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Today I received my F-Sport Cold Air Intake, Part number PTR03-53100. I didn't get a chance to unbox it yet due to being at work, but I will take more pics after unboxing and installing. I'll hopefully be able to install it today after work
I got home from work today and decided to jump into the install. Due too not doing this sort of stuff for a long time, I am a bit rusty and I ran into a couple of issues which turned what should have been a 30 minute job into a 2 hour job. The first issue was removing the 10mm bolt near the headlight area to get the bottom of the airbox out. I could not get it unplugged, so I had to work around getting to the bolt. It took some time, but I was finally able to get the bolt out, unfortunately I think I broke the part that goes into the headlight, as it was loose and I could see the HID's moving when I moved the wire. Fortunately the headlights work, they seem to align properly when they turn on, but the daylight running light on the drivers side doesn't work now when the headlights are turned on. It interestingly works when the headlights are off.
The next issue I ran into was getting the lower airbox in. As I mentioned before I could not get the headlight unplugged, so I had to work around that and finally got the 10mm bolt nearest the headlight in. The last issue I ran into was installing the throttle body coupler. One side is smaller than the other, and it took nearly 40 minutes to get it on the aluminum pipe assembly. It took my son and I a ton of brute force to get it on. We thought about greasing it, but that doesn't seem like a good idea as you don't want it flying off while driving.
We finished the rest of the install, put everything back together, hooked back up the negative terminal and started the car. No engine check, no codes thrown, and no air leaks that I could determine. Took it for a spin, and there is definitely a slight feeling of a power increase, but best of all is when you mash it and the induction sound! All I can say is DAMN!
Unboxing Old Airbox and piping
I also want to mention that I had an existing K&N air filter. The bottom of the filter was quite dirty, but the top of the filter, and the stock airbox, pipes and throttle body were all clean. I had this filter installed for more than 10K, and I drove with it in different conditions, including a dust storm earlier this year
I had this installed on my car as well. I don't remember having a lot of problems or need to take off the headlight other than the bolt at the bottom was a little bit stuck. It's supposed to give extra 5 HP, but I don't really feel much of that.
I had this installed on my car as well. I don't remember having a lot of problems or need to take off the headlight other than the bolt at the bottom was a little bit stuck. It's supposed to give extra 5 HP, but I don't really feel much of that.
Not the headlight, but the plug that goes into the headlight is over the bolt making it hard to reach. Couldn't unplug it for the life of me. It's more about the induction sound than the power. Probably lucky if you get 1 or 2 extra hp LOL
This morning before heading to work, I popped open the hood and went over all the connections to make sure they are all tight and secure. I am so paranoid when I do work on my own car (especially since this is my daily driver), I end up over thinking...did I tighten this bolt enough, did I properly fit this, will this fly off while I'm driving 90 mph LOL. Basically I will probably be going over all the connections at least 5 more times before I'm satisfied! Anyway everything so far looks good, headed off to work. That induction growl is just so awesome! I kept mashing on it every chance I got. It's quiet when you want it to be quiet and howls when you mash down! The good thing is it's very tastefully sounding and not overwhelming. Was it worth the $300 plus I paid for it? Only time will tell...
I was reading that there is a CARB sticker that needs to be placed on the top of the air intake. Is that supposed to come with the kit? The only sticker that came with my intake was for the filter identifying it as reusable
I was reading that there is a CARB sticker that needs to be placed on the top of the air intake. Is that supposed to come with the kit? The only sticker that came with my intake was for the filter identifying it as reusable
Yes there is a CARB sticker for the F Sport Intake and I put the sticker under the hood. I had to request this sticker from the dealer when purchasing.
Yes there is a CARB sticker for the F Sport Intake and I put the sticker under the hood. I had to request this sticker from the dealer when purchasing.
Thanks! I bought it from LexusPartsNow.com, I will see if I can get them to send me a sticker, or I will visit my nearest Lexus dealership and see if I can get one from them. BTW, loving this intake. The butt dyno tells me that there is a little bit more power, but the induction sound when you hit around 3400 or 3500 RPM never gets tiring! And it's not loud and annoying, so I love it!
Back when I used to feverishly collect datalogs using different intake setups, there was a noticeable increase in airflow with the F-Sport lower intake box in comparison to the OEM enclosed intake box (as much as a 7-10g/s difference).
The F-Sport intake pipe should also account for a 3-5g/s increase in airflow when compared to the OEM intake pipe (I used a JoeZ intake pipe for my test but it has the same design as the pipe included with the F-Sport intake system):
Thanks! I bought it from LexusPartsNow.com, I will see if I can get them to send me a sticker, or I will visit my nearest Lexus dealership and see if I can get one from them. BTW, loving this intake. The butt dyno tells me that there is a little bit more power, but the induction sound when you hit around 3400 or 3500 RPM never gets tiring! And it's not loud and annoying, so I love it!
I am happy with my f sport intake as well.
I went with the f sport intake because it is engineered by Lexus with actual performance gain (minimal but still) and it is CARB legal in California.
The induction noise is subtle but noticeable and goes well with my axle back exhaust during WOT.
Thanks! I bought it from www.LexusPartsNow.com, I will see if I can get them to send me a sticker, or I will visit my nearest Lexus dealership and see if I can get one from them. BTW, loving this intake. The butt dyno tells me that there is a little bit more power, but the induction sound when you hit around 3400 or 3500 RPM never gets tiring! And it's not loud and annoying, so I love it!
Yeah, I know what you mean! They virtually (literally) have no customer service. Like you pointed out in another thread, you can't call them, their chat is useless and you can only email them. BTW, they are a pure drop shipper. The intake I ordered came directly from a Lexus dealership in Fremont, CA. But they did ship fast at least. Got it in two days
Another observation since installing the F-Sport intake as I've been able to take it on longer more spirited drives, when hard on the throttle (not WOT, but about half throttle or more), it's hitting redline in normal mode. I'm pretty sure it only went to redline at WOT. At WOT it seems to hold redline longer. I'm pretty sure this is the case and not that I just didn't pay attention before
One thing I was a little worried about was heat soak due to the aluminum intake tube. That thing gets so hot you can't even touch it! Even with intense heat these last few days, I haven't experienced any, at least any heat soak that was perceptible. On Saturday I drove through 104 F, on Sunday I drove through 112 F, and yesterday temps that reached 106 F. You would have to be datalogging to see if any timing is being pulled. So the F-Sport intake has passed the heat test!
BTW @2013FSport , I was able to get through to someone on LexusPartsNow on chat, and they want to RMA my intake because the CARB sticker is missing! LOL I don't want to pull out an already installed intake!
One thing I was a little worried about was heat soak due to the aluminum intake tube. That thing gets so hot you can't even touch it! Even with intense heat these last few days, I haven't experienced any, at least any heat soak that was perceptible. On Saturday I drove through 104 F, on Sunday I drove through 112 F, and yesterday temps that reached 106 F. You would have to be datalogging to see if any timing is being pulled. So the F-Sport intake has passed the heat test!
BTW @2013FSport , I was able to get through to someone on LexusPartsNow on chat, and they want to RMA my intake because the CARB sticker is missing! LOL I don't want to pull out an already installed intake!
Maybe some of the BOTs broke down and they had to send a humanoid in for a remote Chat session!
Haha!
That is pretty funny. $50 in shipping or a single US stamp! Well assuming P-Trump doesn't ban them and we have to go black market postal stamps! LOL