Lexus ISF

[RichGS11]

On 11/1/2023 at 7:50 AM, Irish ISF said:

Hi Rich, how are you getting on with this? I still have not put on the headers as ive been so busy with my house. How much louder than the stock headers are they? I have a Hayward and Scott exhaust and i love the sound of it. I still have my secondary cats in and I will be keeping them in. It's a daily driver in some ways but I really only have to drive it when I want to as I have a 4x4 from work. I leave it parked up for weeks at a time so in reality its an occasions car. Is it ridiculously loud? I've asked this on US forums but I've been to the US and I dont think Americans understand the concept of "obnoxious loudness" as lots of cars there are just insanely loud. 

Hey mate, sorry I never replied to this, I didn't get a notification.

I wouldn't say it's obnoxiously loud bar a cold start, first 10 seconds or so it's very loud in the garage with the doors open. If you put it in gear instantly it goes quiet. Once the cold start cycle ends it's fine. I love it and it's a nice V8 noise, not ASBO noise.

[Irish ISF]

On 1/13/2024 at 11:44 AM, RichGS11 said:

Hey mate, sorry I never replied to this, I didn't get a notification.

I wouldn't say it's obnoxiously loud bar a cold start, first 10 seconds or so it's very loud in the garage with the doors open. If you put it in gear instantly it goes quiet. Once the cold start cycle ends it's fine. I love it and it's a nice V8 noise, not ASBO noise.

No bother. I went ahead and fitted it anyway. On first start up I thought I was after making a massive mistake but it settles down quickly and, as you say, has a beautiful V8 roar to it. It's a massive improvement. 

 

I'm surprised by the lack of drone and how quiet it is at cruising speed but how vicious the sound gets when you are on it. It's not quiet at all when giving it the beans but not really any dronier than the stock exhaust when cruising. The car gets noticed a lot more now alright which for me is a good thing. It was too anonymous before.

 

It also feels significantly faster than before with the remap. Great modification. Engine mounts were well worth doing too.

[RichGS11]

53 minutes ago, Irish ISF said:

No bother. I went ahead and fitted it anyway. On first start up I thought I was after making a massive mistake but it settles down quickly and, as you say, has a beautiful V8 roar to it. It's a massive improvement. 

 

I'm surprised by the lack of drone and how quiet it is at cruising speed but how vicious the sound gets when you are on it. It's not quiet at all when giving it the beans but not really any dronier than the stock exhaust when cruising. The car gets noticed a lot more now alright which for me is a good thing. It was too anonymous before.

 

It also feels significantly faster than before with the remap. Great modification. Engine mounts were well worth doing too.

That's awesome mate!

I said to a friend of mine that the upgrade made the car feel like a more modern powered sports saloon. It's the best upgrade I think you can do, especially adding the the USRS bushes at the front, that changed the steering like you won't believe.

So glad you got it on the car!

[Evogixer]

Rich, I'm over to the states later in the year-did you get a pair of headers in a case ok?  I'll bring an RR intake kit & eng mounts back too. Did you bother declaring or grit your teeth? Ha ha! Eng mounts are not extra vibey now you've had them in a while? Am I right thinking you also went the Sikky propshaft route too?

Cheers, Andy.

[RichGS11]

16 minutes ago, Evogixer said:

Rich, I'm over to the states later in the year-did you get a pair of headers in a case ok?  I'll bring an RR intake kit & eng mounts back too. Did you bother declaring or grit your teeth? Ha ha! Eng mounts are not extra vibey now you've had them in a while? Am I right thinking you also went the Sikky propshaft route too?

Cheers, Andy.

Hey Andy,

Yup brought back headers in a spare case. Read up on what you can bring back auto wise, and only fluids were a concern, of which I wasn't transporting any. I paid for an extra case and just took it with me and prayed. Granted I never had the receipts or any documentation with me for the headers. I sent those via post, to myself at home. That way there was no way of Boarder control adding VAT to an unknown price of product. They were essentially 'used' and a 'friends'. I've been 10 times to the States, never been caught in customs and always had goodies with me.

