The SC lexus is bashed by the E55 AMG!!!

[jibby]

Guys, my best friends brother tells me today to go to "google search" and type in "e55 amg engine" then go to the second one down which is (insideline...kicked) I new it was going to say something nice about his E55 AMG, but look at what paragraph 7 of this article says. I really need to beat his AMG E55 and shut him up, I backed out of the race a few months ago because I know I will probably lose, man this stinks.........I will try and link.


http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/Drives/Followup/articleId=100647

 

[cowboy bebop]

The E55 will hand a BPU Supra his ass if the Supra is not on his top game. Those cars are no joke. It takes HP to roll with an E55, especially from a dig.

Eric

 

[hnknrob]

well it makes sense that theyd make the comparison of a 1993 sc400, with its n/a 4.0, against an 80 thousand dollar 2003, which is equipped with an extra liter and a half and a supercharger..... and by it makes sense, i mean its absolutely ridiculous. of course in the backwards world in which car reviewers live, im sure it somehow makes sense.

im going to look for their 06 z06 vette review to see if they compare it to a 96 mustang.

 

[jibby]

Well, I have not road in his E55 AMG, but my friend has driven it and hammered it. He say's it is real smoothe and real fast in all gears from start to finish and say's there is just no let up what so ever and just pulls hard. He has also been in my sc400 riding the nos and hammered and say's my car seems rude and roudy 0-50 but he told me I will come up short in the end because of the transmittion let off at times and lack of traction from a dead start. That was all said before my latest mods, fat rear tires, headers, fan, new ECU piggy tuning, etc... My thinking is I kinda hung with a new stock vette 0-70mph and these AMG E55's run just a hair slower then the vette at 4.5 sec and 12.8 sec in the Q.M. I can't be too far off I would think anyway. I am going to dyno and time my car after these latest mods are all finished and give it a go. I figure if I come close at least I will gain a little respect...I want to see where my car is at after all this... This is bull.......

 

[-Nemesis-]

An US$80k vehicle pitted against an aging SC400....... Would be interesting to even the playing field and add modifications to the SC400 to the value of the E55, i'm pretty sure it'd be a no contest....

 

[Zuffen]

A stock E55 puts our 445 FWHP and drives thru a 6 speed auto with traction control. I don't know what the torque figure is but I know it's huge.

I don't think an E55 would be much heavier than a Soarer. The extra 2 gears would certainly overcome any weight difference.

If you can get a Soarer to run sub 6 second 0-100 you have a chance. From memory the E55 runs 5.4seconds.

My wifes CLK500 runs 6.0 flat and it's one fast luxo barge.

 

[jibby]

I hear you guys....I may just have to up the nos shot until I can supercharge later on down the road. I Need the tranny worked over, forged pistons, and rods. etc..to take this car to the next level.

Thanks for reading and listing to all my crap, I hope it doesn't bore everyone..See ya

 

[cowboy bebop]

About the only auto that will hold what you're going to need to outright beat an E55, is a TH400. The HP and TQ needed to run away from an E55, especially from a dig is too much for the stock tranny to handle, "built" or not.

Eric

 

[jibby]

Cowboy, Yeah your probably right, but I am still looking for ways to keep this car automatic without the mighty hard shifting TH400 swap or manual V160. Wouldn't you say it is nice to able to drink some coffee or have your hand on your girl friend rather then on a stick shift and foot on the clutch pedal? Oh and in traffic the manual is never fun, right or wrong? However, racing down a canyon road the manual is a must.

Although in contrary to what you said "the only auto that can beat the E55 from a dig is the TH400" some people on this forum think it is possible for the stock sc tranny to do better then the E55's 12.8 quarter mile time, (turbo'd), just no way on the 0-60 in 4.5 sec. That is not even with a worked over stock SC tranny, there may be hope yet...

I think I could live with the faster quarter. Besides coming from behind and winning is almost better then being out in front and hanging on to win the race? As they say in sports, "just win baby"!!!!.. That is right I forgot about the 700r's.....that is a possibility as well.

 

[hnknrob]

About the only auto that will hold what you're going to need to outright beat an E55, is a TH400. The HP and TQ needed to run away from an E55, especially from a dig is too much for the stock tranny to handle, "built" or not.

its true, i think id be more inclined to go with a 700r4 rather than the th400 though, just because....well, for street cars 3 speeds suck. id definitely want the 700r4's overdrive feature.

 

[cowboy bebop]

Although in contrary to what you said "the only auto that can beat the E55 from a dig is the TH400" some people on this forum think it is possible for the stock sc tranny to do better then the E55's 12.8 quarter mile time, (turbo'd), just no way on the 0-60 in 4.3 sec. That is not even with a worked over stock SC tranny, there may be hope no?

That's what some people think and there's no changing that. But years of testemony with the MKIV Supra has shown that the auto is living on borrowed time when you hover around the 400-450rwhp mark. A close personal friend blew his second gear in his auto tranny on only 350rwhp.

Something to keep in mind is when upgrading, compromises must be made. The stock or "built" auto tranny must be upgraded to handle the big HP, as well as the half shafts. One thing that is clear is that even though we are now dealing with V8's there's no reinvention of the wheel when it comes to the drivetrain. It they die in the MKIV Supra, they will die in the SC. It's unavoidable. The only thing to do if a stock auto is being retained is to keep the HP low so that they may last a while longer.

The easy driving of the stock auto may be nice for a while so coffee is easier to drink, and whatnot, but it's no fun either when the tranny is left for a 1/2 mile down I-95, and the flatbed has to be called. Girlfriends don't take well to broken down sports cars... ask me how I know. : )

Eric

 

[Zuffen]

I don't buy into the 3 speeds are no good in a road car.

