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  1. Got a few new additions since my last post so just sharing :-) Carbon wrapped door sills, side mirrors and side interior wings near gear selector. Yes there was a few slight air bubbles but since fixed it up :-) Also installed the GROM Vline V2 to override our outdated Satnav setup Installed side skirts, front lip and carbon apron spats Plastidipped rear badges
    3 points
  2. I decided to email Gates and let them know they have the incorrect belt listed for the IS-F. I got a response within 45 mins saying thanks, yes they have now realised the listing they had for the IS-F was incorrect and are having the online catalogue updated to suit. So other IS-F owners should not encounter the same issue i had.
    3 points
  3. Double demerits and a long weekend seemed like a good idea to finally do something I'd been putting off since I bought the car, which is to apply the Gyeon Mohs paint coating. I'd done a paint correction on the car when I first got it, but as the Gyeon process takes 3 days (during which you can't move the car), at the time I was too busy driving it to bother. But it's high time I got off my arse to do it. Stage 1 is to give the car a good wash. And after rinsing the car, while it's still wet I clay it down to remove surface contaminants. I don't park it outside much, so it was still reasonably clean from last year's detail, and the claybar didn't pick up all that much. Once the car's dried, I can start on the polishing. And the first stage is the heavy cut. Only put a small amount on the coarse cutting pad (a little like a towel material)...this is enough to do a whole fender. Dab the pad (with the polisher turned off) to distribute the polish around the panel. And then whizz it lightly around on the lowest speed setting, to spread the product in an even haze all over. Once you have good coverage, turn the polisher speed up to max, and slowly move it around the panel in a criss-cross pattern. The polish should almost buff until it's clear, which means that the abrasives are broken down to a fine powder and have done what they need to do. Then buff with a cloth. At this point, it's pretty good. Any swirls are gone and the paint looks nice and deep. In a few spots where I noticed a bit of a scratch, I'd give it a few more goes with the heavy cut to make the scratch less noticeable. But it still has more to give. Next step is the medium cut, which is applied with a foam polishing pad. There's a bit of crusty old polish on the pad from when I did the Hako last, but it all comes off with a stiff brush. Same process to apply as before, and it noticeably does add more gloss. But to get that mile-deep look like the paint is still wet, there is one more polishing step to add that last bit of gloss. This is the fine cut polish, which is applied with a finishing pad, which had smaller holes in the foam than the one I used for the medium cut, and feels smoother to the touch. Again...same process to apply as described above, and it does seem to have knocked the rougher edges off the paint, and it's now quite reflective. Now that the paint correction is done, we can start to apply the Mohs coating. Before we do that, the whole car needs to be sprayed with this stuff. It's like an alcohol, but a bit stronger and it's to remove the oils and lubricants leftover from the polishing stage. This allows the coating to bond better to the paint. It's applied very generously to the car, and then carefully wiped off. There are no more steps before we apply the coating, so it's important to use a new (or at least freshly washed) cloth to wipe it off, as you can't leave any dirty streaks. Do a very small section at a time, so that it doesn't get a chance to fully evaporate and leave a streak. The Gyeon Mohs kit consists of a small glass bottle of the Mohs solution, a foam block, some bits of sueded cloth, and a spraybottle of Q2 Cure (more of which anon) You start by wrapping one of the cloths around the foam block, and dribbling on about 12 drops of the Mohs solution in a line. It goes on like a greasy film, so it's easy to notice if you missed a spot. Just the same, you do a criss-cross pattern to get it nice and even. In the summer heat, it flashes off quite quickly, so I do a small patch at a time (eg half a door or 1/6th of the bonnet), wait 15 seconds and then buff to remove. As with the alcohol-wipe stage, it's super important not to leave any streaks so I use a new cloth and keep checking the paint reflection in case I missed a spot. Any streaks will dry that way. Then you have to walk away and let it sit for 12hrs, before applying the Q2 Cure. It's like a detailer-spray that's meant to be applied every now and then to give the coating some protection and to top it up. Spray it sparingly on a cloth, and wipe it across all the panels, one small section at a time. It can leave milky streaks so as before; wiper on and then use a freshly washed cloth to buff and pick it all up. And then you leave it alone for another 12-24hrs before you can move the car, to allow the whole shebang to cure. Apparently it doesn't fully cure for 2-3 weeks, so the instructions warn you not to wash the car for at least a week. So I think keeping the car dry is probably not a bad idea. The coating is meant to be a hard sealant to protect the paint correction work done underneath, but it also adds a fair bit of reflectiveness. It's meant to last 12mths and is hydrophobic, so rather oddly driving in the rain seems to make the car cleaner. Its water-repellant properties also seem to make dirt less likely to stick, and it's a lot easier to wash and keep clean. I ran a water hose over one of the suede cloths I used to apply the coating, and yeah it seems water repellant; you can run a hose over it, and the water all runs off and the cloth comes out dry. Pretty happy with how it turned out.
