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Not IS350 related but those of you that have kept up with my posts on this thread would know that I've been considering adding the GR Supra to the stable and have been playing the waiting game with the right version being released before I pull the trigger. Well, Toyota announced today that the 2021 MY will have the updated B58D engine which puts out 382rwhp (~450bhp) along with revised suspension, chassis and steering tuning.
The limited release A91 Edition GR Supra really caught my eye and I am strongly considering pre-ordering one (this particular color is limited to 500 units).
The big question for me is should I go for the heavily revised 2021 version or continue to wait for the specs and price of the soon to be unveiled GRMN Supra? My big worry with the GRMN Supra is that it will command a hefty premium price for a not so premium gain in performance (ala the Lexus RCF Track Edition).
Considering getting back into a Supra eh? Well, in that color...I DON'T BLAME YOU! G.O.R.geous! But will your family be able to accept your 2-dr to replace your 4-dr? LOL!
A used Ultrasonic Blue GS-F is probably my IS350 replacement. But who knows how long my 350 will last!
Considering getting back into a Supra eh? Well, in that color...I DON'T BLAME YOU! G.O.R.geous! But will your family be able to accept your 2-dr to replace your 4-dr? LOL!
A used Ultrasonic Blue GS-F is probably my IS350 replacement. But who knows how long my 350 will last!
LOL. There's no need to replace one car with another. I plan on keeping the Redspencer IS350 as my fun daily driver and track car while taking out the two-seater Supra for an occasion drive on the weekends and also for track days. The IS350 puts too much of a smile on my face on each drive to ever get rid of it.
BTW, the wheels are in motion with my attempt to reserve an allocation for this limited edition A91 Supra in that Refraction Blue color.
As my house is limited with a two-car garage with a driveway wide enough for only two cars, I will have to figure out what to do with adding more space as my wife and I have two IS350s and a GX470. Adding an A91 Supra will make the driveway and garage very crowded. In the very near future, I'll have to consider either a Bendpak four-post lift for the garage and/or widen my driveway by an additional car length to keep the GX470 at that spot. It's what happens when you start collecting too many cars...
Definitely consider getting a lightly used USB GS-F for yourself when the price is right as it's likely the last generation of the naturally-aspirated V8 Lexus performance vehicles (and will hold its value when all future vehicles are forced induction or electric/hybrid.
Someone will say it eventually, why buy a BMW with yoda badges? My son works for yoda and I drove a 2020 for kicks. Even after that, I am surprised these two are sharing the same badge. JM2C but pretty much everything sporting Bosch electronics appears far less reliable than our Denso hardware.
Regardless, it will be fun and offer a step away from the sedan. Should be fun! Enjoy!
Time will tell on how reliable the Supra will be in the long term.
Regarding the Supra simply being a BMW with Toyota badges, the below video details the partnership between Toyota and BMW and each of their engineering contributions on the development of the Supra and Z4 duo (Chassis/Engine/Suspension):
Though a Toyota in-house development of the Supra would have been optimal, the end results are what they are. Little known fact, Toyota was actually in the process of going into the production phase of producing an in-house Supra which was the Toyota FT-HS concept [scheduled to be released in 2012] but unfortunately, the 2008 economy crash ended that project.
As to why I'm highly interested in the A90 Supra, since the unveiling of the Toyota FT-1 concept back in January 2014, I've patiently awaited the announcement of a production version of that build. During this wait, I was also considering owning a lightly used Lotus Evora S (another Europe/Toyota partnership product) back in 2015/2016 and was actually close to acquiring one (I was literally driving to a dealership that was 2 hours away from where I lived and on my drive there, the car was sold). The Lotus Evora 400 was also released soon after but the horror stories from other owners on the lack of dealership support for warranty repairs, lack of available spare parts, and multiple quality quirks from being a hand-built car also kept me from wanting to own one. I've also considered a Cayman GT4 but the process of trying to obtain one and the ADMs are too much for me to want to pursue obtaining one.
