Thing is, with the louder sound from the takeda the car "felt" faster even when it wasn't. The shifts had more lag, but were more pronounced and exciting, with more jerk to each shift (which I personally dig). But I'm keeping the intake for now because I'm still really liking the quicker shifts.

And the whine is still there! Now it's even louder since the car is virtually silent. There is no way to get rid of that unless you cover it up with a lot of intake/exhaust tone. I remember my 350z made all kinds of those whiny sounds, but then I got a greddy twin turbo kit with downpipes, a greddy exhaust, etc. and the whine was no longer heard. The car just became a monster. Not saying the IS needs to be like that, but more sound from other components will shadow the annoying whine which I personally cannot stand, especially on those slower downshifts. So far this is the only car on the market that I've driven which has this whine. I'm still hoping/waiting on greddy and hks come up with an exhaust system worth getting. The Joe Z exhaust is awesome sound-wise, but not a fan of the look (the tips mostly), and seems like it's not going to change (or will it!?).

 

Sewell will have F Sport intake this summer and it costs $308 for Clublexus members. This intake should give the same improved throttle response as Joe Z but also sound good. I want to give F Sport intake a try and see how it works.