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Here's a few additional clips from The FIRM Track Attack event that I managed to upload earlier tonight. If you live in the Southeast US region, I highly recommend this road course since the track organizers offer a substantial discount (50% off) if it's your first time on this course (you can even learn to drive on a rally course if you so desire!).
Yeah man, I plan on doing a drain/refill over the 2 weeks I'm off at the end of this month. 11yr+ old car = need fresh fluids! LOL
Keep us posted on how your two weeks of draining and refilling the transmission fluid goes. If you're fully satisfied with the results as a viable alternative to getting the transmission fully flushed at the dealership, I may follow the same path.
If you also have time to document a DIY tutorial on what to do and what to be cautious of, it would definitely help forum folks like me that have never done this procedure before (especially if transmission damage can result if done improperly).
On a side note, the track organizer at The FIRM provided some nice shots of the Track Attack weekend event.
It's been a while since I've updated my build thread so here's what I've been up to since my last post.
Sad to say, I decided to trade-in my 2IS350 for a newer Lexus model so last weekend I was driving around in a brand-new 2017 3IS200t! Whoooo hoooo....turbo powa!! Here's a shot of the engine bay with the 2.0L turbo:
Okay, I didn't really trade in my 2IS350 for a 3IS200t. I had my car at the Lexus service center over the weekend so I can get a full transmission flush done as preventative maintenance. I received the 3IS200t as a service loaner and as a quick review, I must say that the turbo lag is atrocious on this motor. It's very difficult to anticipate when boost will kick in which makes it tough to modulate speed and acceleration. If you stomp on the gas from a dead stop, it takes over a second before any sort of thrust will propel the IS200t forward. Hopefully these issues won't be as noticeable when Lexus eventually moves toward a twin-turbo engine lineup for their future models. When I finally got back into my IS350, it felt like a rocket whenever I stepped on the gas from a dead stop!
The full transmission flush was performed using a BG fluid exchange machine and there were no issues with shifting after the procedure was complete. My car is currently at the 80k mile mark and since I do plan on keeping my car for the long haul, I felt that having entirely fresh WS ATF in the system would help prolong the life of my transmission, especially when I may add additional stress to it during autox and HPDE driving events. I did save a small bottle of the old transmission fluid so it could be tested by Blackstone Labs to determine the overall health of the fluids. I'll provide an update once I receive back a report. The color is still caramel-like and not burnt black so I anticipate the report to show the fluids being in good health.
As far as future upgrades to the IS350, I'm still planning on upsizing my tires to a 255F/275R setup to resemble the configuration on the RC-F and GS-F (with my car being 500lbs lighter ). I've been waiting for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires to be released in March so I can install those on my car but unfortunately it looks like the sizes available at launch will be very limited in the 18 inch wheel size. Until the PS4s are available for the sizes I'm looking for, I might have to get another set of Pilot Super Sport tires in a 255F/275R configuration in the meantime. I'm also hoping that an update to my ECU tune will be available in 2017 that will allow our transmission to manually shift (instead of being a gear limiter). I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
It's been a while since I've updated my build thread so here's what I've been up to since my last post.
Sad to say, I decided to trade-in my 2IS350 for a newer Lexus model so last weekend I was driving around in a brand-new 2017 3IS200t! Whoooo hoooo....turbo powa!! Here's a shot of the engine bay with the 2.0L turbo:
Okay, I didn't really trade in my 2IS350 for a 3IS200t. I had my car at the Lexus service center over the weekend so I can get a full transmission flush done as preventative maintenance. I received the 3IS200t as a service loaner and as a quick review, I must say that the turbo lag is atrocious on this motor. It's very difficult to anticipate when boost will kick in which makes it tough to modulate speed and acceleration. If you stomp on the gas from a dead stop, it takes over a second before any sort of thrust will propel the IS200t forward. Hopefully these issues won't be as noticeable when Lexus eventually moves toward a twin-turbo engine lineup for their future models. When I finally got back into my IS350, it felt like a rocket whenever I stepped on the gas from a dead stop!
