forcefed4door

Hey guys I've been lurking for the past few weeks and am looking to make a future purchase. I currently own a 500+whp is300 and an 05.5 s4. I'm ready to move out of the is300 because I need something more refined and classy so to say. I plan on selling both cars and getting e55 and should have $$ to spare. Can anyone give me an idea what it will take to have the amg trap around 125mph in the 1/4? Ide like it to be as fast as my lexus was.
I was also considering a gtr. I'm just afraid of all the attention it will get from rice racers. And the fact that its twice the cost and 2 door. Really like the awd factor. But mainly the cost is the issue. I'm tired of car payments...
E55 is classy and somewhat reliable when compairing other mb models according to this forum. Advice?

efiftyfizzle

I was also a former 2JZ owner coming to an E55, but mine wasn't modded.

I've been in a friends turbo SC300 that was pushing close to 500 to the wheels at the time... and it felt fast... scary fast. The thing about those turbo'ed cars is they almost feel unsafe when going WOT. The E55 is just as fast as those cars (it doesn't trap 125mph stock), but with a few mods it can... but it's a lot more "comfortable" when going WOT. Also, the E55 gets up quick because of low end torque, which you're not used to with a boosted car. Boosted cars in races are always playing catch up because of turbo lag. Some people prefer one way, others prefer another.

60nomad

Look at my thread that reads... opinion on 70k 2006 e55 white pano car quickly! please!...Guy named Skratch77 has one that traps 122mph for sale blk/blk, he wants $26k, maybe that's the car for you? Check it out.

moosejaw

A 550 hp SC300 is not that fast, not even scary fast. I've seen 350hp RX7s run with them. They are very heavy (almost as heavy as a E55), take forever to spool, and have a very short trubo boost travel between shifts until you are in final gear. They are at best highway cars unless you have the V160/V161 tranny. Most with a R154 tranny wont be showing up at the track bc they tend to granny it at 1-2 gears. Loungn14 had a turbo IS300 that put up those numbers. PM him for his feedback as he had the fastest C32 and now is in a E55.
I know the IS300 is lighter but i dont see them trying to run with me in my E55.

A GT-R will be way more expensive to maintain than a E55. Most GT-R owners spend $8-11K in maintenance.

I have a SC300 as a DD btw. I bought it for $2K.
Im debating whether to drop in a GTE or sell it and get something else. Every other mod is done tho.

moosejaw

In order to trap 125 in the 1/4 which will prob be a low 11 sec car depending on your reaction/60ft time.
You will need a 180 pulley, ecu tune, fuel rail, injectors, and a quaife diff, headers, drags. Basically a stage III.

Are you trapping 125mph+ in your IS300?
If so Im thinking your high 11s?

forcefed4door

I hear you on the instability of a fast turbo car. At times my is300 has had a few close calls even with drag radials. It was only good for 2.0 60' due to tq converter not stalled high enough. But it has trapped as high as 127mph. I also had a supra which felt much safer and had 700whp but hated driving it around with the RPS twin disk and dinosour like 6spd. That's why I got the s4 cuz I really like the trans feel in the car.

It's a big plus that the E55 feels safe at high speeds. And the tq is a huge plus that I never really had in a turbo car. Any idea on the cost to get it close to mid 120 traps?

forcefed4door

Best et I ever had was a 12 flat on my is. The previous is3 I had with less power a faster spooling turbo went 11.8 at 120 with 1.64 60'ob same tires I have on it now. I'm prolly gonna sell the Audi first cuz tthe s will prolly take longer to sell. lIll pm that other guy who was in the same boat as me and see how helikes the change.

skratch77

My car is trapping 130 LOL

GregMB

Then update your sig you weenie!



-G

skratch77

Nah to lazzy!

efiftyfizzle

Yeah, the 1st and 2nd gear pull thing is true... but 3rd and 4th gear pulls are amazing. Obviously 350hp RX-7s can run with them because of weight differences, but the 2JZ is a far more superior motor and the Lexus cars in general are far more reliable. The "forever to spool" thing is based on your setup. Like I said, the turbo cars are playing catch up, but if you're patient for the spool, it's very rewarding when you catch boost.

What tranny are you running in the IS300 btw... please don't tell me you're on the W55. That thing won't last long at all

moosejaw

The 2JZ GTE is a great motor and my Lexus is pretty reliable with 183K miles plus. But I believe rotaries can be reliable as 2JZs. Ive been in the rotary scene for 20+ years. Where were these 2JZ's back then. Only recently since Japan starting scrapping Chasers, Aristos etc.. did we see the remergence of that platform.