    3 points
  4. Just an FYI, PPE got back to me a few mins ago. They are now complete, ceramic coated and they are preparing them for shipping now.
    3 points
  5. I'm a sales executive (bought quite a few cars but recognise I'm not perfect) but will give you my advice. Be firm, offer your $30k & that's it. Be polite yet firm that it's your final offer & all you can pay. Don't entertain conversation on finance assistance etc. Finally, be a bit patient & not too eager. If he doesn't budge after a few days or a week, say you scraped another thousand or two & that's it. Be civil in stating you'll buy an IS350 & use other market examples if you can, the question is more surrounding if you'll buy theirs. It's pretty simple, they'll either sell it or they won't. At $30k, I'm quite confident they still made a profit. If they still don't budge & you discover you can find no other quite like it, re-evaluate your offer/position. At least you'll know you left little to no food on the table. If the car sells elsewhere, tough luck. Keep searching.
    3 points
  6. Hello everybody, purchased a 2012 GS350 F sport, best car I have ever owned.
    2 points
  7. Hi all, Recently sold my trusty IS250 and thanks to the crazy used car market atm I got the same as what I paid for it 6 years ago. Anyway, was always going to get another Lexus but it had to have more power than the old 2.5L 4GR-FSE so I grabbed one with a couple of extra cylinders. Very happy with the decision.
    2 points
  8. We purchased our first Lexus last November. RCF 2014 model. We have owned BMWs for the last 20 years but not anymore. We became weary of the repair costs, and they are more expensive to maintain as the years roll on. We searched for a performance vehicle from Japan and came up with the RCF. After owning this vehicle for a few months and putting it through its paces on isolated country roads, there is no comparison with BMW in performance and finish. Having four wheel steering is a winner. The RCF is becoming more affordable as they get older, and with Toyota's reliability you can't go wrong.
    2 points
  9. Hi all😃 Just thought I should stick my head around the door and say hi to you all. I come from the uk and own a Lexus IS 250 in the uk we call it the SE-L version not sure what you call it over here but no doubt they are very similar. I'm a member of the lexusowners club uk site,you seem to have more info on certain things than the uk does so thought I should join this site too. Will be posting / asking some question so go easy on your pommey cousin.😊 65mike.😊
    2 points
  10. Ended up running 2 cycles of 4x steradent tablets + hot water through the washer water bottle. Pumped it back out twice using one of those cheap handheld siphon kits for aquariums. Smell is all gone! A good fix for all those that run into this issue in the future on any car.
    2 points
  11. Wow, I bought a disc from that gumtree guy as well many months ago. Good thing I came across this page, so I know never to buy from him if he pops up on Gumtree again Shame people are such rip offs. Its funny, he installed the disc and made sure to show me it was V26, but clearly an edit in the file he has done, per the previous posts An image can be made via DVD decrypter from memory just fyi, but i guess no point if its an edit
    2 points
  12. dealers will have them or we can order them in for u at lexmania please message us through facebook via our lexmania business page
    2 points
  13. Congrats on the purchase, they are great cars and even better sleepers as the wider community have no idea when it comes to the ISF. Most probably assume its a 4 cyl lol. Ive had mine for about 5 yrs now and still love driving it as much as i did when i first got it.
    2 points
  14. My new steed. What a great car to drive. I had been admiring this little beauty for years and now it is mine. Very happy indeed.
