My Need For Speed!
ok another question gents!
Spark plugs....
i was about to pull the trigger on some Iridium IX's (about 60 bucks) and decided to do a quick search on here first....seems everyone raves about the torque master plugs....but are they really worth almost DOUBLE the price of the iridiums? i thought i was paying a lot for those, but the tq masters made my jaw drop! are they really worth it? i mean a plug is a plug right?
Spark plugs....
i was about to pull the trigger on some Iridium IX's (about 60 bucks) and decided to do a quick search on here first....seems everyone raves about the torque master plugs....but are they really worth almost DOUBLE the price of the iridiums? i thought i was paying a lot for those, but the tq masters made my jaw drop! are they really worth it? i mean a plug is a plug right?
ok another question gents!
Spark plugs....
i was about to pull the trigger on some Iridium IX's (about 60 bucks) and decided to do a quick search on here first....seems everyone raves about the torque master plugs....but are they really worth almost DOUBLE the price of the iridiums? i thought i was paying a lot for those, but the tq masters made my jaw drop! are they really worth it? i mean a plug is a plug right?
Spark plugs....
i was about to pull the trigger on some Iridium IX's (about 60 bucks) and decided to do a quick search on here first....seems everyone raves about the torque master plugs....but are they really worth almost DOUBLE the price of the iridiums? i thought i was paying a lot for those, but the tq masters made my jaw drop! are they really worth it? i mean a plug is a plug right?
Hello All 
Well i have owned my 98 GS400 for a month or so now, and since then i have done a few performance mods. i am an avid drag racer, so naturally the Lexus will see its fair share of track time
mods to date are:
drop in K&N filter
HKS axle back exhaust
removed resonators
Tein SS's
20" Maya DTV's with 285/30/20 Nexens in the back.
now i went to the track for the first time in the Lexus, on sunday, and needless to say i was a tad bit disapointed.
i had 4 runs and all 4 were between a 15.18-15.25 with mph's between 94.67-94.89 60's ranged from 2.38 to 2.52
i know that the large wheels and tires are slowing me down....but i thought for sure i was going to be laying down 14 second runs.
so now im back to the drawing board...i will be doing the usual maintenece items (plugs, fluid changes etc etc) to make sure the car is in top shape...and im getting my hands on an SAFC and installing my innovate wideband to make sure the car is running the Air/Fuel ratio it should be.
HOPEFULLY those things will get me into the 14's as i dont think the car is performing like it should be.
my REAL QUESTION, is what to do next?
TQ Converter?
Supra 3.76 rear end?
Headers?
whats going to be my best bang for the buck????
my goal is to get this boat down to a 14.5 CONSISTANTLY, big rims and all....
TIA..

Well i have owned my 98 GS400 for a month or so now, and since then i have done a few performance mods. i am an avid drag racer, so naturally the Lexus will see its fair share of track time

mods to date are:
drop in K&N filter
HKS axle back exhaust
removed resonators
Tein SS's
20" Maya DTV's with 285/30/20 Nexens in the back.
now i went to the track for the first time in the Lexus, on sunday, and needless to say i was a tad bit disapointed.
i had 4 runs and all 4 were between a 15.18-15.25 with mph's between 94.67-94.89 60's ranged from 2.38 to 2.52
i know that the large wheels and tires are slowing me down....but i thought for sure i was going to be laying down 14 second runs.
so now im back to the drawing board...i will be doing the usual maintenece items (plugs, fluid changes etc etc) to make sure the car is in top shape...and im getting my hands on an SAFC and installing my innovate wideband to make sure the car is running the Air/Fuel ratio it should be.
HOPEFULLY those things will get me into the 14's as i dont think the car is performing like it should be.
my REAL QUESTION, is what to do next?
TQ Converter?
Supra 3.76 rear end?
Headers?
whats going to be my best bang for the buck????
my goal is to get this boat down to a 14.5 CONSISTANTLY, big rims and all....
TIA..
I like them...however they DON'T last as long as the stock Denso plugs. They might be good for 30-50K miles. I just recently changed mine for a fresh set about 2 mos. ago.
I'd like to see the dyno sheets. When you compare dyno sheets without any smoothing (jagged) it would be easy to have a momentary jump in hp which would show up on the graph but not really mean anything. If the graphs are smooth and overlayed, and you could see a distinct area between the two curves showing a gain over say 1000rpm then it could be considered justified.
Rock, know that I'm not calling you a liar in any way, shape or form as the graphs your referring to may have already been smoothed but just wanted to clarify that's it's difficult to ascertain a particular gain without seeing the graph.
Fwiw, Denso's are proven to work AND work well. Another thing to consider, I know people are going to be upset when I say this but torquemasters have destroyed motors by falling apart. Whether they have changed their manufacturing methods (some say they have but who knows for sure) the fact is, in the past people have lost complete motors directly because of those plugs. If I remember correctly Peter Farrell Supercars (PFS) lost a few built customer motors because of these plugs and had to foot the bill as Torquemadter denied any fault (of course). ( Just as a reference, motors have been lost using every type of plug due to poor tuning, I am referring to the plug phsically falling apart into the cylinder)
Rock, know that I'm not calling you a liar in any way, shape or form as the graphs your referring to may have already been smoothed but just wanted to clarify that's it's difficult to ascertain a particular gain without seeing the graph.