The full transmission flush was performed using a BG fluid exchange machine and there were no issues with shifting after the procedure was complete. My car is currently at the 80k mile mark and since I do plan on keeping my car for the long haul, I felt that having entirely fresh WS ATF in the system would help prolong the life of my transmission, especially when I may add additional stress to it during autox and HPDE driving events. I did save a small bottle of the old transmission fluid so it could be tested by Blackstone Labs to determine the overall health of the fluids. I'll provide an update once I receive back a report. The color is still caramel-like and not burnt black so I anticipate the report to show the fluids being in good health.
As far as future upgrades to the IS350, I'm still planning on upsizing my tires to a 255F/275R setup to resemble the configuration on the RC-F and GS-F (with my car being 500lbs lighter ). I've been waiting for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires to be released in March so I can install those on my car but unfortunately it looks like the sizes available at launch will be very limited in the 18 inch wheel size. Until the PS4s are available for the sizes I'm looking for, I might have to get another set of Pilot Super Sport tires in a 255F/275R configuration in the meantime. I'm also hoping that an update to my ECU tune will be available in 2017 that will allow our transmission to manually shift (instead of being a gear limiter). I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
I have been pestering my tuner at OV about the transmission tune. He Seems to be having difficulty accessing the MCU and explained in very complicated terms that it may not be possible to tune the transmission. (
i have been pestering my tuner at ov about the transmission tune. He seems to be having difficulty accessing the mcu and explained in very complicated terms that it may not be possible to tune the transmission. (
Tuning our transmission may be a complicated procedure but nothing's impossible if enough time and focus is put into achieving the end goal. I'm not sure what type of special access Lotus had with tuning the slushbox six-speed automatic that's found in the Toyota Camry but they were able to tune that same Aisin transmission to shift at a blistering 100ms on their Lotus Evora 400. IIRK, the FRS/BRZ twins use the same auto transmission from the Lexus IS250 and that was also tweaked to be much more responsive. I don't see why our A760E tranny can't eventually be reprogrammed as well (pending finding a workaround to the part of the ECU that controls the transmission).
I honestly feel that the current focus for both tuners is on the 3IS and RC models and lesser priority is being put on the older 2IS350 so we need to remain vigilante with constant reminders to them that 2IS350 owners still want this transmission to be tuned and that there's plenty of demand for it, even if we're on an older platform. We need one of those genius 12-year-old hackers to take on this challenge!
Just curious, how much did they charge to flush the transmission? I am just over 100k and am thinking I should get some fresh fluid in, especially with the higher revs. Also, did you notice any difference before/after?
Just curious, how much did they charge to flush the transmission? I am just over 100k and am thinking I should get some fresh fluid in, especially with the higher revs. Also, did you notice any difference before/after?
My local dealership charged me $290 to fully flush the transmission which includes 12 quarts of Toyota ATF WS. The difference is subtle but shifts are a bit smoother and I noticed that upshifts are a bit quicker than before (probably around 200-300 RPMs quicker when I manually upshift early to account for the initial lag when trying to hit 7200 RPMs).
I think the 80k-110k mile interval is probably the sweet spot for getting a full transmission flush before it might become riskier with clogging the passages when getting a full flush (instead of doing multiple drain and fills). We'll know for sure once I receive my test kit from Blackstone so we can determine the health of the old fluid.
For those of you that have been wondering what the condition of the transmission fluid would be after 10 years and/or after 80,000 miles like in my case, the fluid report from Blackstone Labs has finally arrived. Sample was taken at 81,000 miles after a full fluid flush was performed.
For those of you that have been wondering what the condition of the transmission fluid would be after 10 years and/or after 80,000 miles like in my case, the fluid report from Blackstone Labs has finally arrived. Sample was taken at 81,000 miles after a full fluid flush was performed.
So... I suppose it wouldn't be best to do this at my current 99,000 miles.
12-12-16, 06:45 PM
Here's a shot of the engine bay with the 2.0L turbo:
). I've been waiting for the Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires to be released in March so I can install those on my car but unfortunately it looks like the sizes available at launch will be very limited in the 18 inch wheel size. Until the PS4s are available for the sizes I'm looking for, I might have to get another set of Pilot Super Sport tires in a 255F/275R configuration in the meantime. I'm also hoping that an update to my ECU tune will be available in 2017 that will allow our transmission to manually shift (instead of being a gear limiter). I'm keeping my fingers crossed! 
(
