Wolfhouse

The thing has a 4.3L V8. How on earth does this only produce 300hp? In comparison, the BMW M6 puts out over 550hp, with a 4.4L.

In addition, the SC is almost 500lbs lighter and has a very low drag coef.

Those last remarks of weight and drag are only given as an engine this size should have no problem breaking the sound barrier off the line.

My knowledge of car mechanics is basic, so could someone please enlighten me on how BMW's .1L engine puts out almost double the HP??

Zerodrag

iTrader: (5)

Isn't that 4.4L a turbo motor?


"The 8 cylinder, double overhead camshaft turbocharged engine has 4 valves per cylinder and a capacity of 4.4 litres. In this application it produces power and torque figures of 552 bhp (560 PS/412 kW) at 6000-7000 rpm and 680 Nm (502 lbft/69.3 kgm) at 1500-5750 rpm respectively."

SPT

Great topic....

As an end user the SC 430 design incorporates spirited to moderate performance without sacrificing reliability or longevity. The SC was not intended to be a race car.
At work we tune cars and build race ready examples. The cost to make a Lexus go faster is far less than a BMW. To me having the Lexus means never having to wonder if it will start or make it home without breaking down.

Coleroad

Really, why does a twin turbo, GDI engine make so much more power. Be realistic, compare it to other naturally aspirated, MFI v8's . The sc 430 competition was like the sl Mercedes and such.

lexixel

two turbos, direct injection, aggressive programming --- not surprising

think about prewar engines twice as big and half as powerful

Wolfhouse

Ok, didn't check that at first glance. Good call. It looks like all European manufacturers are addicted to either supercharging or turbocharging their larger engines (Jaguar, BMW, Audi, Mercedes). That makes a whole lot of sense. The only models that I found (in a quick search) that were stock w/o a super/turbocharger were the Ford Mustang GT and (surprisingly) the Kia K900. However, they both require a 5.0L to get the job done at 400hp+.

Short answer: turbochargers?

Wolfhouse

Yeah, this was more out of just curiosity. The 3.5L V6 Altima I owned before this only had about 50hp less. But as you mentioned, I'm always more interested in luxury than performance, both is preferable. Nothing beats a Toyota engine for reliability, that's for sure.

Chaditotx

iTrader: (1)

One thing I have noticed about Toyota's (and Lexus) engineering is that they stay away from the ragged edge of design. I've owned plenty of Toyotas and found them to perform quite satisfactory, but a tad bit underpowered, and overbuilt. By overbuilt, I mean a Toyota Yaris comes stock with a forged crankshaft. Yes, a forged component is stronger, more reliable etc and it's what you would have wanted for a boosted application.. But in a 119 hp 1.5 liter motor that won't see over 6k on the tach why? That seems to be Toyota's logic. Strength, as a result... reliability. The motors go 500k. Our 4runner had a V8, a bit larger than the SC430 (4.6 or .7) and put out less power. Ran to 200+k without a hitch pulling a 4wd 4runner and a boat around until she wrecked it. For every extra HP beyond a certain point, you sacrifice reliability. Lexus/Toyota tends to err on the side of caution. With cams (not sure who would sell) headers and a good tune, I'd imagine 425hp would be attainable. Longevity would suffer. I remember my nephew bragging on his turbo'd Civic pushing 200HP back in the late 90's. He bragged for about 4 months

Chaditotx

iTrader: (1)

When the engineers pull the stops you end up with these. https://www.supercars.net/blog/2006%E2%86%922009-lexus-sc430-gt500/

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

The HP is 288

Wolfhouse

The 02's were the only ones to attain the 300-mark, although I believe it would need to be in perfect condition to do so (plus they also kept saying it could beat a 6 second mile, which many other professionals have tried to replicate and failed).

Wolfhouse

Yeah, I really appreciate the strong build of the engine. It's why I decided against those other "muscle car" types, foreign and domestic. I'd say this is about as good a compromise between power, performance, and reliability as you can get.

Chaditotx

iTrader: (1)

One place I feel Lexus skimped was on the exhaust manifolds, most likely for cost, and ease of fitment (they look like "log" manifolds) I'd read somewhere that with headers the motors wake up quite a bit.

OBP

The 288 and 300 hp engines are actually the same engines with the same output. All known as 3UZ FE in Toyota speak. What changed was the industry norm for calculating hp around that time. I had another vehicle in addition to the SC around that time when they changed the calc and the same thing happened - initially declared as 300 hp and after the calc change, 290 hp. Acura RL with an NA 3.5 V6. Think it might have been 2005 or 2006.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

its 288 hp and my 02 is 288 not 300hp the 02 is 288hp they are the same engine no changes to them 03 up.
OBP is right on
add Header you increase hp changes exh. hp increase more free flow.
exh. is the best way to increase hp a lot.