PHudgins

Okay... somebody tell me I'm not losing it, because right now I really think I I'm losing it...

I got beside an 06 Avalon XLS with some stupid kids in it and long story short they wanted to go from the red light. I thought they'd be a piece of cake, but they absolutely left me in the dust. I have an 02 GS430 Sport. 4.3 liter V8 vs a 3.5 V6... correct me if I'm wrong, but shouldn't I have embarrassed them, not the other way around?? Somebody shed some light, I'm developing a complex here... thanks in advance.

khoi714

iTrader: (2)

Did you put on power mode? Power mode makes the transmission revs higher and faster. Also was your car stock or has mods? I smoke avalon easily even though they get a jump first but in the end out torque will kill them. Don't worry you will get them next time. Maybe he had a 6 spd auto and our cars only have 5 spd auto. But in the end our cars should smoke them no problem. I am not blaming you or anything but next time put it power mode.

PHudgins

Only mods are coilovers and sound system. No performance upgrades. And I wasn't in power mode either. I guess it's just because it was a short little sprint and he has nearly 1000 lbs less than me. Maybe in a long stretch I'd have got him. Still, I hate making excuses.

eicca

The 06 Avalon has 268hp and weighs ~3500lb, meaning .078hp/lb. The Lexus GS4xx has .081hp/lb. The Lexus has more power, but equally important as power is how it gets to the wheels. If the Avalon is geared lower with a more-efficient transmission it will win.

PWR mode doesn't do anything except move the transmission shift points up. Engine function stays the same.

GS400V8

iTrader: (4)

Eicca is right. FWD has less drive train loss compared to our 20-22% which is almost AWD levels. I've wrote this before, but this will happen racing any modern V6 car. New camaro, 350Z, especially 370z or G37s, maxima/altimas, Lexus ES350/avalon/camrys, Is350s, or even honda accords with the 3.5L.

PWR mode will downshift to the lowest gear possible as well instead of just one gear like in ECT mode. It does hold the revs a tad longer at redline too.

I hate to compare them as well, but with all my trans/naturally aspirated mods, I would also probably win against a stock GS400 or GS430 by a little, but its not enough to me any more

If I wasn't throwing a supercharger on my car right now, I'd probably look at getting a faster car. Eicca is looking at an ISF eventually I believe

PHudgins

I would love to supercharge mine but everything I've seen for the 430 is astronomically expensive.

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

So much unnecessary information and science up there LoL regardless the weight and power and drivetrain blah blah blah... The books state that the GS is about 3/4 of a second faster. So yes, you should have won. Now the fact that you said there were multiple passengers in the other car (assuming you were alone) yes again, you should have easily won.

Do some maintenance; tune up, engine internal cleaning etc. and see if you can regain any lost power. You have to remember too, its a 15+ year old car with a history that noone knows of. You may even have a slight loss of compression in a cylinder. Unless you put it on a dyno to see exactly what kind of power you're pushing, theres no way to know why you lost.

Littleguy

Just don't race that Camry V6, it'll be even faster.

firelizard

iTrader: (1)

The sad reality is that the V8 2GS was a quick car for its class, 20 years ago. Now it's not even that, and most "grown up" cars from the past 5-10 years could take it, or at least give it a good run.

PHudgins

I know, it is sad. It has the capability to be so much more powerful. Such a good looking car with some minor mods too. It sucks.

plex

iTrader: (11)

There's always somebody faster I wouldn't worry about it. I enjoy my UZ for cruising thought about supercharging it etc....but I like the car for what it is. I have another car (8XXHP Supra) to handle my need for speed cravings.

Littleguy

Here's a GS with Avalon beating potential.

eicca

Like GS400V8 said, I'll be saving my money for an IS-F. If I want speed, I'll be getting a car designed for speed. The only major mod I intend to do on my GS is a CD009 manual trans swap, for plenty of reasons other than just speed.

MattyG

Any one of today's garden variety Camrys or granma's go-to-bingo-night RAV4 equipped with the 3.5 is going to be a 6.xx second vehicle. Engine development, particularly on FWD cars has come a long way since that first GS400 twenty years ago. So even a slightly slower reaction time or throttle lag is going to let an Avalon driver make up for the half second. The fastest V8 GS's were bench marked at 5.7. But everyone else caught to that time over the years.

OP I would check your plugs (if they haven't been changed), clean the throttle body very well and also the MAF sensor. You can also reset the ecu if it's learned your driving pattern and you've been taking it easy and cruising more than mashing the throttle.

GS400V8

iTrader: (4)

The avalon 1/4 mile was around 15 sec flat and GS was around 14.2. You might get him in the top end but it wont be by much.

The manual swap would just make it plain fun to drive!

Another idea OP, maybe get some sticky tires? I never thought I could love a tire until I got my Michelin super sports. It will draw out every 0.XX second from your times. But it's more than that. The way they hug and respond to the road during turns, or when you downshift during a roll is worth every penny IMO. With my old tires, I couldn't hook up when it would downshift into 1st, sometimes 2nd. And forget about traction during the rain. With the michelins, I rarely slip at WOT or downshifting, even in the rain, and from what I read, other people have similar experiences.