Dalotel

I just installed a HKS exhaust and a Tom's airfilter in my IS350. Note these are just my opinions your mileage my vary. Here is my review:

HKS exhaust:
I like the fit and finish. I do not feel any gains in performance as a result of the swap (I did not expect any). At an idle the exhaust is fairly quiet very similar to stock. At lower throttle settings from 1000 to 3000 rpm the exhaust becomes annoyingly loud. It is a low frequency booming that at times rattles the plastic trim inside the cabin.
After 4000 rpm the exhaust becomes more mellow and actually sounds really good. Aggressive but not too loud.
I don't really know if mufflers need a "break in" period. I'll have to drive the car a little bit more. As it sounds now I don't think I want to experience this every day. In my opinion it is totally out of character with the rest of the car.
I don't recommend the HKS exhaust if you are looking for something subtle and slightly more agressive than stock sound.
However, if you want your ISX50 to roar this is the exhaust to get.

Tom's airfilter:
Nice fit and finish. No instructions on maintenance. I assume it just needs to be rinsed out and dried. I installed the airfilter before the exhaust. No increase in noise. Negligible power gain.
I recommend the TOM's airfilter if you are looking for a reusable airfilter that does not need to be oiled.

Cheers

CAIFAN_64

iTrader: (1)

wow........ with this review Im glad I went for the tanabe

racinghart

im feeling the tanabe now too... cause im trying to keep it as quiet as possible but with the potential for roar when called for.

PNice972

iTrader: (6)

im with the other two, glad i went with the tanabe

jsquared

same here, and i was really gonna wait for that hks one, except the tanabe kinda fell in my lap...

Hartawan

iTrader: (1)

Burn that muffler up with 100 octane

MoLexus

All exhausts have break-in periods infact Tanabe says 1-2 days. After I installed mine I started to smell a burning odor from the exhaust after I would turn it off with a little smoke coming out, come to find out later on that they put some sort of oil in the exhaust. Reason unknown. Give it a few days and you ll be fine.

AM1

iTrader: (6)

is the lexus exhuast system quieter? and also is it a dealer installed option or factory?

mctuners

Wow... was it that loud ?
I was expecting it to be slightly more roar than the stock, but if it's too loud that is annoying to you, I guess I should go for the Tanabe..

mlee21

upload a soundclip!!

Tony59blue

iTrader: (3)

Hey i have the Lexus HKS exhaust installed on my car last week. It sounds great. Just what i was looking for. At idle it sounds just a bit louder than stock but not much. It starts to wake up at around 2-3000 rpms. It's sounds great at that rpm range not annoying at all just right. Now when i floor it and it gets up to 6000rpms it's really loud and throaty. That's exactly what i wanted in an exhaust. I didn't want it to be annoying on crusing speeds. I think they had stated that the HKS exhaust was 30% louder than the Lexus HKS exhaust, but i'm not sure if that's correct or not.

combfilter

iTrader: (3)

Thanks for the review. Gernby just got one so i am sure he will write another good write up. This exhaust scares me now because of sound. I would love to get the tanabe but there are no gains from that axle back. The tanabe does sound nice, and looks great to me also. Just seems like a waste of 600.00 to get no gains.

thanks again for your review.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the write-up, but I hope my definition of "annoyingly loud" is different from yours since I am expecting one at my door tomorrow.

FWIW, if you get too tired of the noise, HKS does sell silencer inserts that go in the muffler tips. They will reduce volume by 7 dB (>75% reduction). I've used them on previous exhaust systems, and they do quite well. However, that reduction in sound comes at the price of power.

RocketGuy3

iTrader: (1)

Haven't dynos shown ~7 rwhp gain on the IS350 with the Tanabe?

And lexus-parts posted dynos for the Lexus HKS exhaust showing a ~10 rwhp gain for the 350... which sounds pretty damn high.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

According to Carson Toyota (who is selling the HKS), HKS only reported 3-5 rwhp on their own tests. I would be pretty surprised if HKS would under-rate their own product. The highest gains I've seen reported for the Tanabe are about 5 rwhp. IMHO, the gains have been relatively insignificant when compared to typical dyno testing errors. Hopefully, the HKS exhaust combined with removing the secondary cats will bump the gains to 10 rwhp. :FingersCrossed: