...OK, it wasn't the ES 350. It was the Camry 268HP twin. In a comparo test of four "people mover" sedans (Camry, Altima, Mitsubishi Gallant and Chevy something or other "SS"). Well, in addition to kicking the righteous *** of the other three (pretty resoundingly too, I might add), they clocked a 0-60 dash in 6.1!!!

The article was in November's Car and Driver I think (may have been Road and Track or Motor Trend).

 

Always curious how those tests are done. Do they keep the foot on the break while pushing the gas and than release the break pedal, or do they test it from a complete stop by flooring the gas pedal?

 

I suspect, the former.

 

Yeah, the big car magazines keep the brake pressed and rev the engine up. Consumer Reports is an exception, because they release the brake and then step on the gas.

 

There's a recent article... Edmunds or Motor Trend, maybe both, but they mention there's a noticeable difference in launch depending on how the power is applied. I'm actually very surprised at how much wheelspin I can get out of my VSC/TRAC equipped SE V6!

From a turn, I can easily light up the inside tire and the TRAC light doesn't seem to come on and the times it does, it appears to be readying itself but not taking action. It does work because on wet pavement, it has overridden my input... Whatever the case, it's sensitivity and function are 180 degrees from the system in my Sequoia, I bet I couldn't even spin a wheel a full revolution before the system would take over. Further I had some issues where it was overly sensitive, there were some changes made and the vehicle was driveable again ---> This makes me wonder, considering the articles and the ES owners opinions, there may be "hot" versions of TRAC programming between Toyota's 3.5 trim lines????

Contrary to these articles though, I can and have been able to disable TRAC on my SE. It is very simple to do and is completely reversable upon engine restart... My result in "trying" the system? The car will easily billow tire smoke through the hood gaps.

There definitly seems to be a "hook" though with TRAC on where the car accellerates like WOW!

 

onsknht--did you need to powerbrake w/ TRAC disabled when you lit up your tires? Just curious...

 

Haha! Nope, dead stop at a stop sign, released the brake with my right foot and stepped on it... Be ready to grab the wheel a little torquesteer is inevitable.

I would imagine with the ES, the plush rear coils would really transfer the weight good, so the wheelspin should be impressive! I have the SE and it's wound a little tighter than the other trims and likely the ES, but it still sqauts and gets to burning!

Note... I would not advise this type of behavior continuously. Not only is it stressful to your nice new car, it's kind of well, juvinile. I haven't had my hands on a vehicle that would spin the wheels in a long time... A little experimentation is OK in my book.

You could however lock out TRAC and do a burnout before running 1/4 mile, maybe use a little parking brake, but being front wheel drive, I'd leave the foot brake alone (the parking brake will keep your other foot occupied). Spin is bad for your run times, so you will need to monitor the throttle on the launch but seeing as how the tires are hot, I bet it'd be minimal.

 

LOL!!! I know firsthand as to the ES 350's launch potential, even w/o having known about the TRAC lockout--one time, I had inadvertantly chirped the tires...mind you, it definitely wasn't my intent; I hit the throttle a bit more harder than normal (but nowhere near the point of flooring it) and next thing I knew, I heard a little chirp.

The one thing that I have discovered is that there is definitely some lag between upshifts at near or full WOT...but that could be because I haven't yet forced the PCM/ECM to learn some "sportier" shift patterns.

 

I think the tranny in the ES isn't tuned for speed, but more for comfort. I know shifts in my LS430 were buttery smooth, but molasses slow.

Sam

 

I wonder if there's a way to reprogram the upshifts on the ES so that there is very little lag between upshifts. Yes I know it's an odd request given that we're talking a luxury sedan here, but IMHO nothing wrong about finding out if it's possible to tweak the ES in order to get some more performance out of it.

 

Geez....That's the main reason I traded in my '03ES......because of the lag in shifting. I was soooo happy and pleased by the new 6 speed tranny in the 350, that I wouldn't even consider ANY tweaking! I love this new transmission just the way it is.

 

I am not always positive that power braking is the way to go on 0 to 60 tests. A small amount of throttle, generally 250 to 500 rpm over idle and then mashing it to the floor should do it.

I would not be surprised if they run on just enough gas for 1 or 2 runs in the1/4 mile.

I am still irritated to this day that Lexus said 16.8 in the 1/4 mile for the 1999 RX300 AWD, when I remember several consumer magazines found times in the 17s. I think even the RX330 was clocked at 17.0 in at least one consumer publication, maybe it was Consumer Reports if I remember correctly.

Best way to know is to hit the track.

 

Dudes are running their Camrys at the track and getting real good results... I live about 5 miles from Rt66 raceway and will try a few runs during their test and tune sessions. Unfortunatly these are closed for the season so I'll have to wait until the spring... Below is from one Camry owner's timeslip.

This is exactly how my time slip reads and these are altitude corrected times:

My reaction time was .111

I1: 2.259

I2: 6.227

I3: 9.429

MPH (I3): 77.039

I4: 12.084

E.T. 1/4 Mile: 14.456

MPH: 97.839

Remeber that this run was with half a tank of gas on 91 octane with no octane booster and traction control on.

I will be going back to the track sometime next week and will run it with a little less than a 1/4 tank with 104 octane booster, removed spare tire, and disabled traction.

Hopefully I'll be somewhere in the very low 14's.

BTW that night I beat many G35's that had an intake.

Another thing some of you ES owners might want to be aware of... The airbox intake is highly restrictive having two parts, a low speed and a high speed intake circuit... There is no cutting/modding involved, but holding a flapper valve open, removing resonators and covering holes with tape has netted some real good results... Look for the aftermarket to provide a complete solution soon, but basically all this crap being removed is there to keep intake noise down. If you can deal with a little more noise for some more HP, I'm betting intake and exhaust mods will get Camrys breaking into the 13s.

 

So you are running a pro tree?

If so, that is a very good RT.

I race on the sportsman, but is impossible to get a good RT when I run pro at 7,400 feet in elevation.

Yeah, those airboxes and all that tubing are so damned restrictive. I have been using duct tape on my piping in my RX. Works like a charm even if it is ugly underneath.

Getting that gas down to 1/8 tank will do wonders along with the spare.

I have tried octane boosters, but feel that the vehicle has to get used to them on more than one tank. Toyota/Lexus ECUs fight any modification like crazy.

 

That slip is from another Camry owner, I'm not sure what equipment they ran, but I would assume based on the timing marks provided he's on a pro tree... I think that owner lives in CA?

When I run in the spring it will be at....

http://www.chicagolandspeedway.com/c...=ZIqabif2k&N=f