JetBee

Hello,

I just got my 07' IS350 and im eager to tune it up.
did my homework, looked around for exhausts mid pipes intakes and still confused. I'd be grateful if anyone of Lexus owners share their experience here and help me out.
Well, im seeking loudness and performance.

Exhaust:
Megan exhaust Catback
or F-Sport exhaust
or Joe z exhaust

Mid Pipe:
Invidia
or Megan

Intake:
F-sport intake
or Joe z intake
or AFE intake

which do you recommend me to get for the best outcome ??

Thanks.

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Loudness is easy. Performance- you bought the wrong car if you want to mod for significant performance gains.


All axle-backs will produce about the same 7 hp. Sound will differ quite a bit between them and there's lotsa sound clips on youtube.

The Joe Z is a "full" exhaust (meaning it's illegal in all 50 states, but it does produce more power... about 10 hp instead of 7)... it also does sound great, again sound clips shouldn't be hard to find.

1-2 hp here... illegal in all 50 states... (or redundant if you get the Joe Z exhaust)

About 5 hp tops from any of them. The short rams (like the AFE, Injen, etc) will be the loudest but also have some performance robbing heat-soak when taking off from sitting still. (though it's not like any add that much performance to rob in the first place).... the F-sport is louder than the Joe Z, and the only one legal in CA... The Joe Z is the cheapest and gives you the same max performance as the others, but is the quietest... you can drill a hole in your stock lower airbox to make it sound like the F-sport though.





The one item you left off are the PPE headers... which provide a larger gain than anything you did mention... (12-18 hp roughly)... also illegal in all 50 states though.


"max noise and max performance" would probably be something like:

A short ram intake with PPE headers into Joe Z exhaust.

Gains would be in the 25-30 hp range roughly... which is about all you're going to get out of a 350 without spending a lot of money (or using nitrous)

JetBee

Thanks a lot for the response Kurtz, you really helped me out here.

Few questions, is a cat-back different than an axle-back? heard that a cat-back is a bit louder..?
And speaking of cost, that combination that you have listed above, how much 'roughly' will it cost me?

What do you think of:

Megan racing exhaust cat-back, F-sport intake and PPE Headers?? < how much that will cost me as well??

Thanks.

06isDriver

well put!

JetBee

On which one lol?

DOUGLis350

I have F-sport intake and JoeZ exhaust. Sounds like a million bucks! You bought a lexus don't skimp on a few hundred dollars.

I am waffling on headers, but I think the gains I got from both already are very good.

06isDriver

Kurtz's explanation

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

Well, that's a bit sketchy... most exhausts for the 2IS are "axle-back" because they only cover the rear-axle section back... replacing the stock mufflers and tailpipe section.... even though many call themselves a "cat back"

In front of that there's two sets of cats... so which one "starts" the catback area?

The Joe Z replaces (or removes) the rear pair of cats entirely (as will a midpipe) so it's more of a full exhaust. (and why it's illegal in all 50 states)

The PPE headers remove or replace the front cats (and why it's illegal in all 50 states)

The Intake is about $300 and you can install yourself very very easily.... megan makes both an axleback and a catback (more like the Joe Z) assuming you want the full one those run around $900 I think... an axle-back you can put on yourself in 15 minutes with a pair of ramps... a more full exhaust is a big tougher- doable yourself certainly though.

The PPE headers I think are like 600-ish, install is considerably tougher... doable if you're handy working on this stuff but probably it's gonna run around $1000 installed if you want a shop to do it...(this assumes you do the PPE headers without aftermarket cats- since it's illegal either way why spend $ on the cats?)

So figure about $2200 if you install the first 2 items yourself... if you have the shop doing the headers do the exhaust as well maybe another $100-ish. (I'd always suggest doing the intake yourself, it's very easy)



Doing the same but using the Joe Z instead would up your cost by about $600, all of that being the more expensive exhaust... so probably close to 3k if you're paying labor for all the exhaust/header installs.

JDMis350

iTrader: (1)

KURTZ pretty much told you everything there is to know as far as performance goes. well atleast thats all i got in the 5 years of research since i owned my car. so listen to this guy.
anyways i dont know if you heard the fsport exhaust and invidia mid-pipe combo but thats PRETTY LOUD!!! and there are some vids of members wit that setup takin a IS-F in the 1/4 mile and 1/8 mile

JetBee

Thanks a lot guys,,
Just ordered F-sport intake online, was a bit pricey thou, around $400
i will have to search hard for the Megan exhaust >< unless any of you have recommendation on a specific one. Then comes the headers

Again, Thanks A lot guys for the big help ^^..

YoungMoney

Fsport intake, Fsport exhaust sound really well together imo.
Add those PPE headers and you should be happy.

Just my opinion though... Kurtz gave ya all the analytics.

JoeCombs

iTrader: (3)

hopup racing is where i got my megan exhaust, cheapest i found online, or just lurk the classifieds for a used one.

JetBee

Is there a difference between Megan 'racing' Cat-Back Exhaust Systems OE-RS
and Megan OE RS Type Catback Exhaust ??
cz i found a big difference in cost :/ like almost 100 bucks