FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Yep, the 1st and 2nd gear in IS350 are just WOWWW. The amount of power I feel in these first 2 gears during autocrosses is just incredible. Even in cruising, the rev to 3500 RPM will leave many other cars way way behind right after traffic light (not drag race).

The aggressive gearing in the IS350 is the reason I bought an additional IS

From 0-40 MPH, the IS350 is almost as fast as a super car. 0-60 MPH, IS350 is only slightly slower than a super car. That is why IS350 is like a super car for daily driving lol.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I'm going to Fontana for autocross this Saturday. I believe I'm the ONLY one with Lexus IS350.
Anyone wants to go? You can still register here Come on Club Lexus, bring it there, bring more Lexus here

http://www.speedventures.com/events/...il.aspx?id=483

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I have just finished autocrossing in Fontana last weekend. Here are something I learn about the IS350 and would like to share with you all

All the following are done in SPORT MODE with 2nd gear limiter. My IS350 has F Sport springs/ F Sport shocks and F Sport rear sway bar with F Sport wheel and Hankook v12 summer tires. This car with this set up is VERY TAIL HAPPY and fully capable of DRIFTING with traction control off.

1. NORMAL + TRACTION control ON: Slowest but very easy to drive, great to start out like this to learn the track.

2. POWER + TRACTION control ON: Improved 0.5 seconds driving the same line as in (1), this is because with power mode, you accelerate sooner (RPM kicks in faster) and the engine is more aggressive staying in lower gear than in normal mode. However, it is very hard to modulate the gas pedal so you have to be cautious and always get ready to slightly lift the gas a bit (not full lift) and/or counter steer to avoid spinning out.

3. NORMAL + TRACTION control OFF: FASTEST and MOST FUN TO DRIVE!!! I improved more than 1 second and I set all of the fastest lap time in this mode. The car comes ALIVE like a Gozilla! This car is so so damn fun to control and drive if you know how to modulate the pedal together with some counter steering. Oh my God, I power slide oversteering and drift all over the entire track withOUT spinning out It is also my FIRST time drifting in my IS350 lol.

4. POWER + TRACTION control OFF: Excessive oversteering, and very easy to spin out! I can induce and initiate oversteering very easily but it is hard to sustain the power slide/drift because the gas pedal is so hard to modulate (it is too aggressive), I almost spin out couple times with this.

I have another friend who rarely drives Lexus IS. He is one of the instructor there. I let him drive my IS350 for the first time and DAMNNN he DRIFT the **** out of my car for almost the entire track smoking all over the places lol and he WAS IMPRESSED by the IS350. He asked me is this STOCK CAR REALLY?? I said yeah stock car with some suspension upgrades . He was like damn, I can't believe Lexus IS is THIS FUN to drive!

F Sport spring/shocks/rear sway bar combo with traction control off really really WAKES up the IS350 First time drifting is soooo sooo damn fun man!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^That's great to know! Now drive the IS250 around the track and give us your impressions. LOL!

Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

Going to a track day this Sat and I will have to try the Normal mode. I always run in Power mode with TC completely off. The TC off does make the car so much more fun to drive. At least until you start spinning at 100mph! Lesson learned on that one.

smokyis350

iTrader: (21)

Nice observation Fsport. I will definitely keep that in mind next time I go to the track. I never turned off my traction control yet. I'm worried about spinning out on the track and crash into a ditch or flipping my car (actually happened to someone).

pmanliu

iTrader: (4)

Nice observations and I agree with you 100% on the power mode. I had it on for the first few runs and the ride along instructor turned it off claiming that it makes the throttle wayyyyyyyyy too sensitive. Like you said, maybe if someone is trying to get some dreeeeeeefto action, then leave power on. Otherwise you get a much smoother lap with it off.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Haha, I tried doing the power slide in IS250 but the torque is just not the same, it is day and night difference. I used to love my IS250 but after driving the IS350, man, I love the IS350 way way way way more.

To all of you out there who is buying the IS, go straight to the IS350!!! That extra money is SOOO WORTH IT!!!

IS250 is just a little boy, IS350 is the MAN and ISF is the BOSS!!!