    2 points
  15. Hi, I've had my MY11 2010 for just over 2 years, no major problems. I had a transmission wire loom connector that had a hairline crack in the molding that allowed transmission fluid to electrics that tripped CEL and sent the trans into limp mode. A new genuine part was only around $50 and Lexus fitted it in 30 mins or so. I couldn't see that this was a known issue on forums so just bad luck. Some forums talk of valley plate gasket leaks which is a decent job to get done, no issues with mine. On the US forum I think I saw a few threads on water pump failures (easy fix for a new one as it can be accessed at front of engine without taking cam chain and cam covers off). Again no probs with mine. Inner front tyre wear from soft bushings is a common forum thread, again this can be fixed with after market upgrades or RCF bushings. All forums say ISFs are reliable like most Lexus' of that era, 'bullet proof' is term thrown up for Lexus of that era. Compared say to M3 or C63 that I have read have some known potential engine problems. Then again any piece of machinery requires maintenance to operate to specification, of course the level of engineering or over-engineering will have an impact of tolerance of various parts functioning to spec if there is a lack of maintenance or constant use a the higher end of machinery operating envelope eg track use warrants more frequent maintenance/higher spec consumables. Parts prices can be high from dealers, so shop around on eBay and the usual internet third party sites for cheaper genuine or OEM rated parts. This forum put me onto Amayama for Toyota/Lexus and I already used RockAuto. I am very happy with mine although the previous owner did invest in good modifications - headers, exhaust, ECU remap, suspension, intake, throttle controller. Interior/trim seems to hold up quite well, as with any seats that have decent bolster these get squashed but the leather on mine hasn't scrubbed away. I think it was MY10 onwards that went to mechanical torsen LSD, prior to this it was an electronic 'LSD" that used the rear ABS sensors maybe to brake the spinning wheel. There a probably threads on this and overseas forums with more information too. I am not on Facebook but I have seen reference to material on there which is frequented a lot more than this forum. Goodl luck shopping.
    2 points
  16. We compared a bunch of files in "v26" DVD that Bballplayer86 brought from the gumtree guy to the files in v22 DVD. There were the same size. Also, Bballplayer86 realised some 3 year old roads in a suburb somewhere were not recognised by his DVD. The gumtree guy updates the content in the version file and sells copies of v22 each year as if it was a new version. If the last DVD Lexus advertises online is v24 then I would think that is the last official DVD.
    2 points
  17. You're welcome. I also wanted to add some additional information for anyone else looking to do their own install. I made up my own 'T harnesses'. i.e. OEM harness plugs into custom T harness, custom T harness has some wires tapped in the middle, and the other end plugs back into your amp. Makes things 100% reversible with no damage or modification to any OEM wiring. Suitable for someone needing subwoofer signals, front door speaker/woofer signals, remote wire, grounds, constant 12v etc for aftermarket line out converters. Here is the info, again for this particular year range and plug type: Plugs A+B. Standard Toyota 6+10 pin plugs. I bought male ends to plug into amp, and female ends to plug into the factory amplifier wiring (and then connect them together to make your custom harness and tee off whatever signals you need) I didnt need to use plug A, but plug B comes in handy as its a speaker plug and used to Tee off subwoofer signal wires Note: The only reservation I have with a pre-made 'Plug A' , is that the OEM Toyota 12v harness wires appear to be a thicker gauge than the rest of the harnesses for the 12v wires going into the amp. The aftermarket pre-made 'Plug A' 6 pin (where 4 wires are used) would not be to my liking as a 'pass-through' If I had to actually tap into 'Plug A' (which I dont in my setup), I would have either de-pinned the aftermarket harnesses to put replace with a thicker gauge to match OEM, or just buy a 'crimp it yourself' solution for this plug and make one from scratch. The pre-made aftermarket stuff seem to be fine as a pass-through in terms of wiring gauge for plugs B+C (speaker wires). Visually they appear to be the same gauge and copper wires. Male end: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32670180830.html Female end: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1245505321.html Plug C One of many 12 pin plug combinations. Another speaker plug per the above diagram. This one is commonly referred to as the "5+7" plug for Toyota. This harness already had both male and female ends, and a 'Tee off' already done for you into a 3rd plug (which you could cut off). Plugs into amp wiring, and other end into the amp. Good to take front door woofer signals etc. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000897175949.html Plug D Another 12 pin. Mainly data signal based stuff Only real thing to 'tee' off here, is a remote wire (That is, if you dont want to run a fresh one from your fuse box, or use a 'remote turn on' feature from many modern line out converters) I couldnt find anything pre-made, but this is a male and female end, with crimp pins. You can get this from Digikey, Mouser etc. Female side part 1473407-1 . Pins part 1674742-1 Male side, part 1318774-1 . Pins part 1123343-1
    2 points
  18. I'm 4km,s west of Moruya NSW F##ing sh#tting for weeks, stay safe everyone this fire season is off the chart. I hope this scale never happens again, BIG THANKS TO ALL THE FIRE AND SES AND EVERYONE INVOLVED CHEERS.👍
    2 points
  19. I've tried to take a few photos at night with the brake lights on/off but my phone camera's a bit crap.The lights look a 100 times better in reality. I've also added a photo of a $10 eBay Lexus door projector light.
