cdeslandes

First of all lose some weight:

• Downsize from 18" to 17" wheels. This will save 20 Lbs for the wheels plus maybe 2 Lbs for the tires. More importantly you'll reduce rotational mass.
• Remove the spare wheel, trunk mats & safety kit. Maybe 30 Lbs saved there.
• Keep your fuel tank half full or less. Going from 17 to 7 gallons in the tank saves 60 Lbs!
• Lose the mats, rear headrests, owner's manual. 10 or 15 easy pounds there.
• Lightweight battery, perhaps a 20 Lbs saving.

This will save you 140Lbs without even putting the driver on a diet! This may just get you a couple of 1/10th close to your goal.

Crazy Yoda

All I have to say is that for the size and weight of this car the performance is quite outstanding. It took BMW a set of twin turbos to take the IS350 off the line and equal it out in the 1/4 mile..and that is with the manual. The automatic does not fair quite as well. When you look at the fact the IS350 is loaded with all kinds of heavy items (nav...luxury seating) along with a power sunroof and it is still able to pull off 13.6-8 1/4 mile times on average it is pretty darn good.

It takes a V8 in an american car to equal this kind of performance or to even get close to it. Personally I would just bolt on a decent exhaust system and add the JoeZ intake plus a filter and be done with the project. At the drags or the track just take out anything that is not bolted on and the car will run well.

If you are looking for a lot more performance just wait until the IS500 comes out and pick one of those up. I am sure you will be able to do all kinds of things to the 5.0L V8 that they are putting into the engine bay. Think of what they did with a 3.5L V6 and 306HP.....imagine what the 425+HP will do in a car that does not weigh that much more.

If you cannot wait buy a vette or a GT500 mustang.

combfilter

iTrader: (3)

oh yea, has anyone seen real world results of what the new g35 is doing? I am real curious to see if their 306hp can hang with ours. I think the new g35 is lighter. freaking sucks too because it looks pretty much like the IS , and is about 8k cheaper.

NovaIS350

uh..wow. how is that possible, being a stock IS and all?

caymandive

iTrader: (2)

Downhill

al503

y'all have to remember that as a loose general rule of thumb, 100 lbs = .1 in the 1/4 mile, not to 60. You're probably going to have to double that (or more) to drop a .1 to 60.

Gernby

iTrader: (1)

If you are just interested in the ability to do quick 0-60 times without caring how it looks or handles, then I would go with really light 16" wheels on the back with drag tires. You would also want to reduce the overall diameter of the rear tires to optimize gearing for 60.1 MPH at the rev limitter in 2nd gear. I'm sure that alone would put it under 5 seconds.

tt061880

I guess lexus is being modest about the IS350's performance.

insider

Yeah BMW needed two turbos to match the Lexus And Lexus needed a 3.5V6 and yet still can't match the 3.2 that BMW created 10 years ago.

al503

A few comments/observations:
1. When the 3.2 was introduced, it 'only' put out about 240 bhp. It's only been 5 or 6 years since it's power was bumped up to it's current level of 333 bhp and that was pre the new SAE standards.

2. Many stock m3's dyno in the 260's to just over 270 at the wheels. There are several forum members that are dynoing in the mid 260's IIRC. I think someone is over 270. Sure, Lexus apparently needs and additional .3 liters of displacement to do it but the M's 3.2 is a low production, very sophisticated (6 individual throttle bodies) engine that requires much more human hands-on involvement, which is clearly reflected in it's price.

So, it looks like we have a great 3.5 liter engine capable of putting us a few tenths behind the M3 0-60 and in the 1/4 despite a ~200 lb weight penalty and it costs $15 to $20K less than a similarly equipped M3.

Instead of this, I give lexus a big

javyLSU

iTrader: (21)

You watch your mouth, Al - how dare you defend Lexus! Great post, but you responded to the latest in a line of "unbiased and objective" remarks from CL's resident BMW fanboi:
Javier

al503

crikey! my bad javier.

Technique

I bet you could do sub 5.0 by replacing just the wheels and tires:

1) SUPER light weight wheels (maybe SSR comp 17" or 18", they are like 15 lbs each, or those volks)
2) Replace tires with racing slicks

Unsprung weight loss + slicks = good juju...

PhoenixINX

You realize the only 3.2 E36 that made that small amount of power was the US-Spec right?

I'm in no means defending where BMW is in regards to technology vs. the japs... but get the facts right.

Bingo... The Evo only sees its sub 5 second times because of its ability to launch. Increase the Lexus' traction of the line, and enjoy your new sub 5 0-60s.

caymandive

iTrader: (2)

I've gone up against both manual and SMG E46 M3's and haven't lost to them yet. My most recent E46 M3 run is below. He got a jump on me at the start and took the technical win, but his time and mph were slower. The torque of the IS350 is what wins the race here since hp is so close in both cars.

VIDEO

Time Slip