Tuning Is200

Lilpeachy · October 9, 2015

Hello guys

Got a IS200 00 155 1G-FE

And i'm wondering if there is any cheap tuning that can be done? generally?

I'm not so good with motors, i understand alot but i've only just begun to get interested in tuning. all that i've read about is people putting alot of money on superchargers, i guess basicly thats all you can do on this vehicle if you want any results?

I've been talking to a friend of mine who's been obsessed with Hondas for about 10 years, he knows them inside and out. we talked about what you can do with them and that's about everything i mean there were really great turbos, superchargers, changing pistons & cylinder dimensions, all for reasonable prices

But then you look at options for IS200, and it seems like you have to buy a really expensive supercharger kit only to get like 70hp or something

Can someone give me tips or point me in the right direction? i love the car, and i've had it for 3 years.. but i want to do some work on it

andyk134 · October 11, 2015

Hi and welcome. I think there are loads of threads that will tell you that the IS200 isn't a cheap car to modify. It is very efficient in standard form and to get anything meaningful it is forced induction you need. also if you are looking for really high numbers then you are looking at a Supra Turbo engine and transmission conversion that is clearly not cheap.

No one makes superchargers for them anymore so it would be recon or used ones you would have to buy and fit. would give you about 50 BHP. Turbo's are out there, I have just had one fitted to mine last week and it is now so much fun. Gives around 230/240 BHP I will get it dyno tested soon. That is about as far as you would want to go with standard internals. But you would be wise to start with suspension, the standard set up isn't bad and very comfortable but that is what the car was designed for it wasn't built to be tuned (which is why I love it because it is different).

have a read through some of the threads on here about tuning and that will help I am sure. Enjoy your Lexus, I love mine, it is the best car I have ever owned

Rasmus · October 17, 2015

I bought a DECAT exhaust manifold and downpipe of eBay for mine. The VVT-i witch originally kicks in at 4500 RPM, now kicks in at 3000 RPM, would say 10-15 hp more + it makes a great sound and it's easy to install.

The downside is that the CO2 sensors cant be used so the engine light will be on.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS200-1G-FE-2-0-1998-2005-EXHAUST-DECAT-MANIFOLD-MF6547-B66-/200703032579?hash=item2ebad53d03:g:YWsAAMXQNo5TX5oF

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS200-2-0-MK1-STAINELESS-STEEL-EXHAUST-DECAT-CAT-DOWNPIPE-DP7935-B66-/200718980598?fits=Car+Make%3ALexus&hash=item2ebbc895f6:m:mBZ05PV23dW2ieSdM99y3GA

andyk134 · October 17, 2015

how did you get the vvti to kick in earlier, as decatting wont do that alone, did you use a camcom on something? does it still run smoothly? I am having the cat taken out of mine next week, but I really need to find a piggyback ecu that works, anyone use one on their turbo?

Rasmus · October 18, 2015

I only installed the manifold and downpipe, the rest the ecu probably figured out by itself.

andyk134 · October 19, 2015

That wouldn't alter the VVTI coming in sooner you would need something like an F Con controller to do that, it probably just feels a little more responsive with the cats out. And of course yes the engine management light is on all the time. You will need to put them back in come MOT time though. I will say the best thing I did before the turbo was to change the back box. I was amazed that there was a noticeable difference one done. Also reset the ECU is always a good thing to do after making any changes, it seems to reset better from zero than trying to adjust when already set, just my experience with the turbo. Like any tuning, it depends what you want from the car. It wasn't designed to be tuned like the Hondas with masses of bits for them, so get a real difference it will hit your wallet. To me it was well worth it, yes a lot of modern hot hatches will see it off, but how many quick is200's do you see about, very very few.

good luck with your project

James Trendall · October 22, 2015

"Also reset the ECU"

I don't suppose that is done by unhooking the Battery for 30+ minutes? My car was just starting to feel good the way i drive and the other day my Battery was dead... Left the interior light on over night! Now it feels slower and slugish unless i really rev it high 5k+ whereas before 4k+ is when it felt like it had some ompf.

With the decat do you know if it passes emissions? Looking at grabbing a second hand manifold and bashing the internals out to keep it somewhat road legal/mot passable to the naked eye.

Rasmus · October 28, 2015

The ECU in these cars is a "learning ECU", it adapts to the tunings you do to the engine, as long as it isn't any major tunings. I work as a Toyota mechanic so i know what i am talking about.

The VVT-i kick that originally kicks in at 4500 RPM, does now kick in at 3000 RPM. There clearly is a kick at 3000 RPM as you can hear and feel the valves opening further, this was not so before i put the DE-CAT manifold and downpibe in the car.

As the engine breaths better the VVT-i can kick in sooner, it's as simple as that.

andyk134 · October 29, 2015

Ok, well talking to my Japanese tuning expert he advised that the only way to change the VVTI is a piggyback ECU I have mine decatted and a turbo but mine doesn't kick in until the standard time. decatting will give you a bit more power so that is what you are noticing. but if it works then its great I say.

ColinBarber · October 29, 2015

VVT-i doesn't kick in at 4500 rpm or 3000 rpm. This isn't a Honda VTEC switching to different cam lobs at a set rpm. The first V in the name standard for variable - not sudden jump.

