Hey, y'all!

This is my first post here. I daily my 2006 Lexus IS 350 (purchased in 2019 with 95k miles; 117k miles currently). Currently, almost all of my mods are wheels/tires/suspension/brakes (the only exceptions are an OS-Giken 1.5-way LSD and RR Racing tune and intake tube, as mentioned below). When I installed the LSD, I did a dyno run (See attached dyno sheet; .jpeg file. Note that I have written over the HP and TQ traces using pen, so that these are more-easily visible.). Basically, with only the RR Racing tune (as well as their carbon fiber intake tube, fwiw), I recorded 273 RWHP @5850 RPM.

I'm looking into power mods now, starting with an axle-back exhaust. This will also help create that deeper sound from the rear that I crave. As soon as I can get the exhaust delivered to me and installed (and run the car on the dyno again), I will update this thread with my new dyno sheet. I'm (conservatively) hoping for +2 RWHP (for 275 RWHP total); anything better than that is just gravy!



Best Regards,
Paul A.

 

Hey everybody,

I've officially ordered the (apparently, now out-of-production) OEM Lexus F-Sport Axle-back Exhaust system from LexusPartsNow.com. I promise this post is not sponsored, but I'd still like to give a MASSIVE shout-out to LexusPartsNow.com for providing this community with OEM parts at a discount compared to any Lexus dealership! My new exhaust system should be delivered to my address by 21 February 2023. Give me another week after that, and I should have dyno numbers for y'all, including a definitive, empirical measurement of precisely how many extra RWHP you can add with only an axle-back exhaust. I will be comparing to my "zero point" of 273 RWHP, as in my previous post.

With that said, this is probably the most expensive axle-back exhaust that you can buy for the 2nd-gen IS 350 (almost $1,700, delivered). I only bought this one over the Invidia Q300 because I like the sound better. For your reference, here are some YouTube clips of the two exhausts:
Invidia: F-Sport:
From what I could find, you can buy the Invidia system on eBay for just under $850; for reference, I paid nearly double that. But, imho, if you want the best sound, you'd better pay! As soon as I have it installed and get some dyno numbers, I'll post the chart here.

Cheers,
Paul A.

P.S., For transparency, here is a redacted version of my receipt:

 

Hey guys,

I have an update: apparently, even LexusPartsNow.com has no more units of the F-Sport axle-back. So that order was automatically cancelled: damn, what a shame!

It's okay though, because the Invidia Q300 sounds almost as good, and comes in at a far less eye-watering pricepoint. You *can* buy it on invidia-usa.com for an exorbitant MSRP of $1,333, although I wouldn't recommend doing that. I bought the same part sold by redline360.com for just over $750 (even better than the $850 eBay listing that I saw a few days ago).

I imagine that the performance increase (if any) will be similar to the F-Sport. The Invidia makes the V6 sound a bit like a Nissan VQ motor (that is not a compliment!), but it's not too bad. Again, watch the video in my earlier post. So the performance uplift will be the same, the sound will not be as good, but I saved almost $1,000, so I'm not too mad!




No word yet on a delivery date, but I hope it'll be here by the beginning of March. I'm still going to put my Lexus on the dyno before/after the install to get some numbers for y'all.

Cheers!
Paul A.