Sc300 Suspension And Shift Mods?

[kjtar]

Help, oh wisdom providers! :)

I'm thinking of getting a '92 SC300 5 speed, but if so, I want to improve the handling, shifting, and exhaust sound qualities of the car. I've heard that the Eibach Prokit springs would be the way to go (lowering about 1 inch) but am not sure about shocks, need help there, please. Tokico, KYB, Bilstein...pros/cons?

Does anyone make a short shift kit for the 5 speed box? When I test drove a 5 speed I thought the shifting was a bit vague. See;(http://www.tomandkarenspage.com/cars/sc300.html) for my impressions and what I'd want to change/modify.

What kind of catback exhaust systems will sound good? I don't want "Hey, your car's too (expletive) loud!" kind of noise, but I do want to be able to hear the rumble (and other nice sounds) of the exhaust, as that, to me, is better than a good sound system, at least while driving around town.

Finally, what about wheels/tires? I know the standard wheel size for the SC300 is 15" x 6.5" (not sure what the standard tire size is) but are larger (SC400?) wheels/tires available at relatively good prices, and will going +1 really effect the handling a lot, or should I stay with the stock size, at least initially? Oh, yeah, and has anyone ever stuffed a 4.0 liter V8 from the SC400 into a SC300? Or, put a 5 speed box into the SC400?

Thanks a lot for helping out, I really appreciate your help on this, as I'm wondering about feasibility and costs.

Best regards,

Tom Reynolds

Hereford, AZ

[AWJ]

Supra TT. exhaust - search

google and here

greddy mx

apexi

JIC

Borla

mid pipe delete

Suspension

kyb agx

tockico blues

supra tt oem

- if you use supra spec suspenison parts you must match shocks and springs

not a bad idea to do bushings as well

You could fit 20" wheels on there if you wanted. 18's look great and drive great. 17's do equally as well. Stock supra TT wheels are awesome. Staggered set-up 8.5 up front and 9 in back, great handling. You'll want +38 offset or more.

I have a cheap custom short throw shifter I haven't installed yet I found on e-bay. Maybe not the best. There is a TRD short shifter for the na supra 5 speed that would work as well. Maybe others. I'm satisfied with the stock shifter so I might get rid of mine.

5 speed SC400 - maybe, not worth it.

SC400 to 300 swap. What for? Single turbo stock SC motor hauls major butt.

or swap with the supra TT motor.

This is expensive stuff.

[Sadistic]

Here are my impressions of exhaust systems..

Borla's muffler design takes a lot away from the upper end roar that you might get from other exhaust systems, but really bellows lower end. It's loaded with reverb and bass, really a hot exhaust system in my mind.

APEX'i N1 exhaust really isn't a very good design for our cars. The Muffler design is made for flow, flow, flow. That's it. There is no form of silencing going on. The muffler design is hot don't get me wrong, it just leaves nothing to the imagination when it comes to 3k highway driving since you can't think of anything except the buzzing in your ear from your exhaust resonating.

GReddy MX is one of those, You thought you would win, but my car's a beast under this sheep suit, type of affair. The exhaust tone is quiet, and quite subtle. The performance is marginal but nothing substantial. Nothing I would install on a turbo car, but for those weekend romps from one state to another, and a few "gotcha" hwy races, I think this would be a nice install.

JIC Bullet's seem to be right in the middle of the N1 and the MX. The muffler design of the bullets scream I'm a racer, but the exhaust tone is one that seems to be extremely mild. Not too loud, not too quiet, pretty much in the middle. From what I've seen good HP and torque gains, and really a good system for those that don't care to hide their intentions.

My knowledge of suspension only goes as far as what I've felt, and none of them I have felt on an SC. But, I have felt many suspension systems on many cars, and I can tell you that AGX's on one car, offer pretty much the same characteristics on another.

KYB AGX's are great shocks, I personally have owned a few sets. Right off the install you know something is different. Even at their softest setting they are going to be stiffer than factory. The shocks offered great adjustability, and took really well to lowering springs, that was one of the things I liked so much. They didn't fight with the springs, everything worked well. I had both sets, with Eibach springs, one with sportlines, and one with a prokit.

Tokico shocks remind me of the cream of suspension companies. They are the guys that you would go for, if you wanted a tad performance, but stock feel. They would be the body guard standing behind you, staying quiet when company is around, but ready to "kick !Removed!" when they're told to do so. This is about the only way I can describe them. If I wasn't such a firm believer in coilover systems, Tokico's would be the way to go on a Lexus in my opinion.

