Ethanol

Hi,

Does anyone using carbon fiber driveshaft for 3rd gen IS?
If so, is there any drop in compatible one?
And how many weight can be saved compared to the factory driveshaft?

Pittsy

Didnt even know these existed, but what benefit does a carbon fiber driveshaft have over a metal one besides weight? your stock one shouldnt ever die on you

Darqhelmet

Weight, it should also allow the engine to rev quick allowing you to generate more waste gas to spin the turbo up quicker.

Pittsy

Ah, didn't even think about how much more inertia the metal one has over the CF. Wouldn't the effect be almost unnoticeable though?

Darqhelmet

Correct, these aren't F1 cars adding a CF drive shaft is literally burning money. If you want to burn money go for it.

Pittsy

Thats what I was thinking. I didnt really see a purpose. But then again, many of us add wings (because we really need the downforce right) but the wing adds cosmetic value, justifying it i guess.

Ethanol

The goal would be reducing the rotating mass.
Previously I've owned a car with s small engine (non Lexus). I had a winter wheel set which was lighter
than the summer wheel set. With the lighter winter wheels on, the car able to hit the rev limiter in 5th gear (~128 mph),
while that was unreachable with the summer wheel set on. (the difference was ~10 pounds per wheel)

As I heard a carbon fiber shaft weighs around 9-10 pounds vs the 66-77 pounds (or even more) of the steel shaft.

Darqhelmet

Ha! Yeah, you can argue that the wings are an aesthetic upgrade, the CF drive shaft is covered soooooo you could park over mirrors?

Darqhelmet

depends on a ton of different things, yes you are dropping rotating mass which helps, but you are better off dieting and taking the crap out of your trunk. Plus even finding someone to make you a one off CF drive shaft is going to be prohibitively expensive.

E46CT

Even on a car that's 395x more potent than the IS (in any form) the M3... BMW ditched the CF driveshaft and went F it. went back to steel. and they're just as fast if not faster. So for a 240 hp 3600 lb car don't bother.

Ethanol

Well, the trunk is usually empty, I don't like if crap rolls around there.
Regarding my weight I guess there's not much I can do, other than not getting heavier

I was googled around earlier, and found that there are many companies are offering drop-in compatible CF shafts,
but mainly for US car brands.

Ethanol

And how about the agility? Also no difference?

Ethanol

I think for an engine with more HP and torque has an easier job to overcome the inertia of the drivetrain,
that may explains if the difference was unnoticeable.

Pittsy

hehehe. maybe illl cover my garage floor in gallium or something.

dielectric

Hello all, new to the Lexus forum but been modding cars for too long. Anyhow, I am looking at a CF DS for my 2IS 350 too. I run one on my 97 Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 and definitely a noticeable difference. Its rotational mass which is more significant than basic weight reduction, which equates to roughly 10hp freeded up per 100lbs removed. It really depends on what type of driving experience you are after. CF DS also has a much higher elasticity than steal or aluminum reducing shock to the drivetrain. Anyhow, it's not a mod for everyone but worth it for some along with forged lightweight wheels, 2 piece rotors, etc...