not a Toyota platform (among other reasons). Just as much money/engineering went into the chassis/suspension as anything else.

 

I have a 1985 AE86 GT-S and it is not a fast car. I have not driven it for quite some time as it is under construction. I love the car and that's why I still have it after purchasing it in June of 1994 when everyone thought it was just another econobox. I was often puzzled when people described it as a driver's car because in my experience it kind of isn't one. It's fun as hell, don't get me wrong. It will punish you for making mistakes. I think it might make drivers out of people. It's RF and mine has an LSD, but if you come in to a corner a bit hot, it's a very unforgiving car and it will give you a problem to solve. I slid the car around for about five minutes in a Home Depot parking lot during a hailstorm and that was fun as hell. It did snap the speedo cable, but I was out of there just in time to see the police arrive, but not get an interview. I got it out of shape twice not on purpose and the car will either teach you how to drive or you'll be on the phone with the insurance company.

 

lol on calling the LS430 slow but i understand your point! in comparison to the rest in your stable the LS430 is the slug of the bunch.

I was thinking you were going to talk about the honda fit or miata...but others already mentioned the latter as well.

 

It's crazy less powerful, but the thing is, just feathering the gas I really doubt there's much difference in wafting or oomph even with his absolutely crazy cars. Anything involving acceleration beyond grandpa-ing it however, buh bye. But you can drive an LS430 just fine at or under 2000-2200RPM and still keep right up with and/or surpass traffic.

Striker? What say you?

 

Oh....my W12 at 1700 rpm is the LS430 at 3700 so in order to accelerate the same way it takes a LOT more in the 430. Way more strained feeling overall, the TQ difference is staggering. Best way I can put it is that RPM doesn't matter in the W12, you can get over 100 without exceeding 3k rpm

The LS is very smooth though in its own right and very very seamless both at first start and when warm. The Audis and 460 all hunt when cold and always have a felt 1-2 shift for the first shift after starting.

 

Nevermind, lol.

 

i will say this... due to the way the gas pedal is calibrated the E55 doesn't feel faster than the LS (actually feels slower initially) until you're at about 1/3 pedal travel

you also keep getting more power delivered throughout the entirety of the pedal range, as opposed to the LS which seems like it gives pretty much all the power it can by 2/3 pedal travel with the remainder just determining how long it holds the gear before shifting

we gotta meet up in the middle some day and drive each other's benzes, maybe at steve's place in MD lol... get some pics of the E, S, and SL together

 

Can I come if I bring an 85 190E? Lol!

100% agree on pedal differences, my Lexus are 1:1 post tuning but stock is not direct at all. The Audis are very direct even stock but I'm curious as to how the W12 will change post engine and trans tune....should pick up 50whp and some better shift speed

 

steve's hosting you'll have to clear it with him lol... and does the 190E look like this?



that's actually a great example of a slow car that's fun to drive fast

 

No mine is a normal 2.3 8-V not the cosworth lol!

It's not ready yet so it doesn't have a thread going

 

Mercedes has the best gas pedals. Lexus cars need/needed a kickdown switch too.

And I would absolutely hook the SL up to a trailer and tow it to DC (area) for a meetup, we want to go there anyway for sightseeing I haven't seen DC since 5th grade. Too bad the country is so huge, too bad it's not smaller (that's the only time in the world you'll ever hear me say that lol) so where we could have a really huge meetup.

See, this is why I bought the truck lol for those who think we don't use them. I'm not putting miles on that Mercedes from here to DC and back but I'll tow it happily.

 

Slow cars driven fast are fun as hell!

Until I blew the head gasket on my friends Chevy Chevette pushing it too hard, oh man...
That's on me tho and felt really bad about it for a long time.

Fun to beat on but easy to kill it. lol

 

Just out of curiosity, was it a Chevette Scooter?...or don't you remember? Chevy decontented the Scooter version of the Chevette so much (it didn't even have a back seat LOL) that its rubber-band engine couldn't pull the hat off one's head.