Interesting, I thought it (Fsport) felt fairly firm, would love to see how the ISF ECU Feels

 

No, this is a Toyota. No-one but Toyota can re-progarm ANY of the computers in the car.

 

Just ordered this along with RM Springs, F-Sport shocks and Sway set: 89650-53041 - 2011-12 IS F

Cannot wait

Along with steering damper....this is going to become a handling machine compared to stock!!

Just need a FRS LSD..................

 

I'm really thinking about doing this to see the big difference I've been hearing about..

 

Have you already installed and calibrated the new '12 IS-F Steering ECU? If so, are you able to provide any additional feedback?

I'm scheduled to get the cam gear recall done on my IS350 later this month and immediately afterwards, I'll be ordering the '12 IS-F Steering ECU as I simply can't resist!

After reading this thread, I'm still not 100% certain if I'm able to install the new IS-F Steering ECU at home and then safely/passively drive a few miles to the Lexus dealership to get it fully calibrated.
For those that have done this mod, any thoughts on that?

 

I tend to agree with this.. I had an IS350, had an IS350 F-Sport for a couple days as a loaner, and now have an ISF. The regular IS350 was fine but felt a little 'loose' I guess is the best way to put it.. not a whole lot of feedback. The F-Sport felt a lot more firm & solid (the year may have had influence too - 2009 Vs 2011), and now with the ISF I'd say it's firm with perhaps a hair more feedback.. hard to say without driving the F-Sport and the ISF side by side, but I definitely liked the F-Sport over my regular IS350.

 

If you have a laptop to run it, why not spend the ~$25 on the Techstream software and calibrate it yourself? You'll spend more on the calibration from a dealership than you would on the software to do it yourself.

 

Look at what I got from FedEx today!



EDIT: I couldn't wait till tomorrow to see what immediate changes I'd notice with the new ECU so I decided to install it earlier tonight. The swap was fairly straightforward but there were two connector plugs that were a pain to remove for me.

I test drove the car around my neighborhood with the updated ECU (uncalibrated) to get a general feel of the changes. Surprisingly, the power assist was still functional and I had no issues turning the steering wheel left or right. For the 5-10 minutes that I drove around, I immediately noticed that there was more feedback from the tires that wasn't there before. I'll be getting the EPS calibrated during lunch tomorrow and then I'll be able to give a full report on how the steering wheel behaves with aggressive cornering. So far so good!

 

I made an interesting discovery regarding the IS-F Steering ECU that was not previously posted before and it has to do with the VDIM calibration. As a refresher, below is a quick breakdown of the sub-systems that make up VDIM:



On the ISx50s, when VSC is enabled, there is only one VDIM setting available (Normal) and though it helps keep the car stable for the most part, under aggressive cornering, the Normal VDIM setting tends to hold back the capabilities of the IS more often than not (with significant amounts of braking and engine fuel cut-off).

With the IS-F, Lexus addressed the restrictive VDIM issues that people complained about by providing drivers with two VDIM settings (Normal and Sport). When the IS-F is set to Sport Mode, the throttle sensitivity is increased, the transmission behaves more aggressive, steering feel and firmness is greatly increased, and the VDIM cornering traction threshold is increased to the near limits of the vehicle before the nannies kick in. A quote from Lexus: “In Sport mode, VDIM increases steering feel and allows higher dynamic thresholds before intervening with confidence”.

For the ISx50s on PWR mode, we only get the throttle sensitivity and aggressive shifting benefits. When you swap out the ISx50 Steering ECU with the IS-F version, not only do you gain the extra firm steering when you set the car to PWR mode, the VDIM Sport setting from the IS-F is also available! On specific corners that used to cut power for me with the ISx50 Steering ECU, I can now tackle those same corners with little to no nannies kicking in thanks to the updated IS-F Steering ECU.

I can also confirm all the other benefits mentioned by the others in regards to significantly improved steering feel, less steering assist, more confidence on what the tires are actually doing while you’re in a corner, and that PWR mode firms up the steering wheel even more. As mentioned in my earlier post, I installed a brand-new uncalibrated '12 IS-F Steering ECU and drove the IS safely around the neighborhood as well as to the dealership to get it calibrated and I had no issues whatsoever. I still wouldn’t recommend doing spirited driving with an uncalibrated steering ECU in case Murphy’s Law rears its ugly head but normal driving is perfectly okay. Hope this provides more feedback to the 2IS owners that are contemplating this mod. If you have a sports-tuned suspension, I highly recommend the price of admission for this upgrade.

 

Very nice writeup! I would get that calibrated just incase of liability issues!

 

Thanks! I edited my original post to include that I did get the Steering ECU calibrated at the dealership. My biggest concern was that the car wouldn't be drivable with an uncalibrated Steering ECU but for me, that was definitely not the case.

 

Great find redspencer! This just moved much higher on the want list for me. Speaking of which, time to call about the LSD...

 

Bumping this thread back. I find it very interesting and may consider getting one from an 11 isf

 

Great feedback and very interesting observations! Would this lead you or anyone else to believe that the ABS Skid Control "VDIM" box is similar if not the same between ISx50 and ISF and its only the Steering ECU making the difference here as reported by so many users?

I would have thought that the ISF would use a more advanced VDIM ecu due to the increased functionality of SPORT and the aa80e (if it even applies here). I realize part numbers vary between the IS and ISF skid control vdim ecus but wire pins going into the box look shared upon first glance on TIS. I need to renew my subscription but this is something I def. want to confirm as I have access to purchase an ISF skid control ecu (combined with ISF steering ecu) to replace my primitive 2006 IS350 vdim ecu.

 

excited to get my 2012 version installed (along with fsport sways and shocks and road magnet springs)...expecting night and day difference