As for a short throw kit on a car. Most short throw kits, don't actually descrese the throw of your shift at all. They chop your shifter in half, and move your hand position, therefor creating the illusion of actually creating a shorter throw. That is pretty much the standard now a days and most people accept that. Ususally they just make your transmission sound clunky. Personally not what I'm into. TRD is a quality company though, and may actually make a quality product. I personally haven't seen a TRD short throw kit. But, what I do know of TRD is this.. If it costs 51 dollars from another company, the same product is going to cost you 300 dollars from TRD. Find someone that is a TRD dealer, and do NOT deal with TRD directly, there are much better deals out there to be had, just takes some looking around.

When I look at our cars, I see a sleek monster, waiting to tear the road up. I don't see a mashed hot wheels car. I really don't think 20's would look very good tucked into the wheel wells of our cars. 18's yes.. 19's more show than go, 20's god no. Personally on my car I'll have an 18 x 8 and 18 x 9.5, that is functional with good looks, and not over doing it. Enough rubber to contact and perform. And more than enough surface to shine.

All in all, the car is yours (if you choose to buy one) take a look at the car.. A good look, stare at it think of how things piece together in your head. That is the best way, be vain when it comes to your car. Building a car is like creating art work, the more of yourself you put into it, the more pleasurable it is.

[kjtar]

Wow!!! Thanks a lot Sadistic and everyone! I'm going to look around the 'net and find prices on some things, add 'em up, and see what the parts total comes to. Then, maybe double it and see what's what.

Thanks again everyone, very much!

Best regards,

Tom

Hereford, AZ

P.S. Editing this post;

Went on line to check parts, came up with the following, I know it's not exact, but it gave me ballpark figures;

So, in adding up stuff;

Eibach Pro-kit $259

Greddy $800

or

Borla $586.99

KYB GR-2 $272.12 (4 of them)

Shift kit? $200? (optional)

So the least I could get away with in parts, (springs, shocks, exhaust)

would be $1118.11

and if you double that to figure the shipping and installation costs, it would come out to $2236.22, which, when added to the cost of the car (figure around $5700 w/o tax, etc.) and then shipping, say around $800, the grand total would be about $8736.22 for a car with around 193k miles on it.

Just can't justify it.

But, there is a '92 SC300 that Rick Bolus of Eurasian Performance owns, his wife has been driving it, it's for sale (the one I was thinking of) and has around 193k miles on it. I think Rick might let it go for less than $5995, check his website at http://www.eurasianperformance.com and go to the inventory section, click on the SC300 and email or call Rick about the car if you're interested. You can say you heard about it from me, I'm not getting a finder's fee or anything from it (dream on) but since I'm not going to get it, I thought I might as well tell you all about it.

Regards, (and probably good bye)

Tom Reynolds

Hereford, AZ

http://www.tomandkarenspage.com/cars/sc300.html

[cdp]

Wow!!! Thanks a lot Sadistic and everyone! I'm going to look around the 'net and find prices on some things, add 'em up, and see what the parts total comes to. Then, maybe double it and see what's what.

Thanks again everyone, very much!

Best regards,

Tom

Hereford, AZ

P.S. Editing this post;

Went on line to check parts, came up with the following, I know it's not exact, but it gave me ballpark figures;

So, in adding up stuff;

Eibach Pro-kit $259

Greddy $800

or

Borla $586.99

KYB GR-2 $272.12 (4 of them)

Shift kit? $200? (optional)

So the least I could get away with in parts, (springs, shocks, exhaust)

would be $1118.11

and if you double that to figure the shipping and installation costs, it would come out to $2236.22, which, when added to the cost of the car (figure around $5700 w/o tax, etc.) and then shipping, say around $800, the grand total would be about $8736.22 for a car with around 193k miles on it.

Just can't justify it.

But, there is a '92 SC300 that Rick Bolus of Eurasian Performance owns, his wife has been driving it, it's for sale (the one I was thinking of) and has around 193k miles on it. I think Rick might let it go for less than $5995, check his website at http://www.eurasianperformance.com and go to the inventory section, click on the SC300 and email or call Rick about the car if you're interested. You can say you heard about it from me, I'm not getting a finder's fee or anything from it (dream on) but since I'm not going to get it, I thought I might as well tell you all about it.

Regards, (and probably good bye)

Tom Reynolds

Hereford, AZ

http://www.tomandkarenspage.com/cars/sc300.html

if you call titin motor sports or go to suprastore .com the borla system is only 480.00 plus 15.00 shipping