Performance Modifications And 2006-07 Is250 Awd

[ca_randolph]

Hi All,

I just got my first Lex! Woo Hoo! :D

It is a 2006, IS250 AWD, auto, with Navigation, has 27k mi, and is Smoked Granite with the Tan leather interior.

So here's my questions . . .

I am thinking about changing out the Air Intake for a K & N tornado Cold Air Intake . . .

K&N Cold Air Intake - Typhoon - Polished 2006-2007 Lexus IS250

"K&N 69 SERIES TYPHOON AIR INTAKE SYSTEM, SHORT RAM, POLISHED -- Provides An Additional 11.27 Horsepower At 5800 Rpm, Replaces The Restrictive Factory Air Filter And Air Intake Housing, Comes With A Washable And Reusable Air Filter That Lasts Longer, With Manufacturer's Limited Million Mile Warranty"

http://www.car-stuff.com/lexuscoldairintake.htm

TOTAL $240.00

It seems that the "Additional 11.27 Horsepower At 5800 Rpm" comes from their tests with an IS350 . . . Has anyone added this to their IS250? What were the results?

ALSO

I am thinking about swapping out the stock exhaust for a Tanabe Medalion Touring Exhaust - Lexus IS250/ IS350 06-Up. . .

This one sounds awesome! (

AND http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecIQ5sA9WHI)) But . . . No one seems to know if it just sounds good or if it actually boosts power significantly. Have you installed this on your IS250 AWD and what was the result?

http://www.showstoppersusa.com/product_inf...roducts_id=1671

Tanabe Medallion Touring Exhaust 06-up IS 350 $549.00 Shipping included!

Tanabe Medallion Touring Exhaust 06-up IS 350

FINALLY - God Willing . . . Has anyone done both of these modifications with both of these exact parts? What was the result of installing these both together? I'd imagine that it would be great! Have you done this to your 2006-07-08 IS250 AWD? How is it? Would you recommend this combination? Are there other parts I should be considering? I am primarily a Luxury\sport driver and I'm just looking for a 20-25HP boost and slightly better fuel economy when I'm not dogging it on the highway. ;) I am not looking to build a "race" car - i am very happy with my 250 as it is I just want a little better than stock sound and performance. Thanks for your opinions and suggestions! :)

P.S. I don't work for anyone at either of these vendors - they just had the best prices so I thought I'd add links. :)

Sincerely,

Christopher

[Lex Law]

Welcome, ca randolph. Good to have you here.

That's a sweet car you've got. You probably got a good deal by getting an 06. I've seen those types of mods advertised on ebay and talked about on the boards, but never considered getting them. No reason to think they'd work on a 350 and not a 250.

[Knightshade]

You'll gain about 5-7 hp from the Tanabe...actually that's 350 numbers... so prob. more like 3-5 on a 250... Which is about the best you'll do with any street-legal exhaust system. If you don't care about legal there are some that delete the secondary cats that gain 10-12 on a 350, so prob. 7-10 on a 250, but cost over $1000... If you don't care about legal though you'd be better off with the Mazzuri headers for around $750-800 plus install that will add moire like 25 hp to a 250 but aren't street legal either (they delete the primary cats)

You'll gain about 0 from the intake.

The factory intake isn't restrictive.

If you -really- want an intake spend $109 on a Joe Z intake pipe- it'll still look factory and you might pick up 3-5 hp, while retaining the cold air features of the stock intake box... and that's about the best you'll get out of an intake on an ISx50.

[EnginePassion]

Is the gain acheivable at 5200RPM? if you're going to drive at 3000RPM would you gain something and how much the gain would be?

[Knightshade]

Is the gain acheivable at 5200RPM? if you're going to drive at 3000RPM would you gain something and how much the gain would be?

The gain from which part?

A dyno graph of the mazzuri headers on a 250 is here:

http://my.is/forums/f167/is250-350-headers...oup-buy-350501/

gains are pretty much in the entire RPM range there.

Intakes as I mentioned are pretty much near-zero gain regardless, but dyno for the Joe Z is here-

http://my.is/forums/f155/faq-joe-z-d-afi-i...ct-pics-283691/

Be sure to scroll down to the dyno sheet from the -manual- IS250 to be able to see useful results around 3000 rpms, but again gains are in the whole rpm range really, albeit much smaller than the headers.

[ca_randolph]

Hey! Thanks to all who have replied so far.

To Lex Law - Thank you 250 brother! These are cool cars!

To Knightshade - Thanks for the input. I thought the same too - Lexus seemed to do a pretty good job at making the intake non-restrictive stock. I didn't want to waste $200-300 for nothing.

At least with the exhaust you get a cool sound if not more power. P.S. I think I want to keep it legal too -lol :)

Are there other changes that are cost-effective (under $1000) that I could make to increase 0-60 time?

Thanks! :D

[ca_randolph]

You'll gain about 5-7 hp from the Tanabe...actually that's 350 numbers... so prob. more like 3-5 on a 250... Which is about the best you'll do with any street-legal exhaust system. If you don't care about legal there are some that delete the secondary cats that gain 10-12 on a 350, so prob. 7-10 on a 250, but cost over $1000... If you don't care about legal though you'd be better off with the Mazzuri headers for around $750-800 plus install that will add moire like 25 hp to a 250 but aren't street legal either (they delete the primary cats)

You'll gain about 0 from the intake.

The factory intake isn't restrictive.

If you -really- want an intake spend $109 on a Joe Z intake pipe- it'll still look factory and you might pick up 3-5 hp, while retaining the cold air features of the stock intake box... and that's about the best you'll get out of an intake on an ISx50.

