I see you like stickers ha ha for the is350

am impressed the Supra is sticker free, lol

 

I like the added livery on the IS350 as the car is well beyond a stock example with a multitude of performance upgrades.

The Supra has very few mods (Pure800 Turbo, downpipe, tune, and tires) but it does have one decal on the rear window as it was tuned by Titan Motorsports.

 

It's been a while since I've posted on this build thread as there haven't been any new upgrades done to the IS350. There was a sizable hurricane that blasted through Florida not too long ago and while my house managed to escape any damage, my neighborhood had a bit of water on the streets which made driving near impossible with the cars. Luckily, the water has receded and life goes on.


This month marks 16 years of ownership with the 2IS and I'm still enjoying my spirited daily drives with the car. I washed and waxed the IS last week and it's still looking pretty sharp for being 10 years shy of officially being an antique car :


I also detailed the interior and the leather is holding up very well. The F-Sport shifter and aluminum sport pedals add some flair to the inside:


I rummaged through some stuff I had boxed up and found my original 07 Lexus IS brochure from when I bought my car. I forgot that it included a multitude of high-quality prints of the IS350 as well:


The IS350C also received some attention from me with some shiny paint as an end result:


The GR Supra is still an absolute blast to drive though I prefer driving it when there's no traffic so I can do many WOT pulls. Here's a few new pics of the car:

My dog is standing watch by the Supra.


A woodland pic


Sunrise shot


Installed a new turbo heat shield to keep temperatures at a reasonable level


The Supra at a recent Cars and Coffee event


Here's all three cars getting some rest inside the garage (the GX470 gets no garage love):

 

Did you see any sharks

 

Does an orca count?

 

Not sure how many of you have done this already on your 2IS but I spent a good part of the afternoon on a task that I've been delaying for quite some time, the removal of the OEM PPF located by the rear doors. As you can see, 16 years of Florida sun hasn't been kind to it.


Using some Goo Gone, a scraper, my fingernails and a lot of patience, I went to work on slowly removing the film and the adhesive


Nearly two hours later, the unsightly PPF and the glue residue was removed and that area is looking much better!

 

One of the first things I did actually. Florida too, and the cracked look was killing me lol. A steamer really speeds up the process. Been wanting to replace the one on the rear bumper too, but recently got hit in a parking lot so it'll be changed anyway

 

I cannot believe you were able to wait this long to remove that vinyl! It was just about the first thing I had to do to mine after driving it to SC from NJ.

Glad your cars/home didn't see any water damage!

 

With the weather finally cooling down in Florida, I've been enjoying plenty of spirited drives in the IS350. The F-Sport suspension and OS Giken LSD keeps the car composed in the corners and applying throttle mid corner to add more power to the outside rear tire never gets old.


When it was Halloween day, the weather was very foggy so I had to take an atmospheric pic for the occasion.


The paint on the IS350 is holding up very well after 16 years. Constant waxing every six months helps keep the water beading on the surface.

 

I have had good results with Chemical Guys and Turtle wax hybrid ceramic coating. The key is to prep the surface clean before applying and have many clean rags during the process.

I can hear the echo sound of the cicadas by looking at those FL tall trees, he he...

 

What a beauty! Now you are making me miss my IS350! It was among the best ICE vehicles I've owned. I just couldn't justify letting it sit most of the time, it needs an owner like you to love it, take care of it, and drive it with lots of throttle

 

Speaking of ceramic coating and prepping the surface, that's pretty much how I spent my weekend as I decided to get the IS350C extra shiny by clay barring it, applying a paint compound and polish treatment, and then sealing the polish with Adam's Advanced Graphene Ceramic Coating. It took two full mornings to complete but it was well worth it:

Clay bar task:


Adam's Advanced Graphene Ceramic Coating used after the compound and polish:


IS350C after it received a graphene ceramic coating:



Yeah, it's a bummer that you let your IS350 go. I definitely enjoy the well rounded package it provides and it's proven to be quite durable and reliable after all these years!

 

This is my kind of build thread. Functional well thought out mods.

Well done sir. My wife's 08 IS250 AWD is a simply DD that I'm about to rip out all the rear control arms from horrible rust. Not something I am looking forward to LOL.

 

I had NO clue these cars make anywhere near those numbers.

I did see a 2023 manual option....would do 100%

 

Being that October 2023 marks the start of the 17th year of having the IS350 as my daily driver, it seems appropriate to hit a certain mileage milestone during this month as well.


Though I haven't been driving it on the track for quite a while, I still enjoy the cornering capabilities whenever I feel like spiritedly driving through an on-ramp or a curvy road as well as the exhaust sound whenever I press on the pedal.




As far as recent preventative maintenance, I decided to finally swap out the pcv valve on the engine as a just-in-case. Though I did buy a 19mm crow feet socket to ease with the removal and install of the PCV valve, I didn't realize until after the fact that the socket I bought had a slight bit of a closed end which made loosening the valve a very slow process as the socket kept getting caught underneath the intake manifold so I was only able to make small incremental turns. The end of the pcv hose also started to tear from age so as a temporary solu, good old duct tape was used until I end up getting another hose.



The PCV valve still has a rattle so it sounds like it's still functional but at least the new one should last just as long.


The IS350C still gets driven on occasion though the cooler weather will make the drop top experience more enjoyable here in Florida


The GR Supra is still my go to weekend morning car to really push my attention span to the limits as the power it pushes through the rear wheels causes me to have to catch it every time it breaks traction. With the temps finally cooling down, I'm anticipating even more hooligan fun with Supra as the 200tw Falken RT660 tires try to maintain traction whenever I go WOT. It's also been exactly 3 years ago since I picked up the Supra (October 2020) and it's still an amazing car to have in the garage.