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I had considered the IS F shocks and springs many times before deciding on the factory ISx50 sport setup. My main concern was that the ISx50 (especially my 250) was considerably lighter than the IS F (350lbs), and thus the suspension would potentially be too stiff in the front (54.4% F vs. 52.2% F). I didn't want the front of my car sitting too high, etc.
That said, after seeing it done on a 350, I am now considering it yet again...
I had considered the IS F shocks and springs many times before deciding on the factory ISx50 sport setup. My main concern was that the ISx50 (especially my 250) was considerably lighter than the IS F (350lbs), and thus the suspension would potentially be too stiff in the front (54.4% F vs. 52.2% F). I didn't want the front of my car sitting too high, etc.
That said, after seeing it done on a 350, I am now considering it yet again...
Jeff
Yeah it was cool to finally get them in because I had no reference or any resources to go off of when doing the swap. I have not run any of the sport shocks but I will say that the Isf shocks are considerably stiffer. Mine are off an 08. The front does sit a little higher then the rear but I did get a drop which looks better than the stock ride height. I basically pulled the trigger on doing it after watching some stock track day footage of Isf's on the track.
Cool, I'm so glad to see another autocross/track junkie on ClubLexus. So far, I believe we have Sportkid, redspencer, me, Rsuave24, Gville350, and couple more (please jump in here if you will) who are into high performance driving and handling performance.
I would certainly wish more and more members will be going to focus on handling performance and driving dynamics more than just slamming cars.
235/275 (none of that excessive stretch nonsense) on Swift Springs + F-Sport shocks + F-Sport rear sway
I really hate the open diff.... I came from an S2000, miss the LSD.
I totally agree... I haven't had a chance to AutoX or take it to a big track/small track yet, but I do drive my car more spiritedly than a majority of IS owners I met that are into the slammed scene..... They all tell me constantly to lower my car more, and I say why? Even if I got coils I'd keep it the same height (which I had been thinking about so I could adjust settings).
235/275 (none of that excessive stretch nonsense) on Swift Springs + F-Sport shocks + F-Sport rear sway
I really hate the open diff.... I came from an S2000, miss the LSD.
I totally agree... I haven't had a chance to AutoX or take it to a big track/small track yet, but I do drive my car more spiritedly than a majority of IS owners I met that are into the slammed scene..... They all tell me constantly to lower my car more, and I say why? Even if I got coils I'd keep it the same height (which I had been thinking about so I could adjust settings).
Hi
how many finger gap from top of the wheel to the fender do you have on the fronts?
So I just now realize I have messages from last month and so on asking me about side profile pics and ride quality etc.. so sorry I havent responded, I just never check my messages!
But I would like to say that the Isf suspension is rougher than the standard non sport suspension, I will say that I am used to it being that way and prefer it to be that way as there is less body roll and better responsiveness, as for aesthetics I did wish the front was a tad lower but I cant complain.
I am only a month away from my track day so I will make sure to give a nice performance review when I make I make it out to thr track!
Running 18x9.5 rota grids 235-40-18F and 275-35-18R
Nice... nice tire size set up for the track, 275 on the rear, I'm sure you can go WOT with little to no tire spinning. What track are you going to, with what club and what car class are you in? What tire brand and model are you running?
Ill be running in an event hosted by a local car shop here in MN called Modern Automotive Performance's proving grounds.
http://www.maperformance.com/proving-grounds/
The 275's stick well, I love em for straight line performance, impressed my friend running a camaro with 295's, sprinting off the line significantly better than him.
I picked up a set of 245-40-18 dunlop direzzas star specs used from a local evo guy.
The road course is Brainerd International Raceway. I wont be running with any particular clubs since this is pretty much an HPDE event, but Ill probably run with the C group and hopefully run with the B group by the end of the day. classes are categorized from A-D based on driver skill. A is when you start getting on the course with vettes and track dedicated cars... Massive wings, etc..
this event is good seat time for the price, and will be my first event out in the IS. hopefully in time ill eventually start competing in a car specific class, NA Rwd Street Limited, so full interior, no forced induction, rwd only. maybe compete against some Z's s2000's etc
I'm currently running 101 Direzzas all-around on my car. Decent tire for the money; kind of a middle of the pack type tire. I got them because they're on clearance to make way for the release of the new 102s.
Yeah, its weird but I've been relating the car in terms of an Evo Platform.. Figure in terms of weight and size etc, Tire performance would be fairly similar in wear and responsiveness, obviously drivetrain aside I figure if the Evo guys are running these and such it should translate over fairly well. Can find alot of information on similar brands that the Evo guys run on the forums too in terms of track performance. Direzza ZII star specs seem to be the choice of tire for them, and I am leaning towards Fortune auto coils when I make the change later down the road. Hopefully when more people start tracking these cars fairly seriously we can find or chime in better input down the road, I hope this car can be fairly gratifying given the amount of work and dedication someone decides to give to the chassis in a Racing mindset.