Excellent info - Thanks! :D

[EnginePassion]

5 to 7 % or 7 to 10%, it still in the statiscal/analytical instrument error range which is 6 to 10%. So, gain may ===or may not== be zero.

[Knightshade]

As to other things to increase 0-60 times-

You can change your wheel/tire size for better effective gearing

You can remove weight in a slew of ways (including lighter wheels/tires, removing spare and jack, smaller battery, and more extreme things)

Probably some suspension mods you could do to improve overall launch and weight transfer- but might be at the cost of ride quality

Not a whole lot else really... esp. in the realm of keeping it street legal... these just aren't especially mod-friendly cars.

In general, the best bang/buck way to add a lot of power to an IS250 is to trade it in for an IS350 (and for an IS350 to trade for an IS-F).... that doesn't help someone who has have AWD though.

[Bigstdawg]

I went with the AFE cold air on my 06 350 coupled with a Borla exhaust - that really opened her up.

[ca_randolph]

I went with the AFE cold air on my 06 350 coupled with a Borla exhaust - that really opened her up.

Really? Cool! What specifically changed? Did it feel faster while accelerating? How was the sound? I don't want to sound like a screaming civic - lol :) I just got out of my civic. ;)

[Knightshade]

The borla off-road is a full (read- illegal) catback that deletes the secondary cats... gains should be in the 10-15 RWHP range... it's probably as large a gain from a cat-back as you'll get, though several folks have reported the build quality isn't the best...the intake didn't do anything for him but make it louder though.

A pretty extensive review of the Borla, including the poor build quality, is here-

http://www.clublexus.com/forums/showthread.php?t=310178

[EnginePassion]

A dyno graph of the mazzuri headers on a 250 is here:

http://my.is/forums/f167/is250-350-headers...oup-buy-350501/

=====================

This Dyno exposes Lexus as it claims the IS250 produces 204hp @6500RPM but the Dyno shows the base produces 170 hp @6500.

I'm not sure how Lexus justifies it or defend itself should a legal action is been taken?

Any comments?

Thanks in advance.

[Knightshade]

A dyno shows horsepower at the wheels of the vehicle. (technically it measures torque at the wheels, then calculates horsepower from that)

A car manufacturer advertises horsepower at the -engine- of the vehicle.

There is typically a loss of anywhere in the 15-20% range between the engine and the wheels due to drivetrain losses.

[joeb427]

You'll gain about 5-7 hp from the Tanabe...actually that's 350 numbers... so prob. more like 3-5 on a 250... Which is about the best you'll do with any street-legal exhaust system. If you don't care about legal there are some that delete the secondary cats that gain 10-12 on a 350, so prob. 7-10 on a 250, but cost over $1000... If you don't care about legal though you'd be better off with the Mazzuri headers for around $750-800 plus install that will add moire like 25 hp to a 250 but aren't street legal either (they delete the primary cats)

You'll gain about 0 from the intake.

The factory intake isn't restrictive.

If you -really- want an intake spend $109 on a Joe Z intake pipe- it'll still look factory and you might pick up 3-5 hp, while retaining the cold air features of the stock intake box... and that's about the best you'll get out of an intake on an ISx50.

Correct! :D

[EnginePassion]

A dyno shows horsepower at the wheels of the vehicle. (technically it measures torque at the wheels, then calculates horsepower from that)

A car manufacturer advertises horsepower at the -engine- of the vehicle.

There is typically a loss of anywhere in the 15-20% range between the engine and the wheels due to drivetrain losses.

=====

Thanks for the explaination.

My cousin has Nissan Rogue (167 hp) and I drove a lot to compare it with my IS-although the Rogue has much more milage in it- and it was clear that it has more power and much faster than my IS.

[Lex Law]

Really? Cool! What specifically changed? Did it feel faster while accelerating? How was the sound? I don't want to sound like a screaming civic - lol :) I just got out of my civic. ;)

My first non-hand-me-down car was a new 1998 Civic LX (red, of course), top trim back then. It was a little wedge of a sports car, the first model year of the redesign. However, it only had 98HP. After 10 years of that, a wreck and on to a hand-me-down Nissan Sentra GXE for 10 years. Top trim, but only 110HP.

Now that I'm in the IS 250, the 200HP is nice. I never floor it, so I can't see where'd I'd notice anything from a 5-10HP increase. Take the money you'd spend on an intake and get yourself some nice tint (3M, LLumar), and you'll look faster!

[ca_randolph]

Thanks all :D P.S. I just figured out what the ACT "Power" button does! Cool! That's a much better shifting ratio. I think I'll explore the care a bit more and wait on the enhancements for now. Thanks for the input.

CR

[ca_randolph]

Really? Cool! What specifically changed? Did it feel faster while accelerating? How was the sound? I don't want to sound like a screaming civic - lol :) I just got out of my civic. ;)

My first non-hand-me-down car was a new 1998 Civic LX (red, of course), top trim back then. It was a little wedge of a sports car, the first model year of the redesign. However, it only had 98HP. After 10 years of that, a wreck and on to a hand-me-down Nissan Sentra GXE for 10 years. Top trim, but only 110HP.

Now that I'm in the IS 250, the 200HP is nice. I never floor it, so I can't see where'd I'd notice anything from a 5-10HP increase. Take the money you'd spend on an intake and get yourself some nice tint (3M, LLumar), and you'll look faster!

ROFL! That's a great idea - I will.