Engine mounts are not too bad but you will notice them. I'm on very stiff suspension so you know the modification has been made, but it's not my daily nor an issue to me. Nothing that's too off putting at all and I'd say even less noticeable on standard spring set ups.

I don't have a Sikky prop, although I am hoping that a carbon prop may find its way to me soonish 🤞🏼

[Evogixer]

Nice one, I wasnt sure what dims they were as not physically seen them. Cheers for that info. Mines no daily either but like the '12 suspension so will work well as you say. There is a guy in the U.K who installed a prop but I think he was in Hamilton-hence the confusion.

[RichGS11]

2 hours ago, Evogixer said:

Nice one, I wasnt sure what dims they were as not physically seen them. Cheers for that info. Mines no daily either but like the '12 suspension so will work well as you say. There is a guy in the U.K who installed a prop but I think he was in Hamilton-hence the confusion.

Haha if it is from Hamilton that will be freeky if it ends up with me being that's my surname 😆😆

[RichGS11]

More carbon parts added to the list....

[RichGS11]

I then obtained an RCF gator to modernise the interior a little....

[Simracer]

On 2/12/2023 at 6:53 AM, RichGS11 said:

Then it was a case of enjoying the rest of the summer inbetween some very long days and nights with work due to the wildfires, but with autumn closing in, the activities with the car started dwindling.

Hi Rich, I also have a 2010 ISF and want to order the GTC01rr wheels. What wheel and tire specs do you have? I think the best bet would be front 18x8.5 +42 and rear 18x9.5 +45 but I am scared they wont clear the calipers...Did you have to modify anything?

Regards,

[RichGS11]

17 minutes ago, Simracer said:

Hi Rich, I also have a 2010 ISF and want to order the GTC01rr wheels. What wheel and tire specs do you have? I think the best bet would be front 18x8.5 +42 and rear 18x9.5 +45 but I am scared they wont clear the calipers...Did you have to modify anything?

Regards,

Hey,

No modifications brakes wise. I will try to get a better image of clearances, to help you decide. I'm 9.5" all round and ET35 (I like the wide stance and wanted a square set up). I had similar style wheels with an ET38 set up which was also good for clearances.

[Simracer]

4 minutes ago, RichGS11 said:

Hey,

No modifications brakes wise. I will try to get a better image of clearances, to help you decide. I'm 9.5" all round and ET35 (I like the wide stance and wanted a square set up). I had similar style wheels with an ET38 set up which was also good for clearances.

Thanks for the answer! With those specs did you have roll the fenders? With 9.5 +35 on the back and lets say 265 tires I am fairly sure it would rub on my car

[RichGS11]

21 minutes ago, Simracer said:

Thanks for the answer! With those specs did you have roll the fenders? With 9.5 +35 on the back and lets say 265 tires I am fairly sure it would rub on my car

I was 275 on the rears on both offsets. I had to shave down on +35. I'm not sure about 265's. I sold those wheels to a guy I still talk to. I'll see what he did tyre spec wise and if any arch work was undertaken.

[RichGS11]

The wing has returned and is finally up to the standard I want. Took some work but they managed to remove the horrendous top coat that was slapped on at the factory!

[RichGS11]

Time to get ready for 2024 with a driveway service of filters and fluids (which is essentially the 40k service)....

[IgelNotomoto]

Man this car and build are a pure treat, I've read the entire thread, and very tasteful modifications to this. 

Would love to shoot (photograph) it at some point. 

Had no idea that the RCF centre console would fit the ISF, very interesting. 

Looking forward to see what else you keep upgrading on this beast. 

[RichGS11]

8 hours ago, IgelNotomoto said:

Man this car and build are a pure treat, I've read the entire thread, and very tasteful modifications to this. 

Would love to shoot (photograph) it at some point. 

Had no idea that the RCF centre console would fit the ISF, very interesting. 

Looking forward to see what else you keep upgrading on this beast. 

Thank you very much dude, that's very kind of you. Happy to let you take some shots, where are you and do you have an Instagram profile?

