RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

I got some decent GoPro video from a HPDE this weekend, so I thought I'd share it. This was the second day of the event. I pass a few people (including a Nissan Z and Infiniti coupe in the same lap, so don't believe people when they tell you your IS can't hang with them). I try to chase down a Mustang GT, but tires started to give out and I had to dial it back just a little. You can see me waaaay of the apex going into a right hander. That was the tires getting pretty greasy. If you have any interest in a track day, the IS is a capable platform (up to a point) and I'd recommend giving it a try because it is a ton of fun. I'm far from an expert at this, but I'm making progress.

Edit: There was actually another guy in an 07' IS350 running in a different group than me. We chatted a bit and I think he said he's on the board here, so maybe he'll chime in with his experience.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

I did drivers edge in college station at TWS back in July 07 on my 2IS. Did a charity drive at MSR Houston in the 2IS and 3IS recently. 2IS traction control is a bit intrusive, need to disable it, F Sport sways help out a lot. 3IS takes it to a whole new level. Very fun cars to drive. Glad you had a good time

Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

Glad to see more people are getting out to the track. So much fun. With just a few simple updates the IS can be a pretty good track car. I have just installed sway bars, coilovers, decent brake pads and tires and I can keep up with most stock M3's. At least in the corners where they don't over power me! I encourage everyone to give it a try at least once. So much fun.

WylieKylie

iTrader: (2)

RangerJoe, what tires are you running on your car?

heyarms

iTrader: (5)

I want to track mine, but definitely need to adjust my coils on my bag setup to be stiffer! Girlfriend tracks her IS350 and loves it too.

RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

I have F-Sport sways front and rear, stock suspension besides that. Brakes are centric high carbon blanks and EBC yellow stuff pads. Bridgestone Potenza S-04 tires. These tires aren't holding up nearly as well as I had hoped. The brakes are end of life now. I think I'm going to try carbotechs next. The EBCs worked very well. I never had any problems with fading, but they only lasted 3 weekends and a couple thousand on the street. I'm hoping something else might last longer. You are right about the traction control being super intrusive. I disabled it half way through my very first event and haven't gone back.

Besides that stuff, I have some knock off exhaust (M2) and a K&N filter. I want new shocks/springs, but now I can't decide if I want to just put that money towards a track car. We'll see. If I can find another set of wheels, I may go for some r-compound tires. I got bumped to the next run group for the second half of day 2, so I can run whatever tires I want in the future.

redspencer

iTrader: (1)

FYI, I noticed that when I swapped out the ISx50 steering ECU to the 2011-12 IS-F Steering ECU, the VDIM Sport mode from the IS-F becomes available when you are on ECT PWR and the handling threshold is greatly increased with little to no nannies kicking in. Here were my initial findings:

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/8351443-post189.html

I can also confirm from a recent autox that I participated in that my best lap time with traction control "on" actually matched my best lap time with traction control "off" (which never happened when I was using the original steering ECU with old VDIM settings)!

RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

That is really interesting. I would not have expected that kind of difference. There are a few things I would probably get before that upgrade, but that's quite an interesting find. By the way, I am quite jealous of your LSD. There are a couple of corners where my open diff is certainly hurting.

One more video for fun. This is my first solo run in the next run group. I try to hang with my friend in a championship winning E30 BMW. I have twice the power but probably twice the weight as well, and he's on r-comp tires. He's faster for sure, but I would have been a bit closer with a little less traffic. Video was taken with my phone from my front window, so not as nice looking as the Go Pro stuff.

mike33

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for posting this great video, looks like a lot of fun... Think I might have to do this soon.

Sportskid1

iTrader: (1)

I just got a set of track specific wheels and and currently running Nitto NT05's that were currently on my car. They have pretty good grip but now that I have a specific track wheel I might step up a bit for the next set. Might try the Hankook RS3's. Not sure if I want to go to R Compound tires quite yet as my brakes are struggling with the NT05s running the EBC yellow stuff pads. Not sure if the stock brakes can handle R Compound tries but might look into the CarboTech pads as well and see how they work. Have heard great things about them but don't like the idea of swapping out pads for every track day which is kind of a pain. I guess you have to pay to play!

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

This is so damn nice and the IS350 with suspension mode can be a beast at track!! I wish our community will be more involved with track and performance than slammed VIP car that is mostly for look. Totally subscribed to this thread!!!

Anyone can recommend any track, autocross in Southern CA?? Also, what are the recommended tires for track? Can our stock brake pads and rotors handle track?? Will we need to replace new set of tires for every heavy track?

idoke1

iTrader: (5)

Congrats! Can you give us a heads up on what to do before tracking it? My best guess is that if you want to track the second gen IS , the F-sport REAR and FRONT sway bar will definitely help out. Suspensions and weight are probably a key factor too but Im interested.

WylieKylie

iTrader: (2)

If you want to bridge between the NT05s and R-comps I would look at Dunlop Direza ZII. They have proven to be about as good as you can get for track work in that class of tire at the same price as the Hankook. Hankook just released version 2 of the RS3s, so they are a bit of a wild card right now, maybe you can find version 1 on closeout right now, or maybe you have seen some info on version 2 that I haven't seen?

