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Newbie here...I'm considering moving from my IS300 to a 2IS or 3IS so I've been reading everything I can on this topic. Based on what I've read so far, it seems like changing the entire rear end (final drive), or ring/pinion if possible, would be the best way to get better results, UNLESS...
-it will "run out of gear" too soon in 1st gear...(where in a manual you'd start out in 2nd in daily driving). If it won't spool out too soon in first it seems like different gearing is the way to go.
With that said:
-Do all, some, or none of the IS350's have factory LSD rears? I swapped my IS300 rear end for a LSD from a junkyard (some had them some didn't). Or...is an aftermarket LSD the best...the only way to go? Just seems like the easiest way to get more grunt, and it might help make up for that extra shift on the IS3, by being quicker out of the gate. The 8 speed has a little more "overdrive" gear to lose, so it seems like a great tradeoff...one that they probably would have done from the factory if they'd kept the Camry guys out of the IS department.
Just thinking if I got one without a LSD, I'd want to swap it...have to have a LSD. So do I get a junkyard LSD from an LSD- then change ring/pinion, OR aftermarket LSD with more aggressive gearing, or_______???
People here only talk, they never drove the car, Lexus don't have LSD like 604 said above, 2nd and 3rd gen will be different in speed and gearing according to how it's tuned and weight wise, my 1st Lexus was 2007 AWD 250, 2nd Lexus was 2010 RWD 350, current one is 2011 AWD 350, i've test drive the 2014 AWD 350, 2015 RWD 8speed,
2nd Gen IS 250 and 350 feel the same under 3000RPM at 4k RPM 350 become beast, 350 pulls better with fully loaded 5 persons in the car. The gearing is the same they both has 260km / 160mile at the clock, wheel torque on 250 is cheesy my uncle CAmry V6 pulls better, when you have like 3 person in 250 you'll feel the car weaken right away.
2nd IS350 2010-2011 RWD/AWD feel the same no different to me. The different is the steering wheel on 2010 RWD feels better than AWD on 2011, on 2011 AWD i feel torque oversteer kinda weird.
3rd Gen 2014 is250 and 2nd gen are the same except the shifting on 2014 is smoother than 2010 and under, speed ? they both the same Engine. Ok the 350 AWD one, to me they also the same feeling 50lbs won't make you feel any different in speed
Lastly, ok the 6spd and the 8spd, you can't tell the exactly performance if you don't drive the car for awhile,i also test drove the ISF on freeway for a long run the 8spd is better, for a short run the 6spd is better, you have to TRACK it before you can tell the different, Drag race is stupid you'll destroy your engine/trans soon, that whats i can tell.
What we did was, we race from Vancouver to Victoria and/or from Montreal to Toronto that's when you can tell the difference ! test drive from Dealership is to see if you car is safe or good in mechanical when purchasing, you can't tell the performance of a car if you don't drive it for a long time.
Basically this. At least the first two gears, the 2IS will destroy a 3IS every time if its launched correctly. 2IS will keep pulling up to about 90 mph (I think they should have done a 7 speed auto and 'remade' for lack of a better term 3rd and 4th gear to keep the car pulling hard after 90 mph) then from there it sort of falls flat on its head. I'd imagine its probably faster around a back road too due to those same reasons.
People here only talk, they never drove the car, Lexus don't have LSD like 604 said above, 2nd and 3rd gen will be different in speed and gearing according to how it's tuned and weight wise, my 1st Lexus was 2007 AWD 250, 2nd Lexus was 2010 RWD 350, current one is 2011 AWD 350, i've test drive the 2014 AWD 350, 2015 RWD 8speed,
2nd Gen IS 250 and 350 feel the same under 3000RPM at 4k RPM 350 become beast, 350 pulls better with fully loaded 5 persons in the car. The gearing is the same they both has 260km / 160mile at the clock, wheel torque on 250 is cheesy my uncle CAmry V6 pulls better, when you have like 3 person in 250 you'll feel the car weaken right away.
2nd IS350 2010-2011 RWD/AWD feel the same no different to me. The different is the steering wheel on 2010 RWD feels better than AWD on 2011, on 2011 AWD i feel torque oversteer kinda weird.
