jruhi4

Comments on the above:

1) The IS350 is, to my understanding, for Japan and North America only. Europe may eventually get an IS300 with the 245-hp V6 from the 3rd-gen GS300.

2) Nissan's ubiquitous V6 is rated anywhere from 230 hp (on the Nissan Quest minivan) to 300 hp (Infiniti G35 manual and certain versions of the Nissan 350Z), but word has it that the real-life "spread" is much narrower, with the lower-powered versions being underrated and the higher-powered versions being somewhat overrated.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

I'm not insinuating anything or making any predictions, but I really wish that there was a 245HP IS300 in the works. A 201HP IS250 seems a bit weak, but a 310HP IS350 seems excessive for most people. 245hp would be perfect for a day to day car with peppy performance and decent gas mileage.

Oh well...maybe at the refresh?

Inabj2

Id bet money those engines never even made 220 crank hp. Even if the 30 percent drivetrain is true what good is 250 hp if you have such a horrid drivetrain design? In truth IMO id rate a non VVTI automatic SC300 at around 185 hp or about 40 hp lower then its "225" hp rating. (I never dynoed mine but id guesstimate 181 for mine.... based on 1/4 times...) If you were to put the SC300 stock vs a nother 220ish hp vehicle of the same weight it would get its doors blown right off!!!! Yet itd has very comparable performances to cars like a 2003 Chevy malibu or Pontiac Grand Prix cars with 3.4 liter v6s rated at around 180 hp.

The SC400 of the same year in IMO id rate it closer to a car with around 215 hp instead of 250 hp. Probably same for the 5 speed sc300s. Im not sure if the GS300 got raped like this too. But it seems that the GS400 got a much better end of the deal then the SC400 did! IM not sure where Id put a later gen SC400... But im skeptical on its 290 hp rating...

flipside909

How is it a horrid design? Because it's too smooth and refined for your liking? True the GS300 and SC300 w/4spd ECT-i Auto puts roughly about 170-180 to the rear wheels. Again your comparisons are quite off. You're comparing your used 11+ year old car to something newer. Hell even the new 2005 Avalon is faster than the old 1987 BMW M6. Again your guestimate isn't really a good assessment. You really have no basis for your ridiculous assessments.

You have no clue or have any idea. So what's the point of your worthless speculation? You're not sure of the later gen SC400 because they did upgrade to the 5spd auto tranny and tune the 1UZ-FE to 290hp. It put the SC just behind the GS for straight line times.

TED_FR

I got confused by the lexus.ca site annoncement, 201 is worse than 204.
I agree it still will be reasonably faster than the IS200. But as per today we have no actual prices set yet. I just read today in the french IS forum that a IS250 pack luxe could be € 35000 to $ 38000 (2006 BMW 330 starts from 35000). That's about the price of a 2005 IS300. The IS300 delivers 213 HP and 288 Nm @ 3800.
So yes the IS250 will be faster but may turn out to be expensive. No dispute, I'd rather go for a IS350.

XeroK00L

Maybe we should start boycotting Lexus USA to keep them on the toes updating their da*n website eh?

RohithT

Then the new 3.5 engine looks to be a bit of a concern. The torque peak is at 4,800 rpm, which is rather high in my opinion. For comparison,
330i: 220 ft-lbs @ 2,750
A4 3.2: 243 @ 3,250
C350 (based on the E350): 258 @ 2,400-5,000
G35 auto: 260 @ 4,800

If I remember correctly the G35's engine is rather peaky, so that doesn't bode too well for the IS. True the car has a lot more torque than those cars, but, if it doesn't kick in until you're up on the rev band like the G35's engine does, then I'd be less enthusiastic about the car. Of course, it could very well have a broad torque curve, too. Guess We'll have to wait and see.

spwolf

actually, GR engine series have very flat torque curve from around 1,800 RPM... which is why Auto IS350 tested 5 sec flat on the track in Japan :-).

Like it or not, it is going to run circles around 330i, which was already proven slow against A4 and C350 in germany - in fact, it was even slower on track than C350 !!!

Gojirra99

Wow !! really ? That's the first time I' ve heard of that if true !!

Inabj2

Who owns the car and who doesnt? The only SC300 that puts anything above 180 rwhp are the 5 speed ones!!!! Look at the dyno average right here in this forum for people with automatic 4 speed SC300! The average whp has been somewhere in the 160s, while I even seen some sc300s dyno at 150ish whp (probably need of a tune up tho) Now explain to me how in the ****ing hell 225 hp and 160ish rwhp seem to fit in the picture!