Fwiw, Denso's are proven to work AND work well. Another thing to consider, I know people are going to be upset when I say this but torquemasters have destroyed motors by falling apart. Whether they have changed their manufacturing methods (some say they have but who knows for sure) the fact is, in the past people have lost complete motors directly because of those plugs. If I remember correctly Peter Farrell Supercars (PFS) lost a few built customer motors because of these plugs and had to foot the bill as Torquemadter denied any fault (of course). ( Just as a reference, motors have been lost using every type of plug due to poor tuning, I am referring to the plug phsically falling apart into the cylinder)
Last edited by macd7919; Apr 8, 2009 at 01:21 PM.
I have read that somewhere that it has been fixed. I too do not believe it can produce HP... I don't really see how it can do it. How many ways can you burn fuel? (minus timing) But then again, I have the tq master too but will replace it with the denso or the one I took out (seems in excellent condition).
The GS400's aren't throttle by wire.
If you truly want to drag race it, don't do the 3.76 gears because it will require a shift into 4th, but instead install a limited slip differential and keep the 3.26 gears.
With 20" and that altitude, your probably right on the money. The magazines back in 1998 had the car at 14.3-14.5 at 96-98 mph.
Put the 16's back on for racing and see what happens. If you pay attention and keep wheel spin to a minimum, you should be able to get closer to 2.0 in your 60 foot and the more you gain in the 60 foot the better you do at the big end.
I made a few passes on my GS400 last fall. I tried everything from manually shifting, loading the torque converter, holding the torque converter to 2000 rpms, and doing nothing including leaving the VSC on, all 7 passes were within 1 mph and .1 seconds. I even beat a late 80's Mustang and a late 60's big block Buick GS stage II.
If you truly want to drag race it, don't do the 3.76 gears because it will require a shift into 4th, but instead install a limited slip differential and keep the 3.26 gears.
With 20" and that altitude, your probably right on the money. The magazines back in 1998 had the car at 14.3-14.5 at 96-98 mph.
Put the 16's back on for racing and see what happens. If you pay attention and keep wheel spin to a minimum, you should be able to get closer to 2.0 in your 60 foot and the more you gain in the 60 foot the better you do at the big end.
I made a few passes on my GS400 last fall. I tried everything from manually shifting, loading the torque converter, holding the torque converter to 2000 rpms, and doing nothing including leaving the VSC on, all 7 passes were within 1 mph and .1 seconds. I even beat a late 80's Mustang and a late 60's big block Buick GS stage II.
ok well i pulled the trigger on the Denso's.
ive been doing a bunch of reading on PI dragon tq converters and Lextreme Converters...for what i plan on doing with the car i think the Lextreme converter fits the bill...hope to get one ordered here soon.
also picked up an SAFC2, hoping to get that and my wideband in this weekend.
so now i think i need to look hard at an lsd, i want to keep the gs400 final drive...so my question is, does a supra LSD bolt up to a gs400 ring gear? what options do we have for LSD's?
ive been doing a bunch of reading on PI dragon tq converters and Lextreme Converters...for what i plan on doing with the car i think the Lextreme converter fits the bill...hope to get one ordered here soon.
also picked up an SAFC2, hoping to get that and my wideband in this weekend.
so now i think i need to look hard at an lsd, i want to keep the gs400 final drive...so my question is, does a supra LSD bolt up to a gs400 ring gear? what options do we have for LSD's?
Supra Pumpkin will bolt up with the GS drive shaft, you don't need to swap out the differentials, but you want to swap the ring gears....hmm...might be cheaper to grab an aftermarket differential.
yea i just dont want the 3.76 ring gear from the supra pumpkin. but i do want an lsd...all 4 runs at teh track only spun the right rear tire.
i know on a fwd car there is ways to preload the sway bar to get both wheels to spin...anyone heard of something like that being done on our cars?
i know on a fwd car there is ways to preload the sway bar to get both wheels to spin...anyone heard of something like that being done on our cars?
If you can find just the supra AUTO LSD unit (has to be the auto, not 6 speed) it will bolt up with the GS rear. They can be somewhat difficult to find however but would work for your application.
First...I DO suggest the 3.76 gearing LSD (Supra TT) rear for everyday spirited driving/racing; it is beneficial at any speed in any gear...the car just accelerates so much quicker.
IF AND ONLY IF you want to drag race the car as in an EXACT 1/4 mile at the track then YES the 3.76 LSD is NOT beneficial as at the very end of the 1/4 mile strip the transmission shifts into 4th gear at the line (i.e. you lose time on your et).
I don't know but if you are strictly going to use the car at the 1/4 mile track then don't get the 3.76 LSD - for all other driving applications it is superior.
The only downfall with this steeper gearing is that your top speed will be mechanically limited to 130mph instead of electronically at 146mph...but IMHO even from a 50mph roll there is really no need to go past 110 to prove if you can win/lose. Oh, and your gas mileage will go down by about 1mpg.
GL!
IF AND ONLY IF you want to drag race the car as in an EXACT 1/4 mile at the track then YES the 3.76 LSD is NOT beneficial as at the very end of the 1/4 mile strip the transmission shifts into 4th gear at the line (i.e. you lose time on your et).
I don't know but if you are strictly going to use the car at the 1/4 mile track then don't get the 3.76 LSD - for all other driving applications it is superior.
The only downfall with this steeper gearing is that your top speed will be mechanically limited to 130mph instead of electronically at 146mph...but IMHO even from a 50mph roll there is really no need to go past 110 to prove if you can win/lose. Oh, and your gas mileage will go down by about 1mpg.
GL!