3rd Gen 2014 is250 and 2nd gen are the same except the shifting on 2014 is smoother than 2010 and under, speed ? they both the same Engine. Ok the 350 AWD one, to me they also the same feeling 50lbs won't make you feel any different in speed
Lastly, ok the 6spd and the 8spd, you can't tell the exactly performance if you don't drive the car for awhile,i also test drove the ISF on freeway for a long run the 8spd is better, for a short run the 6spd is better, you have to TRACK it before you can tell the different, Drag race is stupid you'll destroy your engine/trans soon, that whats i can tell.
What we did was, we race from Vancouver to Victoria and/or from Montreal to Toronto that's when you can tell the difference ! test drive from Dealership is to see if you car is safe or good in mechanical when purchasing, you can't tell the performance of a car if you don't drive it for a long time.
Sort of depends though. The 8 speed in the IS-F is probably much better for anything that isn't an 1/8th mile drag strip due to the transmission's closer ratio gears. IS-F has a huge traction problem off the line due to having the same size wheels and tires as the 350 if I remember correctly. Its difficult to lose traction in the 350 in a straight line unless its raining. As for the 3IS, it hits 60 in 3rd gear rather than second, and that shift takes up quite some time. More weight definitely doesn't help.
I feel like the differential of the 350 contributes more to its quickness off the line. People put the IS350 differential in the IS-F and it made a huge difference in how the car accelerates (and rendered 1st gear unusable because of traction) but I have my doubts if you put the IS-F transmission in the IS350 it would make the 350 that much faster if that makes any sense.
People here only talk, they never drove the car, Lexus don't have LSD like 604 said above, 2nd and 3rd gen will be different in speed and gearing according to how it's tuned and weight wise, my 1st Lexus was 2007 AWD 250, 2nd Lexus was 2010 RWD 350, current one is 2011 AWD 350, i've test drive the 2014 AWD 350, 2015 RWD 8speed,
2nd Gen IS 250 and 350 feel the same under 3000RPM at 4k RPM 350 become beast, 350 pulls better with fully loaded 5 persons in the car. The gearing is the same they both has 260km / 160mile at the clock, wheel torque on 250 is cheesy my uncle CAmry V6 pulls better, when you have like 3 person in 250 you'll feel the car weaken right away.
2nd IS350 2010-2011 RWD/AWD feel the same no different to me. The different is the steering wheel on 2010 RWD feels better than AWD on 2011, on 2011 AWD i feel torque oversteer kinda weird.
3rd Gen 2014 is250 and 2nd gen are the same except the shifting on 2014 is smoother than 2010 and under, speed ? they both the same Engine. Ok the 350 AWD one, to me they also the same feeling 50lbs won't make you feel any different in speed
Lastly, ok the 6spd and the 8spd, you can't tell the exactly performance if you don't drive the car for awhile,i also test drove the ISF on freeway for a long run the 8spd is better, for a short run the 6spd is better, you have to TRACK it before you can tell the different, Drag race is stupid you'll destroy your engine/trans soon, that whats i can tell.
What we did was, we race from Vancouver to Victoria and/or from Montreal to Toronto that's when you can tell the difference ! test drive from Dealership is to see if you car is safe or good in mechanical when purchasing, you can't tell the performance of a car if you don't drive it for a long time.
Originally Posted by Rezno
Sort of depends though. The 8 speed in the IS-F is probably much better for anything that isn't an 1/8th mile drag strip due to the transmission's closer ratio gears. IS-F has a huge traction problem off the line due to having the same size wheels and tires as the 350 if I remember correctly. Its difficult to lose traction in the 350 in a straight line unless its raining. As for the 3IS, it hits 60 in 3rd gear rather than second, and that shift takes up quite some time. More weight definitely doesn't help.
I feel like the differential of the 350 contributes more to its quickness off the line. People put the IS350 differential in the IS-F and it made a huge difference in how the car accelerates (and rendered 1st gear unusable because of traction) but I have my doubts if you put the IS-F transmission in the IS350 it would make the 350 that much faster if that makes any sense.
Here is a direct 0-120 acceleration comparison between the 2007 IS350 and 2014 IS350 F-Sport courtesy of Road and Track.