    2 points
  20. Finally I managed to upgrade my 2010 R350 to 2016 V22 map version. Here is the photo to show the location of Gen3 DVD slot location. JESUS!!! Actually it doesn't require the USB activation, maybe Australian model is different from US model Thank you all
    2 points
  21. Hi all, just thought id share something new added to my ISF a few days back in case anyone else is in the position and thinking about it. As per the pics, i changed over my OEM engine mounts (1 was ok but the other was worn, alot of freeplay) and i could see that when the engine was revved, the engine flex was quite alot. Consistent with the video RR Racing has put out showcasing their engine mounts. They are a serious bit of gear, very solid build, look great (even though you'll hardly see them). If you are environmentally friendly you wont be happy. They came wrapped in countless amounts of plastic lol but well packaged nonetheless lol. Got the same place who fitted my PPE headers to install them for me (yes its ideal to change the mounts over at the same time as a header install as the sub frame is lowered) but my mounts at the time was ok. Anyways, my initial impressions (i am happy): Cold start ups are awesome. Already with headers, exhaust etc its loud, but the mounts make it feel that little bit more raw. I can feel the vibration but its not excessive. A non car person may not even notice im sure you all would :-) Throttle response does feel a bit more snappier, more instant. Its not like a throttle controller etc but the drive under more aggressive driving feels more engaged, no engine flex or hesitation Vibration is very noticeable (a bit too much for my liking) when the car is in gear and stationary such as at a set of lights, drive thru etc. This is with the aircon off and headlights off. Lucky for my most of my driving, i leave the aircon on so not a big deal. Ive seen other videos of other cars with engine mount replacements and the noise was alot louder, almost like a straight cut gearbox. I can only hear a minor increase in noise at low speeds but its subtle. The headers drowns all of that out. 500rpm seems to be magic number for me. At this RPM, vibration is very noticeable. With aircon on, my RPM increases to about 700 and the vibration is nowhere as excessive. Same with driving at night or in my case heading to work each morning about 5am. Turning on my lights increase my RPM to about low 600's so the vibration is not that bad. Everyone always wants to know how much so ill let you know. $250 USD on special as per their site $68 USD fed ex postage = Basically $320ish USD. Thanks to our amazing AU$ (yes im being sarcastic), it was $474AU landed 😞
    2 points
  22. Forgot to update here for those who dont have FB or Instagram. Just wanted to share now all is working well. Another use for my Vline. As per my pic, i can now control my exhaust valves through the OEM screen, its a novelty but quite cool. Driven past police a few times and could easily close the valves so it became very quiet but then press 100% moments later and it was loud again. Last thing i want to do is reach for my phone to operate it with police nearby so this setup is working out quite well for me.
