Performance & Maintenance Engine, forced induction, intakes, exhausts, torque converters, transmissions, etc.

Anyone here with a chip in an SC400?

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Old 10-31-01, 08:13 PM
  #16  
808state
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MadMaxSC400-

i've never read or heard anything about the trd sc400 and gs400. is there a weblink for it or was it in some type of publication? or is it a quiet project for r&d and publicity? interesting...
emember, TRD got 400 horsepower out of one of these engines. They didn't turbo or supercharge it, they didn't bore and stroke it, they just improved the flow to and from the engine and reworked the timing and cams. Let me know if you wanna do anything.. etc.
only way i can think of them doing could be (maybe you can verify..any other ideas?):
*extude hone(sp?) the intake and exhaust manifold
*custom headers (i don't think anybody mass produces them)and exhaust.
*cams-if they used a radical cam, they'd probably have to add different springs, valves, etc. doubt the stock stuff would handle.
*ecu upgrade
*CAI
*MSD ignition

then again, if they spent mucho money, they must have made totally custom everything for the intake and exhaust side and didn't bother modifying existing stuff... got any details? i wonder what the above mods would cost anyway? unfortunately, the custom cams and header would be difficult to do...but the extude hone,ecu, and CAI, MSD is already available. why doesn't trd mass produce their stuff for the sc400 anyway? they already have a working model, right?

oh well....
Old 11-01-01, 06:18 PM
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SCV8
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808,that motor was in a car owned by the Pres. of Toyota of North America,was a duece roadster with eight throttle bodies,and crazy headers...
Could be done in our cars,but wouldn't be the same as the streetrod is over 1,000 pounds lighter;no torque to get the mass rolling,you'd need a manual trans for sure,or maybe a really high speed torque convertor.
I do wish that someone would come up with a reasonably priced set of cams for the 4.0 motor,I think an extra 40-50 hp would be nice.
Old 11-04-01, 10:22 AM
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MadMaxSC400
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And you could clearly get more than satisfactory power out of a set of cams, because the top end could really use the boost.
rboorgu I am going to talk to Flowmaster here in Marin to get their final word on exhaust pipe size.
I've been so irritated with the lack of aftermarket support for the SC400, I'm thinking about rallying up some company to produce me a set of cams. It might cost $1000, but I'll do it because I know the results will be good and my car is OBD 1 so it won't freak out. I'm thinking Crane or someone similar. Anyone got any ideas for custom work?
Old 11-04-01, 04:59 PM
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matt7184
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How bout upgrading to the VVT-i spec engine?
Old 11-04-01, 09:15 PM
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SCV8
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I was thinking Crower,but whoever will do it,and stand by their work is ok also.
Would probably require a set of unground cams,or alot of welding to build-up the base circle on the cam.You may be able to get something from just grinding the stock cam,but the ramps will be sacrificed in that the rate of opening won't be as desireable as that of one with a larger base circle.
I wonder if the intake and exhaust cams are different?
Some cars,where this is the case,allow for the use of an intake cam over on the exhaust side,giving a good boost in top end.
I'll bet there's an aftermarket set over in Japan,just sitting there right now!
Old 11-04-01, 09:26 PM
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abutler696
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madmax, how much HP gains do you think I can get from the S-AFC and a custom intake alone? I am considering either the Weapon-R(I don't know anything about it though, inform me if you can please) and SRT' setup(whenever they finish it). I just want some HP gains, and everyone on this forum has a different solution to it. You seem to know a good bit about it. What do you suggest man. And I am also getting a dual electric fan upgrade, borla exhaust, heatshield(know where I can get the best one) and a torque converter. Do you know anything else I can possibly do(besides forced induction) to get any more HP at all on my sc400? Thanks, Adam
Old 11-05-01, 01:30 AM
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MadMaxSC400
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What's the electric fan upgrade for?
Here is the ideal setup. Crower looks like a good place for cams. Where I'm at: Weapon-R intake with a mediocre heatshield, redone cat and inlet, magnaflow mufflers.
What I'll do: Replace/refit and improve the heatshield and either replace or insulate the Weapon-R intake, it just gets too hot. Change all exhaust from the cats back to 2.5 or 2.25 inch piping, and I will remove the resonators. The ECU will be a dyno tuned Intercrew piggyback chip, hopefully increasing power significantly and getting rid of the stupid adaptive mode.
Optionally, I may go to Crower if I have another car I can drive down the line here and send the cams in to be welded up and reshaped. As far as I'm concerned, that would be 'the' setup for the SC400 without supercharging it.
Old 11-05-01, 08:20 AM
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abutler696
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madmax, can you give me some info on the Weapon-R intake(where to get it, how much, etc)? So how much hp are you expecting with 'THE' setup? Thanks, Adam
Old 11-05-01, 08:21 AM
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abutler696
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Oh, and the dual electric fans are there to take away from the engine having to power the fan cooling the engine. They will be hooked to the battery, and not the crank.

