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D-Per4mance '06 IS250
Hi,
I recently bought a IS250. You can find my introduction here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...l#post10025083 I am very happy I found this forum. I come from The Netherlands and Lexus' are rare cars here. They sold about 300 second generation IS's here (half of them IS220d diesels, a handfull IS250C's and ISF's, all the rest IS250 saloon's, no IS350 option here sadly). A modified Lexus is really like a unicorn here. It's very cool to have found this huge collection of information, tutorials and inspiration for modified Lexus 2IS's. I have some history with modified cars going on. let me give you a quick overview. I started (like a lot of guys in the US Import car scene I guess) with Honda's. My first car was: '96 Civic DXI 1.5 Coupe. Bought bone stock, modified with: KW V2 coilovers, 16" Rota wheels, Megan Racing catback, Integra R Recaro seats and so on. Sadly some BMW killed it in an accident. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...a67ed02bd0.jpg '94 Civic 1.5 DXi Coupe. Bought stock again, modified with: 1.6 VTEC engine swap, 1.3L short ratio gearbox, BC Racing Coilovers, Tanabe Catback, ASR Subframe brace, Integra R swaybars F+R, Recaro seats, 16x8 Rota Slipstreams, HID retrofit's and so on. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...b0cff4e2c5.jpg '00 Lexus IS200. Sadly didn't really modify this one, due to being abroad for work a lot. That was also the reason I sold it. Car was extremely clean, had only done 55.000km (34K Miles) when I bought it. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...8cf051881b.jpg '03 Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon. Because every petrolhead must own at least one Alfa in his life, according to JC. Bought stock, modified with AP Coilovers, 18" ATS DTM wheels, OEM red leather interior. Was as pretty as you expect an Alfa to be. Not as unreliable. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...5212f51017.jpg On to the reason for joining here: 2006 Lexus IS250 Automatic Business spec (poverty spec :p) with light sand cloth seats, cruisecontrol, 2 zone aircon, power windows and mirrors, 6 CD changer and so on. 1G0 Dark Grey Mica / Smokey Graphite Aftermarket 18" Done so far: -Major service (180K km) with sparkplugs, all filters, diff and engine oil, brakepads, fluid and discs and so on. -Full detail. 3 step polished, waxed etc. -Installed some 5000K HID's https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...26f1975f22.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...dc89303173.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...ba82bbdea0.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...745d0416a1.jpg Ofcourse there are plans for modifcations... -19" WORK Emotion CR 2P's, working out what specs to order. Want them nicely fitted, but without crazy stretched tires or camber. -KW V3 Coilovers -Tanabe Medallion Touring axle back -OEM rear spoiler -GFX rear lip (if I can get it in Europe...) -Some front lip. Not sure which. -And so on... I will update here when mod's are done. |
Welcome to the club buddy.One more from Europe.It s so sad we don't have the 350 option here in Europe.
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looks sweet! i see your interested in a front lip, us at NIA Auto Design offer a 3IS conversion bumper for the 2IS if you are interested in it let me know!
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Finding it hard myself to source a gfx rear lip.. Are they an Lexus official oem part?
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Yes sir , they were an OEM option. I just bought a replica version from ikon motorsports. Fits pretty well. Its been super cold here in the States so I’m waiting until spring to get it painted so it’s not installed currently.
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Time for some updates.
Bought/ordered/received some goodies. Still waiting for the weather to get better (don't want salt on my new wheels) before mounting them. First thing I ordered are the wheels. Had to search a bit to find a dealer. There are pretty much no dealers in the Netherlands who sell these. Ended up ordering them in the UK and having them shipped over to the Netherlands. I anticipated quite a wait, since they are made to order in Japan and than shipped half way around the world. In the end I received them about 6 weeks after ordering, so it wasn't all that bad. Went for Work Emotion CR Kiwami's in GT Silver. For the sizes I went with (quite conservative) 19x8.5 et35 and 19x9.5 et38. I can always add some spacers to make them a little more aggressive. https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...5053349b3e.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...519afc151e.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...09bcb4e9d2.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...8ceeb43115.jpg Since a nice pair of 19's still looks stupid on a car that sits to high I had to order a pair of coilovers as well. Read a lot of threads on this forum (so great to have all this information available, in my country almost nobody puts coilovers on a Lexus). I wanted a nice lowering, but at the same time as little sacrifice as possible in terms of ride quality and comfort. From the coilovers that are available here I doubted between the KW V3's and the BC Racings (Swift spring upgrade not available through the dutch importer). I read quite a lot of BC users complaining about clunking noises from the back and some about a harsh ride. This made me bite the bullet and go with the $$$ option (or €€€ in my case) and order the KW V3's. Good thing about the KW's is they are made pretty much next door. This meant I had them within 8 days. https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...136adf21cd.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...1d3bc31e96.jpg Last week I also ordered some lug nuts to mount the Work's with. Went with the Muteki SR48's in Burned Blue. Ordered 4 locking nuts in the same color as well. https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...50f3a0aefb.jpg Only thing I still have to order is tire's. Still not sure what sizes. Leaning towards 225/35/19 for the fronts and 255/35/19 for the rears. Want them to give the the slightest bit of stretch, without being square or meaty. |
OOoo, looking forward to the pic of the ride
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This is going to look awesome :)
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Gonna look great! I have the same exact wheels that just came in last week. |
Are you planning on using hub rings? |
tan interior looks great, kinda like it more than the black on black in my is350
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Last weekend we had a long weekend due to Easter Monday being a national holliday in The Netherlands. Used the weekend to wrench on the IS250 and get it ready for summer.
