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ISFPOWER's "Double M.P." BUILD THREAD. Molten Pearl & Money Pit
*every picture in this thread will not be edited color wise just because i want to show how nice this color is in various lighting. only edits will be on license plates and trademarks**
INTRO:
Bought a new RC-F couple or few months ago. I'm sure some of you know of my previous IS-F. Loved my IS-F. cheapest car I've had ever in my life to maintain. I'm a tech nerd so electronics were just getting dated for me and wanted to be put into something newer that has some of the things i was looking for. It had to be faster than my IS-F, stock for stock, had to have mechanical LSD, better audio, electronic gadgets, remote start, etc.
Cars that it finally came down to was 2012 GT-R, m3, m4, 2014 bmw m6 and the RC-F.
2012 GTR - fast..just fast . but interior was a bit too loud, interior wasn't bad as people make it seem. it looks good when you are in it. leather on the dash and stuff. but i didn't feel any type of luxury from it and thats not it's fault. its not a luxury car. but I've always wanted done and buying a 2012 used and seeing some of the maintenance prices ...i'm too meticulous to by a used car like that and expect owners never driving it hard.
m3/m4. fast, felt fast, looks good, aggressive fenders on the m3. m4 is more sporty of the two. but both, interior was a let down. and the exhaust sound was not something to be happy about. its a lot louder inside than i remember on previous gens. Good car but i couldn't even get dealers to take off 3k from price. its not a good 80k car. its a great 65k car though.
2014 bmw m6. felt luxury, quiet, fast up top, beautiful exhaust sound. v8 twin twin turbo. two things i like put together stock. easy to make power. Only thing is the insurance on this car in my name was outrageous . more than the GTR. also the resale value is horrendous . i looked prices up last night, they've dropped about 8-10k in a matter of two months. and over 50 % of when they were new. sounds like a financial mistake.
RC-F. Many will say it's basically the same as the IS-F. it is in some ways. i felt at home in it. quality was good. power, ill be honest, my bolt on/tuned ISF felt wayyyy faster. this car does not "feel" as fast. its fast, but its faster when you are looking at the speedometer. you are going fat speeds in a matter of secs. interior is trumps all of the cars I've listed. from the materials, colors, stitching, seats, the Instrument cluster is out of this world. it had a touch pad for navi..just all of these cool little things i love about it. its a great cockpit . Also amazed how lexus made a new body style car so quiet inside on the first try. Its super quiet when cruising. i catch myself going 90mph+ when the speed limit is 55mph. its just that smooth and quiet. amazing. My first test drive, i wasn't to fond of the car besides the interior. I drove it again a year later when i was seriously car shopping. drove it hard...really hard. also first time i had it on the sport ..i didn't know about the sport +. it has changed my mind a lot the second go. the first car was the one with the TVD. Second car had no TVD but the way i was driving it, it feel much more raw. it kicked the rear out nicer and corrected . just feel alive and on its feet. thats the moment i fell in love.
Only car i would want in the RCF is orange or white. Orange is my first pic. I feel like this the new special color for lexus as the USB color was when the ISF came out.
Fast forward, i found a left over 2015. It had every package i wanted on it besides the ML. i can't be too picky. Also this means i can finally put an aftermarket system in it even though this stock system is louder and sounds better than the ISF ML package.
Had Premium package, navi package, moonroof, ..all of the good stuff. not one scratch underneath or anywhere on the car. you would think the car sitting for so long, it would at least be swirled up from multiple car washes or moving around the dealership. but nope, it was always stored in doors and has a factory protectant on it. i was very happy with this purchase.
i had them put on 30 percent pinnacle tint on all around before picking up the car.
Got my gift from Lexus for my purchase. i will never use this and keep in plastic. its a very special gift to me and ill keep it in my records for life. thank you Lexus.
Something i always do is get my car aligned when i can. went to the only in ground alignment rack. perfect alignment..camber all around are the same. you can already see here how bad brake dust is in the front. Brought my car in for the TSB for the squealing brakes and got the new brake pads all around. Won't be on there long. Ordering Project MU NS pads all around. pics like this are important for me because it won't look like this for long. this is completely stock and its about to change.
installed RR Racing titanium intake and rare ARC oil cap. i apologize for the dirty bottom engine plastic. i found out the hood scoop is actually functional which means dirty engine bay in wet weather. no more driving in rain or snow with this car as long as i own it.
one of my favorite mods for my ISF was the silver carbon steering wheel. it makes the car feel much more luxurious while sporty . had to get one for the RC.
Next up, i had a vision for my engine bay before even buying my car. Im glad Lexus spruced it up a bit with the opening in the engine bay cover and exposing a special blue colored intake manifold/plenum. Gives it more character and depth that i love and i can work with making the engine bay look visually appealing that i quite didn't get with my ISF after all said and done. I know I'm putting a lot of money into the engine bay without any power gains but i honestly have never had a show quality engine bay my entire life on any cars I've owned. just cursed with some ugly engine bays that i can't work with. it's going to change with this car.
