While there are several quality aftermarket exhaust systems out there for the IS250/350, a few of us admire the quality of the OEM Lexus performance exhuast systems. And until the introduction of the Lexus F-sport performance accessories, there was only one option.

Today, there are two performance exhaust system that are only marketed through Lexus dealers only. The Lexus HKS exhaust (P/N# PT916-23060) and the Lexus F-sport exhaust (P/N# PTR08-53090). My own IS350 has the Lexus HKS exhaust and I absolutely love it. It is fairly quite and only noticable when driven past 50% throttle. Recently I had a Lexus sothern area corporate vehicle delivered to our dealership for the F-sport accessories to be installed and I had the opportunity to install them on this vehicle. The vehicle had several accessories installed. The entire OEM underbody kit and trunk spoilers along with all the F-sport accessories aside from the brakes and carbon engine cover were installed. After the install I took the vehicle for a test drive and noticed how much louder the exhuast system sounded when I compared to my own vehicle. So needless to say, I had to find out what the difference was. The only performance difference between my IS350 and this vehicle was the F-sport intake system. Everyone at work were certain the F-sport intake was the reason why the exhaust was louder but I wasn't taking it for an answer and had to find out for myself. So I placed both vehicles on the lift side-by-side and inspected the systems.

What took me by surprise was the fact that both exhuast systems are physically identical. The bends, hangers, y-pipe, tips and even the mufflers dimensions are physically identical. The Lexus HKS exhuast has the part numbers stamped on all three sections (y-pipe and both muffler tubes) on the exact same locations as the Lexus F-sport exhaust. The mufflers look so close that they are 100% interchangable. The same goes for the y-pipe.

Lexus HKS y-pipe

Lexus F-sport y-pipe

Lexus HKS right

Lexus F-sport right

Lexus HKS left

Lexus F-sport left


But that still didn't answer why the F-sport exhuast was so much louder. Just out of curiosity, I started knocking the mufflers on the Lexus HKS exhaust thinking the packaging material was a different type. I hadn't noticed it before but the driver's side muffler made a thud noise (as though it has packing within it) and the passenger's side muffler made a hollow clanking noise (as though it lacked packing within it). But when I inspected the F-sport exhaust it too was the same as the Lexus HKS exhaust.

The difference was finally found when I took a peek into the tips. The following pictures show the differences.

Lexus HKS left tip

Lexus F-sport left tip

Lexus HKS right tip

Lexus F-sport right tip


The Left side muffers on both vehicles are the same and use a perforated core with packing to quiten the exhaust w/o hurting flow. The right side muffler on the Lexus HKS exhaust is a tuned resonance chamber. The right side muffler on the Lexus F-sport exhuast is a dummy muffler that is a straight shot from end to end and the shell is there for apperance only.

I filmed the exhausts and the following vidoes can show you the differences between them and the last two confirm the right side muffler on the F-sport as w/o any muffelling capability.


This should help conclude which exhaust system is right for anyone who is interested in purchasing these exhaust systems.

Enjoy.

-Joe

 

Finally, Thank you for the review and especially the clips! From the movies you can hear a slight difference in sound b/w HKS and F-Sport. But I still can't make up my mind!!

 

Nice post and info! Thanks for the write up and pics!!

The F-Sport exhaust sounds great in person. Got to drive the IS250 and IS350 all loaded up with the F-Sport line up at the Lexus event in IL a week ago! I want to get ride of my Tanabe for it

 

The F-sport exhaust sounds very nice. The Tanabe with the secondary cats out sounds very similar. I wonder what the F-Sport would sound like with the secondaries out as well.
BTW..Did you by chance weigh the F-sport exhaust?

http://youtube.com/watch?v=D-d8IlLwkUo

 

sounds amazing!!!

 

F-sport is loud!! way way louder than Tanabe/Lexus HKS.. Lexus HKS sounds just like Tanabe..very similar.. but the F-Sport has that 'dry' sound, as if it's coming from a Mustang or a throaty American muscle car!!

I bet the inside cabin sound is loud!! close to HKS-Hi Power but maube a bit softer

 

Thank you for sharing!

 

nice write up only dig is if you coulda resized the pics to 1024x768 at the maximum, makes reading what ppl write tedious with the slider bar.

I wouldnt be surprised to find out that HKS makes the F-Sport exhaust.

 

wow, great information. Hearing the F-sport in joliet last week really made me fall in love. It's way better than the Lexus HKS in my opinion.

What would it sound like if both sides were straight through? ie both muffler delete/dummys

 

Damn I wish I would have gotton the F-SPort Exhaust it sounds so much louder but good.

 

Can you also do a video on the inside cabin while the car is in motion? I think it sounded loud because he's inside the shop. It might not be that loud if he parks outside the shop.

 

Guys I don't like how loud the F-sport exhaust sounds in the car. I agree that it sounds good. But its loud. I think it will attract too much attention to the car. I like my mods subtle but sweet. The Lexus HKS and Tanabe sound perfect for someone like me. The F-sport sounds like the HKS Hi-Power with silencers. The noise is loud inside the vehicle. I think the reasoning behind this is change to a straight pipe is the IS-F. It sounds louder than the IS350 w/ Lexus HKS exhaust. I know the IS350 w/F-sport exhaust sounds louder than the IS-F.

The F-sport exhuast has a drone to it. The Lexus HKS is quite when cruising. The F-sport is not. You can hear it. If someone tags along with you they will notice it also and probably not like it.

If you're into a quite exhuast I'd recommend the Lexus HKS or the Tanabe exhaust. If you want to be heard and like to have some sportiness to the vehicle, get the F-sport , HKS Hi-Power w/inserts, or Trust (Greddy) exhaust.

The reason why I like the OEM exhaust is its a 3-piece section. Soon I'll be looking into making a true-dual conversion by installing 2 pipes from the manifolds to the mufflers. If it gets too loud I'd probably get rid of it and go back to the Lexus HKS exhaust. This being my daily driver, I prefer some quiteness. I prefer this car being Dr. Jekyll and the other car in my sig as Mr. Hyde.

 

the F sport sounds better then the HKS more throatier...

 

just as I said earlier.. f-sport is loud..way louder than the tanabe and lexus hks exhaust. Tanabe and lexus hks sound the same to me (maybe the engineering and sizing are the same) and they are perfect coz of the absence of drone. I can tell from the video that f-sport will have a drone inside the cabin, even cruising at 65-70mph. maybe a video can back up my sentence here..

what I like about the f-sport is that it has the V8 sound to me.. like a Mustang revving!! so I guess if you like an american muscle car revving you gotta love this exhaust

 

Nice work Joe!!!

The reason for your below findings is that:

Lexus / TRD gave both contracts to HKS to manufacture both the Lexus HKS Exhaust and the F-Sport Exhaust..

Glad you took the time to research the differences..


Joe Z