    2 points
  23. Not too far away from going into the fab shop now, couple little bits to go
    2 points
  24. I know what you're thinking, which is that surely brake-stalling the trans has an element of friction or slippage, like slipping the clutch in a manual, but it's not the same as a neutral drop, and to explain why, you have to see what an auto transmission looks like inside. Here's a trans I had rebuild a while ago; it was an electronic 4spd auto, the sort that was quite common until the early 2000s. The 8, 9 and 10 spd autos we have today are ironically more compact, but the principles are the same, and it's far easier to visualise how it all works with an older style trans like this one. [i The way an auto works is that each gear is like a spinning drum (which you can see several in the pic above). And here's one below: In Neutral, all 4 drums are spinning, and no drive is being sent to the wheels. In the pic above, you can just about see the clutch band wrap around the drum. When you select Drive, what happens is that hydraulic pressure wraps the band tight around the drum, forcing it to stop spinning. This engages gears inside the drum, and 1st gear is now selected. When the trans shifts to second, the hydraulics release the 1st gear band, allowing the 1st gear drum to spin again, and engages the 2nd gear band which stops the 2nd gear drum from spinning, and so on and so forth. But unlike the clutch in a manual, the clutch band in an auto is a frail looking thing, with only a very thin friction lining. It's immersed in a bath of transmission oil, and it engages with hydraulic pressure, rather than the massive clamping force of a manual clutch spring. Here's some clutch bands below, and as you can see they're not terribly robust and are really just strong enough to disengage one gear and select the next. They aren't actually designed to transmit the torque of the engine at all. When you do a neutral drop, you have the 1st gear drum spinning at huuuge rpm (instead of idle rpm like normal when you shift from P to D) and the little clutch band has to arrest it and engage 1st gear. Basically it isn't designed for any of that, and isn't strong enough to absorb the shock from a clutch dump (or neutral drop). And that's why a neutral drop is a very damaging thing to do to an auto trans. So now you're thinking...so what happens when you brake-stall it to 1500rpm? Well now you know that when you're doing a brake-stall launch, the selector is in D, the 1st gear drum is locked in by the clutch band and the trans is good to go. The "slippage" is not inside the trans at all, but in the torque convertor, which looks like this: Best way to understand what it does, is to imagine that the donut-shaped casing is bolted to the flywheel, and spins at engine rpm. Now imagine a shaft from the trans going into the donut, attached to say, a paddlewheel from an old style steamship. Now imagine that the inside surface of the donut is full of vanes, and the whole shebang is filled with custard. As you rev the engine, the donut casing will spin, and the vanes will move the custard, which will eventually move the paddlewheel...and the transmission will now spin, too. Inside the torque convertor the metal parts don't contact each other at all, and it's the custard that transmits the force from outer to inner. Now, the torque convertor is always working with a certain amount of slippage, for example when you're stationary in D...the donut is spinning at idle rpm but the paddlewheel is held stationary by your foot on the brake. This happens all day, everyday. The transmission fluid (it's not actually custard in there 🙂 ) is designed to cope with that. Brake-stalling increases the amount of slippage, but it isn't actually a mechanical slippage or impact; it's basically just the custard/fluid that is being whipped into more of a frenzy than usual. Now, if you brake-stalled it to 1500rpm and held it there for a really long time, then you can imagine that the fluid will start to overheat, and that's not good for it. But a brief brake-stall for a heartbeat as part of a launch is actually far less of a mechanical shock than dropping the clutch in a manual. A neutral drop is actually very similar to a clutch dump in a manual, except that the components taking up all the shock aren't really designed for it.
    2 points
  25. Come on who bought this car to worry about fuel economy NOT ME, after all it is a sports car. But I average 13 and boot it as much as the other road users let me ( get out of my way) cheers.
    2 points
  26. see attached - note this is the quickest time slip for the day, the 1.8sec 60 foot time netted me a 12.4 funnily enough?! i can post that when i go home if anyone wants to see it
    2 points
  27. First run I did was 12.3 at 188kmh - 1.86 60 foot track temp was warm too - full tank of juice and a bunch of work *BLEEP* in the boot - ran a few 12.4s after that - the trap speed says it's good for high 11s
    2 points
  28. Hey guys, picked mine up in November last year, just getting through some basic mods and still going. Currently got: PPE Headers with Borla Axle Back Exhaust MCA Red Coilovers Advan GT Rims Genuine Wald Diffuser Genuine Wald Bootlip FlowDesigns Side Splitters BaysonR Front Lip Carbon Fibre Steering Wheel In the process of organizing custom cat-back exhaust. 2.5" dual all the way with X-Pipe and Magnaflow Mufflers with Quad Tips. After that will be sourcing some MY11/12 Headlights and that should be most of the mods done. Loving the car every drive and hopefully once exhaust and tune is done I can get back out to the track :)
    2 points
