Greylor

Well I just testdrove my first Sc300. It was a 5spd 1992 with 120k miles on it. Reasonably good condition. Some of the leather had ripped. But the car was actually A LOT slower than I thought it would be. My Jetta would beat it hands down, my friends RSX would eat it alive. I loved the interior and the luxury, but the speed is just not comparable.

Here is the moment of truth. I already figured out that I would need to put about 4 grand in for body, paint, and suspention work. How much would it cost in addition to get at least a 14 second car??

(Trying to remain a loyal Lexus fan)

Matt

the_ez_rhino

I would imagine that headers, exhaust, intake and s-afc would put u in the 14's, but I could be wrong. Id say that would be close to 2000$, and you would need a custom pipe to make the headers fit the sc300 2jz (there made for the is300, but I heard with a custom pipe theyll fit the sc)

Or you could just add a shot of nos for $500 and youll be at the same level

Jason

Bean

iTrader: (1)

then there's something really wrong with the car you drove

With better tires I could have gotten my SC3 in to the 14s BONE STOCK

There's not a Lexus made before 1998 that will beat the SC3 5-speed... or at least one that is functioning correctly

I've now got intake and exhaust and I can take a RSX Type-S pretty easy

Too bad you're in New York or I'd take you for a ride in mine 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear are nasty...

with a 100shot of nitrous; you'd be touching mid 13s prolly on a correctly running car

To check the car; get a compression check done it; check the ignition components, especially the distributor...
make sure the clutch isn't slipping; mine is very grabby at 120k miles

basic maintenance may be holding the car back; or the engine may be tired and having a lot of blow-by

GS400_PUSHER

Its gonna take alot of work to get in the 14s but it can be done. As far as having a STOCK SC300 in the 14s.....I will have to see it with my own eyes. Most CL members post high 15s Stock.

JAC JZS

Yeah I agree, the best I have ever heard(stock) was 15.4@92 mph.

GS400_PUSHER

thats exactly what I thought!!

Manaray

Ok, why is that people expect a TEN YEAR OLD CAR (10 years = ONE DECADE) to perform like a car that just came out this year? And why do people expect a TEN YEAR OLD LUXURY car perform like a little rice rocket (or a kraut rocket)? Think of the weight difference. This of the power to weight ratio.

I can have a 10 year old CRX SPANK THE LIVING ***** out a RSX or a Jetta for under $4000 INCLUDING the price of the car. SO WHAT? Does that AUTOMATICALLY make it a better car than a 2002 Acura RSX?

The SC300 and SC400 (especially the early ones) aren't suppose the fastest cars on the planet. They're LUXURY SPORTS COUPES. Enjoy it for what it is. If you just want a car that's the fastest, that handles the best, yada, yada, yada, then buy something else. This is NOT the car for you...it's that simple...

Marcus Frost

I think the SC300 has plenty of power and a surprising amount of torque too. I was very plesently surprised at how well it performed. It sounds like you are just some young kid looking for a "super duper fast ride to race around in" in which case I don't think the SC300 is for you. Go buy an RSX or keep your Jetta, because there are probably a lot of cars that are faster than an SC300. The SC300 is more of a luxury sport coupe meant to be comfortable, luxurious, and reliable... not necessarily fast.

I think it's plenty fast... and not to sound egotistical, but I have a 900hp Supra... so I definitely know what fast is.

-m

SC300T

Bone stock with oem rims and tires.
15.2@92...

(with not much effort. Had just purchased car and wasn't sure how much RPM to leave the line with.) 60ft time was very unimpressive. It was fun to race my buddies Acura TL. He couldn't break the 15 second barrier or the 90mph barrier that night. In retrospect, the SC could have taken 5000-6000rpm off the line, but I didn't want to push it. Clutch was already old and somewhat tired.

Perhaps Bean and I had a ringer, but mine had over 100k miles on it at the time....

High 14s are definitely possible in a near stock configuration. The slightly lighter Supra N/A has no problem hitting 14s regularly, so I think a strong SC could do it with very little work.

I think it could be done bone stock with an ECU reset, better air filter, some extra timing advance (4 extra degrees?) and a mixture of race gas. If you get a good cool night and they put some glue down on the track, you've got a really good chance.

Problem is, first thing people do is add 17-18" rims, which puts you back quite a bit.

Greylor

First off, yes I am young (22) I admit it. However I don't think that keeps me from liking nice things.

I am not just looking for a hot rod. If I were, I would buy a civic or CRX for 3 grand and put 13 grand into it.
What I'm looking for is a good mix of reliability, derivability, comfort, cargo room, and speed. It would also be nice to have something reasonably unique, which is why I was looking at the SC300 in the first place. But speed is high on the list. If I can't find something faster then my Jetta, I might as well keep it. It has a reasonable amount of the other five qualifications.

Yes manaray your right. I guess I shouldn't have expected a 10-year-old car to be as fast or handle as well as a brand new car or a 2-year-old car. And I don't discount the possibility that there was something wrong with that car. It sounded fine but there was some rust and the driver's seat had a nice big rip in it.

I really don't see the need to be insulted. I'm new to the game and I admit that. I came here asking legitimate questions, and got some very good answers.

If you guys can come up with a way to get an SC300 to into the mid 14’s that’s within my budget, I’ll take it over my Jetta, a Maxima (another car I’m looking at), and certainly over the RSX (which I never wanted anyway, was just a comparison) any day of the week.

If not, oh well. Thanks to everyone who offered advice, or constructive criticism.

Matt

Greylor

thanks SC300T. I'll look into that.

Matt

Bean

iTrader: (1)

I guarentee I could have hit 14.9 with a set of drag radials when my car was stock...

Greylor, we're not insulting you; you're taking it the wrong way.

SC300T, I was running on my BBS 17x8s with crappy Futuras, I can't launch over 3k without boiling them down through the 60'

To run mid 14s; i'd do this: preventative maintenance like discussed before... exhaust, intake, some good tires/rims if you want...

and thats plenty

if you want insurance, a 50shot of nitrous would put you in the 14.0s or low 14s

Legends6spd

ok, at time i must admit my sc3 is a bit slow. it's bare stock and when i keep it at high rpm's it's decent enuff to keep up with most cars on the road. the fact i have a manual allow me to put it in the gear that i want, i can't say the same about the auto, i guess that can be even a bit slower.
i bought the car thinking i'm going down the toyomoto road. however, w/ the recent prices that i'm hearing, it's not going to happen w/out at least 10k (installed), and alota time.
maybe a BPU (basic performance upgrade) is a better idea for now? but because i can't do the installation myself, i've had a hard time finding any shops to do it for a reasonable price.
anyone else in the DC/VA/MD area can recommend a shop to goto and leave my baby in good hands with?

Bean

iTrader: (1)

BPUs are usually referred to for supras, what mod are you referring to?

A turbokit shouldn't cost you anymore than $5k total if you customize it and install it yourself and thats a conservative number; prolly less than that

Legends6spd

BPU = intake/filter, exhaust, headers...etc
the toyomoto kit is 7000 uninstalled
i can't customize anything nor install anything myself.
heck, i'm having a hardtime replacing my light bulbs