Poll Of Performance Mods

[goodoldgrandad]

When starting with a stock unmodified car it is worthwhile considering the performance improvements for any hard-earned cash invested in upgrades and modifications. There does not seem to be anything definiative for the Aristo on the best price/performance parts, what is a good mod - what is an expensive gizmo, what order they should be fitted to get the most out when your budget allows, what mods will stress the reliability of the vehicle, etc. I guess most of you will have made mods to your Aristo, but what really made the noticable performance difference, what can be a DIY mod and what needs garage set-up, what basically gives you the most bucks for your pound for any newby joining us? Assuming someone wants to tweak a road going car with commercially available parts what is suggested?

Can we use the framework:

Suggested mod:.... Approx cost:......DIY or Garage job:.... Performance improvement made:....Was it worthwhile?

ie: Air Induction kit - £105 - DIY - 15 bhp - yes, an easy mod giving smoother acceleration.

[maneesh]

TRD anti roll bars, £250, DIY, can go faster through the corners!

[peter.liu]

TRD anti roll bars, £250, DIY, can go faster through the corners!

Hi maneesh, i'm a bit confused, are anti roll bars and stabilizers the same ?

[maneesh]

TRD anti roll bars, £250, DIY, can go faster through the corners!

Hi maneesh, i'm a bit confused, are anti roll bars and stabilizers the same ?

yes. sways, anti-roll bars, stablizers are all the same component.

[skeet94]

I'd say the best upgrades would be where you utilize the stock twins to their maximum potential.

These would be a decat, downpipe, exhaust, boost controller, camcon, fmic, intake and restalled torque convertor.

With the above mods you wouldn't really be able to kill the gearbox unless you were brake boosting at every traffic light everyday. Fuel system would be pretty much running at full tilt too after the above modifications. After these mods, the only other route is aftermarket single or twins with rebuilt/uprated gearbox, 6-speed conversion or TH400 with GV Overdrive or 4L60E transmission conversion (latter is what I'm researching). With the single route you'd also need an aftermarket ECU.

Handling wise it'd have to be: Front & Rear Strut braces, under chassis Toms Braces, 6-links, TOMS ARS Cancellor, TRD Race Sways with a soft coilover suspension setup. Wider wheels in the rear will also help a ton with handling in bends, etc. These suspension mods would effectively outhandle a M5 with ease :).

Cosmetics: Paint Stripper to existing "black" grille and chrome either the bars, or the whole grille. Upgrade rear clusters to 2001+ version if not already done so or LED's or remove the "orange" in the rear headlights...rest is personal preference. Custom DIY projector retrofit in the low beams to increase output as well as gain "blue" flicker. Remove orange in front headlight indicators. Replace side repeaters with clear repeaters. Keep the car wingless/spoiler-less and it'll have a VERY clean and aggressive look.

[goodoldgrandad]

As well as speeding the car up, any recommendations of slowing the beast down !!

Any indications of costs, actual performance increase, and simplicity to fit would be good for anyone suggesting any performance mod (as clearly there are large product/manufacturer variations on price, easy to fit/good instructions, and effectiveness).

It would be good to compile something with facts and figures from this poll (ie: fitting a new exhaust system may make the car sound better, but does it actually improve noticable performance - and which is the best buy?. Would someone be better off spending their money first on a Boost Controller - and if so are the Blitz instructions worst than one of the other makes?).

[dangerous brain]

UK spec supra brakes are probably the cheapest upgrade on the brake front. Gaz sorted out some brakes from a bigger lexus that worked out lighter and cheaper but that was for the mk2 I beleive.

As for performance mods looking at the mk4 supra sites will give you a damn good idea of what is available and at what price.

BPU is your first port of call

Remove the cats £200 ish to £300 to free up the exhaust.

Replace the exhaust with a freer flowing one (£300-1000 in the supra world maybe a bit more on an aristo) Don't forget your restrictor ring £20

Replace the plugs with colder plugs £100 ish

Fuel cut defencer £100 ish

That puts you in the 400bhp area.

