It was actually up a slight incline from a red light .. probably a 15% grade, the most interesting street race I've ever had considering the incline factor. He had his woman in the car.

He won by 3/4 carlengths to 80mph.

He got the jump, i didn't really think this dude in a LS400 was gunna race me. I hung at his rear quarter panel the whole time, never gained.

 

You shouldn't have raced him until you were sure he wanted to (next light). Getting owned by an LS (I find it funny but I am sure the car nerds are going to come running in with their dyno charts) could have been easily avoided by getting him at the next light.

 

Yeah, and a trip to jail on Memorial Day weekend w/ thousands of cops around was INDEED avoided by NOT trying him at the next light. I'm surprised I even let myself run w/ him the first time!

 

I had no intentions of racing him until I heard a tiny chirp from his rear wheels at green, so I followed suit... it was almost .. instinctive animal behavior

 

Were you running your a/c? If so, it cost you the race. Anyway, good report...

 

I assume the TL has a WOT AC cutout (compressor cuts off under full throttle). Someone more familiar with Honda ECU's please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Maaaan a freakin lexus. You coulda taken him if you knew he was gonna race.

 

anyone here has the quick info about weight, HP, and Torque of LS400?? Thanks.

 

overweight, 260hp - 290hp, similar torque, 5-spd auto tranny ...

Air condition wasnt' off, and the TL does have an A/C WOT cutoff... I should have been paying more attention. When's the last time an LS400 tee'd off against you??

 

2001 LS430 290HP, 320 ft/lb torque, 0-60 6.3, 1/4 in 14.7. Drivers race plain and simple. Might have even been an older LS400 model.They are a little slower than the 430s that came out in 2001. A 2004 LS430 will own an auto TL. They have a 6 speed trans an go 5.9/14.5. Sounds like you actually did pretty well. If it was a 400 it was a 2000 or older model.

 

drwald069, thanks.

 

I don't believe that the TL has an A/C cutoff for full-throttle acceleration. I have shut off the a/c manually during hard acceleration and can tell the difference in acceleration.

Where have you read that our cars have this feature?

 

It's an assumption. It's been a standard feature on most cars for about 25 years. I'd be pretty surprised if the TL didn't have it, but I am not an expert on Honda ECU programming.

 

The TL does not have this, You can definetly tell a big difference in acceleration when the AC is off opposed to on!

 

I ran a couple 0-60's with and without ac on the other day when it was around 80 degrees, slight overcast, low humidity (CO is dry). AC cost about a second off normal time for 5AT (low to mid 6's). I would think it matters in most engines out there....

 

Amazing. I guess the extra $.25 for an extra relay input was too much?

Thanks...

 

Pete, any chance your 2k3 Max could've made up some ground on the lowend? From what I've experienced, the auto TL seemed somewhat challenged down low.

 

VQ:

Without a doubt! The Max would have smoked this joker provided I didn't sit and peel out .. even w/ the automatic 3.5, you really need to learn to feather that baby and then throw it all on... I was not an LS430, it was a 400, so it probably had the 260hp, in which case, my TL is just slow, b/c that car is slow too!

6MT-ers would destroy this guy, needless to say.

 

The TL is such a dog low-end .. the TL-S (2k2-3) seemed like it had a snappier low-end grunt compared w/ my 2k4 TL .. I really dislike the ECT .. call me crazy.

I ran my TL-S at the track SEVERAL times.. with and without the A/C running full blast... all runs were approximately the same. In fact, when I was running down the strip, a gush of hot, humid air came thru as if the car switched to "heat" over the A/C!

 

The TL is a little challenged getting started as opposed to rear wheel drive. It doesn't start pulling until about 2.5-3.0k. I've found that the best way to get a good start in 5AT is the brake torque method ---> left on brake, right on gas, and rev it to 2k (it limits rev's at 2). Let off brake and off you shoot, unless your crappy EL-42's chirp and just slow you down (in that case try starting with VSA on and then turning off almost simultaneously with launch). Just my observations....

 

That's pretty much what I thought. (re: tirespin--Falken ZE512s go along way toward eliminating that FWD/VQ35DE wheelspin ) I loved the TL auto I test drove but just wish it had a bit more low end grunt.

Nightrider, I can definitely vouch for your statement ('pulling @ 3k'); the power did seem to arrive (strongly) at about 3000 rpm. This tells me that the TL is probably a freeway monster, compared to my Maxima (pre-Cattman Y-pipe).

 

Hey did acura buy back you older TL cause of the transmissions???? If so please give some details thanks gb

 

1998+ LS 400 has 290hp/300tq. It is the same engine that gets GS400 to 60mph in 5.7 sec. In 2001 it got additional .3 liter of displacement with 25 p/f torque increase. As to 6-speeders, I have yet to see a 6-sp outrun an auto in the real life situation. New clutch avery 5K miles anyone?