And its a ineficient design because its down right to impossible get any sort of decent off the line oomph. Here is what I mean you have a car that has a stall converter around 2000 rpm, that is heavy, and has extremely long gears with a rather peaky torque curve, 1st gear ends after 45 mph. The car just quite simple has no low end, its a car that starts to get moving after 4000 rpm. So do the math here, peaky torque curve, plus above average weight, plus low stall speed converter plus, long gears, plus a motor that dynoes an average of 15x-160 whp but yet is rated at "225" hp = Sucky *** drive train!! Even the crapiest of minivans could keep up with a SC300 up till 40 mph. A 5 speed compact car like a 240sx would simply waste it if drivers are equal at least until above highway speeds are reached. And even on ECT mode the trany has its rather odd quirks if let to shift itself, It shifts about a full 1000 rpm to early out of first, (I heard the arguments of tachometer being slightly behind here.) Doesnt down shift when it should. (enter a turn around 20-25 mph apex it and try accelarate out of it! Thats right slow *** exit speed it stayed in 2nd even with ECT on. To bad you can reach 75 mph in second! Youre stuck around 2800 rpms and the car simply has no ***** below 4000 rpm! To get the most out of this car you have to artificially sacrifice this entry speed in order to gain some exit speed. Hell if you really hate the tranny corner and youre trying to be the fastest possible the only way to get it to respond somewhat is slow down enough (again artificially it could of enter the turn as much as 3-5 mph faster.) Down shift before entering. Leave it on L accelarate glance at tach shift around 5400 rpm and itll shift right at 6000 rpm if done right there wont be any jerkiness in the shift, into second 500+ rpm later and somewhat staying closer to its torque curve. I shoudlnt have to man my tranny like this, with ect on, at full throtle it should shift near redline, and it should down shift whenever the car is below its torque curve. (anything below 4000 rpm at the very least. Most trannies can achieve this and still have smooth shifting points and a refined feel to it the one in the SC300 cannot. And I have no clue for my assesments huh?

Lets see I have owned this car for about 3 years, have you ever owned a SC300? I have autocrossed my SC300, I have taken my SC300 to track events, I have even drag raced my SC300 so I think I know my own car a little better then you think! The way this car is geared and the way it accelarates it might as well have 185 hp. 16s for a 225 hp car that weighs 3500+ lbs is down right horrible! And I seen members here dip into a 17s if the car hasnt had a tune up. Why do you think that is?

I have driven, and raced this car during my years that I have owned this vehicle, I think at the very least I have some basis for my so called ridicoulous assesment. Given the standard accepted values for drivetrain loss the worse I should see an automatic SC300 dyno is 180 rwhp, I havent seen anyone do this stock, The worse I should see a manual SC300 dyno is 187 rwhp, Closest Ive seen is 186, given a 15 percent drivetrain loss the number goes up to 191 rwhp, I havent seen anyone do this.

Pre vvti Sc300 dyno.. 165 rwhp
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...highlight=Dyno

A 5 speed sc300 dynoing 170 rwhp and he was lightly modified.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ght=stock+dyno

Best automatic stock dyno ive seen.
However this is a VVTI sc300 with an updated 4 speed over the year I have.
177 rwhp Still not quite where it should be though.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ght=stock+dyno

A GS300 dynoing once again in the 160s. At..
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...t=Dyno+results

5 speed sc300 at 175 rwhp with electric fans done.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...light=baseline

A baseline graph of a pre 1996 SC400... a vehicle rated at 250 hp.. Dynoes 186 rwhp.. he must of really needed a tune up.

Ask yourself this then, why in the hell would a VVTI IS300, have a factory rating of 10 hp less then that of a pre vvti SC300?

There is noting smooth or refined for lackluster performance. And at the very least you could be courteous instead of downright disrespectful whenever there is a difference of oppinion.

flipside909

Okay so tell me, w/all your arguments, of your 10 year old car you only owned in 3 years, how many miles do you have?

3 years of racing an SC300. Okay what's wrong with this picture? If you bought this car to race on the track, autocross and etc, you should have thought of that before even purchasing the car. Did you even bother to test drive the car or do any further research on the car before you bought it? It's evident you didn't and now you're sorely disappointed in it's performance. You probably forgot the SC300 is a luxury coupe, not a race car.

Well you should of thought of that before you bought the car 3 years ago. In 2002, the car was already 7 years old. How are you going to expect a 7 year old car at the time perform the way you want it? In 1995, the SC300 performed great amongst it's direct competitors. Now we're looking 10 years later and you want it to perform better than your 240sx? Now think about it. Who's the smart guy that bought a used luxury coupe...and expect to drive like a race car? And you bought an AUTOMATIC on top of that. LOL. Perhaps spell check and common sense (especially in car shopping) should be used in your future decisions. No need to use expletives to make a point. It's obvious you have to use them to get your sad points across.

We are off topic and it's obvious you started w/the off topic tangent of this thread. I'm done w/you here.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah, first time for me too! if so then the car is really fast. it's so close to the m3 already. and if that's the case, i wonder what would happen to is460/500

LexFather

I don't mean to sound funny buy maybe its "your" SC? B/C realize back in 1999, when all the compeition was new and even against V-8 cars, the SC 300 won its last comparo in Car and Driver. It was on its 10 best list 6 years. It was an automobile 10 best for 6 I think.

If it was indeed that slow, they would have blasted the car. More than anything, the auto press said, GET THE 300, since it was lighter, you could get a manual and it was only a few ticks behind the SC 400 in acceleration. So there is no way it could be overrated.

Lexus/Toyota has always been accurate with hp numbers.

BTW, lets get back to the topic of the IS HP, not the SC. I might even split this thread and put the SC posts in car chat.

XeroK00L

Good to hear... Wonder why Lexus phrased it as "0 to 60 under 6 seconds". Can you tell us what your source of info is? Very curious...

spwolf

i am usually last to post bull, but somone quoted it from some Japanise car mag that tested IS on the track and found it pretty damn good. Reports started coming out last month, anyone reading some japanese mags could enlighten us.


Ah, here is the link:

Google'd translation from response.jp