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Longtime reader, second time car builder, first time forum thread writer so bear with me while I figure all this out!
I've decided to pull my IS250 off the road that I've daily driven for the last 7 years and give it a new purpose in life. In the past couple years I've become fascinated with time attack or any timed event such as hill climbs and tarmac rallies like Pikes Peak and Targa Newfoundland. For a multitude of reasons that don't make any sense, I came to the conclusion that if I was going to start this time attack adventure I was going to use my Lexus and try to make it do what it's not supposed to do- go fast. She's a 2010 Base IS250 6MT that has just over 120,000 miles on the clock. Not in the greatest shape mostly due to harsh Canadian winters...and me driving the absolute **** out of it...but mostly the winter thing though.
It was kept mostly stock it's entire life because it was supposed to be my "mature grown up car". Through my late teens/early twenties I daily drove a gutted caged out 400hp s14 240sx, but unfortunately sold the car for pennies on the dollar during starving college times. After college I swore to myself that I wouldn't daily drive race cars anymore but still wanted something manual and rear wheel drive, mainly so I could drift around in the winter months. The Is250 seemed to fit the criteria perfectly other than being a slight bit under powered from what I was used to, but found one for a price I couldn't resist.
I always had intentions of getting another track car eventually such as another 240, or even an s2000 or evo. But then life happened and my racing dreams were put on hold due to biased decisions from third parties...if ya know what I mean. Flash forward 5 years and I've broke free from the social distractions and have started to rekindle my relationship with racing. I'm an avid Formula 1/Indycar fan, Sim racing fan, and all around lover of things that go fast. My old 240sx was setup for drifting which still holds a special place in my heart, but financially Drifting is F*#%KING Expensive, where one clean run still costs hundreds of dollars. Don't get me wrong, all types of motorsport are expensive, but it seems time attack it a little more friendly on the wallet in the grassroots stage.
In the past couple months I've slowly been working on the car over weekends. I've stripped out the interior bits from the cab and the trunk at an attempt to lighten this pig up. Eventually a custom 6 point cage will be put installed to stiffen everything up.
Removed the bumper to make a splitter for front air management. Also contemplating getting some vents for the hood, aka speed holes.
I've completely dismantled the rear end. Bought the carrier assembly from a BRZ to get that torsen LSD setup. Ordered many parts from Figs Engineering and RR-Racing to really dial in the new Fortune Auto suspension setup. Also upgraded to IS350 brakes with the larger 4 piston front calipers and vented rears to hopefully eliminate brake warping...which I've done a couple times with the stock 250 brakes .
She's far from done and I'm taking my sweet time with it. My goal is to have it race ready by April 2021 when the Ontario Time Attack series starts up.
Nice! Looking forward to this build. The only IS(non ISF) race cars or track cars I've seen are Dai Yoshihara's discount tire IS drift build and River City Rally's Rally IS350 build. Else in terms of member builds I can recall, would be redspencer and toony
You might see about mounting the rear sub-frame solid and using either poly or aluminum bushings for the rear diff. It should make it more predictable.
Good Luck and have fun!
Nice! Looking forward to this build. The only IS(non ISF) race cars or track cars I've seen are Dai Yoshihara's discount tire IS drift build and River City Rally's Rally IS350 build. Else in terms of member builds I can recall, would be redspencer and toony
It's going to actually be loosely based on Dai's car, and the Wedsport IS350. Ultimate goal is to engine swap one day! It's no longer a road vehicle so I have to problems cutting and gutting
You might see about mounting the rear sub-frame solid and using either poly or aluminum bushings for the rear diff. It should make it more predictable.
Good Luck and have fun!
Definitely looking into getting different bushing for the sub!
Still waiting for my wheel setup, brake rebuild kits, and sway bars to arrive so the car is still on jack stands for now.
Here's some other things I've been working on lately.
Installed Dual Wideband from Glowshift into the driver side air vent. Made a custom adapter out of PC-ABS plastic that fits perfectly with no gaps!
Installed BRZ Y38 Torsen LSD differential into subframe. Still looking at getting poly or aluminum bushings made for the subframe mounts.
Installed RR-Racing LCA rear bushing to minimize the front wheel movement where there should be no movement.
Test fitting. Note, I didn't plan on these colours, things just kind of happened this way. But I'm not upset about it, looks tropical.
Also got a front tower brace from RR-Racing. Not only adds strength to the front end, but looks badass while doing it!
Nice! Looking forward to this build.
Are you planning to do any upgrades on clutch and flywheel?
The stock clutch was starting to slip occasionally before I took it off the road, so I know it's something I have to look into sooner than later. But definitely procrastinating that one because I know changing a clutch without a lift is the furthest thing from fun.
Still waiting for my wheel setup, brake rebuild kits, and sway bars to arrive so the car is still on jack stands for now.
Here's some other things I've been working on lately.
Installed Dual Wideband from Glowshift into the driver side air vent. Made a custom adapter out of PC-ABS plastic that fits perfectly with no gaps!
Installed BRZ Y38 Torsen LSD differential into subframe. Still looking at getting poly or aluminum bushings made for the subframe mounts.
Installed RR-Racing LCA rear bushing to minimize the front wheel movement where there should be no movement.
Test fitting. Note, I didn't plan on these colours, things just kind of happened this way. But I'm not upset about it, looks tropical.
Also got a front tower brace from RR-Racing. Not only adds strength to the front end, but looks badass while doing it!
Looking good man. I still haven't been able to install my BRZ differential. It's been sitting in the garage for months now. Too lazy to do it myself on ramps.
I hear ya dude. Building a car without a lift sucks! To be honest though, changing the diff wasn't too bad with two people. I used a floor jack to get it up to the level it needed to be, then gave it the ol' heave-ho with one arm while my little brother got the bolts in the ears. Worst part was getting the driveshaft to line up into the locator ring.
Best of luck getting your's done!
Check out Ortiz custom pods. They offer some cool gauge mounting set ups. Monkey Wrench Racing may have some goodies as well for the rear diff and all that.And of course Fig Engineering has gobs of goodies for the Lexus platform. My FA 500’s came in on Friday and can’t wait to install them. Your build is looking great.
Time Attack Build. Code Name: Lexytheslow
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