If your SMIC is tired you may want to look at replacing that at this point with an uprated SMIC or an FMIC £400-£700

Now you can start looking at water injection £350-600

Cams £275-350 each

Fuel wise its very wise to swap your fuel pump for a second hand mk4 supra tt UK pump or a walbro one £50-120

Now you get into contentious mods like FPR's, FSE's, nitrous, aftermarket induction kits, etc

Now it starts to get expensive

Replacement ECU's or piggy back units with associatted tuning

Single turbos

Bigger injectors

built auto box's and or replacement manual box's

higher spec fuel system

decent traction control

wider wheels on the back to put the power down

full replacement suspension to get round corners

replacement uprated discs and pads for the UK spec supra brakes or 6 pot aftermarket brakes

trick gauges to monitor whats going on with all your system now you've upgraded it.

Thats just a small guide

[goodoldgrandad]

Any feedback on the best price/ease of fitting of boost controllers, inductions kits, blow off valves, etc ?

[skeet94]

My HKS SuperSQV took me approx 15 minutes to install - following Japanese diagrams...my Apexi took like 15 minutes to bolt on once removing the stock airbox.

My Turbo Timer took about 20 minutes to install, although I still need to solder the bloody wires into the ignition harness...currently using connector blocks which loosen up every once in a while.

Boost Controllers, pick up Blitz or HKS and the actual instructions are the same for all of them! So it doesn't matter regarding which is the easiest to install :).

[gazwalker]

Any feedback on the best price/ease of fitting of boost controllers, inductions kits, blow off valves, etc ?

I fitted the Blitz SBC-ID VIII to mine, took 3 hours taking it easy - gromet to get the wires through is not easy on the Aristo. Theres one UNDER on the relay/fuse box cover, top left hand side of the engine as you look at it which you need to unbolt to get access too. Very stealthy though.

Greddy Profec B2 is the best VFM boost controller. Very simple to use - my favourite.

Induction Kits - Power Enterprise - the cheapest for the Aristo - I have one of these fitted to mine, took about 20 mins to fit due to the stock air box.

BOV - as the other guys have said, HKS are the best. 10 minute job to fit.

Regards,

Gaz.

Edited December 8, 2006 by Monster-Mat

[goodoldgrandad]

So we can eventually "rate" the suggested mods on a price/performance basis, can you give any suggestion of expected (or actual) bhp improvement on what people have fitted (which may be difficult as, like me, you may have done a number of mods together).

Whilst each of us will have a different opinion as to what is best for improving the looks, or sound, of the car I'm not convienced that some mods and available kits (most aimed at the Supra TT) are worth while on the Aristo as there physically appears on some only very minor increases in performance (or none at all) - so are they worth the money spent?

[skeet94]

Apexi induction kit - I actually noticed a lack of power compared to the stock airbox, so fabbed up a shoddy fibreglass box utilizing the stock "grille" nozzle for cold air intake. Noticed the BOV ended up making more of a "flutter" sound at part throttle (HKS SSQV trait), and was much louder than with just the Apexi on there. Which concludes the engine is getting nice cold ambient air :D. Minor performance with cold air box...performance decrease with just the filter bolted on...IF I had to do it again I'd just stick a TRD or Power Enterprise filter into the stock airbox.

HKS Super SQV - Bought this as 1) I liked the sound (how pathetic?!) 2) Just another "cosmetic" item on a stock boost aristo. On a 18psi car it would help. I can rest on the fact that I can use it in the future single build though. I'd say stick to stock BOV though. So again LOW marks for this mod!

GReddy Turbo Timer - I bought this to stop the olds from shutting the car off as soon as they've parked up. Especially since they used to shut the car off, open the front door to let passengers in, then start the car back up. So this allows me to not only set the time needed for cooldown, but also make sure they can't shut the engine off when taking the keys out of the ignition. Worthwhile buy if you're not the only one driving the car! :). Would buy it again! Love the voltage meter on the unit though! :).

TRD Strut Brace: I'd do this mod again if I had to. It's tightened up the steering reaction ALOT! Next is a Cusco rear brace and under car bracing.

That's all I can think of.

[goodoldgrandad]

Must say I'm impressed with my Power Enterprise air induction kit I have now - good price/performance. Apexi kits worked on my previous cars, but likewise their kit didn't give me any noticable joy on the Aristo. Strange as they work well on the Supra - but maybe an air flow or positioning difference in the engine bay layouts.