I've also spent the past half-hour building a spreadsheet to compare the acceleration rates of both the 2IS350 and 3IS350 which will hopefully end future debates. To my surprise, the gearing and acceleration of the 2IS350 is actually stronger than the 3IS350 up to 110mph!!! After 110mph is when the 3IS350 has a significant advantage with the additional two gears.
Wow Redspencer... a spreadsheet! I didn't mean to go too deep into the weeds lol, but I genuinely appreciate your effort! I also see you've got a Giken aftermarket LSD on your car. Did you run stock gearing (ratio) on it, or did you change it to give a little more 1st gear grunt (with slight MPG and possible hit to top speed). I ask because when I swapped my IS300 stock rear end for a factory LSD rear, I just stayed with the same (now wishing I'd geared it a little lower) ratios.
I think I would about have to put a LSD in a 2IS OR 3IS, (haven't decided which car...M3 and ISF aren't eliminated, either), but if I had the pumpkin apart, I'd consider changing out the ring and pinion to drop the overall gearing. It should work especially well in the 3IS as it has 2 extra gears and 8th is taller than the 2IS top gear (less tradeoff). It's been done for decades on American muscle...relatively simple trick. Either way, how do you like that Giken LSD, how streat-able is it, and is is stock gearing? Do you chirp tires in slow speed tight turns (parking lot), or notice faster wearing of rear tires with it? You've done a lot to your car so you've probably been there-done that on much of this stuff. For all I know yours may be a dedicated drift missile, so I wanted to verify.
You've also got to know where I'm coming from...an IS300 (not boosted), and my biggest complaint by a MILE, is the 5spd auto tranny. It has a mind of it's own in manual mode, shifts on it's own from 2nd to 3rd, but waits all day for manual shifts via paddles. It's extremely frustrating to use. I know there are shift kits but that's another thread.
With that said, I've read the 3IS paddles and auto tranny work great, not shifting as hard/fast as the ISF, but still actually responding within the same time zone as when you press them (unlike the IS300...can you tell I really hate my tranny?). In a nutshell, to take a 3IS, put lower gearing in it...you might might run a lot quicker. Sure it's not more HP, but it's getting what HP you have to the ground faster, make it feel, and actually go, faster.
The 3IS has a little more weight, plus the extra gear change on the way from 0-60, both slow it down. But I'll bet with a lower overall rear-end gear (yes that will make all gears 1 through 8 gears lower, not just first), that the 3IS would pull quicker times than the 2IS (unless the 2IS also geared lower, then it would probably pull ahead). But I'm not comparing the cars, I just want whichever car I get... to be faster.
To throw icing on the cake, if they make shift kits for the 2IS and 3IS...the lower-geared rear end plus quicker shifting could be a game changer...but looking for experienced feedback on these.
Last edited by Terraplane; 11-21-16 at 07:10 PM.
Reason: adding clarity to sentence / grammar
I enjoy data-mining information, especially when recurring topics like this pop up on the forums every couple of weeks or months.
Yup, the OS Giken LSD runs on the stock 4.08 final drive ratio. When you use the proper gear oil on the differential (80W-250), there are no chirps or tire skipping when negotiating a very tight corner.
If you're interested in reading impressions of the OS Giken LSD from several Club Lexus members (including my review), feel free to check out this thread:
Here is a direct 0-120 acceleration comparison between the 2007 IS350 and 2014 IS350 F-Sport courtesy of Road and Track.
I've also spent the past half-hour building a spreadsheet to compare the acceleration rates of both the 2IS350 and 3IS350 which will hopefully end future debates. To my surprise, the gearing and acceleration of the 2IS350 is actually stronger than the 3IS350 up to 110mph!!! After 110mph is when the 3IS350 has a significant advantage with the additional two gears.
Wow. Don't even know what to say really. I guess I thought the 2IS pretty much fell flat after 80-90 due to the G37s being able to catch up after and the very high ratio overdrive gears. But wow. I'd imagine with that new OVTuning tune that raises redline (or any other tune that raises redline) to 7500 or 8000 the 3IS wouldn't stand a chance even after 110 mph. I'd imagine the added power will make up for the 3IS's slight gear advantage.
11-19-16, 01:21 PM
Giken LSD for street? / Lower Dif gearing / 2IS/3IS shift kits?