The ACIS does kick in around 4,500 rpm on the IS200 to shorten the intake

r3dd3v1l · November 29, 2015

Alot of people delete the acis with good results, gunna do mine as well and hope to achieve a more responsive car in low end rev range

andyk134 · November 29, 2015

How do you "delete" it and what effect does that have?

r3dd3v1l · November 29, 2015

There's a vid on YouTube, I'l try and find it, alot of the yanks do it to get rid if the flat spot when they run forced induction, helps a bit with na setup as well

r3dd3v1l · November 29, 2015

andyk134 · November 30, 2015

thanks for the link. anyone else have any thoughts on this?

ChrisIS200SportTTE · January 23, 2016

This thread is full of a lot of misinformation.

As Colin has said the vvti doesn't kick in at all. It's a constant variable and it operates all the time.

What you feel at 4500rpm is the acis valve. the ACIS system uses a single intake air control valve located in the intake to vary the length of the intake tract in order to optimize power and torque, as well as provide better fuel efficiency.

By altering this valve you will not get better performance. In fact it will be detrimental. Toyota worked out how to optimise power and torque from the 1gfe engine using the acis system, they knew what they were doing.

So no, a lot of people haven't deleted the acis valve with good results.

andyk134 · January 25, 2016

If Toyota really knew what they were doing they would have put an engine in with a lot more grunt that was also a lot more tuneable, the chassis can take a more more then the 156bhp it was given. A shame it didn't have the 300 engine as standard and suspension that doesn't make it look stuck up in the air especially at the back, that arch gap is way to big. But you cant fault them for reliability that's for sure!

ChrisIS200SportTTE · January 27, 2016

The 200 was launched in the UK to take on the BMW 316-318-320, Audi A4 2.0 and Mercedes C class.

They fitted the 2.0 because the market in Europe don't want bigger engines that cost more to tax and return poor mpg.

For the market the IS200 was aimed at the power is right, it's not a fast car and was never meant to be. It's a comfortable cruiser.

I'm also pretty sure that they putting in a tuneable engine didn't even enter their mind, why would it? They weren't trying to sell cars to the performance market, but to the corporate business market.

The suspension is high because again they were selling a comfortable cruiser not a fast sporty car that's slammed but one that comfortably eats up motorway miles. So yes they did know what they were doing

andyk134 · January 27, 2016

Very strange they badged one model as a "Sport" then when it clearly wasn't if they weren't selling a performance model and I am not a fan of "slammed" cars either, mine still goes in and out of multi storey car parks with no problems, I just think it looks so much nicer than the standard car. And it nice to know we can all have our opinions in this lovely free country of ours. For me the arch gap on the back of your car spoils the whole look of it, but you clearly love it so that's good and we are all happy. And I think its great that some like to add something to their cars so they don't look like all the others. We all see cars differently which is a very good thing, life would be very boring if we were all the same. They certainly did build a lovely car but that doesn't mean it cant be improved upon and the 200 has lasted a lot better then its rivals of a similar age that's for sure!

Is200199 · December 20, 2020

On 1/27/2016 at 12:38 PM, ChrisIS200SportTTE said:

The 200 was launched in the UK to take on the BMW 316-318-320, Audi A4 2.0 and Mercedes C class.

They fitted the 2.0 because the market in Europe don't want bigger engines that cost more to tax and return poor mpg.

For the market the IS200 was aimed at the power is right, it's not a fast car and was never meant to be. It's a comfortable cruiser.

I'm also pretty sure that they putting in a tuneable engine didn't even enter their mind, why would it? They weren't trying to sell cars to the performance market, but to the corporate business market.

The suspension is high because again they were selling a comfortable cruiser not a fast sporty car that's slammed but one that comfortably eats up motorway miles. So yes they did know what they were doing

I agree it was just to compete with bmw .. I have a 1999 I S 200 sport which they didn’t sell many of in the first year due to it was heavily priced with all the options it had on .. then in 2000 they took most of the options off them made it affordable and sold **** loads and they made a hell of a car.. was never meant to be a performance car but I’m the same think it could do with a bit more power.. mines oem apart From a 25mm drop.. looks great factory timeless

Is200199 · December 20, 2020

Shizukesa · December 22, 2020

On 10/17/2015 at 2:52 AM, Rasmus said:

I bought a DECAT exhaust manifold and downpipe of ebay for mine. The VVT-i witch originally kicks in at 4500 RPM, now kicks in at 3000 RPM, would say 10-15 hp more + it makes a great sound and it's easy to install.

The downside is that the CO2 sensors cant be used so the engine light will be on.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS200-1G-FE-2-0-1998-2005-EXHAUST-DECAT-MANIFOLD-MF6547-B66-/200703032579?hash=item2ebad53d03:g:YWsAAMXQNo5TX5oF

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-IS200-2-0-MK1-STAINELESS-STEEL-EXHAUST-DECAT-CAT-DOWNPIPE-DP7935-B66-/200718980598?fits=Car+Make%3ALexus&hash=item2ebbc895f6:m:mBZ05PV23dW2ieSdM99y3GA

Everyone please ignore this information. I've had a decat manifold on my car and I felt absolutely no difference whatsoever.

The IS200 is NOT a tuner friendly car.

The IS300 with a turbo conversion and a standalone ECU however...