Cixelsyd

Hi all,

This is my first post. Stumbled across this site looking at options for upgrading my car. From my reading so far, it appears there are a ton of knowledgeable owners here that could be helpful in taking my first steps into this area.

My wife and I are having our first child next month. This required us to add a second reliable car to the fleet. We found that our IS250 awd wasn't exactly comfortable with an infant seat in the back. The seat had to be moved all the way forward, and no one over about 5' 6'' would fit in the front then.

So, I ended up with our IS 250 awd as my car to take to work and the wife got a 2010 RAV4. Now that the car is "mine" I can finally indulge in some aftermarket fun.

Here is my goal: I want to upgrade the performance as much as possible, while still maintaining a mostly stock look. At the end of the day, I still need to be able to take this thing to work every day, so it can't be obnoxiously loud or scraping the ground over speed bumps. Think "subtle." I'm a 31 year old lawyer, not the professional race driver I wish I was.

After a lot of reading and internet wandering, I'm leaning toward the F Sport lineup. I was wondering if you guys could give me some advice and thoughts on my planned upgrades.

1. F Sport Cold Air Intake
2. F Sport F and R Sway Bars
3. F Sport Lowering Springs
4. F Sport Shocks

What do you guys think? Would this give me a nice upgrade in handling, while still giving a mostly stock look from the outside? Any other parts I should be considering? I saw there was also a rear chassis member brace... worth it? Also, from what I can tell, the exhaust system doesn't add any horsepower and makes the engine noticeably louder in normal driving... something I don't want. Is this correct? Leaning toward skipping that mod if so.

Thanks for any help you can provide. I'm looking forward to the responses. This forum seems like a cool place.

funglenn

iTrader: (10)

Counselor,

Iagree the sway bars are great and make a major change--although i only have the rear, not both. I read here that the rear is the major difference, but I do plan to buy the front eventually.

I plan to hte shocks soon myself, although the wife may complain about the stiffness--mine complains about the stock stillness in comparison to her XC70. so talk to her before that one.

Intake makes your car sound more aggressive on take off and WOT--totally agree on that one.

I would discourage you from lowering your car in a state where it snows--that is a recipe for problems.

my two cents

Cixelsyd

Interesting. Hadn't thought about that one. It only snows a week or two a year here, but its something to consider. Thanks.

funglenn

iTrader: (10)

If you do it, murphy's law states that you will get the most snow in the last decade. Also to think about is the tires, our cars kind of stink in the snow, even AWD, if you have certain tires.

I stuck with 17" for a bit more rubber on the tires and switched from Toyo to Bridgestone for better snow/rain performance, but it does snow more in colorado springs.

I would also recomend a new front lip--changes the look of the car, very but is still subtile and not exorbitant.

TheSenator

iTrader: (1)

Unfortunately there's not a ton of powertrain performance upgrades for the 2IS that don't cost a pretty penny (F-I) or make it subtle-(read:headers/midpipe/catback).

There is a plethora of suspension upgrades, interior, exterior, and lighting modifications you can do though.

Sffd103

iTrader: (16)

I'd probably stick with just those items if you don't want a louder car. Whenever you add intake, headers, exhaust you're allowing more air in and out. That increases the sound. At best you'd get about 16 HP increase with all those items. The 250 is underpowered and can never be as quick as a 350. With that being said, I think you'll enjoy the F Sport intake with a bit more sound but not annoying if you have passengers. If you don't want to go that low, then I think the F Sport spring/shock combo are fine. Many sell those in lieu of adjustable coilovers to go lower and be able to adjust their suspension a bit more. I have the F Sport chassis brace and don't think you really need it for your setup. Good luck and happy modding.

Cixelsyd

Thanks all. I definitely agree with the 250 being underpowered. I've accepted that not much can be done about it though, especially with my requirements outlined above. The handling improvements are what I am mostly looking forward to.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

If you wanna do anything to the 250, you'd be looking at the usuall suck and blow "performance" mods and sways/coils/wheels/brakes for the "handling" mods. Anything after that is just costly and you might as well upgrade the car.

Enjoy YOUR car now. LOL!

ddhleigh

Sways would be your best bang for your buck performance mod. It'll make the car handle so such better.

NCLexi250

iTrader: (1)

Hey guys, where's a good place to buy the sways? and front lip?

anthrax144

Sewell... register as a CL member before ordering. Gives you a considerable member discount.

http://is.sewellparts.com/

yoegster

Interesting comments on sway bars. How hard to install?

NCLexi250

iTrader: (1)

Cool, thanks. I actually got several items from Sewell online; brake pads, spark plugs, touch up paint, etc. at a good price.

Will look for the sways sometime when I can get around to it. Thanks!

Kurtz

iTrader: (1)

15 minutes for the rear bar...more like an hour for the front as you have to remove some underbody covers then put em back on.

That's with a buddy helping, hand tools, and jacks/jackstands.

With a lift and shop tools you could probably do both in an hour.

funglenn

iTrader: (10)

15 minutes if NOTHING goes wrong, mine took hours and I damaged by control arms. Make sure you fully understand what you are doing and clean the threads really well to help them come out easy. The bars CAN BE A major pain.