Adam
Old 11-05-01, 10:57 PM
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MadMaxSC400
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That's strange.. on my car the fan is driven by a valve and a coolant based impeller to keep it quiet. Also note that no matter what, you have to expend the energy to turn the cooling fans. Whatever energy the fans use will have to be made up for in turn by the alternator, which draws just as much power
The intake and chip will be available through Weapon-R for the moment. Once the dyno runs are done we'll have a better idea when. The chip might go in tomorrow, depends on my work schedule. They told me that the set-up will cost around $1000 for an intake and the piggyback ECU. They got 15 hp and 25 lb-ft of torque from the deal on one guy's GS400, and I expect similar results. Possibly more, since my car isn't VVT-i/OBD-II and we won't be working against the computer as much.
That set-up, with the cams, +40 hp (conservatively) and a better exhaust (+5 again, being realistic) the whole setup should leave me at about 320 hp (add 60 to 260) at the flywheel, or as much as your stock turbo supra. The only way up from there is a blower. It won't be astoundingly fast, given the weight of the car, but it will suprise the kid in the Mustang next to you.
Old 11-06-01, 05:20 AM
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abutler696
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oh well I got that idea from Computerwiz and a few others about the fans. I know quite a few that have done it and they claim that it saves around 10 HP. There is also someone selling it in the clublexus classifieds who claims 12-15, but maybe that's just the SC300. I dunno, I'm not a car expert, I just learn everything from the website really. Thanks for you help man, later......Adam
Old 11-06-01, 05:34 PM
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MadMaxSC400
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The reason the other places want the ECU from your car is simple.. it's a massive amount of work to chip 92-94 cars. Two separate but identical computers run the left and right cylinder banks. So, any modification has to be done to both halves, plus a pair of contacts have to be jumped inside the ECU. 2 ECU's, pro grade soldering, tuning = 1500+ dollars. It's very doable, but it's so hard to actually get it done most people would break the bank in labor, or have to be without their car for a week while the ECU was set up. A 20-25 hp gain is just not worth it, imo.
On the fans, I suppose that they could be more efficient, but I'd have to see a dyno result before I'd go into it.
Weapon-R will continue with the intake and cold air box, which on its own is effective.
Oh well... I'm gonna go grab the autotrader
Old 11-10-01, 08:37 AM
  #28  
The Ikon
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Originally posted by abutler696
oh well I got that idea from Computerwiz and a few others about the fans. I know quite a few that have done it and they claim that it saves around 10 HP. There is also someone selling it in the clublexus classifieds who claims 12-15, but maybe that's just the SC300. I dunno, I'm not a car expert, I just learn everything from the website really. Thanks for you help man, later......Adam
It is a 300 thing... Our 400 have the hydraulic driven fans...

Hey Max, did your car ever "stall/bog" at take off when you had "JUST" a maf adapter/cone filter under hard acceleration?

Yeah, Max if our cars were only 300 lbs lighter..

*There is always a torque converter, I think you forgot this mod...
Old 11-10-01, 12:37 PM
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MadMaxSC400
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Yes, in fact it did do that. I had to reset the ECU when I first got the Weapon-R setup because the computer didn't know what to do with all the extra air. The flow sucked because the RMM setup leaves the flex-hose on the stock air tube intact. However, the Weapon-R set up on my car is kind of Jerry-rigged, with two pipe sections using the RMM (Toyota Supra) Karmann MAF adapter. With Smooth8, using his SC400 website, I'm going to try to get Weapon-R to build us some well-sealed airbox/filter/intake pipe setups specifically designed to insulate the air from the engine bay. I want a real cold air intake. The special foam filter they made is worth 6 WHP on the dyno, I watched them put it on this guy's GS300 and run it compared to a regular K&N cone filter.
The next step is getting this reprogrammed ECU to work and getting it produced. I'll worry about the torque convertor when I get to it

Since there's no real aftermarket support I and several others have decided to take matters into our own hands and build/find good performance parts for the SC400.
Old 11-17-01, 07:40 AM
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SCV8
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MadMax,keep us all posted on any camshaft developements,eh.
Polished intake/heads+cams;way cool setup IMO.
Would also be real nice to find a MoTec ecm to play with,would have the sophisticated control of the oem stuff(raised idle for a/c,etc.)as well as total control of the maps.If only someone would sell me one for the price of the "chip"upgrade(dreaming).


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