Got my factory strut bar professional chromed. not polished, but a real true chrome process that was awesome to see the process and what it takes. i didn't know how much went into chroming and the expensive machines you need. it was an awesome experience. if any of you guys are serious, you can ship your stuff to me and i can bring it down to them and have it done.
After installing. too cold to wipe down engine bay but looks pretty clean. (snowy weather)
Next up was wheels. TE37 are my go to wheels my entire life. had so more sets that i can count with one hand. Lightening up this car is a must and priority for me. So Volk TE37 it was.
I wanted to go with mag blue at first. but me being so meticulous with blemishes, i would hate to get a rock chip or something on the mag blue. I saw an orange M3 with mag blue te37. loved it but i wanted something easier to maintain.
So let's try this again. Same wheels, same offsets, but in my favorite all time color. i wouldn't think i would be able to find this color in the widths and offsets . all three are rare and to have this set, I feel truly blessed. introducing you guys to my new wheels. Formula Silver TE37
This color is not really silver at all. its all diff colors depending on lighting. if some of you are familiar , its gunmetal most of the time, its shiny chromish darker silver in the day time but it has a certain look to it that reminds me of a black chrome..but not as dark. I decided i don't want to black out the trim on this car. Its too new and i just want to find a wheel to work with the trim. hopefully it all pans out well.
these volk CE/TE center caps were not only expensive but also very hard to find. the color is rare. couldn't find any vendor that had it in in stock and weight time was more than 2 months at the very least. Some calls to my Mackin industries and being a repeat customer, had these expedited to me. Also got a brake reservoir cover and to give you a hint on the pads i will be running on this car.
I had to figure out what i wanted to do about lowering the car. I can honestly say there is nothing really I'm interested just yet because this platform is new, not too many choices. I wanted to go with something nice. KW seems to be just "ok" from what a member have told me. Coils from RR racing with the penske makes noise...i will not live with any type of noise with this car. The Ohlins looked nice from Figs..i was leaning towards that but that has to be a happy medium coilover . i just want something semi smooth and something i can drop an inch and not ruin the shocks.
I saw a few member's cars. Webwork's RC-F and JT2MA71's RCF both come to mind when i saw their car on the Swift springs. Im not cheap by no means but this will have to suffice until i find something i like. the drop on their car looks good, they said it rides good. To be honest, if I'm happy with the drop and everything rides well, i don't see any reason to buy coilovers any time soon. I've always had coilovers on every car but then again, there were never good spring choices.
A bit of JDM fender flare pieces. i like these pieces when i see RC-Fs lowered on them. It gives more lines on the car to break up some of the smoothness on the body. I think with a flush set up, it will look amazing and exactly what i want to do with this car. it will also make the car look lower without being lower like another member said. OEM , JDM and color matches perfect. it's not for everyone but not everyone has seen it done correctly to make a proper opinion. let's just hope what I'm thinking they will look like will come out right .
So keep going with going all out with this wheel set up... i need a durable pair of lug nuts. i've had the volk formula lugs before which were 400 but the anodized caps faded in the sun. I had a few of the project kics r40 neo chro lug nuts . they were very durable. . they were open ended and made the stud and inside of lugs rusty colored. always bothered me. i didn't even drive in the rain but it comes after washing the car. well since then, they have the Revo edition where it it has caps on now to protect and look better.
Stepping up a notch, i went with the project kics iconix lugs. it has the caps and drilled holes for a bit of weight savings..lol..every bit helps. also attention to details is what my builds have always been about and the drilled holes look awesome and gives a lot of character to the simplistic styling of the volk te37. they are pretty. the finish has always been durable. not easy to chip or scratch up and the way i treat them , they should stay looking new its entire life of ownership. also, I'm staying with the jdm theme of the wheel set up. very important to me.
Lets put it next to the wheels to preview how they may look.
I don't drive much so at least in the winter, i want to know about my car when its parked at home and i want to watch it real time or at least have it recorded daily in case something every goes wrong. Demik's build thread (awesome guy and best RCF) i saw he had the blackvue front and rear dash cams. Him and i are pretty similar and he even picks the sleekest dash cams..lol. this is actually the best looking dash cam and I've looked though many. it might not have the highest rating when it comes to night vision but it still shows very well. everything else is great. 1080p video, real time doesn't lag too bad like some cameras. interface is good .
I will meticulously be taking off my headliner and running everything clean like he did and also i got the power magic pro . like it says, its an intelligent power drain protection for dash cams. i can set the dash cams by voltage and it will run even when the car is turned off. i have to buy an electronics wire/terminal connectors kit to properly install all of this in a nice and professional, seamless install. hopefully about a day's work. no shortcuts or backyard wiring install will ever be done on any of my cars.
12-26-16, 12:07 PM
ISFPOWER's "Double M.P." BUILD THREAD. Molten Pearl & Money Pit
