Hi everyone.
I'm brand new to this forum, and am very excited to have joined.
I'm new to the Lexus brand. My dad just bought his first luxury car, which is a fully loaded 07 ES350 (Black Sapphire w/ Tan int. Nav. Ultimate Luxury Package) and having no prior experience with lexus, I am very impressed. I don't own a lexus yet, but my dream car for the time being is either an sc300 or 400.
Currently I've been modding a volvo s80 non-turbo, but have hit a dead end with performance upgrades or turbo setups. I came to the sad conclusion that I was working with a car that was FWD, heavy, and slow. I've done cosmetic and appearance mods to the car to make it more of a european sports-like sedan, but there is literally no aftermarket for this car, which has made me want to just keep it reliable and my daily driver.
Which, herein...lies my new quest. I am definately keeping my volvo as my main car. It's comfy and gets decent gas mileage. But now I would like to build a Lexus sc300 or 400. They're RWD and I've seen the outrageous potential that these cars have. My inspiration to get one of these cars was aimlessly looking at vids on streetfire when I came across some vids of a twin turbo 300. It got me hooked. Now I'm in the market for one but am divided on which model I should focus on.
Basically what I am looking for is not a daily driver. It's going to be a serious canyon carver/weekend cruiser/drag strip runner (suspension upgrades front to back) have decent power but not outrageous or impossible to obtain, either naturally aspirated or turbocharged depending on what engine and/or if a 2jz engine swap is ultimately decided. It has to be streetable, be california smog legal, and not take away from the luxury feel that Lexus are famous for. Daily driveability is not an issue, so higher sound levels and engine performance is open, but still has to be bearable just to enjoy a drive on weekends etc.
The next question is this: which is better for performance mods? the sc300 or 400? Both IMO seem to have both their good pros and cons. The 300 has an inline 6 )1jz I believe. It's an awesome powerplant but I hear they are weak in stock form and most just chuck them for a supra drivetrain. Then there's the 400. It has a 1uze or something Toyota V8 engine that I personally like. I like V8 cars coming from a mostly american musclecar background, but have wanted to expand to playing around with foreign cars.
The bottom line is I am going to pick either the sc 300 or 400 based ENTIRELY on aftermarket support. I bought my volvo with the intention to mod it to make it a european canyon carver that would be my DD but hit a dead end when I found out nobody even makes the stuff I want to put on it. The car has to have readily avaliable engine parts, headers, turbos, bodykits....just anything that is out there made by companies that are specifically made for the car. The reason why aftermarket backing to me is important because I am a 19 year old guy that is going to school part time and have a full time job. It pays decent so I have funds to play with my cars but because I'm young and starting out I'm on a budget...and it's going to take me some time to save up the money for a 2nd car to play with. Not forever, but awhile. So that's a factor too.
Well, I hope that explains everything. Glad to be here again and if anybody can guide me in the right direction, awesome!
-Peace