  29. I had a lot of fun with the ISF at its first trackday. Bottom line: the ISF got down to 1'10.2, which is only a wee bit slower than the FD was at 1'09.9. And I have to remember that the FD was on really good Endless MX72 pads and Advan AD08R tyres at the time, so it isn't really comparing like with like. At the FD's very first trackday, it got down to 1'10.2 as well; but that was on Kumho KU36 tyres, which are many magnitudes better than the ISF's Michelin rubber on a racetrack. So I reckon the ISF is good for a high 9 on road tyres and quite possibly a low 8 with proper tyres and brake pads. My fastest laps were with the driving aids in Sport Mode, which is to say that the traction control is slackened off and allows a little sliding. When I turned it all off, which I only did for one session; I was about a half second slower. But it's interesting to compare the lap traces against the FD's best lap of 1'09 (the FD is the red line): Starting from the left, the ISF is 10km/h up on the FD's top speed, with the ISF clocking 186km/h before braking. The lines then dive under brakes...ISF's braking point is a little bit earlier, but the big Brembos allow better modulation than the FD's brakes, so you can see that I'm bleeding off the brakes a bit better and getting a slightly better corner entry speed. As the line rises again for the run up the hill, it's roughly line ball, but as the line goes down again for Turn 3-5, you can see that the ISF's trace is jagged, as it has to slow more for the corners, and then accelerate out. In comparison, the FD can take that whole section at a more constant speed, hence the red line is smoother as it heads to the second deep braking point. Then the line rises again, for teh run down the hill into the right hand sweeper, and you can see the FD's red line smoothly arc upwards, because the FD can turn into the sweeper with just a brief lift. The ISF needs a longer lift to settle the car, and so you can see the trace dip a little halfway up as the line climbs. Then it's hard on the brakes at the "1.21" point on the chart, which is the Bus Stop hairpin. The FD gets a higher entry speed, while the ISF brakes to a slower entry speed, but then you can see the ISF's brute force as it outaccelerates the FD up to the right hand sweeper on the back straight. As the line climbs to the final peak of the lap, again you can see the traces for both cars dip, as they back off to turn in for the sweeper, but there is a bigger dip for the ISF which needs a touch of brake, whereas the FD makes do with just a lift, with the FD recording a higher mid corner speed. Then finally the lines dive for the last time as the two cars brake for the final hairpin, with...surprisingly the ISF logging a higher mid corner speed...probably due to the slow point and squirt nature of the corner handing the advantage to the ISF, which gets a much better acceleration out from the apex. So overall the analysis isn't a huge shock; the light and nimble, good-tyre shod FD gets a small advantage in midcorner speed in the long corners, but it has a huge advantage in the series of tight corners (which is where it gains most of its advantage). The ISF wins the race out of the corners, but needs to slow more for the entry, and the tighter the corner, the more it sees the FD motor away into the distance. But given that the tyres and brake pads of the ISF are nothing special, I'm a little shocked it's as fast as it is. The tyres are Michelin Pilot Super Sports, 225 at the front and 255 at the back. Exactly the same footprint as the FD, but the Michelins fade quickly on the track and it's hard to coincide the sweet spot of the tyres, with a clean lap with no traffic. I'll upgrade to Advan AD08R when the time comes, and I'll upsize them to 245/275 which fits fine on the stock ISF rims, and should make a huge difference. The ISF brakes were the oem brembo pads I fitted a couple of days before the trackday. They were really good for the first two sessions, with huge, beastly retardation but after that they got a bit overtemped and began to wear out really fast. After 42 laps, the brand new pads got down to 2mm of pad material, and you could even see them getting thinner and thinner with each session :) The brembos are now in the bin, I'll do it right and get Endless MX72. It's a shame, the Brembos had great feel under road conditions. ...and here's where all the brake pads went :) And here's the vid! What's it like to drive? Well, first thing is that there's plenty of accessible power, and the 8spd snaps off aggressive shifts making the whole package feel pretty mighty. In a couple of corners where 2nd and 3rd were both useable, 3rd felt quicker, with enough low down torque to dig the car out of the turn...the top end power can be a bit spiky as it comes in and kicks the tail out, so going a gear higher felt like the better compromise. In terms of balance, it's great...very resistant to understeer, and power oversteer on corner exit is the dominant characteristic. It actually feels like it has more power than it can use, and you have to be quite progressive with feeding it in. And for a big ol' gal, it always hung in gamely and never felt like it would collapse into understeer, and it sure felt nimbler than its 1680kg would suggest, and it sure doesn't feel like a sedan. As for the driving aids, I was a bit slower with them all off, and only ran it this way for one session. There isn't the same feedback as the FD, and rather than ease into a slide smoothly, the ISF tends to transition into oversteer in a bit of a messy spill. So with everything turned off, it could be hard to walk the fine line between sliding just enough, and going way too far with a smoky drift; it was hard to find the middle ground, but maybe I just need more practice. Certainly the traction control is really well judged for track use, it would allow a little power oversteer, and keep the power on for a good drive out of the corners. And you could even feel it straightening up the car, when I'd over-rotated it a little on the ripple strips mid corners. Pretty clever system, I think I'll need a lot more practice before I can better it. Proper brakes and rubber will transform this, I reckon. I'm having a lot of fun with this, this is a damn fine car :)
    2 points
  30. theres an unwritten rule about owning a sports car: dont talk about fuel consumption. its like signing upto the gym but complaining about getting sweaty. its part of the package :)
    2 points
  31. Put the order through and I should have the shipment by mid next week. For those you haven't please PM me your details for shipping (for interstate buyers) and your number (for local) to arrange pickup/installation/shipping.
