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SC430 - 2nd Gen (2001-2010)

Acceleration slow??

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Old Oct 17, 2007 | 11:51 PM
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Default Acceleration slow??

I have been noticing for the longest time that the sc430 acceleration is slow... or is that just me? I mean come on its a sports car with a v8 engine it should be freaking fast acceleration!!! I drove a tundra around that is a v8 with faster acceleration than the sc430. even a v6 is faster. Has anyone figure a way to make teh acceleration to be fast? Also, I do not want anytihng to do with turbo chargers or anything like that.
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 12:06 AM
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Originally Posted by John007
I have been noticing for the longest time that the sc430 acceleration is slow... or is that just me? I mean come on its a sports car with a v8 engine it should be freaking fast acceleration!!! I drove a tundra around that is a v8 with faster acceleration than the sc430. even a v6 is faster. Has anyone figure a way to make thh acceleration to be fast? Also, I do not want anytihng to do with turbo chargers or anything like that.

John

The car in stock form hits easy mid 14's in the 1/4 which is still respectable these days and quicker than many other V8 equipped car out there . It all depends on what your interpretation of slow is. The neighbors Hemi Charger gets destroyed by me once a week with ease-granted I have a few thing done to it.

If you do a search you you will see a lengthy post on headers with plenty of information in it along with other items such as torque converters, 3.76 gears, intakes, a/f meters,etc...

Perhaps your confusing the throttle by wire lag down low with actual speed.
You may also have a problem with you car if it is as slow as a V6 Tundra as those things are absolute dogs. I had a V8 Tundra with a few mods and it posed no challenge to my SC or GS and even the new Tundra is slower compared to the SC in stock form--drove one several times as well. Nice truck though.

Last edited by Pearlpower; Oct 18, 2007 at 12:12 AM.
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 12:48 AM
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i bet the way you mean "slow" is how the car gets up from the time you push the gas till it goes? that's definitely a shortcoming on the sc430 (basically all 430 engine setup with the 5 speed auto). the throttle response is very bad and lagging.

what i can say is, if you are aggressive and really punch the gas (say floor it), once the car goes wot, it's NOT slow. it really pulls pretty crazy. but you just have to adapt to the throttle system of the car to know how to gun it a tad earlier than "expected" and push in more.

moreover, the ecu is always learning your driving, if it sense that you are driving mildly, it will change its timing, so if you want to go aggressive suddenly, you'd think the car isn't performing well
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 02:37 AM
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I don't know what year you have but I just went from an 03 to an 06 and the difference in throttle response is significant. I think rominl explained this by both a reprogrammed ECU and the newer six speed tranny. The car is a beast, especially if you want to run it through the tiptronic.
YMMV
JTMav
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 07:36 AM
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Are you saying the ECU will adapt to your driving style? When I first got my 07 pebble beach it had 2000 miles driven by a lady. At first I had to turn off the stability when I made a hard accellerating turn into traffic. However, just the other day I forgot to do this and I noticed the controll did not seem to intervene. I had not put any thought into this but could it be that the car has adapted to a more agressive driving style? Thanks
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 09:22 AM
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JT is correct. the 06 has a 6 speed and a whole new ecu, throttle response is so much better and the car feels a lot more responsive and faster

you can also use gate shifting for 02-05. when you are say on freeway, put it to 4th, and then 3rd, all the power is in your hands

yes ecu will adapt to driving. if you want, disconnect the battery for 15 mins, the ecu will reset, and start driving like a mad man what i remember is one day i was in real rush and i drove pretty mad on freeway. for the next 3 or 4 days, i felt the throttle response got quicker
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 10:46 PM
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I also feel that the SC is sluggish. It can get up & go when it wants, but it does no have a lively/fun drive to it. It feels heavy & clumsy, but you have a really nice hard top convertible cruiser!
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 10:51 PM
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hmmm

never knew this abt the sc430.
I always wanted to get one of these.

now i have double thoughts...

and what romin is saying def makes a lot of sense..

my gs430 has very poor throttle response..
but when it hits..IT HITS...

i was running late and really gave my car a run today!
helluva a feeling :-)
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Old Oct 18, 2007 | 11:34 PM
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Well to put it bluntly, nobody here has a SC430 as quick as mine unless FI. In stock form it does have the throttle lag as discussed since 2002 on this forum. If you have an 06 and up model and believe it is slow and slower than a V6 Tundra then something is wrong with your car period. When I went from my GS400 the throttle lag was apparent but....the SC430 still was able to pull with the GS400 stock for stock-both had exhaust. The SC430 being about 90lbs more in weight but with a slight torque advantage.
To go further, some of my kills: 996 Porsche, M3 convertible which are slow, numerous Hemi Chargers and 300's, BMW 545's (several), 745's-several, etc.... I would say the SC430 runs pretty good and reacts well with mods and lets not get into some comparison with a Tundra. My Tundra with many mods could not even touch or come close to my SC at any speed when it was stock and my Tundra ate Hemi trucks all day long.
So, to put a question up for John007, tell us about the Tundra V6 that is quicker than your SC?
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Old Oct 19, 2007 | 02:39 AM
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From: Lovely OC
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Originally Posted by DJ TANTRA
hmmm

never knew this abt the sc430.
I always wanted to get one of these.

now i have double thoughts...

and what romin is saying def makes a lot of sense..

my gs430 has very poor throttle response..
but when it hits..IT HITS...

i was running late and really gave my car a run today!
helluva a feeling :-)
yup, gs430 (01-05) and sc430 (02-05) are all same drivetrain, so....
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Old Oct 19, 2007 | 08:58 AM
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The SC is very slow. But I don't think anyone really bought it for the factory 0-60 performance.
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Old Oct 19, 2007 | 09:04 AM
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Originally Posted by Tensi
The SC is very slow. But I don't think anyone really bought it for the factory 0-60 performance.
well, what's your definition of slow? 0-60 in 6 seconds? it's still better than a lot of cars.

and i outrun quite a few cars on the road too
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Old Oct 19, 2007 | 01:37 PM
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is there any way to get rid of the lag??
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Old Oct 19, 2007 | 01:38 PM
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I think a tc helps the 0-60...but like the intial lag...from pressing the pedal to teh car pciking up
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Old Oct 19, 2007 | 01:56 PM
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This is old news for the veterans, but I haven't seen it mentioned in this thread...

You get substantially better off-the-line acceleration when you turn off ETC and turn on Power Mode.
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