Yeah, its weird but I've been relating the car in terms of an Evo Platform.. Figure in terms of weight and size etc, Tire performance would be fairly similar in wear and responsiveness, obviously drivetrain aside I figure if the Evo guys are running these and such it should translate over fairly well.
You're not too far off with your assumption. The chief engineer of the 2nd gen Lexus IS, Suguya Fukusato, was also a part-time rally car driver in Japan:
Chief engineer, part-time rally driver helped to take next-gen Lexus IS in new direction
JULY 24, 2005
Suguya Fukusato may have spent most of his Toyota career as chief engineer of Toyota front-drive econoboxes, but he knows a thing or two about fast cars. He's a rally driver in his native Japan.
Fukusato also has had two Porsche 911 coupes in his stable, currently a 1980 911SC, as well as a 1989 911 Turbo he was compelled to unload because of Japan's claustrophobic traffic.
Finally, Fukusato got his chance to work on a real rear-wheel-drive sports sedan. As chief engineer of the new IS 250 and IS 350 sedans, Fukusato saw the opportunity to take Lexus in a new direction.
At the July media launch in Los Angeles, Fukusato spoke with Automotive News Staff Reporter Mark Rechtin about his latest project.
You said Lexus left out some 'must haves' from the previous IS 300. What do you mean by that?
We made a list. There were nearly 1,000 things that were missed. Most of the list is confidential. But there were some luxury touches that were not Lexus. The damping speed on the doors on the interior fixtures. The exterior paint quality, deviations in the paint and the surface flatness. The LED license plate lamp wasn't right. On the mechanical side, the ride comfort and handling performance were not up to Lexus standards. Neither was the body control and stability.
What was the benchmark for the new IS sedans?
The marketing side, not the development side, looked at the BMW 3 Series, Cadillac CTS, Acura TL, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class. But my personal benchmark was in my own feeling of what was right for the car.
In that sense, I decided for myself what to do. But in final comparison, we wanted performance like the BMW 330i M edition and the Mercedes-Benz AMG C32.
The original IS 300 was known for its inline-six engine. Was there ever a hope that such an engine would carry over? Or was it always known that it would be a V6?
There were several advantages to a V6. An inline-six is longer, so that moves the center of gravity point farther forward in the car, which affects handling. The inline-six also is heavier than the new V-6, and the V6 fits in a more compact space.
So why couldn't you just borrow the new 3.5-liter V6 from the Toyota Avalon? Why did you need to invent a different engine family?
The IS is the first vehicle with this new V6. It's mounted north-south, while the Avalon is mounted transverse. We couldn't borrow the Avalon engine because of that.
I personally relate the 2nd Gen IS with the BMW E46 3-Series, in terms of vehicle dimensions, wheelbase, etc. Even more so, the 2nd gen IS350 can achieve similar 0-60 and 1/4 mile times as the class benchmark E46 M3 and it can also match lateral g capabilities with some suspension and chassis upgrades.
^thank you very much for sharing that! very very informative! I will have to roam over to the Bmw forums to do some research. I love how the Japanese are such good innovaters and look at those many aspects that were stated in that article. I'm sure most of us would have loved to still have the 2jz though... I think id sacrafice the 5050 weight at the slightest just to have more power potential!
Hello all, so it has been a long time since i've posted here but I have not forgotten about you guys!
On Sat Sept 12, I finally made it out to the track for an HPDE event. I wish I could have made it out in June but I lost my job a week before I was suppose to go. Well...after some perseverance I was able to rebound and get back out to the track!!
The event is hosted by a Local Shop here in MN called Modern Automotive Performance. The event they host twice a year is called Proving Grounds. This event features drag, drift, auto x, and road course.
The track is Brainerd International Raceway (short course 2.5mi)
First off, this being my first track event in the IS I have to say this was a fun platform, The car (to me) was very balanced. Body roll wasn't absent in the IS with the ISF suspension but it wasn't unbearable, in this case the body roll actually made the car very predictable. Understeer was not a problem for me what so ever. I can't say how the IS would have performed with its stock suspension but I can say I was satisfied with the performance of the ISF suspension. As you can see I ran on All Season tires (its what I had laying around, couldn't afford track tires) and It still performed exceptionally well. Racing this course before in my 92 civic I did see some places the IS could have shaved lots of time off, had I had the dough for some R compounds. there were sections I could have used the brakes less if tires were better. Oh and tire rub was a minor issue also. Looking to also add a front sway bar to improve turn in response.
Speaking with other racers and instructors they generally say that breaking 2 mins is fairly fast, using Harrys Lap Timer with Brainerds Short Course Loadout I was able to get times for my runs! So I'll post a snippet of one of my under 2 min runs! my fasted lap for the day was 1:55 seconds! (SORRY in advanced for wind and shaking windows have to be down!)
03-14-15, 04:17 PM