    2 points
  32. If you just want the just the belt done should be $500 if you want seals, water pump, belt $1200 or get your own aftermarket parts and some quotes it depends on car condition and how long you want to keep the car and your own preference. I am a mechanic cheers.PS It is a Toyota motor which are super reliable.
    2 points
  33. ECU will be shipped out tomorrow via International Express which probably means another week or so. I estimate turn around time to be around 2 and a half weeks to 3 weeks. This is only for the bench flash. OBD options will be available after ECU is sent and returned the first time. I'll post up Dyno results once I receive the ECU.
    2 points
  34. Gidday, Sorry to hear about the lock fail, and I'm also sorry to see 30 views of your thread and not one reply, not even a word or two of encouragement, not that any encouragement can physically fix your car issue can hey, we are a forum after all and its comforting to know that some people give a *BLEEP* about things. I myself have not had this locking problem, but with more bells n whistles on our cars than a Christmas tree, I'm always holding my breathe for that day that something gives. I like a good Google research to solve any issue, so I'll start with reading about this locking issue and see what comes up. Best of luck and I'm sure it will be something very simple at the end of the day, issues generally are.
    2 points
  35. So I am pleased to say that I have had a fully ECU written tune on the ISF. Sonny Duran from Autowerks in Beverly Hills completed all this work, for those who have been around tuning cars for a while will recognise him as a big hitter in the Aus / Sydney tuning world. He does a lot of work with AMG and other Euro cars, and everything else obviously as well. Search for his channel "Sonny Duran" on YouTube, its pretty epic. He recently got the Lexus tuning software, and so I booked him in. Here is some background on the car when taken to Sonny: 2009 ISF, Non LSD HPS intake tube Secondary cats had already been deleted, and resonator already deleted Stock manifolds and exhaust otherwise. In this guise the car made 232kw at the wheels, which from my tuning experience is probably about right for a 311kw engine given drivetrain loss, maybe a little under what it should be. I'm not particularly worried about the actual kw that is being achieved, more about gains from mods. As long as there is a definitive gain from mods, the actual number doesn’t particularly matter at the end of the day. Even better would be to measure ¼ mile times, but alas, I can't do that! I know some dynos read higher than others, particularly the stuff coming from America seems to be a bit higher than Aus. But, only the gain really matters, particularly 1/4 mile etc, not the end kw figure. So, after the baseline tune, Sonny told me that the stock manifolds cut down to 2 inches on the exit from the cats, and have a significant restriction at that point. So he cut the factory flange off, widened to 3 inches, and re-joined to factory mid section. See pictures below. As you can see, this made a huge difference in what can flow through that section of the exhaust. At this stage, he also slotted in a K&N panel filter into the standard air box. With these two things done, he re-dyno'd the car, and saw 245kw at the wheels, prior to tuning. This is pretty significant, a 13kw increase in power, which is somewhat comparable to an install of headers, for a tenth of the cost. The car sounds "cleaner" and "crisper" now that it did prior, and basically it sounds more aggressive, better. The sound would not be as good as headers, and not as much power as headers, but significant none the less. At this stage the car was tuned, including removal of torque management, and adjusting of all throttle positions, like half throttle etc etc. It resulted in 255kw at the wheels. Now please, PLEASE, don’t get carried away with dyno numbers, because to me having driven the car, it's just not what it's about with this car. Because, wow. It is truly a changed car.. I was honestly thinking of getting out of the car, and getting into something else with more lazy torque, more effortless power. I felt there was always a huge hole in the bottom end power curve with the ISF, and my dream has always been to fill that gap rather than chase top end 7,000rpm power numbers. Problem solved. In "Normal" mode it cruises around quietly and sedately, a corporate sled with manners. The difference is all the doughy'ness of the throttle is gone, half throttle actually means half throttle, and it behaves like it always should have. No hesitation, no having to floor it and waiting and waiting for it to wake up to overtake, its progressive now. And