I'm In Love With My Car

[PuddleMonkey]

edited

[AWJ]

B) Welcome. The tranny should last a long long time if it is taken care of well.

[jzz30]

depends on how you drive but yea it can last as long the car it self

[SPORTcoupe300]

Since on the tranny topic, how often do you guys think the tranny oil should be changed in a manual SC?

I no longer believe manuals since I've had some bad experiences doing the changes based on the Maintenance Schedules.

[AWJ]

I usually try to do it every 15,000 miles or every year - depending.

[SPRUCE SC300]

I have loved every Lexus that I have ever owned!

I especially love my SC300 5 Speed cause,

now I can now do this..

[peggy19]

I've had an 93 SC400 for the last 3 1/2 years and LOVED it until two weeks ago when driving in the recent heavy SoCal rains it fishtailed and spun around on me. I endedup hitting the curb with the passenger side front wheel, shattering it and messing up the stearing column, motor mounts, control arms, etc. I was very disappointed in the car at that point. I never expected that kind of performance from a Lexus.

After talking to a friend who owns the same year/model, found out his wife had an accident in the rain with his car. Then I decided to look up in this forum for others with similar experiences and sure enough, seems to be an inherent problem with the SCs.

Hasn't detered me from buying another Lexus, though. I'm going tomorrow to buy a used GS300. I'm hoping its performance in wet weather will be better and yes, of course, I am going to be more careful while I drive in bad weather conditions (although few and far between here in The OC).

[54406]

The tendency to lose traction in the wet is a function of the wide tires and light weight. If you have a large foot print on the ground and low weight the pounds per square inch is pretty low so the tire has no "bite" on the pavement. I have had BMW's and Mercedes which did the same thing. More rubber on the ground is great when the road is dry, but not wet. If you have gotten wider tires for the visual effects, etc that makes it worse. Low air pressure also exacerbates the problem.

[ArmyofOne]

Since on the tranny topic, how often do you guys think the tranny oil should be changed in a manual SC?

I no longer believe manuals since I've had some bad experiences doing the changes based on the Maintenance Schedules.

←

My contour went 270,000 miles on the original transaxle fluid. never a problem. some people dont believe in changing transmeission fluid ever (my grandfather has a 1993 buick Lesabre thats never had a tranny fluid change and the tranny is ending its life at 100K, he wonders why)

my dad didnt think the fluid in the manual tranny ever had to be changed...when i changed the clutch at 270K, the fluid was still bright red. and i drove that car like a bat out of hell too.

now, a lexus is not a contour, but you would hope that a lexus could do it beter than a ford.

but i believe you should change it every 20K or so. i would follow the same interval as the auto trans, at the very most. but some have waited and had it done at the timing belt changes.

and BTW:

I'm In Love With My Car

DONT RUB IT IN PLZ

my car is a money pit, but i must love it, or i wouldnt still have it. i hate people who neglect their cars with a passion

[Titania]

I've had an 93 SC400 for the last 3 1/2 years and LOVED it until two weeks ago when driving in the recent heavy SoCal rains it fishtailed and spun around on me.  I endedup hitting the curb with the passenger side front wheel, shattering it and messing up the stearing column, motor mounts, control arms, etc.  I was very disappointed in the car at that point.  I never expected that kind of performance from a Lexus. 

After talking to a friend who owns the same year/model, found out his wife had an accident in the rain with his car.  Then I decided to look up in this forum for others with similar experiences and sure enough, seems to be an inherent problem with the SCs.

Hasn't detered me from buying another Lexus, though.  I'm going tomorrow to buy a used GS300.  I'm hoping its performance in wet weather will be better and yes, of course, I am going to be more careful while I drive in bad weather conditions (although few and far between here in The OC).

←

Welcome to life with a torquey RWD. This isn't a Lexus thing, it's a combi of lack of wet driving skills, vehicle weight and tire performance. I lived in SoCal for a year, coming from Massachusetts, and folks out there don't have the slightest idea how to drive in the wet. As stated by 54406, your tire type, condition, inflation pressure all have a big impact on how your car is going to handle in the rain. If you're running all-seasons, guess what...all seasons suck at driving in ALL seasons. High-performance tires vary widely in their wet performance. A great dry road tire may handle terribly in the rain.

Next time it rains there, I'd highly recommend taking your car out into a big abandoned parking lot and finding out what the limits of your tires and the car are. Learning what the car feels like before it's going to break loose can save you from future problems. I practice my snow-handling skills in my SC300 regularly. I took it out driving despite the blizzard yesterday with no problems.

