I just picked up my brand new 04 SC430 Black/Ecru, and I was TERRIBLY dissapointed with the acceleration. First, the acceleration did not work at all. I literally FLOORED the car and about 9 seconds later I was up to about 40 miles an hour. After stopping for a while, and having another run at it, the acceleration started to pick up, although it's in stages. It feels like the car is hesitating for about 2-3 seconds, then the power surges in waves. The car only has 50 miles on it... 10 driven by me, 40 at the dealership. What I can think of is that the dealer filled the car up right before I left. Hopefully, it was PREMIUM, although it feels like the car is lacking power COMPLETELY. Any suggestions as to what I should do?

 

You see why it's better to buy the car for $59K but with only 7 miles?? Just kidding buddy; you got a great deal. Must be nice to live in an area with many dealerships; not here. One in town (crap), one other 300 miles away (where I bought mine), and next closest is over 500 miles away
By the way, I told the dealer didn't want the car touched: I removed all plastics, washed the car myself, etc., after similar experiences with my previous 3 new lexuses. Heck, I even drove my car to the gas station with the salesman following me on a dealer's car so he could pay for the gas (included in price); didn't want my fresh carpet stained, you know

Now to your issues:

1. First of all, take it easy on your new car buddy. It's not time to see how fast it runs. The engine is still pretty tight, and should give it at least 500 miles of easy driving. Same for the brakes. Although I bet those 40 miles were probably rough, don't make it worse on your engine.
2. These cars are 'drive-by-wire', and as the name suggests, the throttle is not linked mechanically to the throttle body, so there's a fraction of a second delay when you first press the gas. All cars with stability control have to be this way, so just get used to it.
3. I bet dealer put regular gas on your car; very common. Take it easy until you burn up all the gas, then fill up with premium (I like chevron, due to its addivites). Your car is equipped with dual knock sensors, so you won't damage your engine with regular gas, but performance goes down the toilet.

I still haven't gone past 3K rpms on my car, with 484 miles, so I can't comment on all-out performance yet, but my ex GS400 was rated by Lexus at 5.7 sec to 60 mph, and the SC at 5.9 sec, so they should be just about equal, which is plenty my friend. As soon as it turns 1K mile, and I change the oil to synthetic, will take it for a top-speed run, to blow the cobwebs out of it, so to speak; I don't want a 'lazy' engine. It's good to floor it every once in a while after break-in.

Hey, make sure you condition the seats; they come very dry from the factory. Mine (ecru as well) took 7 applications before being properly saturated. This is an essential step for leather longevity.

Enjoy the car, and give it time; you'll be pleased.

JC

 

Usually when I floor my SC the tires lose traction and the anti skid/slip function kicks in and reduces the rpms until the traction picks up. Very prominent when accellerating hard from a stop while making a turn.

TjZ

 

I wish that would be the case. However, from any speed it's really hard to accelerate. I promptly returned the car to the dealer and they think it's something to do with the fuel/air mixture, either that or i'm imagining stuff, which I know it's not the case, since I also have an LS, which accelerates like it's supposed to for a V8. I'm waiting to see what the verdict is when the service consulatant gets back to me.

 

I also notice a throttle lag. That's why I always try to keep my RPMs around 3200-3400 (max torque). Punch it there and you'll have an immediate response.

 

Unfortunately, that's not going to change. I remember going from my A6 4.2 to the SC430 and being very disappointed with the lag in pickup. It was especially prevalent from a standing start, but it also happened while cruising along. Not much you can do about the standing start, but you can manually downshift at other times. I used to downshift to 2nd to pull through corners and downshift to 3rd when passing on the highway. You definitely get that rush but it takes a split second before it kicks in. I had 12,000 miles on mine when I traded it in. The engine did loosen up, but there will still be a lag. One other thing to remember... the transmission adapts to your driving habits, so if you have a lead foot it will tend to hold the gear longer.

 

Unfortunately, that's what I hear. I still don't understand why this happens more to the SC than to any of the other models, like the LS, and the GS which I own or have owned (just got out of my lease for the GS and got the SC). With the LS, you have that split second of hesitation but then you have a huge power surge and the car takes off. The GS does the same. With this, it's slow taking off and it never gets any surge. With flooring the car it goes through the gears, without ever reaching more than 3K RPMs. I would guess my 0-60 is like 12 seconds. I was seriously dissapointed when flooring the car I couldn't keep up with an Accord. There has to be something wrong with the car! I hope!

 

MarsB007


I would tend to agree with the techs about maybe having a problem with the air/fuel mixture. I press my pedal and I am gone. 0-60 in 12 seconds not in a well running SC. I am sure you will be real happy when they resolve your problem.

