RichGS11

I'm with Damian. Go to Lexus if you can and ride in one they have. I'm sure there'll be someone close to you that can oblige if not. Hopefully you get in one and enjoy it. They're different animals in manual mode and sport,but comfortable cruisers in drive. It's nice to have a powerful V8 at your toes, that can also be driven like a Lexus.

So initial first drive turned into a longer one for all the right reasons....

So I woke up worrying about an unbalanced propshaft, vibrations, rattles, etc. I also contemplated if there'd be any sort of change at all and if I'd notice it. With that in mind, I ventured downstairs, fixed the last of the trim underneath, lowered the car and put the tools away, then came the moment of truth. Pulling out the driveway and travelling up the road with no issues, no noises, rattles, vibration was a great start, with the car feeling great up to 40 mph. Leaving junctions in D mode felt quicker under load, and acted as though I was in M mode. I wasn't flooring it, but it felt smooth, quick and like it was hungry to go faster.

Then I pushed the car on the bypass and the goosebumps started. Faster, smoother, the power going where I wanted it, no hesitation and lovely gear changes in M. This then resulted in a 20 minute blast on the local dual carriageways and I was not disappointed (goosebumps still remained).

The car is something else, arguably the most important modification I've made. Headers and a tune were a jump, a carbon prop is a leap. No more prop wind, everything happens in a instant. It feels as though the car has lost 200kg's. It hasn't, it's just lost the rubber guibos and centre joint that adds a delay and hesitation.

My morning fears vanished quickly and from upshifts, standing starts, cruising to downshifts (predominantly 2nd to 1st), everything is smoother and predictable. The car also seems quieter with less NVH, most likely down to the single piece prop I have now instead of the OEM two piece with joint.

Very, very happy is an understatement!

Well it's finally on and running. Sikky carbon propshaft found it's new home today. Some bits to finish off in the daylight of tomorrow and its first test run will follow. Car runs and doesn't leak from the exhaust, no codes and no vibration from the prop up to around 4k, but we'll know more tomorrow!

I am done for laying on the ground though. Too old for this 😭

Thank for looking as always.

It shouldn't change with the sport button, but being a Japanese import there's a chance the steering ECU has been upgraded to the 2011+, which was a heavier feel to get it closer to a performance BMW feel. 

If you can get the part number of the steering ECU from the seller, that will tell you more about it.

Does the car have other modifications?

Took some promo shots for the company that made the elbow.

Another update today....

Took a trip to Lincoln to talk to a gentleman who is planning on making titanium elbows for the ISF, GSF and RCF. He wanted a car to test fit some of his work and picked mine!

So up I drove and spent most of the day in the unit sizing up the titanium elbow and other options for future modifications, including a titanium exhaust system.

I did come away with a nice new present though, which will certainly help flow on the intake side, a new titanium elbow!

As expected I didn't notice any real changes in performance, but that'll come after I install a new drop in Blitz filter and a retune with my tuner, who says this is the best combo when it comes to retaining the OEM air filter housing.

A different design is on the way, one that is similar to the RR Racing system that removes the entire airbox and has a heatproof cover to prevent as little heatsoak as possible.

The gentleman creating these is also setting up a 'group buy' making each elbow only £250 each (considerably cheaper than LEMs or the equivalent off the shelf part).

.....I still haven't installed the carbon propshaft yet lol....

It's the vehicles speed, which is not GPS.

Another upgrade to the car....

After having some issues with a knocking noise from the transmission tunnel, I managed to find the cause, the new OEM style transmission mount. The mount was not up to the task and sagged at the rubber wings. This caused two metal plates to make contact and vibrate through the car, so up turned the replacement.  RR Racings road and track transmission mount. A solid rubber unit that eliminates flex at the transmission side and compliments the RR Racing engine mounts that I already have.

The new mount has transformed shifts in manual and sport mode. This was definitely an area I was lacking performance wise and I didn't really know it until the change. The car feels even crisper and shaper when changing gears and the power feels more direct to the rear wheels.

The next performance modification will be the carbon prop install, which I haven't fitted yet, as the MOT was up next, which the car sailed through as expected.

Another recent addition saw an upgrade on the rear of the car, some facelift IS2 inner tails.

This was a rather inexpensive test modification wise, as I wanted to see what the lights looked like alongside the old outer lights. I have to say I am very impressed and the lights will be staying on the car for the time being.

Up next, Sikky carbon propshaft install!

Took the car out for some pics....

4 minutes ago, BillNick said:

Again all very encouraging and welding in empty sport cats is a great idea but a last resort by sounds of it.

I have an RCF and lots of owners that have gone FBO in US complain about smell. Very interesting.

You might have reignited my desire for headers lol

It's worth investigating because I don't have it and likewise with ISF's in the States, the odd one gets the smell. I'm wondering if it's lower grade fuel or even the start of the valley plate leak? Rotten egg smell in a car is usually oil and water (head gasket). Obviously it isn't the HG, but it has to be something, because I haven't had it, even idling the car in the garage.

One alternative I also have is to purchase two gutted, stainless high flow CATs, cut them in half and then clamp them around the Y piece just before the downstream sensors and weld them on. That way I'd visually have CATs and the car would pass emissions.

I floated that to him and he said it would work, but not to worry. This at least gives me an option in the future if I want to have the car visually compliant.

It's just nice to know how well our cars run though!

Oh and sorry mate, no, no smells at all. I was expecting it as others have, but my exhaust is fully sealed all the way along, and I get no foul odours at all. Hence my curiosity with emissions and being CAT'less.

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.

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!

Just in case you don't know, your add on FB says Sold, or it's atleast showing as Sold. 

I may be off to Milbrooke again soon, I'll see what it tops out at. Although mine is modified, the gearbox and ratios are the same.

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.

What did GPS say? The speedo goes out by some margin the faster you go. I had 170 on mine but GPS took 10mph off that.

Look 4 posts down.....

Welcome and enjoy the platform!

So I'm not sure about the auto lights on with Techstream, never heard of anyone that's done it, but not to say impossible.

Wing mirrors on can be done but you need a relay and a custom setup. I know of a few people that have them installed.

Not sure about the door handle. I'm assuming yours is loose?

The stereo is a bit of a pain with the ISF. There are options out the such as GROM Vline, which can give you an updated stereo system with more options, but it's not the most stable of software. I've had it and sold it, others had better luck with it and kept it.

Spare parts there are a few places such as Lexus Parts Direct, but most people use RockAuto from the States. Competitive and fast delivery.

Just keep asking questions on here and we'll try to assist. Happy motoring and enjoy the car. Pictures welcome 😊

Rich

I have Techstream. I'll check if the option is on there for the ISF.

Interested to see this installed and your verdict.

7 hours ago, Linas.P said:

I have a set, the problem is removing them without damage.

That said I am not sure the rubber part at the bottom is in good shape on mine, will need to confirm if interested.

Hi Linas,

To be honest my plan is to strip them back and repaint/hydrodip them black. The rubber bit isn't all that important.

Hi all,

Random request, but everyone that seems to be breaking an IS fails to respond on Facebook market place.

I'm after the chrome window trims for all four doors from a MK2 IS250/350/ISF.

Thanks.

I'd like to get my hands on a Draggy to give mine a look. With all I've done it 'should' be quite impressive. I want to do a before and after with the carbon propshaft too!