[escee]

New to the Lexus world. 95 sc400. Set my alarm an hour early on Sun morning just to make some time to wash this bad boy. Oh it looked good (rained today).

Q though: the lex feels heavy to me. My 86 prelude with ~ 120 hp was way quicker than the lex. Is the lex heavy or light?

Second, I don't have a button to defeat the traction control system, nor do I have a fuse in the engine box, where the traction system should be. This car has the gold badges... do I have the traction system?

I can not get this car to go out on me. I've hit a few corners fairly hard, and this car is like glue. I've got fatty racing tires on there, and I'm in the SoCal rain right now, but I can't get it to drift at all. Just felt it think about going, but it gripped.

But in this rain, with SoCal crazies zooming around me, I love the feel of the car: stiff, smooth, and solid.

[TMaxxTim]

New to the Lexus world. 95 sc400. Set my alarm an hour early on Sun morning just to make some time to wash this bad boy. Oh it looked good (rained today).

Q though: the lex feels heavy to me. My 86 prelude with ~ 120 hp was way quicker than the lex. Is the lex heavy or light?

Second, I don't have a button to defeat the traction control system, nor do I have a fuse in the engine box, where the traction system should be. This car has the gold badges... do I have the traction system?

I can not get this car to go out on me. I've hit a few corners fairly hard, and this car is like glue. I've got fatty racing tires on there, and I'm in the SoCal rain right now, but I can't get it to drift at all. Just felt it think about going, but it gripped.

But in this rain, with SoCal crazies zooming around me, I love the feel of the car: stiff, smooth, and solid.

←

Our car is a heavyweight, 3600lbs. I can get my SC 300 to drift on my, just pop the clutch a little while in 2nd for me. The problem is you really need a LSD to do good drifting otherwise just one wheel spins and that usually ends up happening to me.

BTW, you DON'T have a traction control system. Try an open parking lot and if that doesn't work, try an open parking lot in the wet/rain. Don't start out turning but start going strait and floor it and then start turning...hard.

For the person that crashed in the rain I have Kuhmo V Tread Supra tires on my car and its great in dry and wet traction. MUCH better than my FWD 92 accord. I can still get the back end to slide around on my if I go into a turn too hard but any RWD will do that, you just have to know how to control it. An open parking lot is really the best way and just try getting it to slide and correcting. A good thing ot remember is have botha hands on the wheel (obviously) and you shouldn't need to go hand over hand to correct a fishtail unless the back end is too far around, if you catch it right where it starts just sharply turn the other way and usually you are find. Also let off the gas, but don't brake. Anybody can feel free to correct me if they know better, but this is what I've always done and never had a problem and always been able to get myself out of a fishtail (whether it was rain causing it, or me :D )

[escee]

Totally new to RWD, been driving hondas since I had a kick scooter when I was 6.

But when the prelude would start to drift, I wouldn't loose power, but in the SC, (i've been pushing it) when it goes, no more power. I know that is cause the back wheels are, well, drifting. Thing is, do you RWD'ers like it? Cause I don't! I always liked the feel of the prelude pulling me through a drift???

[rich21]

i have a 94 sc400. i bought it when it had 65k and now it has 122k. i never changed the tranny fluid. i know shame on me. for the mileage that it has and since its never been done can i still change fluid. give it a tranny flush and put new fluid in?

[ArmyofOne]

i have a 94 sc400. i bought it when it had 65k and now it has 122k. i never changed the tranny fluid. i know shame on me. for the mileage that it has and since its never been done can i still change fluid. give it a tranny flush and put new fluid in?

←

not reccomended at all even on a tranny with only 30K

flushes are not good for the tranny acording to jason at JP Imports.

on your car, i would do like i did, change the trenany fluid many times over an interval of 10,000 miles, i have done mine 4 times over 6,000 miles. fluid is returning to red (Still a maroon color) and tanny is performing well.

if you decide against my advice and flush anyways, you WILL have trnany problems in less than 2,000 miles. i gauruntee it.

[AWJ]

I just can't get over this title. I'm surprised no women have said anything. Don't get me wrong. The SC is the most elegant vehicle I have ever crossed...

That said, a woman is much more elegant and graceful by every means...

When it comes to shredding pavement. SC, hands down...

[BMAN1113]

Pegg,

The Sc's traction control works awesome on mine. When it rains I usually have fun trying to break the car loose, but it never slips much at all. I'm always amazed. Maybe the oil in CA builds up so much that when it does finally rain it creates some wicked oil slick effect. Not really sure. Did you have traction control? If not, make sure your next one does. It's worth every extra penny.