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Did a track day at Buttonwillow (my favorite track) last sun. Here is a little video I took by taping my phone to my rear view. Not to bad for the getto setup. I was battling a 2011 M3 all day which had very similar lap times. He was pretty much stock running Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires while I had slighlty stickier R888's, coilovers, and a bit more camber. Who said IS350's can't take on M3's. Once my CarboTech brakes come in I think the M3's will start to have to worry. Due was super cool and a great driver. Gave me a bunch of tips.
That looks hella fun!!! The S2000 seemed so far away till you caught up and then he pulled away and around the M3. Nice job. What mods do you have to your car?
Get that with the 3.3" suction cup base. I use that for phones and GoPros while driving and they are awesome.
You mention new brake pads. Did you have problems with fading? I was pretty happy with the brakes on my 350 on the track. The IS is more capable than some people think. There some good potential to surprise people with it's performance. Glad you had a good time out there.
What did you have your dampening set at? T/C on or off? I'll assume off. Do you tend to trail-brake? Also curious about your current braking setup and what you felt/experienced while on track.
I was looking at the Carbotechs myself this past weekend. Was looking at the XP8s for auto-x and track-only usage.
I'm glad to hear that the 255/35/18 setup in the front worked out well for you on the track without any rubbing issues. The IS350 is a very capable car with the right mods.
Yah the 350 is quite a capable track machine. It will never have the potential of a s2000 or something similar but it is a lot of fun. Not a lot of mods. BC coilovers with swift springs (12/10K), F-Sport rear sway bar, front and rear camber arms (running -2deg in front and -1.5 in rear), and a dedicated set of track wheels and tires. Currently running 255/35/18 Toyo R888 square setup. I generally set my coilovers about about 6 clicks from full hard in the front and 12 in the rear. Always run with T/C completely off.
I am running the stock brake setup, High temp brake fluid, and with EBC yellowstuff pads. The first few track days they were more than adequate. As I got more aggressive and stickier tires the brakes do start to fade quite a bit. I have just learned to brake early and not to be really aggressive with them. I am hoping my carbotech pads let me be much more aggressive with my braking. I really don't trail brake much due to the weak brakes but hopefully with the new pads I can. We will see.
I've been starting some research into '13+ GS350 F-sport rotors and calipers. Factory Lexus 2-pc 14" rotors with "IS350-like" Advics 4-pot calipers. Just nothing out really in the way of pictures yet to see if it might be a "cheap" caliper/rotor upgrade. Time will tell!
^Ah yes, same thing I've got then. The slots do multiple things; but yeah, on the street they're definitely cool looking.
I'll keep my eye on the '13+ GS350 F-sport rotors and calipers situation; just no info out there yet on these components to see about these working on a 2IS. I do see the front knuckles are the exact same P/N, so that leads me to believe this might be a simple bolt-on upgrade. We shall see!
Last edited by Gville350; 12-14-14 at 08:47 AM.
Reason: typo
I tracked my IS350 on all season tires this past summer. I did it for fun to basically drift around the track and see how the IS was on a track. So. Much. Fun. I had a modded Subaru WRX before and my IS was faster by 8 seconds per lap, huge difference. My buddy in a stage 1 GR STi couldn't pass me on straights and only pulled 3 seconds per lap and he's quite modded on z2 star specs. Needless to say, the IS surprised me and everyone else at the track. I have mods sitting in the basement for next year's track days. Just like OP, I highly recommend everyone does at least one track day with these very capable cars (even in stock form).
Thank you for bringing more awareness of track driving to the community. This is a plus!!! I am also one who is more interested in performance driving and not slammed lowered car.
I have watched your video and man, you drive very well. You are doing very good getting almost all the apexes right. I especially like how you battle with the M3 head to tail the whole time lol. I think this is the small Willow track where it have shorter and less straight away than the Big Willow Track. The small Willow definitely favor lighter, smaller car and that is why Miata, Honda S2k shines in here.
On this small Willow, trail braking will definitely help more because that will reduce understeer even more with the weight shift more to the front but do it at the right amount, doing it too much will overload the front tires.
Do you also do left foot braking? This to me is another improvement because there is no delay between braking to acceleration.
Bring it to the Big Willow Springs, I think our IS350 will shine even more there. The power will be utilized more due to longer and more straight away.
Could you also have 1 camera inside the car showing speed & tachometer, 1 camera showing the gas pedal, brake application together with your bumper view. That would be very interesting.
For curiosity, what is your average and fastest lap time on this track if you don't mind sharing? This is not to stir up any competition or anything lol.
12-11-14, 08:25 PM
IS350 track day fun
