Larry

I just got done installing the Lexus "body side moulding" kit on my SC and it looks great ! I also spent a few hours last night installing the "InJen Tech" cold air induction kit. I highly recommend it for ease of installation and better air flow. It also sounds AWSOME when you hit the go pedal.

I have one minor question for you tekkies.......Should I keep the plastic engine cover off ? It seems to retain a lot of heat from the intake plenum and as we all know, heat robs performance. Actually, the engine looks pretty good without it.......this big polished aluminum air tube and all these neat red hoses.

So far here's what I've done to my car:

- tinted windows
- De-badged and replaced "L" logo on trunk with black pearl
- Additional wood dash trim kit
- Cold air intake
- Body side moulding

The next things are:

- Wheel conversion kit
- Eibach Pro-kit springs
- Maybe, just maybe an exhaust system.....Borla may be coming out with one. I've used them before and they give out a nice low "burble"........not unfitting for a Lexus at all.

Sorry for babbling here, but whenever I add stuff to my cars I experience a great feeling of euphoria and need to tell the world !!

Whattya think guys ?

Gojirra99

PICs !!! post some PICs please...both interior and exterior !

1NICESC430

Larry ...

I'd like to see some pics, too, but right now you need to educate this ignorant guy about what the heck a cold air induction kit is, why anyone would want one, and what kind of noise does it make ... a whooshing sound?

Here's a pic of an SC with a side molding kit that was posted around April of 2002 - does yours look like this?

Larry

OK Ed, here goes.........

Yes, that is what my car looks like with the side moulding kit, except that my kit didn't come with the rims.......

As far as a cold air induction kit, here's the deal with them:

The stock air intake (air filter) supplies air into the engine via a connnection to the throttle body. The air is needed to supply oxygen to the "intake plenum" which in turn mixes with fuel somewhere along the way, works its way to the cylinders along with a set mixture of fuel (supplied by the "injectors), then is lit by a spark from the spark plugs thus causing an explosion that pushes the pistons up and down. This a 4 cycle process that goes as follows: INTAKE (air and fuel are brougt into the cylinders regulated by "valves"). COMPRESSION (the air and fuel mixture are compressed via the piston which is inside the cylinder). POWER (the spark plug makes a spark and ignites the fuel/air mixture so it explodes, in turn pushing the piston down) EXHAUST ( the spent gasses exit the cylinder via another set of valves on top of the cylinder).

This happens in each cylinder and in turn creates power to move every other piston up and down. A "CRANK SHAFT" connnects each piston to another so when one piston is pushed down, another rises up into its respective cylinder. The valves which are located above the pistons allow the air/fuel mixture in and the spent exhaust gasses out.

OK so much for engine 101. What the cold air intake does is allow more air into the engine so it operates more efficiently, adds more horsepower and betters fuel economy.

Think of it like this: Take a drinking straw and try breathing in and out through it........not easy, right ? Now take one of those cardboard tubes from a roll of paper towels and breath in and out through that.......much easier !! It's the same with engines, they have to breath as well. As far as "COLD" air.........the cooler the air that goes into an engine, the better it performs. Hot air and gasses rob performance. The cold air intake simply allows the engine to breath much, much easier and in greater quantities.

As far as the sound, it's a combo of a whooshing/growling noise. Very pleasent to to those of us considered "gear-heads".

Ita,

I'll try to get some photos as soon as I learn how to use my new digital camera and attach them. For a guy that works for "Canon", I don't know doodly about cameras !

Phu

Larry, congrats on the upgrades. Just a few questions...

1- Is the Injen intake OEM?
2- How much did the intake cost and where can I get one?
3-Do you notice gain in power/acceleration?

Larry

Phu,

Yes, it's OEM, but made specifically for the Lexus. I ordered it from "Injentek.com" and it cost $199. plus shipping.

As far as a noticable gain in acceleration......I think there is a gain of sorts. With the sound it makes, the increase acceleration may just be psychological on my part. It sure sounds nice !

liners

Hi Larry-

Couldn't get INJENTEK.com to come up. Even went to Google. Where did I go wrong?

Bob Christiansen
02 Indigo Blue/ Echru
TRD Wheels

Larry

Well Bob, it seems your first mistake was listening to me......


The web site is "www.injen.com"

I just ran down to the garage to check the name on the box and there it was as big as life, the CORRECT web address.

When you get to the site, click on "intakes:, then on "Toyota" and then scroll down to "GS430 and SC430"

You'll see a photo of exactly how it looks on my car.

Hey Ed ol' buddy.......can you work your computer magic and post the photo ?

Thanks !

1NICESC430

Larry ...

Thanks for the explanation. Although I pretty much knew the Engine 101 part, I appreciate people who assume nothing and explain thoroughly.

Congrats on finding the key to posting images. I went crazy trying to do it at first because I always review my posts before appending. As we all know now, reviewing your post deletes the reference to the image.

LexusSC430

Hey Larry, now I am not attacking you, but I have a couple bridges and stars I'd like to sell you. If anyone honestly thiks a cold air induction kit actually inreases airflow and cold air actually gets into the engine...well like I said, I know thisbridge thats for sale. It actually does absolutely nothing. By the time that air gets to the throttle body and cylinders at is as hot as the "stock" air.