Thank you!

[IgelNotomoto]

19 hours ago, RichGS11 said:

Thank you very much dude, that's very kind of you. Happy to let you take some shots, where are you and do you have an Instagram profile?

Thank you!

Hey buddy, you most welcomed, you can follow me at @notomoto.co and chat through there too if you'd like. 
I'm towards Stevenage / Biggleswade side. 

Best regards ! 

[RichGS11]

1 hour ago, IgelNotomoto said:

Hey buddy, you most welcomed, you can follow me at @notomoto.co and chat through there too if you'd like. 
I'm towards Stevenage / Biggleswade side. 

Best regards ! 

Followed you in Instagram. I'm based in Huntingdon, just up the A1 in Cambs!

[IgelNotomoto]

36 minutes ago, RichGS11 said:

Followed you in Instagram. I'm based in Huntingdon, just up the A1 in Cambs!

Awesome stuff, I'll message you there, so we don't flood your thread with non related stuff 😆

[RichGS11]

A few images from Japfest....

[RichGS11]

Well I've been out and about enjoying the car a lot lately, going to a few events, Caffine and Machine and the like. I have a niggly vibration (knock) from the transmission tunnel, which could be absolutely anything, but it has got worse after changing the transmission mount. Other than that, all smiles per gallon.

I also managed to finally address the floor in the garage with a temporary, but possibly more long term fix, with floor tiles. I'd seen a few posts on PistonHeads amongst other places where these tiles were used for cars that rarely see the rain, and I thought I'd take a chance for a fairly inexpensive upgrade. So far so good and parking on carpet is something else! 😂 The patches on the walls have since been painted to match.

Typically, after all this enjoyment it's time to take the car off the road for a couple of weeks for yet more changes. I am removing the wrap for the dechrome as I am unhappy with it after 3 years, and I am having a local guy hydrodip the parts gloss black. He will also be doing the front grill whilst I'm away in Greece. The car will also see one of the rarer modifications to an ISF, a carbon propshaft upgrade from Sikky. This is something I am very excited to get put on after reading the reviews of other people. It should certainly match up with the weight reduction, headers and tune really well.

[RichGS11]

So today I took the car for a pre-MOT emissions check. I always thought running no CAT's and a tune since the last MOT was a little cheeky, that is until today's news....

With PPE headers, no CAT's, Hayward and Scott exhaust and a Loi tune, the car passed emissions flawlessly. I get such great fuel economy after the tune, and this was highlighted in the numbers from the emissions data.

One very happy boy!

[BillNick]

That is very good and encouraging news RE compliance for headers.

I assume your chosen tester will be blind sided by the physical absence of the cats?

All of this has always put me off getting headers, so very encouraging indeed....

Does your car smell at all?

[RichGS11]

39 minutes ago, BillNick said:

That is very good and encouraging news RE compliance for headers.

I assume your chosen tester will be blind sided by the physical absence of the cats?

All of this has always put me off getting headers, so very encouraging indeed....

Does your car smell at all?

So yes in terms of visually you cannot tell if I have CAT's or not to the untrained eye (as my tester says, 190 of these in the UK and visually most won't know what theyre looking at), as I have secondary boxes and resonators which he said to most people, could pass as CAT's. He said that if they were in doubt about it, they'd put the car on the emissions tester and use that data to assume the car has CAT's.

He does my MOT anyway and obviously is aware they're not there, but as he states, they are there for emissions and my car sails through that. Technically he could fail it on the visual check, but since the car burns cleanly and sits well in the emissions bracket, it would make little sense. He also stated that some Toyota's have models with their CAT's on the manifolds and as you cannot see that far up into the side of the block without removing trim, that could also be something to take into account.

Overall he says that the car is burning clean, reads really clean on the emissions check, so he'd pass it every time. I'll take a video and some pics for the actual MOT, just so people can see what the readings are.

He also said I should get it tested at Lexus and see what they say, because he'd put money on most testers going through the motions and relying on hearing blowing from the exhaust, or poor readings on the emissions check when it comes to a fail.