Hello CL members,

I'm new on here but I come from a long list of cars from supras, Z06's, mr2 turbo's, and most recently E55 and LS1 RX7.

I am looking to get into an ISF as a daily with occasional road race usage. To the guys who road race their ISF at HPDE events. What type of issues do you run into? Any excessive brake wear? Does the ABS kick in when you don't want it to? Can traction control be turned off completely? How does the vehicle react to DOT slick tires such as hoosiers or v710's?

What type of lap times are achievable with the ISF?

Thanks guys. I have only driven the IS350's and will soon get to embark on the ISF in all it's glory.

 

I've had my IS-F at VIR twice and I must say it's a capable car in it's own right. I was able to out drive and perform Audi RS4's with coil over systems to my STOCK suspension IS-F with MIchelin Pilot Super Sports.

To answer some of your questions I did not have excessive brake wear with my EBC Yellow Stuff pads. I haven't ran into ANY issues with the car either. It didn't get hot like my 350z does. I turned the traction control off and was only able to get the ABS to kick in ONE time at VIR. I was pushing it too hard, but the car kept on going. My fastest around VIR FULL Course was 2:21.096. I plan on getting some Hooisers for my next track day so I will report back and let everyone know how they did.

I can drive it much better than my track prepped 350z which is fast in it's own right. It lacks the top end grunt that the IS-F has. My 350z has seen many many track days at Summit Point as well. So I have a bunch of experience driving both cars on the track.

 

This member tracks his F (great video footage too):

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ahn-again.html

 

That's a very respectable time at VIR full course for a IS-F. What type of tires do you run the ISF on right now?

Does the ISF come with an oil cooler, trans cooler & power steering cooler? Is your car a 2010+ or the 08-09?

 

Thanks. I run Michelin pilot super sports 245/35 and 265/35. I have 15mm spacers in the front and back for added track width. I don't know if the F comes with those items, but I can definitely find out. I didn't have any problems with my transmission or steering or oil temperature when I was tracking the car. It performed flawlessly.

 

I believe there is a stock oil and trans oil cooler - not sure how well they perform at the track.

 

The F works fine at the track. I've run Carolina Motorsports Park a few times in 102F heat with only brake pad changes as CMP is very hard on brakes. The car comes stock with oil and transmission coolers. The steering is not hydraulic so there is no need for a steering cooler. The oil cooler (oil/water) is not efficient enough to keep temps where you would really like them, but they stay under 300F even on the worst days.

SCCAforums ran his F at Fontana with 18" Hoosiers on Enkei PF-01s in a square 285 set up and said the car was unbelievably easy to drive bone stock. Very predictable and easy to control.

The ABS with street tires is not intrusive at all. The only issue I've had is the rear end wanders on uphill braking sections from high speed. It feels a little disconcerting, but has never resulted in an incident of any kind. Adjustable bias would be an improvement, but we'll never see that on a street oriented car.

It's a fun drive. It won't set the world on fire for lap times. If you're concerned about lap times, you'd likely be a lot happier with a Vette. In the right hands, a Vette will drive away from the F at the track (as it should, it's more than 400 lbs lighter).

 

Yeah there was a jalopnik article about SCCAForums's ISF titled "Street legal ISF Owns Dedicated Race Cars In Time Trials" -

http://jalopnik.com/5606943/street-l...in-time-trials

NASA Time Trials allow for almost any car to compete for the fastest lap time on a legitimate race course. One guy rolled up in his daily driver Lexus and crushed everyone.

Street Legal Lexus IS-F Owns Dedicated Race Cars In Time Trials

There all sorts of ways to compare the prowess of cars: dyno numbers, Ring times, or back-of-your-toilet car magazine 0-60 numbers. For every one of those statistics there is usually high drama and scandal involved (Which kind of dyno was it? Was it tested at sea level? Where the tires used at the Ring O.E.M.? etc.) The National Auto Sport Association (NASA) takes a lot of the horsecrap out of some of those numbers and allows drivers the opportunity to prove which car can really get it done at the track. Show up with what you've got and run it flat out. No excuses.


Dave Schotz took his daily driver Lexus IS-F, the same 4-door sedan he carts his kids to daycare in, and headed to Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, CA, for NASA's Time Trials. He ran the car bone stock (other than a set of Hoosier Tires and Carbotech brake pads for track duty) and hit 150 miles per hour on the banking.


Regardless of the number of doors the car has, obviously the Lexus is not shy of performance. The car won the TTB class against dedicated trailered racecars with full rollcages, no interiors and heavily modified suspensions.

My head is still spinning from this weekend's hoontastic voyage. And by spinning I mean that after two straight days of TOTAL COVERAGE I drove… Read…

But we can't give all the credit to Toyota Lexus, Dave Schotz, founder of the popular place to **** and moan about racing, SCCAForums.com, is no stranger to winning races. He is a three time SCCA solo national champion and two time NASA road racing national champion. After establishing himself as a legitimate racer, he decided to destroy his reputation and joined the endurance race team of Krider Racing at the 24 Hours of LeMons.

After the event the stickers were quickly pulled off prior to driving the car home. Rumor has it Dave's wife didn't know he was taking the family car to the track.

 

So to answer your question yes the ISF is very capable. Obviously it's not a full fledged track car like a Z06 for example but it's still extremely capable in its own right.

 

And one more thing, if you're really big on the trackability of the car, then definitely look into getting the 2010+ F with the LSD.

 

has very high potential
thats why im budiling a track ISF

 

Now I have some useful information, thank you guys. To recap, I need to get a 2010+ ISF with hoosiers & carbotechs since ABS will not interfere. CL is a helpful bunch!

 

I personally would never take the ISF to the race track except for maybe a drag strip. I baby my car too much and feel like its too nice of a car to be raped on the track. For trackdays I have my R1 and I keep my car detailed and babied separate from all that. Seems like LS1 Rx7 would be way more fun anyway... just my 2 cents :/

 

some F owners are thinking about this event:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...ept-7-8-a.html

there's one this weekend, too.

 

I track my IS F monthly during the season at Heartland Park in Topeka, KS (road course). I LOVE it and have slowly added more to the car to make it more "trackable" but NONE of these were absolutely necessary. I do think racing (high temp) brake fluid and race pads would be a cheap (relatively) way to definitely increase resistance to brake fade and avoid boiling the brake fluid at the track. I am running NT01 R-comp tires and the extra grip is definitely appreciated even over great tires such as the Michelin PSS's (I trashed my brand new PSS fronts after 2 track days due to outside tire wear... adding more negative camber by using the SPC adjustable ball link up front and Figs mega arms etc rear definitely helped even out the wear). I definitely get respect at the track and people LOVE the sound of my car and always give my car props about that and also how I rarely get passed (people are always surprised for how fast this car is). You can see my list of mods below in my sig to see what else I've done to my F.