Hey fellow GS owners,

So I says to myself. We got all this AWESOME stuff to add and have added to our cars. We say we FEEL a difference, but we hardly every have any quantifiable data to support our new findings.

For instance. I should have dynoed my car stock. I should then have dynoed it with the Borla exhaust. Therefore, I could conclude did it actually add more power or just sound. The same for anyone adding a TC or an intake etc. It would be AWESOME if we made more of an effort to dyno our cars when we add stuff, taking it to the track with time slips too.

Do ya'll feel me. Since we are basically the 1st set of performance minded Lexus owners, it is our DUTY to get hardcore evidence when we add modifications.

Now, many people may not be interested in dynos and the track, which is cool. For those that have thought about it or want to do it, let's get organized. This way we can learn what works and what does not and future owners can benefit as well.

Here is a short list of things:

Intake dyno (which we have done!)
Exhaust
Brakes (test any upgraded pads, rotors or kits for distances and fade).
Bodykits (how much WEIGHT do they add and do they affect drag)
Weight of different parts (springs, wheels etc)
TC improvements
SUPERCHARGER improvements!

Ethan and the gang started with the Intake Shootout, we need to not depend on him alone. Do ya'll feel me?
SICK

 

but it takes lost of cash to make good ideas come true....

 

Some of those things will be hard to do...like drag coefficient...you need a wind tunnel to do proper readings and those cost a LOT...I mean a LOT of money to do...only big companies like Toyota can do that kind of stuff...or maybe someone's brother's-girlfriend's-neighbor's-uncle's-cousin-twice removed works at one so we could get some free time in there... I'm curious to know what my body kit does (if anything).

Also, things like dynos taking time and money. So many members can't even pay the lousy $30 to become a paid member...I doubt many would pay ~$80+ to get their car dyno'd and then put in the effort to get the data up to the rest of us.

Other things are more doable but unless we do everything at one time with one group of measurers (??) and measurement tools, the data will not be 100% right. Too many variations...even weighing stuff...some people have weighing tools that can measure down to a gram ( ) and other have a bathroom scale. Hopefully averaging can help out but then we'll only have data for common items.

It would be VERY nice to have all this data but I think obtaining will be difficult. For my part, I try to do that kind of stuff. I weighed my H&R's and my Tein FLEX but I haven't gotten around to measuring my stock suspension.

I will be testing the brake kit (the 6-piston Wilwood setup) to my SC's brakes and we'll be doing the same to the stock GS brakes but since the brake kit needs to be broken in, there might be a 1 week gap between testing and things like the weather can change and whatnot so it may not be 100% accurate (but if the weather is about the same and we use the same road, it should be as close as anyone would care for it to be)

It would be nice to have more member put in some effort towards this project though.

 

Right.

Sick, I sgree with your idea, but in reality, it takes some serious capital investment, not to mention time.

Moreover, I really don't want to take an afternoon and $100 or so to do some dyno runs to tell me my exhaust gave me an additional 3+rwhp.

Now, for serious mods, sure, but a serious mod vendor should include ballpark numbers and their own data to support it.

Shoot, if I had a dyno in my garage, I'd dyno to see if I' get more HP whent he temp changes , but in reality, not very often.

 

I was searching around and found this. Some guy with a junky old civic did this. Check it out: http://www.importtuner.com/tech/0207it_ppcivic/

 

While this can certainly be taken to the Nth degree, some emprical data can be obtained on the cheap. A G-Tech and enough "runs" can give you a decent idea of relative improvements if not absolute numbers. Other things will only be revealed at the track or your favorite canyon road. Per earlier threads with Rominl and Manaray, one could measure the absolute stopping distance of a new set of brakes. But often performance brakes don't improve the stopping distance by much if at all, rather the greatest benefit is the fade resistance.

Something that interests me more is the interplay of all these performance parts. Many of us bolt on one item after another and "add up" the paper improvements, only to find actual results reveal a performance decrease. I'd like to see a little more time tuning and sharing the results. Heck, I'd like to spend more time tuning and share my results.

 

i for one dont need quantifiable measurements on most of the things that i buy. now engine performance is another thing. but for the most part the things that i buy are for 1)feel and 2)aesthetics and (much to manaray's displeasure 3) price. i couldve purchased tein C/O's but the increase in performance wasnt enough for me to justify the price. and that goes for a lot of things. take for instance the AP brakes. i dont drive my car hard enough to spend 2 or 3 large just for someone to look and say that i have 6 piston brakes. now i will more than go with the wilwood that pearlpower is coming with, but thats about it. i think if you start putting alot of measurements on the things that we buy, it takes away some of the emotion. and to me, thats what its all about.....


Doc

 

That's why I dig the G-Tech and/or track/road based data. It's all done in the car where the emotion's not diluted. And if price is one of your primary drivers [it is for me, also], then wouldn't you want to get the best bang for your buck -- everything else being equal?

 

Well put. And also, FWIW, I don't think manaray like blowing coin, its just that the higher coin is usually on quality items.

 

yeah, im sure that manaray isnt spending just for the sake of spending. i guess it all depends on preference and application. but then again doesnt everything. now a TT...........well, thats a whole 'nother oprah

 

Hmmm, seems everyone thought I was drunk at the time I wrote my thread

More great articles from the ClubLexus staff and volunteers are coming. Thanks everyone!