95bat

Thanks! I will pass on this now, I really don't want to cut anything.
LOL you get it. Exhaust is cool since stock bolts right back on... I thought this might too. Oh well!

Murmi

lol its a piece of plastic i will gladly replace if needed cant be more than a $100 bucks. JUST LOOKED IT UP ITS A $54 PIECE OF PLASTIC

cp2

iTrader: (1)

you're not cutting much of the plastic cover. if you do it right, you'll only cut enough for the cf piece to slide right in.

MYIS500

Why not trim the carbon fiber piece?

Murmi

the whole point is to allow cold air into the intake box when the secondary intake flap opens. So cutting that trim piece is crucial

MYIS500

I understand about the why. It is the hole cutting I am trying to understand. I looked at mine and air can easily come from below in the grill area. I see where a duct could be fashioned to bring the air right up to it. Is the hole irequired for the air to pass through? I could even see adding some nice insulation to further isolate the engine compartment. I have been thinking about getting one of these for a couple of months now.

cp2

iTrader: (1)

this thing is not rocket science. the hole that is cut from the engine cover is so that the cf shield sits flush to the car's frame instead of over the plastic; it's not really a "hole," but a slit/section. the shield literally shields the air box from the air in the engine bay and nothing more. there's no ducting from the shield or any induce air from it either. there's a guy that DIY'd a duct from the lower front passenger grille to the air box to help with cooler air. this action has nothing to do with the shield, but if the guy had one, it would really have cooler air in that area.

MYIS500

Never thought it was rocket science. If the slice is cut for the piece to fit, that is what I thought all along. I go back to my original question and that is why not slightly trim the carbon fiber plate. I'll move on. No grief here.

RRRacing

iTrader: (1)

Just a little clarification on some of the posts here.

First, let me apologize to anyone who has called in and got any unfavorable answers or outcomes. I can assure you it was not me that you spoke to. I have been with RR Racing for around 2 years and have not had any complaints about customer service that I am aware of. It is possible you may have spoken to Simon.

The plastic trim definitely needs to be cut for our heat shield. This is not to get the product to fit, rather it's a main characteristic of the design and cooling improvement. You will shield heat from the engine compartment and pull cool air from the inner fender as well. Without the heat shield, we've seen an intake air temp rise +27* when the flapper door opens. With the heat shield in place, on a back to back run, the IAT only rose +5*. You can not log these gains on a dyno while sitting still with the hood open. But this should equate to some hp down the road with airflow.

Regarding the plastic inner fender. I had an IS500 customer pick up a spare for around $35 at the dealer to cut and store away his original. I'd say 99% will just cut the factory one and not think twice.

If you want to discuss this any further you are welcome to give me a call on the main number. Ask for Justin. If you are local you should come by and check out the shop anytime.

Thanks
-Justin
RR Racing | Sales

MYIS500

I have been looking at this some more. Looked under the hood at MYIS500 and see some cool things and ways to improve the efficiency of this heat shield. First thing is that once the heat shied is in place like the pic above, if you look on either side of the airbox in the pic or on your own car, there is lots of space for hot engine compartment air to make it into the intake. This can be eliminated by using some quality dense foam insulation in these areas to close off the area for hot air to enter. The space is considerably large. The next thing I saw is the area where you are to remove some of the plastic liner for the heatshield to fit and draw air from the fender well. I peeked into this area and there simply is a limited area for restricted air to make into the intake. The better location for the air to enter is straight down in front of the airbox. Looking there you can see down into the bottom of the grill. There you will see the smooth back side of some plastic that is mounted (possibly by some screws Ii see) to the front apron assembly. Down this channel has more useable cool air for the intake with the insulation around the box. The smooth black plastic I am speaking of covers what is otherwise a wide open grill. I am talking about the small grill on either side of the main grill. In this case, the one on the passenger side. I need to explore how to remove this plastic cover to open up that grill. If you push on the plastic behind this grill you will see it is not solid and one piece with the grill. They are two separate pieces. With that back black plastic sheet removed, lots of cool outside air can come through and up to the intake box. I did not see this posted anywhere else in the IS 500 thread, so I thought I would share. If someone has visited this already and knows more please share. I am contemplating options that are minimally intrusive. Most notably, not cutting the plastic, but adding the insulation.

cp2

iTrader: (1)

there’s a guy on faceshmuck that has done this. The back side passenger side mini grille has to to be trimmed some. He then installed a plastic bendy tube from the lower grille and routed it towards the air box. There’s a little more work he had to do but that’s the gist of the work. Can’t remember if he had the RR Racing shield or not but if he did, he’s getting cooler air all around.