As for tires it depends on what you are looking for. The 2IS isn't a race car, and you aren't going to do much serious competing in it, so you can run-what-you-brung to just have some fun, but expect most all season tires to degrade and maybe even start chunking after they have had a few heat cycles on a track. The same goes for quite a few tires at the lower performance end of the summer tire spectrum.

As RangerJoe found out even something that is considered a Max Performance summer tire may leave a little to be desired after it gets really hot and heat cycled. I don't have any direct experience, but I'll bet dollars to donuts that the CL darling Hankook V12 would experience the same thing on a track.

Personally the only tire from the Max Performance category that I would consider up to track use is the Michelin Pilot Super Sport. It is a seriously sticky tire with a 30,000 mile tread warranty that doesn't seem to react as adversly to heat as most other tires with that kind of treadwear life.

Moving from a PSS to something the Extreme Performance category gets you something more suited to the track, but it also brings tradeoffs. You get stiff sidewalls that make the car ride noticeably more harsh, you get a-lot of tread noise, and about 10,000 miles of treadwear (give or take depending on how much driving at the limit you do). A 2IS on stock suspension would also pull near 1.0 Gs on a skidpad with anything in that category. In that category the Bridgestone RE-11A and the Yokohama AD08R are the most comfortable at the expense of ultimate grip, whereas the Dunlop I mentioned earlier is harsh, noisy, and seriously good on the track.

Also go poke around www.tirerack.com for test and differences between "max performance" and "extreme performance"

The first and only need for track use is upgraded brakes. Upgraded suspension with faster cornering speeds just means you will be going faster when when you exit the track because your brake fluid boils and your brake pads disintegrate from the heat. At a minimum change the fluid with fresh fluid and be careful. The slightest bit of brake pedal mush on the track means you are done for the day.

After the brakes are up to the task if you are interested in better performance the biggest difference comes from tires.

RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

Sportskid1:

What wheels did you go with? I'm on the lookout for a set of Enkei RPF1's. I've asked around a bunch at the track, and the Hankook R-S3's seem to be about the best tire you can get without going r-comp. That is going to be very subjective of course, but they are supposed to be very nice tires. I would like an extra set of wheels, but since I'm on the lookout for a track car I can't decide if I want to spend the money on the IS. I've read good things about the Maxxis RC-1 tires. They are pretty inexpensive compared to other r-comps and are supposed to handle heat cycling a bit better than something like a hoosier R6.

FSportIS:

Stock rotors should be fine for the track. You could always try stock pads, but you need to be very careful. If you overheat them, they will start to fail very quickly. Pads are easy to change, so I'd recommend just going after market to begin with. EBC, Hawk and Carbotech are the ones I see used most often at the track I've gone to.

For your first track day, I wouldn't worry too much about tires. I did my first weekend on all seasons, and I don't feel like it was holding me back at all until the second day (4 sessions a day). Any good summer tire should be fine to get you started. Michelin PS2, Hankook Ventus V12 and Bridgestone RE-11 (not available in our OE size that I could find though) are tires I see used regularly. Hanook R-S3's like I mentioned above are a great choice, but some people might not like them for a daily driver.

edoke1:

I didn't track mine with a stock rear sway, but I think you'd be fine your first time. I feel like I got a bit more over steer in a few places once I changed the front sway bar, but not a huge difference.

Many organizations require you to get a tech inspections before participating in drivers education events. This is a good idea to make sure everything is in order.

For things to do before you go:
Get an oil change if you haven't gotten one recently
Check tires
Check brake pads and rotors
Flush brake fluid if you haven't done it recently
Take everything loose out of your car. Floor, door pockets, trunk, garage/gate openers, anything not bolted down. I leave the floor mats and spare tire.

With good tires, I really feel the car is pretty neutral. I don't have much of a problem with understeer, and oversteer is mostly throttle induced. Without having a lot of stuff to compare this to, I feel like the IS is a pretty easy car to get started with. The transmission is the thing that frustrates me the most. The car has plenty of torque, and the unexpected downshift while trying to track out can be unsettling. I haven't had it cause a serious problem, but I still don't like it. The most important thing is just to get out there, be careful and have a good time.

If you are in or near Texas, I'll put a plug the The Driver's Edge (http://thedriversedge.net). This is the organizations I've driven with. It is run very well, they have excellent instructors and a great safety record. If you want to go with them though, the events sell out VERY quickly (less than 30 minutes for the first 2 run groups) so you need to be on their website as soon as sign up opens.

Sorry about the wall of text, but I'm glad that people are interested in the track driving.

RangerJoe

iTrader: (1)

I was a bit to slow on my response it seems. I agree with everything Wylie said.

Regarding the new version of the R-S3, I think it is the same as the previous version, just a new tread wear rating. Extended testing showed it was closer to a 200 rating than the previous 140, so they changed that accordingly. According to tire rack, the tread pattern and rubber compound are identical, just the new rating.

My tires are about 6 weeks old, and have 2 weekends of track driving on them. As you can see in the picture, the outlook isn't good.