Given that the IS F comes from the factory stout—what with its 416 hp, sport tuned suspension, and aggressive styling—our goal is to accentuate those attributes and build an aggressive ride that performs well on the track while being livable: A four seater to floss on the street during the work week…and a car to beat around the track during the weekend.
With this in mind, reliability is key. We’re going to go light on the engine mods (it does come stuffed with a V-8...stock) and heavy on the chassis and suspension. Cue Tein. A lot of our efforts will also be spent on lightening the vehicle to improve its power-to-weight ratio and tuning the suspension components.
To test the capabilities of our IS F, after SEMA, our Lexus will compete in the Street Class of the Super Lap Battle time attack finals at Buttonwillow Raceway, CA. The driver we have lined up? Mr. Tanner Foust.
STRIPPED (part 1):
After marveling at the IS F's stock beauty for about three days, what do we do? Order a bunch of parts and proceed to strip her down like a starving college student working for tips. We (as in Philip and Brian from Tein) ripped out the bumpers, fenders, headlights, doors, trunk, seats, carpet, to get to the sheetmetal to prep for stitch welding the chassis.
STRIPPED (part 2):
Now that we had access to the exposed chassis, all the tar and sound deadening material was scraped, chiseled and gnawed off in an effort to reduce weight. How much? According to our scale, 27 lbs or so, giving whoever drives our IS F, the equivalent of an instant diet; a portly 217 pound man would now essentially weigh 190 lbs. And once we tally the weight loss from removing the air bags (side curtain, knee), rear speakers, strategically cut holes, and the difference in lighter Bride seats, titanium Fujitsubo exhaust, and forged Volk wheels, it’s like the driver went on a really bad meth binge.
STITCHED:
To stiffen the chassis, M1 Fabrication, Tein and Fujitsubo all lent a hand and stitch welded most of the IS F's seams. Hopefully there will never be any need for major body work (knock on wood).