As for a TH400 I would rather an old antiquated Torqueflite that can be built to handle 1,500hp for small change.

Most 4 speed autos use 4th only occassionally and drop back to 3rd at the slightest hill or call for accelaration. I fyou plan on feeding 500 or more HP through a 4 speed it will probably each the 4 gear clutch as it was never made to work hard.

Sure on a Freeway the 4th cog is handy but if you want to get a lot of gears you need 6 or 7 speed autos. Even then the top gear is hardly used.

I checked last night the E55 does 4.7 seconds 0-100 (0-62MPH)!

 

[cowboy bebop]

It's true that a Th400 isn't a very good everyday transmission since it keeps the revs WAY high. Still, a properly built Th400 can handle 9500rpm, and 1700HP, and also cost 8000usd just for the tranny. An GV overdrive unit helps tremendously, but is noisey as can be. Plus tack on another 4000usd. But all in all, still a better choice than the stock auto for any sort of HP holding.

Or there's always the V160.

Eric

 

[Anaema]

A stock E55 puts our 445 FWHP and drives thru a 6 speed auto with traction control. I don't know what the torque figure is but I know it's huge.

over 500 foot pounds really low in the rev range. thanks to the supercharger.


you should be lucky he doesnt have the wagon version of that car, youd have to some major modifications to beat it. more weight is on the rear wheels, due to the wagon config. it does 0-60 in less than 5 seconds... i think. its the fastest wagon i have ever heard of.

 

[jibby]

I just read the SL 65 does 0-60MPH in 4.2 seconds, that is one Mercedes you don't want to mess with unless you got Cowboys Supra....super fast and super expensive.. I believe the E55 AMG does it in 4.5 seconds.

You guys are funny, so all roads are pointing back towards the v160. I would say I am definetely living on borrowed time with my tranny, but Cowboy I have been slamming my transmission with 400hp and nos for over a year no problems. I would say my tranny has taken a harder beating slamming 100hp in second gear regularly with nos then most or all others.. Could your friends tranny possibly be a lemon? I have not heard too much about these tranny's blowing, but I will take your word for it anyway..

Cowboy- I would have to agree girl friends don't like car break downs, but if you wear the pants in the relationship you say "honey kick off the heels and push I will steer". Just kidding.

 

[cowboy bebop]

HAhahaha..I've tried the push and steer method, but she didn't like it too well : )

400 flywheel HP probably won't do too much damage to the stock tranny, but if you go up to 450rwhp, you can expect some issues before long. Not all roads lead to the V160, but they certainly lead away from the stock auto tranny after a certain point. An upgrade to the Th400 is outstanding if you've got the $$$ to do it. Plus streetability goes way down since fuel consumption goes way up.

Probably not many of the SC trannys have blown because not many SCs go all the way. Take Club Lexus as an example of a cross section. Most there are concerned with wheels and tires rather than performance. There are a few who want to go big time, but it's not many. Now go to Supraforums. Everyone there who owns a Supra pushes it hard. Some harder than others. Supra guys have seems to paved the way in the way of the transmission, and it's been lessons hard learned.

Honestly, if you're staying at 400flywheel HP, the tranny will survive. However, if pushing enough HP to run with any E55, get ready for a breakage.

Eric

 

[hnknrob]

reason i said i wouldnt want a 3 speed in my road car is mainly because i do alot of long roadtrips and wouldnt want to be listening to a v8 that idles down the highway at 3500rpm for 8 hours on end, nevermind paying the gas bills on it . i wouldnt be interested in the overdrive so much for performance benefits but rather drivability.

and the reason i think id go with the 700r4 is simply because you have overdrive, and you can get one that will support 700- 800 hp for under 2gr usd.

 

[jibby]

I agree with you hnknrob 100%, I have had 4 speed manuals with small block Chevy's in the past and it was 55mph on the freeway or you start to go too high with the RPM's (74 Toyota Land Cruiser with a 283 Chevy). I definetely wouldn't want that with the sc400 and that was a 4 speed... Any chance you know what cars the 700r4 tranny come in, I forgot it has been a while? I may look into this abit more. Hookup conversion on an SC should be challenging on that 700r4 swap, bellhouseing, drive shaft, etc... and most likely some good welding but sounds doable?

 

[hnknrob]

im not 100% sure what they came in, i do know the 700r4's came in various 1980's gm's 1985-1991 c4 corvettes, a few pickup trucks, certain years of f-bodies (camaros and firebirds) as for difficulty, being as old school guys swap 700r4's out for th400's fairly frequently, so i cant see swapping a 700r4 being much more difficult than swapping a th400 into a lexus.

as for where to get a 700r4, i dont think id bother trying to find a used one. the good folks at artcarr sell one that will handle the corvette/ e55 power. this link will send you to a tranny that should fulfil all your e55/ vette slaying needs. http://artcarr.com/ it looks like their 700r4 is their special of the month. i can vouch for the quality of that tranny. a good friend of mine has been running one trouble free behind his supercharged 383ci. motor for almost 3 years now. and his cars already running vette shaming numbers.

 

[jibby]

Great info hnknrob... thanks alot I new they came in the vette's I just didn't know what years...Going to look into this further... How hard can the swap be? Once the engine is connected properly to the 700r4's tranny the rest is doable, welding up new tranny mounts, constructing and fitting a new driveshaft, fitting the shifter up and hooking up all the sensors to work with the ECU...what else am I forgeting? Finding the adapter bellhousing hookup for the two is most likely the hardest part...more research into this is needed...