Purchased the car in the summer of 2008 coming from a 2006 IS350 Sport. First registered individual of the F, but was a demo car with almost 10k on the odometer when i picked it up.



First mod on my most of my cars has been tint. Knowing the damage UV can cause esp with later finding out about our Sticky dash issues this was a must. Also like having some extra privacy and a nicer look. Tint used was FormulaOne Pinnacle Series 35% which is a nano ceramic based film.



Next mod was exhaust. Ended up sticking with the Borla. It's a shame they no longer produce it.


Headers and some high flow cats were next. The headers are a prototype SIKKY v2 header with larger collectors to match the 2.5 exhaust. Also added some GESI Cats to pass inspections and emissions. Additionally got a custom milled aluminum oil pan cover from the shop that was designing the headers.





Car before the updated headers was already running consistent 11's. My best quarter mile pass was 11.87@119.63mph.


I haven't been back to the drag strip since getting tuned with an intake from RR Racing, but I did hit the dyno and even with the cats installed the car is making more power than before. Also installed the Catch can.


SAE Result comparison from my best previous with SIKKY V1 headers, Borla Exhaust and being catless. I'm pretty happy with the tune and current power level of the car. I'm making more power now with cats than I had in the past being catless!



Suspension: Changed out the suspension for some RR Racing Road and Track coilovers, USRS Bushings and SPC adjustable ball joints. The stock 08 wheels were also changed out for some 2012 model years with some Michelin PS4 275/30/19 in the rear and 245/35/19 in the front.





Some other items. Installed the GROM Vline v2 and working on some gloss CF overlays for the interior trim pieces.






Lights: After 12 years of ownership I swapped out the stock HIDs for some OSRAM CBB bulbs. They are brighter and whiter.

OSRAM CBB Bulbs


Stock HID bulbs

 

Well it’s about time we see a build thread from
one of the longest standing members! Thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks! This thread will be a work in progress. I left out a good bit with having tried numerous other mods along the way. Different intake, exhaust and header setups, the dyno testing involved and of course the time at the drag strip and road course. It's been a fun adventure and this car never fails me and to this day people can't believe it's 14 years old when they see it. This car is standing the test of time well.

 

Glad you joined the build thread club. Better late than never. I started mine after 6 years of ownership lol.
Replied to your Vline2 / OBD question on FB too. 😉
Glad to see the car is doing great after 14 years too!

 

Sikky oil pan? Is that increased volume? How are the baffles?

 

That oil pan may be one of a kind. While SIKKY had my F for a few months test fitting their V2 headers they were toying around with a few other things to include the oil pan. I really don't remember much about the baffle design or oil capacity but having been doing my own oil changes I'd say the capacity is the same. I think the goal was to help pull heat away with the fin design.

 

All the trim pieces are finished with the gloss CF wrapping. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

 

How do your seats look so good with a million miles on them?

 

They look good because the car has 62k miles on it as of today. I'm still on the stock Spark plugs too. Probably in the next 6 months or so I'll get them changed and maybe do a Sea Foam Intake treatment type of service as well to ensure things are nice and clean in the engine. KCLV is in the 23's with a E30 mixture. Would like to see if I can get it higher.

 

I envy you so bad because of those headers and sikky oil pan. I tried so hard to get them from sikky. Headers they stopped making and the oil pan was a batch of 10 minimum I believe they said they would need to make and cost would be $700-$800 I believe.

 

I hadn't been following the SIKKY stuff in a loooong time. I'd imagine these headers with the larger collector would really benefit an IS-F pushing more power with a Supercharger kit. Products were good, but I had a very very bad experience with how my car was treated while in their shop being used to develop the V2 headers. (Link below) I did just check their site and I do see that they no longer sell the headers to the US market. As for the oil pan ....yeah I remember they claimed how expensive it was to manufacture. The pan was basically milled from a single large chunk of aluminum.
Link on that experience: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ml#post9651235

I

 

A billet pan is always going to be stupid expensive. Any large billet part for that matter.

 

Drove up to RR-Racing today for some service.

-Replaced the original spark plugs with Brisk Premium LGS Racing Spark Plugs
-Brake fluid changed with Wilwood Hi-Temp 570 (old fluid was very dark)
-Replaced the brake rotors with RR Racing Competitions 2-piece rotors (BEAUTIFUL!)
-Since i'm not planning on hitting any tracks in the near future I went with the shop recommended Stoptech Street Performance pads. On the 140 mi drive home I really didn't notice any difference in them compared to the stock pads which is a good thing. Now i'm curious to see what the brake dust difference is.

 

Nice! Glad to see an OG ISF owner making the trip to RR. I have the Brisk silver spark plugs from RR and have started logging some misfires recently. I don't recall how many miles/time I have on them, maybe 20k miles/3 years. Silver should last a shorter time as a spark plug electrode compared to iridium, for example. I personally don't mind, as doing spark plugs on this car isn't that big of a deal.

 

Thanks! I don't mind making the drive up there. It's about 130 miles, but well worth it IMO. I did look at all the available spark plugs and yeah the Silvers are rated at 20k miles so it looks like it's time for you to replace. Unless supercharged I'd stick to LGS plugs which are rated at 50k miles.