$125 and a Vision Fuels Ultimate IS-F Build Thread
Forum member wins an IS-F and decides to make it a dedicated track weapon. Follow every detail as the car is transformed from mild to wild.
Pretend for a moment that you just won a Lexus IS-F in a raffle drawing. Pretty sweet right? What do you do next? Sell it for cash? Use it as your new daily driver? If you are Club Lexus forum member illwillem you custom build the thing into one of the most impressive track cars you will lay your eyes on. illwillem has our respect, and we bet he will have yours too once you see his work in the thread “iLLWiLLeM $125 ISF track car. Yes please.”
The car is a 2008 IS-F and it was won with a $125 raffle ticket back in 2019. Obviously it was not a brand-new car when it was won but it’s still a darn nice prize. Shortly after winning the car, illwillem thought maybe he would just sell it for some quick cash. However, after spending some time with the car and seeing how solid it was, he had a change of heart. Instead what he would do was to slowly transform the car over the course of the past year into a serious track machine.
The vision was simple enough. Keep the car relatively street friendly and not mess with the engine much. Instead the focus would be on improved handling and weight savings. It started off fairly innocent by installing some headers, replacing worn engine mounts, and removing the clear bra that was looking a bit tattered. A brake and wheel upgrade was installed and already the car was starting to look pretty sharp. However, this was only the tip of the iceberg.
A steady stream of parts began to arrive. Wheels, tires, suspension, aero and more were bolted up to the car. On top of the off the shelf parts illwillem does quite a bit of custom fabrication as well. He also does a fantastic job of documenting each and every upgrade with photos as well as his reasoning for selecting the specific part. If you are looking for inspiration on your own IS-F build, or any car build for that matter, this is the thread you want to follow.
Moving to the interior. The car was gutted and the airbags removed. Even the sound deadening material was removed using a slick trick with dry ice. Each individual piece that was removed was weighed to see exactly how much weight was being saved. A thicker, alcantara covered steering wheel was added, racing seats and a custom roll bar was welded in as well.
The exterior of the car makes extensive use of carbon fiber. The roof, trunk, hood, even the rear doors are carbon. This is truly an impressive build and the ingenuity that went into its creation is on another level. You really have to read through the thread to fully appreciate all the work that went into this car to this point. The car is still not finished, are builds like this ever really finished? Much to the delight of fellow members, the thread is being actively updated as things progress.
The Club Lexus community is fortunate that this IS-F was won by someone with this passion and vision. We can not only watch in awe as the build comes together but also learn from it as we build our own cars.
Join the Club Lexus forums now!