 

I haven't punched my car yet, but I do notice less performance on this car than on the GS4. I aggressively took off today to avoid oncoming traffic, and the car upshifted at 3K rpm too. Again , since I haven't floored it yet, I don't know how far from WOT I was, but definitely way more than half.
We have to keep in mind each throttle-by-wire car can have a personality of its own, even within the same brand. I remember the GS, as well as the corvette, being more aggressive at the first half, but this car apparently is more progressive.
Finally, it's inexcusable not to have a limited-slip differential on a V8 car, even as an option. You don't need much power to light up ONE wheel, at which time the stupid VSC abruptly slows your progress; it's extremely intrusive. I hated that on the GS, and don't think it'll be different on the SC. Since we have an open differential, our car is a ONE-WHEEL DRIVE, gentlemen. If you don't believe me, try it on a gravel road; you can be spinning the drive wheel at 40 mph, and the other one will be idle.

Are you sure your VSC (traction control part) is not slowing you down? Look for the yellow light on your dash; it lights up when it's activated. Otherwise you definitely have a problem, because with the very short 1st gear gearing, the car should be reasonably quick at a stoplight. You're not racing against a turbo V6 accord, are you??

Keep us posted.

JC

 

no light... VSC never kicked in... the car just lacks power. The service guy told me that they'll clear the computer, as the car apparently learns from your driving habits (although 40 miles i don't think would do it). However, the car is having a body panel repainted since it had a huge scratch on it when i bought it. Until it comes back to the service dept from the body shop, i'm in the dark.

Right now I have a RX330 as a loaner, and as sad as it is, it's more responsive than the SC. I've driven enough Lexus automobiles to know when there's something wrong. Additionally, just to confirm that I'm not retarded I had 4 different people drive it, without them knowing what the potential problem might be. All of them told me that the car's acceleration sucked - proving my point that there's something wrong... I guess I'll just have to wait and see if the service dept finds something.

 

If you're flooring the car and doesn't upshift at 6,000 rpm, something is definitely wrong. All the ' intelligent' computer gimmickry is for partial throttle operation. Even with the 'PWR' setting, the car still upshifts at the 6K rpm mark, even though the rev limit is 6,400 on our cars.

Unfortunately a lot of things can be wrong, from the servo motor driving the throttle (not applying WOT when you floor the pedal) to the transmission itself. And a lot of sensors in-between. This is also my 4th new lexus V8, and my only gripe is still the stupid transmission's performance. Apparently the V6s are better, huh? My wife's new MDX also shifts like a dream; basically exactly like I'd shift it manually, and has no 'PWR' setting. Oh well. Fortunately our cars have a very ergonomic shifter location, and it's easy enough to do. When I can open mine up in a few hundred more miles, I'll floor it and run it to top-speed to make sure it functions correctly.

Keep us posted on what your problem was. Good day man.

JC

 

ok, this is what the service consultant told me... which by the way I think is complete BS but anyway... here it goes:

1. Lexus has changed the ECU from the 03 to the 04, with more aggressive VSC intrusions (which I know he made up since the VSC light never went on yet the acceleration still blows)

2. The car already had 30 miles on it... and he thought that by resetting the ECU, it will allow the car to learn my driving habits - I'll buy that... after about 100 miles or so.

3. Car's new, and as such, needs some break in period (manual specifically says it doesn't, but I'll let that one slide too). Breaking in the car will help with longevity (don't care - it's a lease) and gas mileage (don't care about in general).

Regardless, the needle doesn't really go past 3K rpms. I'll drive it for a little longer and see what happens, and if not it's going back to the second service visit. 1 more and I'm declaring it a lemon.

But thank you for all your help and suggestions! I'll also wait and put my own gas into it instead of the crappy Lexus gas they had in my car waiting.

Hope everything goes well!

 

I know excatly what you are talking about. My 2003 is the same, but I will tell you that now that I have passed 2000 miles it is getting a little better, but still not what I expect from this level of automobile.

I don't know about other SCs, but mine refuses to let me floor it from a stand still. I've had the car since 10 miles and I have had many 12second 0-60s.

I have a feeling that the VSC kicks in sometimes even though the light isn't on. (Maybe someone can reply that knows for a fact if the VSC light will ALWAYS come on if the car is taking control?)

My best advise is to not floor the gas, just ease in to it. You will learn how to minulapate the gas pedal to get the car to shift and accelerate as you want.

 

Um.....Did anyone suggest you drive another sc to see how that accelerates? Go to the used car side of the dealership.

 

yeah, it had been suggested by everyone in my family actually, including myself. Right now however, I'm swamped and literally cannot find the time to go over there and jump in another SC. On Tuesday everything should come down, and I'll take the trip to the dealership.