Hi there, I was wondering what tuning company I should go for my 2016 lexus GS350 awd. I have seen people floating around 3 companies mostly D3 performance, RR racing, and M force.

I Currently have a borla axle back exhaust and a Afe Takeda cold air intake.

Help me with the pros and cons for each tuners or if there is any tuners available.

 

Honestly, You will not get much out of a tune, none of us will. The GS350 just isnt a very tune, or mod friendly platform. RR Racing claims a gain of 10-15whp w a tune which youre not going to feel. ?Maybe try Loi he can do more than RR. like burble tune if youre into that . You can do it yourself w VF tuner software ( Loi uses this same software,so you need to purchase software anyway) and again , not sure they support the GS350. VF Tuner is your best bet, you can raise the rev limiter and turn off governor, or electronically controlled speed limiter yourself for half the cost. Again not sure Id tune a GS, any Lexus to be truthful . RR even claims you may have an issue w your transmission after raising the shift points to 7200 RPMS. That car isnt made for modding or speed its made for a exucutive, most Lexus' are. N/A Engines are the most expensive way to make the least power. If You want good gains from an engine tune buy a turbo car but youre gonna lose the reliability and status of Lexus, and youll get to meet all your local mechanics . A GS350 Fsport just isnt a car to mod, its a nice car looks great runs great youre not going to get more out of that engine than the engineers by spending 600$. Its fast enough as is . Get a "dry" high flow AEM air filter (they own K&N )keep factory airbox, install a intake tube ( HPS 200$) (get rid of the cold air intake dont mess w factory airbox) remove your spare tire/ jack and you just got the same gains as a tune just by weight removal. Tuning any engine is a risk and not worth it in my eyes. Do not forget..Not a single "tune" comes w any warranty and are listed "for off road use only" meaning if you blow your engine, eff up your transmission now you have a 2016 Lexus thats useless and worthless. Then you only have yourself to blame . 306HP is enough for a daily . 316HP? is the same thing . Even the 5 liter Lexus', the real "F's" hardly gain from a canned tune nevermind "F Sports" those are just trim levels and have nothing to do w performance.

 

Hi, may I ask what Tune you have on your GS350 you are experienced with? Or do you run a Tune on your IS-F?



The D3 and Tune by Loi are both good. Tune by Loi has a little edge that he more so remote Tunes with run files you send him to adjust for your car. There are some who have them here that can comment. With a Tune and Bolt ons the IS350 same engine 2GR has run 4.3 sec 0-60 times.

 

I got vf tuner back in November and blew up my 2017's motor. After a long wait and a decent amount of money I just put a rrracing tune on my new motor. Its amazing. Rr racing is where you should go. Very professional they go the extra mile and dont care about spending time helping over the ohone. I went to their facility cause I only live 2 hours away. They are the real deal. Do what you want but they are my shop from now on. I'll be doing the supercharger soon. Their pricing is great and their suspension parts are manufactured to their spec and work. My car is nimble and pretty quick now with the tune. Once I get the supercharger ill be tearing up 90% of cars on the road.

 

How did the vf tune cause you to blow up your motor?

 

could've been coincidence but I doubt it. The car was perfect. Motor was disassembled and head gasket replaced 3000 miles before it spin the bearing. I forget the tuners name but I got him off of here. He originally said that the file vftuner sent him was missing the mass air flow sensor. Then they sent the right one and on my 3rfd 4th gear pull it blew. I like the guys at rr racing their tune is great and the custome fabricated suspension parts are the best of the best. The gs is a big heavy car but with their coilovers from rr. The lower control arm bushings and front upper control arms its very nimble. Its a totally different car. The ride is smooth even on not so perfect roads. Potholes still hit hard but thats happens on non lowered cars also. I want the supercharger kit from them. The kit wit install takes a week. Is proven to be daily drivable and is very reasonable for a extra 150hp at the wheels. I'll post some videos once its done. Give them a call. You'll like the people. They never not once rushed me off the phone while I was installing the suspension.

 

Too much going on unrelated to your Tune blowing the engine. Likely the Head gasket replacement assembly or reason for it is the key in your failure. Good luck on putting on the S/C. If anything blows Lexus engines it's S/C's with a engine not set up proper for S/C boost. The 2GR is not a good platform for a S/C without a ton of money put into it's Internals, and Tuning, and then there have been street drivability tuning problems also.