The lackluster and overweight F models from Lexus have also kept me from ever wanting to add one to my stable (which is why I would prefer to keep my sub-3500 lbs track-tuned IS350 over the other F models even though they would be faster in a straight line). The Lexus LFA has always been my dream car with the ideal specs but is a car that is definitely out of reach. Though the A90 Supra is manufactured by BMW and assembled at Magna Steyr in Austria, the platform and its potential track capabilities are my biggest draw to the model (and probably the closest we'll get to having a Toyota version of the LFA). The chassis (co-developed by Toyota and BMW) is as structurally rigid as the LFA and the Supra's CoG is also slightly higher than the LFA. The wheelbase and track width (supposedly creating the "Golden Ratio") adds to the sport car capabilities (it also helps that Toyota/Gazoo Racing used the Porsche Cayman and 997 GT3 as a target when tuning their prototypes). With the tuning potential of the newish B58D engine, the 2021+ Supra will be very quick and a formidable car on the track. When the 2022 GRMN Supra is released, I anticipate that this track-built model will be a 'hero' car to Toyota performance car enthusiasts (even if its innards originate from Germany).
In an effort to collect additional performance data on the IS350 beyond what I'm able to obtain via Torque Pro or OBD Fusion, I went ahead and ordered the Dragy GPS Performance Box.
It's supposed to be as accurate as a VBox with recording 0-60 and 1/4 mile times so as soon as it arrives, I plan on tinkering around with it to see what information I can collect. It should keep me busy this weekend.
Lol. I'm well aware of the Supraforums hatred towards the new Supra. I've frequented that forum for nearly 20 years and it's always been a cesspool of egotistical owners and negative vibes towards anything not a MKIV Supra Turbo.
I definitely agree with my headlight lenses looking crummy and polishing them no longer seems to help as it looks like the lenses have lots of fine scratches. As the headlights are HID with AFS, I don't want to swap them for VLands like others are doing.
Does Lexus sell OEM replacement headlight lenses? I've seen generic replacement lenses on aliexpress but I'm wary of purchasing those if fit and finish are not up to standards.
Hah, I've been lurking supraforums for awhile, and while there's definitely... ehh… something about the attitude, there's loads of good info as well
Toyota/Lexus mostly sells complete assemblies nowadays, so... no
Best way that I've found so far is to remove the lenses and then cast/vacuum mold/whatever new polycarbonates from that. HIDplanet is one resource. Acrylic is way easier to do, but isn't as robust - still, many people go down that route. I'm wondering whether a thick headlight paint protection film will take care of that adequately. At any rate, still researching this... Bimmerjakes does sell molded polycarbonate replacement lenses for the GS for around ~$250 or so, but where's the fun in that
Anyways, polishing should at least remove the yellow haze (well, sanding + polishing - I just used the "bottom of the barrel" turtle wax kit) - a decent sealant should then prevent the haze from appearing for awhile. I too have microscratches/microcracks/whatever they might be, but the light output pattern is still good.
1st Attempt: Dragy GPS certified 1/4 mile and 0-60 times
I did my very first 1/4 mile run in my IS350 and used Dragy to get the times GPS certified. It's definitely a different experience from doing my usual cornering adventures but since I like accumulating data and stats on this car, I figure I'd see what this car can do in the 1/4 mile with my mods.
I only had the chance to do one attempt at a 1/4 mile and while there's still room for improvement, I think I did okay for being a drag noob. Rear tire PSI was at 34, brake torque was around 1200-1500 RPMs, and my upshift timing was fairly close to being at redline before each shift.
My biggest bummer of the single run I did was that my certified time was literally 13.00 seconds! If I was 0.01 seconds quicker, it would have officially made the IS350 a 12 second car. I'm hoping that with more experience and more attempts, I'll break into the 12s.
I found the R&T performance metrics on the stock 07 IS350 which was the fastest published times from a major publication. It's interesting to compare the 0-60, 0-100, 40-60 and other figures between a stock 2IS350 and a tuned one.
The FBO+RR-Racing Tuned "Redspencer IS350" is finally part of the 12-second 1/4 mile club!!
(Times are GPS certified by Dragy) 1/4 mile time = 12.8 seconds @ 107.82mph 1/8 mile time = 8.3 seconds @ 85.93mph 0-60 mph = 4.3 seconds (w/ 1ft rollout); 4.5 sec without rollout 0-100 mph = 11.1 seconds, 40-60 mph = 1.9 seconds The IS350 was very consistent at pulling multiple high 12s during all of my runs. **Note: Ignore the Christmas Tree overlay. It's a visual effect from Dragy's video add-on that's still in beta and has no effect on the actual GPS recorded times.**
02-13-20, 07:23 PM
I plan on keeping the Redspencer IS350 as my fun daily driver and track car while taking out the two-seater Supra for an occasion drive on the weekends and also for track days. The IS350 puts too much of a smile on my face on each drive to ever get rid of it. 