Re3iRtH

Is there a POWER mode in my 06 IS350? Never saw a switch or button like that.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Toogle up for PWR mode :

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

Normal mode is much much much more smoother than the power mode when you turn off traction control. I would rather have my car well balanced than to gain the tiny bit of time from aggressive wheel spin especially noticeable in 1st and 2nd gear. That tiny bit of time gained has to be traded off with less balanced car which loses more time because of slower entry and exit speed. In my experience, power mode will make you lose almost a second or even few second sif the car is so much unbalanced. Power mode really sucks in 1st/2nd gear (when traction control is off) which is what I used most in autocross so it is a no no for me.

However, at 3rd or higher with high speed turns or sweep, power mode does have some more advantage because it makes the car stays in the lower gear more plus. Also, you can do power throttle oversteer with power mode much easier by sudden step on the gas and steer, your whole car rotates/drift but you have to control it by counter steer--straighten the wheel out and little bit of throttle fast before it spins you out. You also have to watch for wheel spins all the times too.

Before you turn off traction control, I would highly advice you to learn to control oversteering.

First, I will talk about oversteering, it can be initiated with several ways:
1. throttle lift + turning oversteer. This happens when you are in full throttle and suddenly lift off the throttle during turning. The whole weight shift from back to front and while your front wheels are turning, you overloaded the front while the rear comes loose with so less weight so the front wheel stick while rear wheel spins.

2. Hard brake + turning oversteering. Similar to (1), you are overloading the front while the rear has little weight --> rear wheel slides out. This is usually the cause of many newcomer's spinning out including myself before.

Alright, now once you recognize you have a oversteer, you have to recover it quickly:
1. Counter steer in the opposite direction. This is very counter intuitive, most new comers add even more steer in the same direction and this guarantee you a spin out lol.
2. once your car straighten out. You need to put the steering wheel back to STRAIGHT direction.
3. Add a little throttle (20% or so) while you straighten out your wheel a bit.

If you do only (1), you save the first slide but they will spin out in the 2nd slide because of the pendulum effect.

Anyways, get out there, play with your car a bit and you will know what i'm talking about I can go into much more technical discussion if anyone wishes

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

^So would you say that if you're at a track that doesn't have any "slow" corners, keeping you in 3rd gear or above, you might consider using PWR mode the entire time?

A wet skidpad at the Greer, SC BMW Performance School is where I learned my "drifting". LOL! Actually quite easy to control with the right instruction and time/patience. This was in a 3-series sedan. Then the instructor took me and another passenger in the newest M3 on for the ride of our life on the "normal" track. Drifted the ENTIRE track! Just about the most fun I've had in a car to date; the only except hitting 140mph in the banks at Charlotte Motor Speedway in an open-wheel V8 Indy-type race car!

smokyis350

iTrader: (21)

Thanks Fsport. Will definitely keep that in mind next time I go to the track. Wish I can do autocross instead. At the track there is way too many cars in front or behind you. Any error on the track may cause an accident.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I think our car 2nd gear goes all the way to almost 60MPH or so. Are you sure the track you are at has ALL corners faster than 60MPH??? That is unlikely unless you are on an oval track lol. I guess that is the one you went to right?

If the track has all corners at 3rd gear or higher, yeah I would definitely try PWR mode together with the sport mode to downshift (limit the gear in the case of our car) when needed. However, personally, I still prefer NORMAL + Sport mode for better car balance and smooth pedal modulation. I do also believe NORMAL mode should be used for drag racing too because it shifts at a little bit higher RPM than the PWR mode. Drag racing is not my cup of tea though.

Yeah drifting is so damn fun once you get a hang of it, isn't it? At least it is impressive to show off haha even though it doesn't really help the lap time. I threaded so much tires drifting and my brand new Hankook v12 tires are chirping here and there in the rear already

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

You are in CA right? I would highly recommend autocross with Porsche Club. They have the best set up which is about 80-90 seconds long which is way way longer and better than most of other local autocross. The Fontana autocross is just under 40 seconds long, it is way way shorter and not as fun.

Which track do you go to? Can you give me info? Do they require racing suit, car inspection, helmet SNELL rated 2010 and all that?? Thanks.