then you start getting into it, and its just next level. Sport mode with full manual is a joy to behold. The torque is filled up at the bottom, and it just wants to rev now. It's bloody great basically! Keep in mind, this is with basically a standard cat back factory exhaust, with a full custom exhaust im sure you would be in the 270kw at the wheels mark, probably more. I know the exhaust is holding the top end power back, but for the cost of the exhaust, im just not fussed. Sonny built a full custom exhaust for another customer, custom mufflers etc, and made as much power as I did without the tune. So a tune on top of that will obviously make more power than what i have. Again, not fussed. For much less than the cost of either headers or a Joe Z exhaust, not even installed, i have transformed the car and achieved this. I bought the car for $45k with 65,000kms, and cant justify spending big dollars on the mods. But what I have is a car which in my opinion sounds VERY nice, as good as any Borla or Xforce exhaust, but without ANY DRONE. NONE!! I am very sensitive to drone, and hate it, passionately. I feel this exhaust is now absolutely perfect for me, quiet for 90% of the time, but wakes up when it needs to. I am a happy camper. Here's a vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTZHSesggqw All to do from here, is install the USRS and Oil/Air separator from RR Racing, and enjoy. Just need the other members to jump on-board and get the bloody group buy going haha! They are both must haves from research i have done. Let me know any questions, I'll do my best to answer. I can't give costing's for this work, as Sonny was using my car to develop the tune, and looked after me, but you should give him a call.
    2 points
  36. Hey guys I m from Athens Greece and I ve done this conversion a year ago.I believe it's the best thing I ve done to my car with the sc kit!
    2 points
  37. That $1600 mark for the headers is in US$. That's around 2057 in aud$ - and that's with the Aussie dollar going up to around 77c. 2057 +1000 install + 300 freight + 300 customs and duties gives you your 3600 price tag. Hope this clears it up for all. 👍😊
    2 points
  38. ROFL, c'mon mate, it's just a car club meet, we not going a strip club...
    2 points
  39. heres a few tips and such i can tell you after owning an ISF for 5 years 1. Usual service cost 300-400 due to the fact u need 10L of engine oil 2. Brakes and pads are usually the expensive consumables other than tyres (a full set of pads and rotors can cost up to 3-4K with OEM parts but aftermarket parts u can get away with 1500-2000 3. Eventhough the transmission is sealed for life i flushed mine out once a year being a performance transmission they seem to get dirty quickly but doesnt really affect the performance 4. Spark plugs are pretty much a non essential item and i only replaced mine when i wanted to refreshen up but some members havent even changed theirs once yet 5. Petrol depends on how u drive it 65L tank will get your anywhere between 300-600 depending on your driving style close to 800-900kms on the free way
    2 points
  40. and this is my latest photo of Darth Vader
    2 points
  41. 2 points
  42. But a 1000HP 2J in that would be able to be registered. Such antiquated regulations.
    2 points
  43. Hey all Lexus owners here are a few rules that have been set in the forum that will be enforced from now on 1.No Verbal or personal attacks on other members 2.No group buys unless approved by the moderating team from vendors (EOI by private members are welcome) 3.No Selling or wanted to buy threads on model specific sections 4.No illegal or drag racing stories other than that enjoy your stay! and feel free to ask any questions if your not sure about the rules thanks Moderating team
    2 points
  44. Hi, It's been about 5 years since I posted my original comment... ;) My GSH450h is still going strong after more than 120,000km. My batteries are fine - never had any problems with it or anything else on the vehicle - gotta love Lexus quality. My fuel economy is practically the same as it was when it was new in 2007 - I still get 700km tank average. It was only very recently that I managed to have the time to make some mods to my car, specifically around the Navigation Lock override and DVD lockout as well as introduce an after market ipod and Hard Disk integration I also installed my own bypass switch for the Nav lock and DVD lock override purpose - if you are interested and you would like me to help you do this change to the car, do let me know. Regs,
    2 points
  45. Took a few snaps of my car today... nothing flash, car is nearly completely standard :) :D
    2 points
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