176OES - Tims Soarer

  • Thread starter 176OES
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176OES

176OES

174
i76oes
Hey guys, figured I'd throw my current project up here.

I've owned the vehicle just over 2yrs.. started pretty stock and have thrown a bit of coin at it. Its been a rollercoaster full of disappointments and hurdles but its slowly getting there.

The USA folks amongst us will recognise the vehicle as a Lexus SC300/400... well, this is the Japanese RHD Toyota Soarer, which came with the 2.5L Twin Turbo 1JZ-GTE powerplant (The one the USA didnt get)

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Needs a wash in these 2 pics, but you get the idea

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Recently I just spent a small fortune (by my standards) getting the ecu and injectors installed and tuned... workshop did a crap job too. Really pathetic power figure for what it should be making, and I got every excuse under the sun for it as well. Took it back to them after the first time I picked it up as it was undriveable.. they kept it and only ended up fixing half the problems. Took them 7-8 weeks in total. I got it back the week I was meant to go to the track with it and it ended up getting smashed on the car trailer when the tow vehicle lost control.

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So thats the latest problem. The vehicle seriously has a curse (as can be read in links at bottom) now its just waiting to go into the panel shop. While its in there I will get the bodykit fitted and painted up.

Anyways, here's what I have put into it:

Performance & Engine Bay:

Garrett GT35-82R Ball Bearing Turbo
Garrett Turbo Beanie
Braided Stell Oil Lines
Stainless Manifold (non-eBay) with heat wrapped dump pipe
Single 3” splitting to twin 2.5” with Cannons on rear
Greddy FMIC
T-Bolt Clamps on all cooler piping
Painted Cam Covers (Satin Black)
TRD Coil-Pack cover
Clear Timing Belt cover
Greddy Alloy Radiator Pipe
Greddy Oil Catch Can (yet to be installed)
Turbosmart 50mm Progate
Turbosmart Vee-Port BOV
K&N Pod Filter
Fidanza Cam Gears
Walbro GSS341 Fuel Pump
650cc Sard Injectors
Iridium plugs
EL Falcon twin thermo fans w/ individual thermostats
Perma-Cool Oil Filter Relocation Kit
Adaptronic E420C ECU


Driveline & Handling:

TEIN Coilovers
Torsen LSD
Stage 1.5 Shift Kitted Automatic
Aftermarket Transmission cooler
QFM HPX Brake pads
Mines Strut Brace
Front – 18×8.5 Starcorp Impuls with 245/40 Kumho KU36 Semi Slicks.
Rear – 18×9.5 Starcorp Impuls with 275/35 Kumho KU36 Semi Slicks.


Cabin & Cosmetic:

Leather Supra Seats
Custom Soarer scuff plates
Carbon-look woodgrain panels
Greddy Full Auto Timer
Greddy Profec-B SpecII
GlowShift Boost Guage
Clarion Double DIN touchscreen DVD Player
Polk Audio 6.5” Component Speakers
Polk Audio 6.5” Coaxials
Polk Audio 8” DVC Sub
Cadence 5ch Amp
Works Steering wheel (complete with engrish horn button)
176OES Personalised Plates (IT GOES)
94-96 Model Tail lights


Power:

Currently a disappointing 316.6rwhp @ 16psi... Should be closer to 400rwhp. Just need to find a tuner that knows what they are doing.


Future Mods:

Spray and Fit Bodykit
Darker Tint
3000rpm Stally
DBA slotted brake rotors front and rear
Currently getting full carbon dash trims custom made, with centre trim to house 3x 52mm gauges


Also more pics and info here:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3835073/1991-toyota-soarer - There's 5 pages there, just flick through the page markers between the write-up and the comments :)

And full thread on vehicle from when I bought it to now with everything that has gone on:
http://soarercentral.com/sc-forum/messages/51875/305988.html?1306914710 - Also check out archived pages at top of link

Hope you guys enjoy :)
 
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Wow, you've thrown a ton at that car. I envy people who can spare the time and money to extensively tune their cars. My tuning strategy is to put in superior components when the original ones fail.

