'04 IS300 - Project (Not Really) Nice Daily

[Goodspeed]

Scotty, I think you just changed the game.  It looks like a full-tilt 1UZ swap kit with a brand new 350Z 6 speed trans is less than the cost of a NA-T turbo kit:

that would be super rad if you pulled it off.  i've been obsessed with that engine for a while now and it just doesn't seem to have any downsides other than its small and needs boost to make "internet approved" power.  but cheap is cheap and it seems to have a wiring loom that makes it very very simple (like, 12 wires) to wire up and get running.

i love me some LS engines and all...but dude, aluminum twincam V8 from the motherland ain't so bad.  if you put ITB's on it i might literally die.

this wouldn't be a bad noise to wake the car up with every morning on your way to work:

Dear lord.  I'm currently reading a 1UZ -> Sportcross build thread, and this seems like a really popular swap in Russia for some reason, so there's plenty of people who've done it.  Plus there's a Toyota/Lexus shop staffed with magicians in Maryland (Freed) that could probably bang this out without batting many an eye.  Scotty god dammit.

2uz or bust. 

Mmm 4.7 liter, but dat iron block doe.  It seems the hot ticket for me would be a GS400 1UZ-FE w/ VVT-i (likely requires further wizardry but its been done) for 300hp/315ft-lbs.  

UZ engines are from the same basic design school as the JZ. They are unkillable, overbuilt, great motors. Just don't make "enough" power.

So here's the thing - the IS just drives so good stock, as you know.  The suspension, to me at least, is the perfect blend of comfort and "sportiness", the stock wheel/tire package is attractive and likewise comfortable, and I've never scraped anywhere at any angle in a stock IS.

Even with a mild 1" drop on my old one (Eibach "Pro Plus" springs & sways, which were rebranded and used by Lexus on L-Tuned and manual Sportdesign IS300's (so, like, 5 cars total...) on Koni Street oranges), comfort was definitely compromised - bumps and expansion joints were felt much more compared to stock - and because IS's hate to be lowered, I basically needed some aftermarket arms and links and so on that I never purchased to really make it align happily.  I had to roll the fenders to fit mildly wider 18's even, and there wasn't any room back there for more tire unless I wanted to get creative.

Thus, if I went LS motor, I'd have to go full bore with every other system of the car to compensate which is $$$ and who knows how it will *really* come out on the other end.  OTOH, I'm definitely feeling the idea of a stock-suspended car with ~85-100 more horses and torques, V8 noises and a smooth 6 speed done to hammer-reliable factory standards for a relative financial pittance compared to a LS.  That sounds like a total ball.