New Member - Is350 F-Sport

[Panman]

Hi fellow 2IS owners, I'm the proud owner of an IS350 F-Sport in SGM.

Had the car since November and loving it. I've come from a VW R32 and this thing smokes!

Current Mods:

F-Sport air intake

Ashtray delete (clean box)

Toms GT Shifter kit (reverses + and - in S mode.)

Planned:

F-Sport rear sway bar

Enkei PF01 18"

Rear roof spoiler (ordered but delayed due to the floods in Brisbane)

Tanabe Medallion touring exhaust

Beatsonic DVD/Nav/Phone override (ordered from Beatsonic in Japan but delayed due to floods.)

Lighting mods (LED interior lighting, HID fogs)

Anyway, hope to be fairly active in the forums over time, and looking forward to contributing.

[IS350-F Sport]

Welcome mate!

I bought a blue sonic F-Sport last November as well, and like yourself, I am loving it! I waited until about 2000km on the clock before I switched on the Power button, boy, once in this mode life sure past by very quickly.

My only gripe is the noise - or lack thereof. I am most interested in your mod on the exhaust. Is this to extract more sound and/or performance?

Let us know your progress on the modifications. Welcome to the site again!

Cheers,

D

[Panman]

The F-Sport CAI actually adds a nice induction growl under load (Above 4000RPM) which is quite good. I'm not so much after performance as an improvement in the overall drive - if that makes sensé.

Coming from the R32 a bit of the "theatre" is missing as the R sounded so good (well to me anyway) which I'm hoping the combination of the F-Sport intake and Tanabe will address without taking away from the luxury feel but give it a sportier edge.

Realistically it's a bloody quick car when driven hard(ish) and throwing money at performance mods on an NA car is big bucks for not too much return, although the rear sway bar will hopefully flatten the rear just enough to make the handling a little tighter.

[IS350-F Sport]

The F-Sport CAI actually adds a nice induction growl under load (Above 4000RPM) which is quite good. I'm not so much after performance as an improvement in the overall drive - if that makes sensé.

Coming from the R32 a bit of the "theatre" is missing as the R sounded so good (well to me anyway) which I'm hoping the combination of the F-Sport intake and Tanabe will address without taking away from the luxury feel but give it a sportier edge.

Realistically it's a bloody quick car when driven hard(ish) and throwing money at performance mods on an NA car is big bucks for not too much return, although the rear sway bar will hopefully flatten the rear just enough to make the handling a little tighter.

I am absolutely clueless mechanical wise, so frankly I got no idea what a sway bar looks like and its functionality. Anyway, let us know how you go!

What colour is your F Sport?

[Atlantis]

Surprising you want to change the rear sway bar on a RWD car. It's generally the front that needs upgrading. I haven't driven an IS350 yet, but from my IS250 experience this "theory" holds true at least in my opinion.

[Panman]

Surprising you want to change the rear sway bar on a RWD car. It's generally the front that needs upgrading. I haven't driven an IS350 yet, but from my IS250 experience this "theory" holds true at least in my opinion.

Hi Atlantis,

Just going on my driving of the IS350 the front seem pointy enough, and the rear is a little underdone (Certainly feels softer than IS250s I've driven.). It seems to be a combination of (on the F-Sport specifically) the higher spring and damper rates and a slight mismatch front-to-rear on the swaybar stiffness.

I figure it's a relatively low cost investment (certainly cheaper and easier than springs, shocks or coilovers) to stiffen the rear up.

[Panman]

I am absolutely clueless mechanical wise, so frankly I got no idea what a sway bar looks like and its functionality. Anyway, let us know how you go!

What colour is your F Sport?

Sway bar basically links the opposing sides of the suspension together just looks like a bent metal tube running underneath the car from side-to-side different stiffnes (thickness, wall diameter etc) bars will make either the front or the rear of the car stiffer the goal is to get a balance that makes the car corner the way you want it to. In my case I'm trying to flatten out the rear of the car in corners so potentially it's a little more "taily".

Mine's the new black colour Starlight Mica (so black with mica flecks through it).

A bugger to keep clean after my last car (and with the weather we've been having.)

[dis-lex-sic]

Mine's the new black colour Starlight Mica (so black with mica flecks through it).

Its actually glass flecks in the Starlight Black.

I agree with your discription of the 350 F-Sport suspension. Front awesome, low & flat...rear feels higher & softer IMO.

I admire your ambition in trying to explain a sway bar and its dymanics to "IS350-F".........he thinks the ECT switch is a POWER button hahaha...... At least he admits he is cluesless.

[LEX51S]

My power button is in the start stop button.

It really changes the way the car responds to the throttle.

[Panman]

Its actually glass flecks in the Starlight Black.

I agree with your discription of the 350 F-Sport suspension. Front awesome, low & flat...rear feels higher & softer IMO.

I admire your ambition in trying to explain a sway bar and its dymanics to "IS350-F".........he thinks the ECT switch is a POWER button hahaha...... At least he admits he is cluesless.

Excellent clarification on the paint content - I wasn't aware it was glass not mica.

I work for a software company and spend a lot of mine time explaining stuff to people who won't admit they are clueless about something - it's refreshing to have someone say they aren't an expert - and a forum should be where you come to learn new stuff I think...

Once I get the bar in I'll provide some impressions. Interestingly F-Sport says their bar is 151% stiffer than the standard IS350 rear bar, but only 50% stiffer than the IS250... So time will tell.

[Andrew Cowley]

Is the F-Sport air intake available as an option when you buy? I didn't see it on the options list that I looked at.

[Panman]

Is the F-Sport air intake available as an option when you buy? I didn't see it on the options list that I looked at.

Unfortunately only available from Lexus dealers in the US. I got mine shipped for around $600 (which is cheap compared to putting the same sort of kit in a VW).

Sewell Lexus in the US, and Lexus of North Miami will both ship to Aus. It takes about 15 minutes to fit and any garage would be able to do it if you didn't feel comfortable doing so.

I'd recommend you look at the Lexus US website and go down to the F-Sport section there's a load of stuff for our cars on there.

[coolmeow]

Hi guys,

New to the board, just ordered my IS350 F Sport and started looking at some mods

I am interested in the F Sport intake as the car seem too quiet during spirited driving, but I don't want too much cabin noise when I am cruising with family and driving on freeway. For those who have one, how noisy is it inside the cabin when driving in the city and freeway in high gears?

Panman, I am interested in the Ashtray delete since I don't smoke, and any extra storage is always welcome. I can't seem to find much info on it, do you happen to have a picture? Where did you buy it?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers.

[Atlantis]

You can only hear the F-Sport intake from inside the cabin if you are driving hard over 4000rpm. Otherwise, it sounds very much the same as standard.

[coolmeow]

You can only hear the F-Sport intake from inside the cabin if you are driving hard over 4000rpm. Otherwise, it sounds very much the same as standard.

Cool, that's sound lot better than some of the mugen/GruppeM airbox I had on other cars, will give it a go.

Cheers.