I just finished installing the kit. Took me about 2 hours all and all, and the installation wasn't all that bad. The intake and black box together make a huge differnce in the IS. I took it for a ride for the first time and wow what a difference. I have an HKS exhaust so the sound is really sweet. I had my girlfriend drive it down the street and punch it. Really nice sound. I definately would recommend the kit if you have the money. Cost me 655 shipped, three day shipping to New York, ordered straight from Area 51. I would also give there customer service 2 thumbs up!

 

hwats the black box????
did it gain HP??
how loud was the HKS exxhaust?

 

The black box (bb) is a piggy-back ECu that taps into your stock ecu and modifies the signal so the car can make use of the extra air being fed by the larger intake. basically, with the stock setup of an IS, any aftermarket intake will loose power because the car "thinks" that there is a problem or that the fuel is leaning out too much and it tries to compensate.

 

hey, where can u contact Area 51? do they have a website ?

 

i wish i cold help, but i lost their number... try asking the people on is300.net, they know everything

FYI, you can get the intake/ECU much cheaper via a group buy, as I did. And ours were delayed so they made up for it w/ free ground shipping

 

How does the ECU affect gas mileage???

 

it improves your mpg by about 1.5...
I've gone thru 2+ tanks, and was able to get an average from the two and compare it to my stock average. It will pay for itself in a few years

 

I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, I pretty much have no knowledge in how all this thing works.
How would having this intake and ECU improve your gas mileage, I mean your adding more power and pushing your car more then what its made to acutally go?