Started on chopping up the tophats from the front shocks, together with my friend and fellow 250 owner, on Saturday. Although KW charges you a small fortune for the V3 coilovers they don't come with tophats. Decided to buy an extra set of front shocks to take the front tophats from, so I can put back the OEM suspension would I ever sell the car. So started by taking the tophats off the spare set of shocks, using spring clamps. https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...92deaafa24.jpg Once the tophats are off we had to cut off the portion that holds the bumpstop, in order to create a flat surface for the springseat from the KW's to sit on. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...2e12c6684e.jpg We also had to drill out the two ridges inside the bushing the shaft of the shock goes through. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...a87473c228.jpg After chopping off all the bits we had to chop off I sprayed the tophats with some red lead paint and finished them with a layer of black underbody coating. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...9b09fbe49c.jpg With the front shocks ready to mount we started by taking the rear ones off. This went pretty easy once you take out all the tabs and screws to undo the trunk lining. https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...d1495a40f3.jpg We guessed a bit at what height we had to set the coilovers and it turned out we guessed it pretty much spot on. https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...605e868a31.jpg Parked it next to my friends 250 for the sake of comparison. His is still on OEM suspension and 16 inch winter wheels (will be dropped on 19's and BC coils soon). https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...fcd3d1afa8.jpg Spent the Sunday applying a glass coating to my new Work wheels. This will make them easy to clean and protect them from brake dust burning in to the finish. On Monday gave the car a quick wash and put the wheels on. Of course it started to rain again directly afterwards... That doesn't make the car look any less good in my opinion. Front wheels could maybe do with a 5mm spacer, but in general I am very happy with the look. https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...261f67ef88.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...1938cb05e8.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...be074ff128.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...6749ed12a1.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e38e894d15.jpg https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...d0741f48e3.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...decdb138d6.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...43830991ae.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...5ecf05c7d6.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...11998b444d.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...ffb5e3fe79.jpg https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...52e44b7060.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...967771dc32.jpg |
Lookin good! It looks fine to me without any spacers. Guessing a 35mm offset on those wheels? You can add a 3 or 5mm spacer and still run safely; but in my opinion, you're golden as it sits!
SGM for the win! |
Hey mate, love your car, I think it looks fantastic!.
Interestingly enough I just bought a set of ST Suspensions coilovers which are built by KW in Germany, but mine came complete with top hats! I was quite surprised to see that yours came without hats and you basically had to butcher your old suspension just to get them off...ugh! After you adjust everything and do the alignment, come back and let us know how comfortable the ride is on your new V3's. The main difference between ST and KW is that the ST are made of Galvanized Steel and KWs are made of Stainless Steel. Both made in Germany, both have Lifetime Warranty. KW owns ST and has essentially made it their 'baby' line. https://www.instagram.com/st_suspensions/ https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...e7e8731f83.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...491d0a6b1e.jpg https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...cb7c3902cc.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...38fc82c92c.jpg That warm weather can not come any sooner :D |
@primavera: I did consider the ST's. The importer for KW told me they are a bit stiffer than the KW V3's. Since the company I bought them from made me a really sweet deal on the V3's I went with them and I don't regret it for a second. I do believe the ST's are a very nice set of coilovers as well though.
In the meantime I did some more mods to the IS250. -Ultra Racing 29mm (solid) Front Swaybar -Ultra Racing 19mm (solid) Rear Swaybar -New endlinks front + rear -Ultra Racing 1-piece Front Strut Bar -Six Performance ISF style grill https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...f14e02d313.jpg https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...56722ec2ce.jpg https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...272e88e0a2.jpg Also did a full detail on the IS250 together with a friend of mine this weekend. -Foam pre-wash -2 Bucket wash -Wheel wash -Iron fallout removed from the paint -Tar removed from sills -Clayed the car -Cutted with heavy compound on a Rupes 19 Rotary -Removed buffertrails from heavy cut with a medium compound and a Rupes Bigfoot DA -Finished with a fine compound on Rupes Bigfoot DA -Paint prep with Swissvax Cleaner Fluid -Waxed with Swissvax Concorso (I think in the US it's known as Swissvax best of show) -Applied dressing to trims and tires -Sanded and polished headlights. -Cleaned cloth seats with extractor It was quite a lot of work (2 full days), but in the the car looked pretty spectacular, so all worth it. https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...b403d62aaf.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...daeed75441.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...0aa4b37906.jpg https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...ac2c510d5b.jpg https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...f6fd6e5a51.jpg https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...c666fda5fd.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...48e9056064.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...14e968d935.jpg https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...79498d79f5.jpg https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clu...59058307d0.jpg |
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