I live in a very expensive area, with a ridiculous mortgage and property taxes. I chose this place, so I'm not complaining. But it informs my car buying choices, to make sure whatever I buy, I like it stock, just in case I never get the opportunity to upgrade.
 
I've heard East Coast Customs do a good job, they should be right up your alley if you're looking for a re-tune.👍 Unless they're the ones that did the crap tune.:crazy::lol: I don't mind the Soarers, how's it drive?
 
Yeah a lot of the Commodore boys recommend them, I've got a mate with a turbocharged LS1 VT who swears by them. Not sure if they have experience with the ECU I've used though.

Some more thorough shopping around this time I think
 
I thought they were mostly import guys, I had a ride in a dude's drift R32 at Powercruise who worked there a couple years ago.
 
I've always loved Soarers, wanted one myself but the thing that turns me off them is that 95% of them are automatics which is a shame; I want something stick-shift for my next car. I'm liking this quite a lot.
 
Back in the day when I had a manual skyline (just an R31 which I had done a little work to), I also had an auto R31 Wagon... and due to it I swore I'd never go auto again.

When I got rid of them both, I was actually looking at getting an Aristo, when I came across a V8 Soarer for a price I couldnt refuse at the time. The auto in it was just a completely different box to what I was used to, and it made day to day peak hour driving semi-enjoyable.

I've tricked up this box a bit with a shiftkit and secondary trans cooler... it kicks like a mule on changes and swaps the cogs faster than I ever could... I also dont lose boost on gear changes either. Given that I'm mainly after something that is good on the street and also takes the 1/4 from time to time (when ready) the auto suits the application perfectly.

I've now got a manual as a daily drive car and it ***** me to tears to be honest.
 
looks good man. Sure USA didn't get the 1JZ TT, but pretty much every SC300 enthusiast in America drops in a Supra TT engine...

manual bores you to tears? That just doesn't make sense to me. If I had your Soarer, it would have to get a 6spd swap ASAP.

I can't believe non-Americans are starting to move away from manuals. This is madness. Are people as a whole becoming THAT lazy?
 
no, not bores... ****s me to tears. Sitting in traffic, clutch out, roll forward, clutch in, clutch out, roll forward, clutch in... etc etc etc... Its just annoying for daily driving in city traffic.

And yeah, I've seen a few of the boys on club lexus do the 2J swaps... happens from time to time down here as well :)

Out of the box these also came with bigger brakes than the SC300 & 400, although the Supra or Celsior (LS400) 4pot conversion is better again... and a there's a few other little things. Nothing that really constitutes a world shattering difference, but nice touches nonetheless

I thought about doing the manual conversion... but its money I will never get back on the car. I've already dropped enough cash into it. Will be lucky if I sell it for anywhere near what I want. Dropping more cash into it isnt going to make that situation any easier.

Also, I when I started on this, it was my daily drive car, so the auto was a good thing for me. Once its tuned properly and a bigger stally is put in, I intend to hit the strip with it. Manual may be good for circuit racing, but on the 1/4mi you just cant go past a good auto... its not about laziness at all... its about quickness of gearshifts and holding boost between the gears which you just dont get with a manual transmission.

It's held its own in the hills here on a late night run with a few other vehicles... I had an R32 GTR behind me... we caught up at the end and he even commented on how the differences of each vehicle made for a really entertaining drive... in the corners he would reel me in a bit, but on the straights linking them he couldnt keep up to me. I must admit, having the coilovers and the KU36's really helped :)

Its never going to be a pure track car... hell, its just too big and heavy for it. I personally think putting a manual in it would be a waste in all honesty.

If I was interested in doing circuit work I would have gone for something more like an evo/wrx... and yes, I would have it manual as it serves that purpose far better. Horses for courses so they say

Out of curiosity, have you ever driven an auto car with a tricked up transmission before (i.e: shift kitted and larger stally)? - Thats not meant to sound like I am putting any of your experience under doubt, just a genuine curiosity :)
 
176OES
Out of curiosity, have you ever driven an auto car with a tricked up transmission before (i.e: shift kitted and larger stally)? - Thats not meant to sound like I am putting any of your experience under doubt, just a genuine curiosity :)
Click to expand...

Honestly no. The only auto I've driven is my current daily driver (R31 Skyline); I don't count the cars I had to drive for my lessons/VORT test because they were rubbish. I do feel that a great automatic transmission would make things a lot more fun (I've heard that the ZF autos in higher-end Falcons are nice transmissions as an example) but from what I've driven I'd pick a manual every time. Put your foot down in the Skyline and it takes a second or two to realise that it needs to drop back a cog and it does it with no real sense of urgency. I drove a Silhouette with the 5-speed manual and it was a much more enjoyable experience.
 
Murcie, my question is more to Fitftw on that one, but given that we've both owned the same vehicle then its easy to understand how your basing your opinion... like I said I was the same when I had mine :)

And yeah, those ZF boxes are a magic bit of kit.

Paulie, for sure mate. Will let you know closer to the day how its all going. While I said in PM that I have every intention, its going to ultimately come down to finances on the day... the accident has put me a fair bit out of pocket at a bad time unfortunately

Also, cant believe I havent said it, but thanks for the kind words to all who gave them :)
 
fitftw
looks good man. Sure USA didn't get the 1JZ TT, but pretty much every SC300 enthusiast in America drops in a Supra TT engine...

manual bores you to tears? That just doesn't make sense to me. If I had your Soarer, it would have to get a 6spd swap ASAP.

I can't believe non-Americans are starting to move away from manuals. This is madness. Are people as a whole becoming THAT lazy?
Click to expand...

176OES
no, not bores... ****s me to tears. Sitting in traffic, clutch out, roll forward, clutch in, clutch out, roll forward, clutch in... etc etc etc... Its just annoying for daily driving in city traffic.
Click to expand...
What 176 has mentioned is exactly what we see every single day in Brisbane. I cant drive (2 weeks!!) yet but my school is one which appeals to people far and wide which means I travel 1 hour each way to get to school as well as most of the other students. When I lived at my previous house I would just get lifts with year 12 students along the motorway which cuts the trip to 40 mins on a good day.

Unfortunately, a good day in peak hour traffic is few and afar. One of the year 12 friends had a manual and was always complaining about moving slowly in traffic. This may not fully deter me from buying a manual but if I see an auto car that I am genuinely interested in I probably wont pass it up.
 
Being that I used to work at a Ford dealership I've had extensive seat time in ZF box'ed Falcons from V8s to turbos to joe blow versions, and while they are pretty good for me personally a manual is the only thing that really floats my boat. Although a dual clutch automated manual with paddle shifters would be pretty neat I think.
 
Well, Monday it goes in for panel repairs... and will get the rest of the bodykit fitted :)

Will post pics up once done
 
Are you driving it to QR this weekend? Are you still going?
 
Paulie
Are you driving it to QR this weekend? Are you still going?
Click to expand...

On that note, I'm not going to be able to make it this weekend, gotta work again! I'm starting to forget what weekends are lately...
 
I was meant to be working there... so I gave the free tickets I had to my Brother and Father... then my shift got pulled.

Dont reckon I will now to be honest :(
 
Turns out my brother and father cant go, so tickets got given back to me. Heading out there with a friend tomorrow now. Guess it was meant to be :)
 
Ah bugger, unless you show up in your Soarer and I see you getting out of it we won't be able to meet now as I'm guessing you won't be back online after I post this.
 
Nah, I'm going with a friend in her Supra.

I'll PM you my number, shoot us a text when you get out there and I'll come say hello :)
 
Was that the Supra I saw with rego numbers starting 123? I was at the Bowdens booth when that drove in.
 
There was a black one with no wing that belonged to a chick named Sammy, her dad was racing in the Porsches. I was in a dark green one which was up on the hill before turn one... No idea what the ergo on either of them were :) was a good day
 

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