Check out this video: And let me know how you feel about the head after watching that. Amazing video, the engine is excellent. The B58 is probably not going be like the "LS/VTEC" legos of the 1990's.

Is the B58 better than a 2JZ? Yes AND No.
German turbo engines such as VW GTI/GolfR and BMW's make significant gains from very minor effort. You can make those cars MUCH faster for under $1,000.

Japanese cars, ESPECIALLY Toyotas, resist tuning. The 2JZ ECU was famous for being uncooperative, and the new Toyota/Lexus 2.0T is just as resistant to tuning today. You can't get much out of these motors without more work/effort.

However, the 2JZ doesn't have complicated, modern restrictions like the B58. The 2JZ will be the way to go for drag racing, and the B58 is the way to go for street performance. Once you start talking "1,000HP Supra" the clear winner will be the 2JZ because you don't have to deal with a crazy timing chain, integrated exhaust manifold, very complicated valve train.

Definitely need to take "1000HP B58" off the table. The new 2020 Supra will be easy to see significant performance gains for a few thousand bucks, and for many owners who just dropped over $60K on the car or are making payments, upgrades will be more accessible than the 2JZ was (and still is)

 

I had a 2013 G37 sedan that I was quite fond of. Super clean, about 75k miles, super reliable. But unfortunately it just got totalled because a lady without a valid license decided to make an illegal left turn (going wrong way on 1-way street) right in front of my car. So I needed a new used car. Was looking for 2016 or newer small/mid-size sport/luxury sedan to replace it. Wanted to avoid German cars because of concern about maintenance cost/reliability(have had bad experience) as they get up in miles. Wanted something luxurious, comfortable on long road trips, fun to drive, reliable, AWD or RWD,and to stay below $35. I figure if I can get luxury sport sedan for roughly price of loaded Accord I can tell myself I made a sensible choice. I considered:

Genesis G80 (G70 with TT6 was above my target price) - the base G80 was really nice but driving it felt too big/floaty. I liked the Sport with TT6 but because they only made it last year or 2 even the used ones were more than I wanted to spend.
Kia Stinger- I really liked the GT1 TT6 (drove great, nicely equipped, checked all the boxes) but it was more than I was looking to spend. If I could have waited another year or 2 probably could have gotten used 1 in my price range. The 4 cylinder didn't excite me and bottom-tier GT interior was weak (small screen, lousy stereo).
Lexus GS 350 F-Sport- really nice, drove well, great reliability. Did everything I wanted and would have been happy with it. Runner up.
Acura TLX V6 SH-AWD. This is a fine car and I really wanted to like it. We own a '19 RDX which is fantastic and I have always thought highly of Honda/Acura. But the TLX just seemed a class below everything else I drove. Maybe it is because I know how much nicer the RDX interior is but this isn't a luxury car- it just felt cheap and dated. Accelerated and handled well but didn't feel like a sports sedan. Other than SH-AWD I probably prefer the Accord. The Type S concept looks great and maybe that will be my next car, but this generation was done before it even began.

I ended up picking the Cadillac CTS. I got a 2016 CTS VSport Premium. TT6, superb handling, all the driver tech, luxurious interior (I get it's not an E-Class but what is?), and great styling. Only had it for a few days so far. A couple hiccups from dealer that should be able to work through but is beautiful and amazing car. I drove the T4 and V6 also and I think the Caddy 4 gets bad rap. It was plenty peppy, much better than Lexus or Genesis 4. I wanted the upgraded suspension and some of the other features that aren't on the base engine but I honestly wasn't that impressed with the V6. It was fine but I liked Lexus V6 and TLX V6 (and my old Infiniti) engines better. So I checked out the VSport with the TT6 and was instantly sold. And because they depreciate like crazy got it CPO within my budget so have it under warranty for another 60,000 miles.

 

My buddy has a V6TT CTS VSport. I think it's an excellent car.

There are a few weird issues with it, sometimes the door handle thingy falls off. Quite weird for such a nice car, if it were me I'd just glue it on.
The turbos rattle, but I have heard that is a problem with many other cars and doesn't mean anything is going to break. My GTI turbo never rattled, though.