[skeet94]

Gramps: You got a cold air box made for the Power Enterprise? Anything that will help prevent the filter from sucking up the HOT engine bay air, and instead feed in nice cool ambient air? If not I'd highly suggest you get it done ;).

[goodoldgrandad]

Just got the standard box/pipework at present with the Power Enterprise kit, but plan to do a little winter job to duct in cold air by extending the pipework downwards and removing the fog light. As you say - cold air is better than hot.

[dangerous brain]

I can get you the number for a toyota guy that will do you the best price in the land for mk4 supra brakes. IMHO this is the very best VFM mod you will ever do. Upratig to 4 pots on the front and 2 pots on the back will skin you for £1200 but look at brembo stuff and that'll cost you the same just for the front. Being able to stop is a bit more important to me than being able to go.

[goodoldgrandad]

Yes - stopping safely does help !!

[skeet94]

One thing people don't realise is that matching disc temps alongside pad temps is a HUGE deal when it comes to fade-free braking/performance.

Ducting cold air to the back of the brake discs will help alot with brake fading. Dot 5 fluid is a BIG plus!!

Stainless brake lines are a maybe upgrade...mostly due to the fact that alot of people in the US have had them fail...Goodridge ones too!

Supra calipers are bolt on for the front of the 2nd Gen GS/Aristo but the rears aren't...on the 1st Gen they are bolt-on on all four corners...

Dangerous Brain: I do agree though best bang for the buck as long as you have wheels that clear! :). Hell there's people with 600bhp-700bhp even 900bhp Supra's using stock calipers, with no issues as long as the disc and pad is matched and discs are ducted and/or cryo'd.

Watch this space, as I've got my 4 pot Supra Calipers but just have to pick up the discs/pads...a set of DBA 5000 series 2 piece discs paired up with Porterfield R4S pads is the perfect match apparently! With good bite when cold getting progressively better as they warm up.

[goodoldgrandad]

Anyone suggest any brake upgrades if you want to retain the original chrome Aristo wheels or their usual swop for Lexus GS300 alloys (ie: not going to the expense of bigger wheels)?

[skeet94]

After having done LOADS of research, you can keep the stock calipers and uprate the discs and pads...again ducting will help HUGELY. Project Mu make a two piece rotor for the stock calipers, and paired up with the correct brake pad compound, it would make for a VERY good brake setup. IIRC Yoshi is using something similar, if anything you might want to PM him to chime in with his experiences.

Stay away from EBC discs/pads though. They tend to have less than average bite, and suck at high speed stopping not to mention give into fade VERY easily. EBC Red stuff is supposed to be better than the Green stuff but I'm just going the whole nine yards.

If you intend on doing high speed braking over and over then ducting is a requirement - I cannot stress that enough.

I'd also recommend you look into getting your discs cryo'd...I'm not sure of any company in the UK providing cryo'd discs, but I'm sure there are firms that specialise in cryo treating, and I'm sure they wouldn't charge you an arm and leg for it either.

Any more info needed just ask! lol...I'd be MORE than happy to share :).

[goodoldgrandad]

I've certainly had problems with "sticking" hot brakes and poor fade - so I'm not alone with having poor combinations on the Aristo!! Whilst similar combinations work on other "sports" cars I've had, maybe the Aristo weight, balance, or brake arrangements on this car makes braking performance different. The Red Stuff pads did not appear noticably different to the Green Stuff for me- just cost more!!

I'm going to try the standard stock calipers, brake pipes, and alloy wheels, and have a play with the disks and pads. This potentially could be the lowest cost option for anyone wanting to improve on stopping. If it doesn't work then you'll probably hear the big bang or a loud cry!!

[skeet94]

In that case I'd recommend spending some GOOD money on a set of high quality discs and pads along with VERY good ducting. You should be able to run some plastic "hose" or "piping" through the front of the car (around or under the foglight area) and trace it through to behind the front discs or just near the "ventilation" on the discs :). It's what I intend on doing with my brake setup.

The brake setup is not necessarily bad for a stock GS300 as it did have one of the shortest braking distances in its class, but give it a full workout with repeated high speed braking, they'll be screaming for mercy!