Thesil

Was wondering if there is s tuner chip for my RC. Love the car, but the acceleration is lackluster. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thanks

GearHead69

The car is so new that nothing is even out yet. I'm wanting drilled and slotted rotors. Probably in a few months though.

JDR76

The car is new but the engine is not (came out in '06). Unfortunately, there are no valid timing chip options for the 2GR-FSE engine used here.

GearHead69

Thanks, good to know.

JDR76

No problem. The chip is something that IS350 and GS350 owners have been searching for, but have gone for years with no luck.

GearHead69

The GM V6 Camaro got the same lack of love also. Not many performance upgrades even though tunes were available, and the two that I had were not that great. I guess the way GM and Lexus figures it is if you want the fun you should have gotten a V8.

What everyone seems to not pay attention to is that the V6 will outsell the V8, and just because we didn't opt for the $73K RCF doesn't mean we don't want performance options. Ok, rant over, and I'll get off the soap box now.

JDR76

This is my assumption of the reason, so take it for what it's worth (perhaps not very much).

Lexus is widely known for their reliability. The engines are tuned for a compromise of performance and reliability.

As soon as they start allowing tuners hack into their ECUs to squeeze more performance out, they lose control and, despite the fact that it's not the fault of Lexus, you end up with additional wear and tear on Lexus engines out there, which is never good.

GearHead69

I agree with you. One of the reason I bought my Lexus is the reliability, and my wife's 2004 ES330 just went over 100K miles and it still runs great.

When my Camaro was tuned part of the tune was to turn off certain checks, which would allow the car to run richer, and therefore more HP, but at a cost I'm sure. I only had the tune installed for a few months as it wasn't worth it in the long run to possibly compromise my car.

It's good to hear the opinions of others on the subject. Thanks

JDR76

The pleasure is mine, GearHead69.

GrandSedanFan

iTrader: (1)

Toyota ECUs are virtually impossible to crack, so the only thing you can do to make more power w/o other mods is run a piggyback unit, which is major overkill on a stock car.

GearHead69

Yes that would be overkill for sure. We'll just have to see what Lexus eventually comes out with for other performance upgrades. I guess I'll just install lighted door sills for now to appease the Mod itch.

tx_is300

Hey guys I have a '14 IS350 F Sport in which i have added an ECU flash. This is similar to chip you are asking bout except this is not permanently attached to the OBD. This simply remaps the ECU for more aggressive settings that already exist on the car.

Bottom line it improves shifting, power & torque. This is sold by VR Tuned aka Vivid Racing in Arizona. I have had this over 1-2 months and 1,200+ miles. It has not reverted back to stock mappings.

I also have intake and rear exhaust and this is exactly what the car needs and should have come with to start. It feels close to the dyno tested results they got on a 2nd gen IS - approx 25 hp and 30-40 lbs of torque.

Especially now with the colder weather, the engine reacts way better than stock due to the denser cooler air. Check out my postings on ECU flash on the 3rd gen IS.

GearHead69

They are in the same town as myself. I checked them out and they have the 2015 RC-F, but not the RC-350 so hopefully they will add that also.

JDR76

Here are some threads about the Vivid Racing flash:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...u-mapping.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ing-owner.html

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/per...-14-is350.html

GearHead69

Form reading those links it appears it does not work. When I had my 2011 V6 Camaro tuned it was done by a very reputable company in AZ, and it's cost was only $499. Because of the tune the car would not pass emissions until it was put back to stock, and driven for over 500 miles to set all the indicators.

The only way to tell if a tune works is to get a baseline of before, and then after to see the differences. I guess if I want V8 performance I can always drive my 65 Mustang Fastback.