My Car Is A Dog

[CanadaCraig]

Hi Guys!!

My '93 LS really is a 'dog' off the line. I raced a 2003 [or '04?] Nissan Sentra 1.8 and LOST. I was quite annoyed - to put it mildly. I really felt stupid losing to a little toy car. I mean what's the point of burning all of that extra fuel if you can't even beat a little econo-box in a race. [up to about 100 kph] It really felt slow - too. I floored it and my car just sat there for a second and then bogged down - chocking on fuel [so it seemed] for a another second or two - the THEN started to accelerate. By that time - the race was lost. The little Sentra didn't even seem to trying all that hard.

So... after I calmed down a bit - I decided to try my car AGAIN - but this time with the traction control turned OFF. I found a deserted road - stopped the car - turned off the TCS and floored it. It reacted exactly the same. I thought that with the TCS off - at least one of the rear-wheels would spin or something. But no - nothing at all.

Why am I telling you all this? Well.. because I'd like to know IF the 250 h.p. LS's are supposed to be able to burn-rubber with the TCS turned off. It doesn't have a limited slip - does it - so at least one wheel should spin - shouldn't it?!

Craig!!

ps And no - I don't often race people. [well - maybe in my other car!!] There is a sense a security derived from knowing that your car CAN go fast from a stop - IF you want it to. [or if you have to] My car doesn't give me that feeling - and it bothers me. Off the line - it reminds me of the old 1982 Lincoln Continental Mark VI Signature Series my dad once owned. That car had a 5.0 litre V8 with [believe it or not] only 130 h.p.

[VBdenny]

Perhaps the Sentra that beat you was an SE-R. I had one until it got wrecked and they are very fast off the line. I don't think the LS400 was designed to be a off-the-line car anyway. It is best at what it does best - high speed Interstate driving.

I will agree that something is wrong. When my Lexus is floored off the line, it will smoke the tires and go pretty good

[99lsguy]

Like Denny said, the LS is a big cruiser. I think even the common Honda Civic is quicker than our 400's.

I believe K9Crew found his 99 LS (like mine) to be more responsive by putting the car in "4" instead of "D" overdrive. It shifted faster! So try that....yours would be in the "3" slot...

Try to be in your NSX the next time you come across that little Sentra.... :D

99

[VMF]

i dont what you are talking guys, LS is not slow! i raced 99 honda accord coupe and 99 maxima SE with custom exaust and intake and acura legend iwht manual tranny. yes on 1st gear LS seems quite slow but once second gear kicks in no1 can even keep up next to LS!!!!! i also raced altima 3.5 and acura 3.2 cl on the traffic light and CL was able to keep up with me until 50 mph and afther this she was gone as well! and i have a stock LS. i just keep it up to date with maintenance!

[VMF]

MB my friends mb s430 is the same as LS and we are on the same line. i alos rememberracing with bmw 328 on the highway at 80 mph and when i pushed the pedal to the metal i smoked it! of course cars like bmw 540 or mb s500 and e500 will kill me as well as GS400/430, but i KNOW that i can beat 95% of the cars outthere! and it feels good i have to agree with that :D

[VMF]

lil hint. whwn u wanna race hold brake and gas pedals and start pushing gas while holding brake, then release brake you will notice difference. at least in my case it is working:)

[99lsguy]

lil hint. whwn u wanna race hold brake and gas pedals and start pushing gas while holding brake, then release brake you will notice difference. at least in my case it is working:)

Oh yeah,

that's definately the way to do it....

Craig, find that deserted road and try out our suggestions....

and... don't be so aggressive with the first gear "floor stomp" - maybe just a little bit easier to start, and once the LS is up to 15 mph....let her rip!! :D

99

[alexus]

dude

here are few suggestions..

that doesn't cost _at all_

a) take spare tire out of your trunk

B) in fact.. take everything out :) and while you cleaning your trunk take all junk out of thrim as well :)

c) have about 1/8 of gas in your tank

that doesn't cost _that_ much

a) intake ( will give you some hp gain )

B) exhaust ( will give you some hp gain too )

that cost _more_

a) turbo charge?:)

but then again.. if you ending up with installing turbo kit you'd want to have your car on stuck level already pretty high..

so i would suggest you to upgrade your car from LS400 to GS400 :)

thats what i did, i had a '94 LS400, nice car.. but its just not a racing car.. its a luxury car, it always was and it always will be.. ever though what LS stands for? [L]uxury edan, it never meant to be a racing car.. never..

so what i did, i sold my LS400 and got myself a nice GS400, then i put intake, ecu, and now I have 330hp-350hp right there..

an ultimate pimp mobile..

heh.. even two,

i like car so much i got myself two lexus gs400 :)

or there, look at VMF :)

[VMF]

LOL

mr alexuzz decided to write on this. how r u doing ur majesty?:) you know it would be nice if you will come visit us more often:)

[alexus]

[1UZ-FE]

my car also is pretty bad off the line. i have brand new turanzas and they get a lot of grip. should i be able to spin a tire or two from a stop?? i know that i need plugs and wires, could that have something to do with the lack of power?

[alexus]

oh yeah..

tune up is also good idea.. :)

[VBdenny]

If you can't smoke the tires off the line with you LS, something IS wrong. Like VMF said, you can "powerbrake" it, but you shouldn't have to. I usually get rolling before getting on it, although I have blown off a couple of annoying hondas when getting on a two lane enterance ramp that goes to one.

