Maxx250awd

So Ive a group of friends with cool cars. A couple M3s, a few G35/37s, a handfull of Zs, a vette or 2 and handful of Porsches. Well these guys go to local track day events with their rides and always have a blast.

Well obviously having an AWD IS, I will no doubt be the slowest vehicle out there, but will I still have fun or will I just get laughed at? Seriously, I haven't asked them yet what they think yet, I just listen to the stories. But i would like your guys' opinion first. I would love to give it a shot just to do it and to see what I can do.

Will I just be dead dog slow and be embarrassed? Or will I have a fighting chance of of at least not being so bar in the back that I want to just head back home and consider myself defeated?

Please be honest! If it isn't worth it in and AWD, tell me now before I go waste $70 and and afternoon.

I also don't want to ruin the Lexus name out there, and give us a bad rep!

sushimi

iTrader: (1)

I think that you will be the slowest out of that group, but I'm sure that their cars aren't the only ones on the track. Also the fact that even though everybody wants to be fast, its about the fun of the game not whose the fastest. Go out try it out and just have fun, Our AWD cars aren't the fastest but they are indeed pretty fun to corner in. Good luck!!

mikez

It will be so slow it wont even be funny

If your friends can't drive then it would not be glaringly obvious between the G35/G37, however the seat support for the 2IS is so bad that it makes you feel like you are entering the corner too hard when you still got ways to push the car.

Raralith

Tracking and autocrossing is a great experience, and it really shows how well the driver is, not the car. Simply put, if you put the same driver in different cars with the same experience in using that car, the car with the least power and corning abilities would be the slowest. Real world though, give a novice a GTR and a professional an IS 250 AWD, I'm fairly certain the professional would win. Numerous reasons, of which you'll learn yourself, like the best line and apex style, how to break, when to break, when to accelorate out of a corner, etc... The advantage of your car is that you have AWD and the cornering abilities on the track are greater simly because you can brake later and accelorate out of the turn faster. That being all said, you don't have the track experience and even if you car was the fastest, you'd still be the slowest regardless. One tip though - you should always either be accelorating or braking your car, no coasting.

shadowman

iTrader: (2)

^^^ Second that.

My bro in law is in SCCA and has seen a modded Toyota Camry beating out Porsches simply because the driver is very experienced. Just mashing the gas pedals won't cut it with track races. It all boils down to find the best line and attacking it with the correct speed.

Maxx250awd

Awesome guys. You are all somewhat reconfirming my thoughts as well. I am as novice as it gets, but I think I'll give it a shot. Newbies have to go a few rounds with an instructor anyhow, so I'm sure I will get a crash course on how to not suck entirely.

Any EASY advice for my first time out? lol I am going to be reading up on how to attack a road course for the next couple of weeks to learn as much as i can.

Ill post up pics of everyone else's rear bumpers!

Eurosport

just go ahead and go, don't worry about the others, focus on just you, your machine, and the track, enjoy every second of it.

Raralith

Well, everyone needs to start somewhere right? Easy advice for your first time out is to not go at your limit, and spend more time learning different lines. When you find the line you like, which isn't always the fastest, start to learn your and the cars limit in addition to improving your lap times. When you get more experience, learn how to drive near your limit, and if you go over that, learn how to best recover. Than you can go at your limit and tackle the best line.

The better advice though would to do autocross instead which is low speed, but extremely high manuerverability. You'll learn how to turn a lot better through sweeps and saloms. You'll master lines and turning faster that way, and it's a bit more noice friendly since you can walk through the course first. After that, apply that to the track by accelorating on the straights.

syzygy

I highly doubt your friends will make fun of you or will make you feel "embarrassed" just because you want to track an IS250 AWD. Nothing wrong with that. Go for it.

Also don't worry about "giving Lexus a bad name" that's ridiculous. Even if you lost by 2 hours it still wouldn't matter as long as you had fun.

The IS250 (and IS350 for that matter) properly modified with F-sport parts is no slouch. Even the wildly German car-biased edmunds inside line has terrific things to say about an F-sport equipped IS250 -

http://www.insideline.com/lexus/is-2...w-up-test.html

Handles Like an IS-F
And it turns.

