I have read several threads and I am aware that the 350 was not built to be modded. I bought it for its luxury. That being said, I would like to squeeze a few more horses out of it. What type of bolt on, DIY, performance parts are best of this car? How much hp can you realistically get out of this vehicle without a turbo/super?

 

Welcome to CL...

You'll only be able to squeeze ~30hp total out of upgrading:

Intake (F-Sport or JoeZ)
Exhaust (JoeZ or an axle back with midpipe)
Headers (PPE)

That's it. I wont go into it, but there are no turbo applications and the superchargers available (a handful produced) are not "worth it" for ~40hp. DO a search for both your question and on superchargers and you can find way more info than you're after.

 

yeah and to break that down a bit-

Intake: 5 hp

Exhaust: 7-10 hp (depending if you want a legal one or not... the legal axle-backs are ~7 hp, the illegal "full" exhausts like the Joe Z are ~10

PPE headers: 10-15 hp (there have been one or two dynos in the 15-19 range, but most seem to be more in the 10-15 hp range)- note these too are illegal


By illegal I mean by federal emissions standards. If you live someplace with no emissions inspection you're still illegal but unlikely to get caught.

Intake and exhaust are very easy bolt ons (especially the axle-back exhausts).... the PPE headers are a lot more involved, though still technically bolt ons.

You can do intake in 30-60 minutes, an axle-back exhaust in 15-30 minutes, with a couple hand tools and car ramps.

The headers I've seen shops with a lift and air tools still take 1/2-1 whole day to get done.

 

FWIW My shop here did the headers surprisingly quick in <150 minutes. Although I still have a CEL from the install even though the O2 simulators are hooked up (P0420 - no cats/cats not reading)...

And it's a shame i dont have baseline numbers for a dyno, but i will likely be dyno-ing my 250 soon. (Fujita intake, PPE headers, PPE high flow Cats (secondary location, no primaries), JoeZ racing exhaust). Sure the car itself is still "slow" compared to a 350 but it's fun to drive.

 

Thanks for the insight. Do computer chips deliver as advertised? I was looking at one that said it would increase hp up to 20%. The "up to" part of that sentence makes me a little unsure.

 

No.


Every single one for the 2IS is a scam.


It's a 50 cent resistor that plugs into the IAT sensor and lies about how cold the incoming air is.

They put it in a fancy $3 box, then charge you $50-100 for it.

And it will trick the ECU for 50-100 miles, after which the ECU, with O2 feedback, will tune the very minor change back out and you'll be back where you started.

If you want to try it anyway you can make one yourself for literally about a dollar in parts.


Those 3 parts I listed? intake, exhaust, headers? those are literally the only parts available to add power to the car with the following exceptions:


Nitrous Oxide (which CAN be quite safe if done properly- but lots of people don't do it properly). I believe HKS350 was able to run a 50 shot and a 65 shot at different times on pump gas safely.

Forced Induction (this is generally a supercharger as the 2IS can't handle much boost anyway and it's a lot simpler to do than a turbo)- You're looking at 5-8 thousand bucks here for about 50-70 horsepower.

Running a 'real" piggyback computer- There have been a couple guys to get the MAPECU3 to work on the 2IS (but the parts and install were north of $1000) and one guy HKS350, who got an HKS F-con unit to work (again north of $1000).... On an NA (ie non supercharged) car you're looking at about 10 hp gain from the MAPECU... don't think we've ever seen dyno results for the HKS unit NA but I imagine it'd be similar.



Nitrous isn't a bad option for the price, again as long as it's done safely and you don't mind the fact that it's only on for a few seconds at a time generally (and that running it on the street is generally illegal).... the other two options are generally not very cost effective.

 

Nah all the "chips" you see are complete BS.

 

Thanks Kurtz, what's the best website to get all of those parts? I have looked around for Joe-Z but so far just turned up Youtube videos. Is nitrous installation fairly labor intensive or could a novice handle it? Good kit?

 

i would check the classified, but i think at this point you can't do that just yet.

 

The Joe Z intake is only sold here:
http://l-tunedparts.com/product/?id=2804

The PPE headers are here:
http://www.ppeengineering.com/products/lexus/is350.php

http://www.ppeengineering-onlinestor...&categoryId=19


For the exhaust it depends what kind of you want.... the only differences between the various axle-backs will be price, fit/finish, and how loud it is Personally I didn't buy a Lexus to be loud, so I went with the Tanabe (which besides being one of the quietest is also on the lower end of price for the ones with excellent fit and finish)... the Tanabe runs around 600-700 new, you can often pick em up around 400ish used though.



As to nitrous, I'd probably talk to HKS350 for an install on the 2IS as he's done one... Here's some good reading on the topic, though it's for a totally different car (an LT1 powered Impala SS) but it gives you an idea of some of the safety features you can install to prevent blowing your motor up-
http://www.impalassforum.com/tech/ni...es/newbies.htm

 

bump to ask if anyone knows if this is still the case with the 350?

 

Yup, NOTHING has changed.

 

Good info thanks

 

anybody tried or heard about meth injection?

 

Meth helps to further cool air intake temperatures for boosted applications. Since the air is cooler, you can run more timing and still prevent detonation and this equals more hp.

On a stock car it wont do much.