 

Well, PeterUbers, you would have whipped him with the A/C off!!!

 

A few have posted 6MT track times of 14.5-14.6 .. that'll take an LS400 and LS430 .. don't know what your point is. A properly driven 6MT TL is good for about 14.2-14.4 realistically. 6MT CL-S's have proved this time and time again w/ better tires up front and proper launching.

You haven't seen a 6MT outrun an auto TL b/c you have never seen the two run against each other. New clutch?? How about new torque convertor for the auto, b/c you'll have to brake torque pretty high to get a nice launch and achieve some decent times.

 

I never had the A/C on!!! I just didn't get a jump on him. Guys, I don't know about you, but I'm not losing sleep over this one .. I know the limits of the auto TL .. and it's no race car.

 

The auto TL isn't a highway monster... the Maxima could probably hold its own against a TL on the highway .. 4th gear is useless, and 3rd gear seems too tall on the highway (for the TL). THe Max's 3rd gear is rather potent.

 

Search: "BBB" for subject in 2nd generation TL forum, and username "PeterUbers" and you'll find all the details you need. THEN, if you're still curious, you can email me or PM me. Please read all the VOLUMES of information I have already posted on this issue.

And YES, I forced Acura to buyback my TL-S b/c of three tranny failures, but it wasn't easy. I have also helped two other members of this forum get complete buybacks of their TL-S for the same issue.

 

Nice run with the LS400. He has the torque advantage with the V8 so you should feel good that you kept up with him getting the jump. I think those 18" wheels are killing your acceleration though. Thats probobly why your car does not feel as torquey.

I had a run with a buddy in his 03 LS430 twice from 0-110 and his front bumper was at my rear fender each time. I had just Intake and the TSX wheels and tires then. I still want to run a TL bad now that I have intake and exhaust.

 

Yup as stated, the LS weighs right around 3900lbs and the 98-00 LS has 290hp and 300lbs torque good for low to mid 6s. The car really picks up at speed but losing by 3/4 a car length is not bad.

 

Whoa!! I figured it would be pretty good on the highway (versus our Max). I'm very surprised. I'm getting more convinced that the 5.5G Maxima is an overacheiver when it comes to performance. (Similarly, I have an S2000 friend who drove my Maxima and then our other friend's auto G35C and he felt that my Maxima was quicker. ) Since I got the Y-pipe installed, flooring it on the street gets me nervous.

Do you think your TL is as quick/fast as your old TL-S??

 

Lexus owners and their glorified "luxury" camrys. nuff said :lol2:

 

Why would somebody that owns an Acura say something like this????

It's really not too hard to draw a comparison between Toyota/Lexus AND Honda/Acura cars. :smackhead

 

I don't own an Acura, I will be though

 

Sigh, Acura is not even recognized as a luxury car maker, just an entry level one. Those luxo Camrys must not be that bad. :p Lexus is the most reliable, highest quality, highest customer satifaction, best selling luxury brand. Without having to resort to selling $20,000 RSXs and $25,000 TSXs that anyone can buy.

 

I think its just brand preference when it comes down to it. Some families have had Toyota or Honda or whatever and they like to stick to it. Some people are just suckers for statistics and stuff. There's actually a book that is called "How to lie with statistics." I've seen stuff like "Grey cars have the lowest number of accidents" or "Red cars get pulled over more often." etc etc. Even if Acura is not a luxury brand and something in between, they make great cars and its good that they are trying to reach other areas of the market.

 

I don't know how that's possible. Out of the RX330 and LS430 that my dad's friend owns, both started having horrible rattles (from dash and roof) with less than 4000 miles on the odometer. Lexus has high satisfaction because of good service but their quality has taken a hit from past standards.

 

Lexus is not perfect. They have cars with rattles. They have a couple bad ones too. But clearly, since their inception in 1989, they are far below the industry average and basically woke up the whole auto community concerning quality. Sorry to hear about your friends rides, they are the exception, not the norm.

Just last night, a guy was IMing me complaining about his GX. He said he hears rattles and such. I asked him what was his previous car. He said a Chevy Monte Carlo. I asked how quiet was that car. He said it was loud. So I asked could he hear any rattles, he said no. I then stated, well how quiet is your Lexus. He said he can hear a moth scream. And there lies some of the problem.

Lexus is on the way to sell 300,000 vehicles a year. This was once an unheard of number for a luxury car company. They are going to have to work hard to ensure the quality stays with quantity. Previous curves indicate the more cars sold, a company's quality lowers.

 

Isn't Lexus just as entry level luxury as Acura?

 

Thank you! While nice and high in quality, it isnt like we're talking Bentley or Rolls Royce. Outside of pure quality and maybe customer svc, I still cant figure out why I'd want to buy an ES330 over a new TL.