I drove one for the first time a couple days ago, and honestly, I expected to be thrown back ( since 250bhp is a hefty amount, and full torque is put out around 1,500 rpms!) Anyways..it really didnt feel all that powerful, although I was going fast. A dumb question I know..but I'm just curious. Maybe it was just that particular SC that I drove? I had high expectations because my friend went for a ride in one of his friend SC's with no mods, and he had the crap scared out of him.

 

That's strange. I have the opposite feeling when driving my 400. I feel like I'm hauling, you can feel the torque in the small of your back, but then I proceed to get passed by cars with half the horsepower.

 

It all depends on what u r and have been driving and used to right now, if uv been driving a little 4 cylinder car like an old accord or what ever then the sc will feel fast for you. But if uv been driving like a mustang gt or something along those lines when the sc will feel slow for u

 

I test drove a 92 SC400 years ago and was left very unimpressed with the power. The newer 98+ SC400's I am guessing are much faster. I have a 03 GS430 also, and the difference is night and day. The 98-00 SC400 should be very close to a stock GS430. Go test drive one of those, you will for sure love it.

 

Depends on what you compare it to. If a golf cart, possible, if another SC4 only on four cylinders (minus Mitch P) then yes.

The SC400 is a boat with the auto tranny, once you go manual, the world changes int he car lol

 

If I was the OP I would take a second to think about the second statement you made. You are making it sound like doing a manual swap is common practice on these cars, when reality is... it's A LOT of work and it's way more complicated than doing the swap on a SC300. Plus, if you live in an area with emissions, you can kiss that idea goodbye because you will always have a CEL if you go manual on an SC400. Not to mention the cost of the parts and labor (if you aren't able to do it yourself). Most of the older SC400's are going under $5k all day long, the swap will run close to that when you factor in the parts like the transmission, clutch, flywheel, drive shaft, adapter plate to work with a 1UZ, possibly a different rear end (depends what you want), and all the other small parts needed. I remember doing the R154 swap on my SC and I got a badass deal on the transmission, driveshaft, clutch. from 97BlkSC300 (I think that was the name), but after all was said and done, the total was still a nice number.

 

97-sc300, that's what I was thinking since the 98-00 was equipped with VVTI. And I'm used to driving a 1998 A4 turbo, with maybe 150hp. The SC would walk on it...but from driving the SC I wouldn't guess that. I think the VVTI makes a world of difference, on ANY toyota. I test drove a scion tc with basically a camry engine and VVTI, but it was one of the funnest cars I've ever driven!

 

SCX00 stock motor=SLOW!!! JK CL

 

You are correct. Not only is the engine more powerful, it has an incredibly smooth 5spd auto transmission which is also a night and day difference to the old, sloppy, slow 4spd auto. 98+ is the only way to go with the SC400's in my opinion.

 

The sc 400 is slow lol... 250HP isn't jack in an auto weighing 3700lbs. also for what it is, its not bad, but the feeling is a smoother one as its a luxury car

 

well there isnt a lot of sensation of speed, because its a very quiet car

 

My 1995 SC400 feels fast.....................but then again I have a full custom exhaust, ingen intake.....oh and A W58 bolted were the A340E used to be and a stage two race clutch. I spent about 3200 for all my conversion parts and did the work myself over the coarse of a week or so. Originally though it didn't feel fast unless it was raining or traction control was turned off.....or both.

 

i think the weight of the sc has a lot to do with it, the heavier the car seems to be the more confortable they seem to be at high speeds.

I drove my friends civic the other day and the car felt fast and peppy but then i look down at my speedo and im doing 45, doing 90 in the sc is like nothing, doing 90 in a civic felt like i was in a rocket car. Im sure this is probably a bad comparison with so many variables that i didnt account for. But the sc just seems like its going slow and I look down im doing like 85, even with boost its just so smooth

 

Feel is relative. I came off an mr2 so even with 90 hp less, that car FELT faster because of the lesser weight and sporty settings, T-top etc. The 400 was released as a luxo cruiser and will never feel faster unless you do FI or go all out with an NA build which will cost you about 3 times how much the car is nowadays. I did 5spd swap, headers + full exhaust on a 93, it is more fun to drive and you get decent HP gain but you will not get decent times in a 1/4 unless you do FI or build it to a 4.7 NA.

 

That's actually not true, I did my swap for relatively cheap. I used all MKIII stuff, even the clutch pedal. I took about a day for me to do it. The swap is pretty much the same minus assembling the adapter and the bell housing, and drilling the two holes for it.

And I don't have an O/D light or CEL, neither does one of my customers, but that is probably because my car is a 92 and his is a 93.

Honestly, shopping around, I got the adapter from someone who bought the CAD from V-Eight, and the flywheel I bought from another member who bought it off of SuperRunner. Honestly, I've got UNDER a grand into my swap, and that's even buying the driveshaft and 4.08 for $250.

EDIT OP, keep in mind I shopped around and got lucky with my swap on a lot of things, but I also sourced parts for over a year.