You can better just have a engine builder build you a 2GR at 460hp plus that will last forever, spin reliably at 8k rpm, and make some nice power without the risk every time of being a grenade. There have been a few built like this that had great drivability for the street, and lasted forever.

 

I have a 2grfks first off and RR racing has been putting their custom supercharger kit on the fks's since 2018 and not 1 motor has blown from it. The trans is only good to 400 to 450 at wheels and there arnt enough aftermarket option to do much about that. A built 2grfks is stupid. Oh yea. It was Loi that tuned it. And once the motor blew the next day. He ran with the 500 $ and removed my ability to even access the tune on my vf tuner. I know the route im gonna take if I want more power. Just cause I sc it. Doent mean I need to run 25lbs boost. I could run 12 or 10 and tune it to do essentially the same thing. And be safe about it. Check rr racing site you might like what you see

 

OK, was just trying to share years of info with you. At $10k - $15k plus for any S/C build is just.... in my opinion. I heard yours, now I'm giving you mine and knowledge of actuals. The 2GR has only been around about 20 years now. You just did major engine Head Gasket repair, then blew then blaming Loi's Tune? lol!

A built that wont break N/A engine is the best thing anyone would want. I find it odd that you just blew a motor and saying what you are.

No 2GR has blown on any S/C is just you don't know what you don't know being those different S/C' kits that come with a no responsibility signed clause is just that.

I don't need to check anyone's advertised websites. I already know what I know. Just to trying and help you with your investment. Go research the Lotus 2GR with S/C Internal Engine high performance strengthen, Lightened and cryogenically treated Crank and internal changes. Good luck with your investment.

 

Hey guys,

I am building the 2GR-FSE platform fully and am very close to getting it in the car. I also built the A670H fully.

I can confidently say that the tranny will not take more than 400HP even NA let alone FI. I have seen FI tranny breakdowns once they blow the clutches are totally leveled and wires burnt. This is just an objective fact. You can call John at IPT and ask him about it. He loves trannies and will give you the straight scoop.

There is a lot of love and hate for RR Racing. I homely like some people there and I like the company. Rafi seems like a very cool guy and is very honest. If you ask him he will tell you that the SC kit is very risky and there have been lots of trannies blown from it also quite a bit of motors. Ringlines in particular have failed consistently is what he told me. He recommends using the motor as a consumable item where you replace it often with the SC kit. Honestly it’s a valid recommendation and his honestly makes me respect him and RR Racing. It’s a cutting edge performance adder and it’s not their fault the stock platform cannot handle the added power for long.

There is however downright nonsensical advice I got from at least one employee there about exhaust system. He was not only not knowledgeable in precise technicality but also very arrogant. But again this is sometimes common in our industry.

loi is an absolute gem of a tuner and is a great guy. He has tirelessly written me many extremely well tunes for many weird scenarios for my car. He has diagnosed many of my friends cars for free because he is a good guy. Whatever problem happened is very very unlikely to be caused by Loi.

There are a lot of big players in the game that run Loui’s tune and use his support. I can name them if you’d like.

If you want specifics I can help. Also check out my car build tread and also engine/tranny build thread. I’m working with the absolute cream of the industry and can answer any of your questions.

 

I have no relationship with rr or loi, at this point my car is tuned by me. I may not have the experience of a shop or professional tuner, but I feel like I'm a little above average in my knowledge and experience compared to other owners. From what little information is available, I wouldn't blame loi for your engine. Even ignoring the circumstances of your blown head gaskets and how they were addressed, you specified spun bearings which points more to a lubrication problem. I would maybe see where you'd blame the tune if he set the rev limit too high and you didn't pay attention on your shift point. Honestly I doubt this as from what little I've seen rr and loi are conservative with their rev limits. I personally have a 7600rpm rev limit and have been fine for years. I am however mindful of the higher revs and run with a little extra oil for insurance.

 

DickH is so humble. He says knowledge a little above average is what he has. I can confirm this guy to be an absolute treasure trove of both technical and practical knowledge far beyond most car enthusiasts including many shop owners.