Powerslides are impossible with the big tires and little engine, but this car scorches our track with handling numbers that exceed the performance of the mighty IS-F. No, we're not kidding. This IS runs 71 mph through our slalom, circles our skid pad at 0.89g of lateral grip and stops from 60 mph in just 109 feet.

The last IS-F we tested managed 70.2 mph in the slalom, recorded 0.93g on the skid pad and stopped from 60 mph in 112 feet.

We couldn't believe it either. But the best part is the F Sport's highway ride. If you bought an IS-F, you're probably a regular at the chiropractor by now, but this IS actually rides well, and there's even less impact harshness than in a stock IS 250.

Credit goes to Bilstein for the impressive all-round tuning of the F Sport dampers. They are wonderfully matched with the shorter, progressive-rate springs (1 inch shorter in front; 0.7 inch shorter in the rear). Since the 2008 Lexus IS 250's stock springs are not progressive, the new springs are initially more compliant, which helps deliver that silky ride, but they firm up nicely deeper in their travel and keep the sedan off its bump stops.

Although they aren't adjustable, the stiffer F Sport antiroll bars are also worth the cash. They set up the car with just enough body roll and a safe (maybe a little too much) amount of understeer. Considering the car's lack of power, a little more rotation on corner entry would be nice. As it is, you can literally fling this sedan into corners with zero fear that you'll come out the other end backward.

Then there are the brakes, which look awesome and feel great. For $5,575, they better. For that you get huge drilled two-piece rotors that measure 14 inches in front and 13.6 inches in the rear, plus six-piston calipers in front and four-piston calipers in the rear, not to mention bragging rights at the local Hot Import Nights.

Lexus even finished the calipers in F Sport blue with white F Sport logos, so nobody will mistake them for Brembos. Funny thing is, they might be Brembos, since Lexus won't tell us what companies supply these F Sport parts (aside from the Bilstein dampers). All Lexus will say is that all the parts are designed and engineered by TRD. Um, that's Toyota Racing Development, as in Toyota's in-house speed shop.

It All Fits the IS 350
If you possess a Y chromosome and own a Lexus IS 250 (hopefully, it has a six-speed manual or you're really hopeless), the time has come to prove you've got a pair. All these parts are available at your local Lexus dealer and all but a few improve the vehicle they are bolted to, as in this 2008 Lexus IS 250 F Sport.

And that includes the IS 350.

That's right, all of these parts will also better an IS 350, which is already pretty damn good. Plus, there are fewer bits to buy. Because the IS 350 is only available with an automatic transmission, there's no need to buy the quick-shift kit or the clutch. That's another $1,500 or so (including labor) in your sticky-tire fund.

If it were us, we'd buy a certified pre-owned IS 350, take it up a notch with the F Sport parts and call it a day. As we said, we would skip the underhood stuff and the exhaust, instead putting that money toward some Advans or some PS2s. The finished ride will pack a combination of acceleration, handling, braking, comfort, looks and practicality few on the road can match.

And of course nobody could accuse us of driving our sister's car.

UmattWayO

^^

that sounded like a presentation someone at Lexus would give at a car show. HAHA!

syzygy

Well, just to be clear, everything beneath the edmunds insideline link is directly copied from that site. I did not write that myself.

Check the link out for the full review.

BlkSapPrl7

i dont care if you drive a caravan.. its all about having fun on track days. i've people drive some ridiculous cars and get times better than people with evo's, z's etc. it had a lot to do with the driver.

doesnt matter what you drive go out and have fun. you'll learn a lot being around the pros.


fyi. the IS is a blast around the track!!

BlkSapPrl7

had an auto-x event this weekend, i didnt drive, but i watched a stock honda del slow run with a ferrari f430 if that says anything

Maxx250awd

Haha..I feel ya. I was going to take my donk out next time too.

I'm nearly 100% sure I'm doing it. I really needed some positive reinforcement here! ( I knew I kept you guys around for something)