What's so surprising about his CTV VSport is the damn traction is SOOOO good! I can't believe how hard it launches, and being only RWD it doesn't seem to ever spin the tires in the dry. If they made these cars in AWD I'd probably buy one also. It rains a lot here, gotta have AWD.

 

I didn't even know about the VSport. 420hp from a TTV6 that will knock down 4.5 second zero-2-sixty runs? That's damn impressive.

Cabin is still kind of pimpy (because Cadillac), and slushbox, and Cadillac... but still, impressive car.

Is that the same powertrain in the ATS-V?

 

Took me a while to warm up to the cabin but I have come around. Obviously a big change from my G.

Very similar engine to ATS-V but not identical. I believe the ATS-V is an evolution from it and has a bit more power.

 

My best friend has an early 00s CTS-V with a truck engine block and other small block fanciness. I think it's at about 6.8 liters. It is a BEAST as an NA car - and stick shift. GM cheap plastic but you'll only notice before you start the car. Idle is so lumpy that when he visits the neighbors come over to gawk at the engine - and they drive a 60s modded Tbird and a Harley, respectively.

The ATS is a very nice looking car and the angularity of the newer caddies is growing on me. But... after a string of camaros in the 80s I'm not sure I'll ever own a GM product again, unless I go all American Beauty and buy a Firebird.

 

Takin about MT conversions

https://conceptzperformance.com/blog...q60-red-sport/

 

Speaking of all of these Cadillacs, it sounds like the CT4-V should be a step up in performance compared to the ATS-V and there are rumors of a stick shift. I wonder how much actually changed with the car since it looks very similar from the side. The front is ok, but who designed the back of this car? Woof!

 

1. I hate chromed plastic exhaust tip trim in bumpers. Like white hot kind of hate, particularly on an upscale car. Particularly if you can easily see the crude, rusty exhaust pipe about 2" deep.

2. I hate exhaust tips with funky dimensions. Round, oval, even square or rectangular are fine, but none of these stupid quadrilateral designs.

3. I hate quad-tips that have a different design on the very same car. That's just wrong.

Just saying. /rant

 

under $6k for the conversion (parts of course, not including labor...) is about 10k less than I thought it would be. I mean, you can make any car manual if you throw enough money at it. But half that 6K is probably the 6MT itself.

 

I could live with this. But I think the chances of Cadillac actually offering a manual are about zero.

 

That's awesome! My eyes never made it down that far on the bumper just because the tail lights and trunk are so bad. The back end makes the car look like the it was born cross-eyed with a cleft palate.

That's what I thought too, but a ton of websites are saying that the CT4-V and CT5-V Blackwings are going to have manual transmissions. Nice! https://www.motor1.com/news/357699/c...gearbox-alive/

 

I read a similar article, just the CT4-V Blackwing though, not the lesser CT4-V or CT5-V. I'm cautiously optimistic.

To Rochester's comment, I saw a review where someone commented this design trend of exhaust tips in the bumper is a work-a-round for the sooty black tips that direct injection causes. Manufacturers can still give "dual exhausts" but actually exit the mufflers prior to the tips to reduce buildup. I think some cars even have holes on the bottom, prior to the tips to direct the soot out and down.

The tips on my R get way dirtier than my G37 or past cars ever did.

 

The Blackwing was the car I was trying to refer to earlier. Whoops! The Blackwing is the one that was under wraps at the Detroit Grand Prix, but at the time they were not called the Blackwing yet. They just referred to them as a hotter version of the CT4-V.




You are right about the exhaust tips and soot. I was just reading in Car & Driver about the new Ford Explorer ST exhaust tips that actually have holes in the bottom to release the soot: https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a2...exhaust-weird/

 

Soot or no soot, still don't like it. Looks really cheap.

Then again, SS tips that aren't kept clean... major pet peeve of mine when I see that on an otherwise nice car.

Worse is when you see a six figure Mercedes where the rear wheels have a reasonable polished surface, but the fronts are yellow with tar and rail dust collecting for years.