[alexus]

wow.. i heard a legend and i even saw it on some video clip how ls spinin tires.. hehe would love to see it in a real life..:)

vmf.. care to show?:)

i never done it with my GS400 that.. hehe

[Kemo]

Not to forget the weight of these LS's, it is quite heavy if you compare it with other cars.

[UCF3]

wow.. i heard a legend and i even saw it on some video clip how ls spinin tires.. hehe would love to see it in a real life..:)

vmf.. care to show?:)

i never done it with my GS400 that.. hehe

Alright "alexus", that's enough LS bashing. Time for you to purrrrr-back[avatar] to the GS Forum ;)

CanadaCraig:

Let's go over some of your issues. I believe you should consider replacing your fuel injectors. One or more of them maybe spaying late or not enough. If you don't want to replace them, consider adding fuel injection cleaner for the next six months.

Also, use the ECT Switch when you're racing. It revs, and sparks Torque at a higher rate, and will help you beat many competitors.

An intake is not a bad idea.

Do you still warm your car up correctly? you remember, the way I've mentioned in the past. That will help maintain your car's powertrain efficiency.

Kind of curious, but why is everyone facinated with the idea of burning-rubber? It's such a waste, and you only need it if your tires aren't warm.

[1UZ-FE]

hey ucf3,

can u burn tires in ur 94 LS? thats exactly what i have. if u can, then i SHOULD be able to. also, if u can, how grippy are your tires?

[1UZ-FE]

also, the idea for me is not just to burn tires. its also an indicator that my car is not up to par with other LSs. lets me know that somethings wrong and i dont have all the power i should.

[VMF]

my car doenst usually spins at start, with or without track. it might spin for a sec and thats it, but this doesnt mean that smth is wrong. ls is a very heavy car i have to agree to that so on slow speeds or from a start its hard for it to show itself but after 15-20 miles you cant compete with it. i'm not talking about the highway speeds. not many cars can beat ls on the 60-100 interval

[jzz30]

yea not many cars have a 150mph speedo. just start the race from 60mph :P

[99lsguy]

ls is a very heavy car i have to agree to that so on slow speeds or from a start its hard for it to show itself but after 15-20 miles you cant compete with it. i'm not talking about the highway speeds. not many cars can beat ls on the 60-100 interval

Right on the money VMF B)

[UCF3]

hey ucf3,

can u burn tires in ur 94 LS? thats exactly what i have. if u can, then i SHOULD be able to. also, if u can, how grippy are your tires?

No, mine doesn't off the line. If I want to spin-it, using the brakes i can, and the Wilwoods help a lot. Right now, I'm have my winter treads on, but during summer I've left a couple of small patches (Z-Rated).

Oh, I forgot to mention, I have 18s on, so mine grip like .

[90LS400Lexus]

I have never tried this in my 90 LS, as I try not to abuse it. I did today take it to 4000 rpms in 1st gear (highest rpms I have ever had it- other than one other time- which was also 4000), when a old woman that thought I was going to pull out in front of her nearly stopped and started moving her mouth. I did pull out rather quickly. My car seems to accelerate just fine however and like everyone elses car- it seems to easily rapidly accelerate at higher speeds. You can definitely tell that these are heavy automobiles.

However, my Lexus seems to have about the same acceleration as my old 1972 Buick Electra 225 4dr. This Buick is an extremely large 4700 lb car, but it had a 455 V8, but being a 1972, which was the year that the horsepower dropped on all cars- it was only rated at 230 hp, but I think it was more than that. That car would easily peel the back tires, despite the very heavy weight. I really wish I had of kept this car. It was a real cruiser. My old 1971 Chevrolet Caprice had a 400 and it seemed to be just slightly slower than my Lexus, but it too weighed more than the LS400 @ about 4200 lbs.

I am guessing that your car is due to a major tune-up or something.

The last car that "tried" to race me was a latest generation Mitsubishi Eclipse. As mentioned- I do not like to drive my car hard, but I was not going to let this punk think that his oil burning Mitsubishi beat my LS400. I could tell he was redlining it, as I was only taking my car to 4000 rpms and was still going faster. :D

[93LSOwner]

Past three days I have driving the Acura Legend. My mom took my LS and wouldn't drive her 1996 Camry. With the Acura when you floor it from 25mph the cars jumps back and in a spilt second you are at 60mph then to go even up to 120mph it slows down. Meaning 0-60 is faster then 60-120. I experience the exact oppsoite with the LS when I floored it, it was slower from 0-60mph and faster or quicker from 60-100 that I didn't not even relize that I was didn't even knew I was doing 100 until I looked down at the speedometer.

OH Yeah, did I mention that all of that happened on a one-lane road. Not on a Highway or on the Main Street.

[SKperformance]

Craig you have spent so much money changing things lately your car should be perfect by now.It obviosuly isn;t up to par. I can;t remember if you chaneg the wires plugs and distributer cap+rotor if not that is your first problem .Also get a motorvac done. It will clean out alll the carbon and make you spank the sentra next time.It is a high pressure fuel rail treatment that cleans the rail,injector,maniold,valves,combustion chamber,exhaust manifold,and especially the cat . It comes in very helpful when trying to pass an emmision test as 99% of all cars who get one pass any emmision test as the cat is so clean it will eat anything left over bfore the tailpie gets it.

Is you tailpipe black? If so then you are not buring you fuel right. I knowall cars do produce some smoke. But i only wipe mine down every so often and it comes out perfectly clean every time, Compared to my civic which runs really rich and is black out the back.