Heres the good part.....It does look better than stock, it sounds great!!! and it will give you 1-3 more horsepower, attach this with an exhaust and you will see a difference in WOT (wide open throttle) I think it is because the engine only strains to get air into the cylinders when it is really loaded.

Having said that, I will definitely be purchasing a new intake sytem. I have o check out the HKS one though, I had it on my Supra and it made te coolest sound, when you could actually hear it as that engine was pretty loud.

NOS is the only way to get cold air into the throttle body, which is one set up and of course the other is direct port. Dont be folled Larry, but regardless of that it is still a nice intake.

Larry

Sorry to disagree with your disagreement Lex, but an open element does increase airflow. More air DOES get to the throttle body than with the stock set up. It's also cooler than the stock as there's more of it........lots more. I know we're not talking mega degrees here......just a few.

Have you ever been to a drag track ? Lots of guys with their hoods open and a bag of ice wrapped in a towel on top of the intake plenum. Again, not much coolong, but some. Maybe enough to drop a 10th off the time.

I suppose you think intercoolers are a myth too.......

Did you have a TT Supra ?? Thay was always one of my dream cars !! Any pics ?

LexusSC430

Larry, I understand the airflow. As for the cold air....install a sensor, ill bet its the same temp. I used to be one of those guys that had bags of ice on his car with the hood up. Colder air is definitely better. My Supra would feel like it had 100 more hp when the temp dropped below freezing, unfortunately the tires felt otherwise.

As for as cold intake, I thought it was one of those pacs where you put ice in it. Again though, it is not going to be any cooler unless its outside the engine. As for intercoolers, am not that naive and if you have ever been to the track you would notice that those guys could make 100 runs and the pipes would still be cool, not bad for $2000.

I raced one day about 12 times, and to the point where it was so hot you couldnt touch the hood, let alone the engine. My intake was sucking in hot air as will any, of course it is very different on a turbo car. Times will definitely be more sluggish, but thats assuming the driver can makeperfect runs each time, so who knows.

My pic is too big, I will post it tomorrow

Larry

Hey Lex,

I used to run my VR4 at the track in West Hampton NY. You'r right about the difference on a cool day as opposed to a hot humid one.

My best time was 13.9 @ 98.9 mph. I'm sure your Supra did a heck of a lot better. The Mitsu weighed 3,800 pounds and with me in it brought it up to close to 4,000. That's a lot of metal to haul down the track. The only mods I had were a K&N Filtercharger kit and a Borla exhaust. I never ran prior to the mods so i don't know if they made a difference.

LexusSC430

I used to run at Englishtown/Raceway Park, NJ. I remember I first took my Supra there with it having 1400 miles on it. Everyone thought I was crazy. I had an exhaust, downpipe (huge hp gains) and intake. First run was a disaster, then I believe I was running 13.2's to 14's on a 90+ degree day in August. Pretty pathetic for a car like that. But let me tell you that car was impossible to hook up. After a while I installed a boost controller to regulate the turbo and starting running in the high 12's. I think my best time was 12.80 at 112mph or something Trap speeds ranged from 107-120 depending on my launch. Sometimes high trap speeds are a sign of a lousy launch.

The car involved dumping the clutch at 5000rpms and then trying to deal with 465hp. Never could do it right, powershifting was a joke...it was powersliding into the wall. Wish that I had a professional to drive the car as I know it was good for some low 12 second passes. Like you said though, my car is heavy 3600lbs and change so I could imagine yours. More of top end car then anything. The RX-7 is the drag car, weighing 2800lbs, a good driver and a boost controller and they were running 13 seconds. Too bad its the most fragile car ever built.

Just a little FYI, all those times in the magazines are BS. First of all they are professionals and run it differently then at tracks. Tracks using time, no radar or anything, all mathematics. I am sorry Larry but much to the crowds delight I saw NSX's race and all they could manage were mid to high 14 sec passes. 1997/98 Mustang Cobras were running high 14's and low 15's. The VR-4's were around what you said, high 13's As for the Supras, I think I had the grandma version of them. I would get spanked up against other ones, although mine was 4 and 5 yeras newer in some cases. Great cars to watch race though. The crowd would always go back to the bleachers and the PA system would always give much praise. I remember people would take pictures in front of my car and etc. Funny though, on the whole the SC has gotten a lot more comments.

Oh yeah, speaking of ice, some idiot shut down the track for 15 min because he had a $4 car with turbos strapped on it (it would spank me too....lol) and forgot to take the ice out of the car before racing.......moron

Happy New Year Larry and to all as well!!!

Larry

Lex,

How much boost were you runninng with the controller ? The VR4 was supposedly 14psi stock, but I think that was an exaggeration.

12.8 @112mph is pretty damn good. Launching the Mitsu was easy.......rev to 4500, dump the clutch and hope not to leave to much of the drivetrain on the asphalt.

I'm surprised to hear the NSX's weren't doing that great. I never had the chance to take mine to the track. Like you dsaid, the magazines are a bunch of hooey.

My 13.9 by the way was really a 13.9999 (really......the trap is laser timed). I could never break 100mph.

Have you heard the rumor on the new Supra ? 2004 or 5 possibly with the 4.3 motor pushing 350 hp.....whoa.

Happy New to you and all as well !