I can get 550 hp out of my RX7, i would need to do a lot more internals than a stock block GTE or even a GE motor in a SC300 for that matter. I would need to pin the motor and agreesively open up the exhaust ports (ie...bridge port), plus feed 2 stroke oil in hte gastank every fill up.

You are right about the spooling but most of the cars i've ridden in that have claimed 550 hp left me underwhelmed. The E55 will defintiely give you the seat of your pants feeling.

The W58 came standard on all IS300s, non-turbo Supras, and SC300's from 91-97. The R-154 tranny was only available in hte US on the MKIII Supra. Most who do a swap with a W58 are wasting their money. R154 can hold more power.

theunderlord

Consider wagons; they're sleepier.

forcefed4door

The is300 is running oem auto trans. Has beefier 3rd gear sprag , valve body upgrade, restalled converter to 3200rpm, and added trans cooler. Trans has around 100 trips down the strip haha. The car has been very reliable. It's just that I feel I'm grown out of it and would make a great car for younger crowd. Prolly would find it wrapped around a poll somewhere, but owell.

forcefed4door

What et does that get you? I'm assuming high 10? And does the car feel like it is gonna hold up like that? I'm guessing that's atleast $20k in mods?

skratch77

renntech airbox is around 3300
570 for carbon tubes
1600 for TB kit
400 for cooling mods
1200 for tune
1100 for headers
2k for pulley kit with accessory pullies

Then factor in labor etc

The kid hasnt got back to me on my car but has no idea how much money he is saving if he ends up buying mine,I can take the intake off the car and get 1500 for it in about 5 min on here.

efiftyfizzle

Right, the RX-7 can be built up well, but there's a lot of building involved as opposed to the 2JZ. Maybe I've been spoiled by a scene where people know what they're doing to their motors. I'm sure you've seen QuickSC4's "build on a budget" thread on ClubLexus... His SC is the one I've been in when he was doing 500 to the wheels. His car had me freaking out, but it may have been because he was on stock 4x4 suspension at the time and the car would throw you into your seat, lol.

The IS300 came with a slightly modified version of the W58 which was the W55. W58s aren't generally strong but are great for daily driven cars with little to no boost. R154 feels like you're driving a 1980s pickup truck from what I've heard. V160/V161 is the best of both worlds. I just don't know how the OP is enjoying his turbo IS300 being an automatic... manual is so much more rewarding on boosted cars (even though some of the fastest Supras are autos).

moosejaw

QucikSc4's is a real nice build. I checked the list price of a brand new Getrag V160/V161 at toyota. It was over $8K
You can check out my build on CL as "moosejaw2"

efiftyfizzle

Yeah, they're not cheap... although you can definitely pick them up for around $4k used or fairly new.

forcefed4door

V160 must be nice when its brand new... My supra had 130000 miles. No grinds or anything. Problem I had was you need to have a heavy clutch if you wanna make high hp. Not fun for someone who likes to cruise the whip to the grocery store now and then. After owning one I can see why people call them garage/dyno queen, because you don't even wanna drive it lol. That's a reason why I went back to an is300. The auto trans actually shift very fast after a simple vb upgrade. And the steering wheel buttons are very convenient. Never drive in full auto mode. I see the e55 has this feature does anyone actually use it?

efiftyfizzle

The "paddle shifters" in the E55 are pretty convenient. The cool thing is if you hold the left (downshift) paddle, the car will automatically go in to the lowest gear for the speed you're going. There's no better feeling than cruising down the roads at 35-40 and downshifting to second with the paddles and going WOT to 80ish.

forcefed4door

If your in manual mode cruising in second andcnd your at like 2krpm will the automatically downshift itself to1st or will it stay in gear?

GregMB

It seems like most people drive in "S" (sport) mode and manually select the gears... It will downshift as necessary, and will only upshift at redline.

You can drive around town in S2 (sport mode, 2nd gear) up to 80mph. I've been doing that quite bit lately... Holding 2nd gear makes the car a lot more aggressive when you dip into the throttle. The factory setup tries to get you into 5th gear as quickly as possible.


-G

forcefed4door

Cool than that should be something I'm familiar with. Ide rather have buttons than paddles. Im really looking forward to this car. My s4 goes on the market this weekend.