A Few Questions About Intake And Torque Converters

[vindedreal]

Hi, I Drive a 1994 gs300 AUTOMATIC , I was wondering what A torque converter is, and If theres a special type for my lexus, also I wanted to know if any cold air intake would work for the LeXus as long as it fits the tubes and fits inside the Engine(Hood). Would the torque converter increase horsepower? Im still a young guy in highschool and I kind of dont make alot of money ,I used to drive a Honda accord, the performance increasing parts were pretty simple and pretty cheap, The lexus stuff seems to be more ecpensive and rare, Any of you guys know a place to buy extremely low priced lexus parts, Besides ebay(The parts are rare). oh oh One more thing, I heard there are mufflers that actaully increase horsepower, Called Glass Pack Mufflers, Do these fit the lexus or would i have to do some welding like for Muffler set 1 ?

[92Lex]

Why are you so curious about the torque converter?

[djspawn00]

There are plenty of great upgrades for your GS... but none will be or should be cheap.... yeah.. and why so curious about the torgue converter? i mean, it just converts torque ya know... what it converts it to or from is up to you to find out.... Just don't rice it out.

[SRK]

The torque convertor is actually a rather sophisticated unit, designed to allow slippage and yet also achieve a near lock-up condition. To do this requires the convertor have a "stall speed", which is the point at which the fluid is returned into the turbine and stator. In most stock convertors the stall speed is set low, say below 2000 rpm, which gives easy starts from stationary, and good fuel mileage. Performance convertors set the stall speed somewhat higher, so that the engine achieves a higher rpm (2400-2800), and therefore is making more horsepower, when the stall point is reached. The downside can be poorer fuel mileage, and the oil temperature can also increase. Everything is a compromise.

What I have heard is that higher stall convertors make these cars somewhat faster as they then launch harder from a standstill.

Convertors don't make or reduce horsepower. The engine doesn't change. What happens is that the engine is allowed to rev into a higher rpm range, and than produces faster acceleration.

[JDM_Aristo]

I would say stay away from the glass packs. Save the money and get a real exhaust. You don't want your GS to sound like a Civic. As far as exhausts go, the way it works is it makes the gases flow more freely. Don't go with a huge exhaust because some back pressure is needed for low end torque. When I installed a dual TRD exhaust on my Tundra, the trade off was basically a little low end torque for a little high end horse power and better sound. As far as pricing goes, you own a Lexus, so expect to pay Lexus prices for your parts. The upside is these parts are typically much better quality then some cheap ebay stuff for a Honda. If you want to just change the muffler, they aren't car specific and do require welding.

[vindedreal]

So I did some research about the intake and Air flow, And it turns out there are very few Tube like intakes for my year Lexus, I only found the Box like one(not the cold air or short ram type) the only performance one for that was a KnN one. Its like a Square shaped air filter. Thanks for your guys input, Also I was wondering if any of you guys put a performance Torque converter on ur car, if it made any difference?