eyeESSeff

Hello CL,

I’ve been doing some research on the IS-F for the past couple of days, as I am looking for a new car. Other cars that were of intrests were the S5, M3, C63, and Corevette. As my research went on and hours past, I equally fell in love with all these cars……that is until I stumbled upon such a great community called CL!

The IS-F was at the bottom of my list to begin with because out of all the cars on my list, cosmetically I felt it wasn’t all their as the other cars. Yet what is most important to me is REALIABILTY/DEPENDIBILTY, PRACTICALITY, and last but definetly not least FUN FACTOR. This car will be my Daily Driver.

Before I pull the trigger, I hope that CL can help me. This car seems to be the one for me but modifications are almost a definite immediately after purchase.

What I need help with first is what color combo. I refuse to get black. I like White on Black, White on White, or USB with either white interior or black. My question for you guys is what color when modded looks the best.

What modifications can be made to enhance the F? I’m not looking to be in a car show or anything. What I found in here that I like is the WALD body kit. Also I might need a drop to eliminate wheel gap, and maybe wheel spacers?

I need to buy a car ASAP, this one seems to be the one, but need further input before dropping a couple pay checks.

Gymkata

My favorite color is the Smokey Granite Mica, but with what you said, I think that modded out, you would prefer the Starfire Pearl with a black interior. With a dark tint and the right aftermarket wheels, it is a head turner.

It sounds like you are mostly looking for cosmetic upgrades. Yes, the WALD body kit is very nice looking. There are also a few others out there for the ISF. Of course a wheel/tire upgrade will probably do the most to make the car look different.

Many guys out there are running 20's with wide tires. I am going to get new wheels and tires shortly, but in the interest of weight and ride quality, I am going to stick with 19's. I will be getting 19x9 front - 45mm offset - 255/35R19 tires, and 19x10.5 rear - 60mm offset - 295/30R19 tires. According to Discount Tire Direct, this is a conservative offset that running these tires will have no rubbing issues whatsoever...at least with the stock suspension...I don't know about lowered.

The S5 is much slower than any of the others you were looking at, and the Corvette is a completely different type of car from the others. I was looking at the M3 and C63 also before purchasing the ISF. There is no way I would have bought the other two for a daily driver...maybe for a weekend warrior. The ISF has Toyota reliability, and should easily hold up to abuse better than the M3 or Benz. It also gets decently better gas mileage...something to consider if you are going to daily drive it. EPA is 14/20 for the M3 and 12/19 for the C63. EPA is 16/23 for the ISF, and even with intermittent bouts of spirited driving, I have averaged 20+ MPG in my ISF (about 70% highway driving) over the course of the 12000+ miles I have driven it in the past 8 months.

Evil Teo

iTrader: (13)

i would choose white or usb. if u want exclusive get the usb, if u want something easy on the eyes get white. did u get to test drive the car? for a drop most owners install coilovers or springs. check the vendor section for details.

malujerry

iTrader: (7)

mods can effect reliability, dependability, practicality - so be careful.

btw, blue is obviously the more flashy color. it was my first choice, but white was my wife's first choice. i have white now.

T-Rex06

iTrader: (12)

You should test drive the car first and see how you like it compared to the other models you've been looking at. If you're not going to consider black, then you have Starfire Pearl, Mercury Metallic, Ultrasonic Blue, Matador Red and Smoky Granite Mica. All of those exterior colors can be paired with either black or white leather. Keep in mind that the white interior is quite rare, so special order will be your only option.

As for modification, the majority of the parts available for the F is cosmetic. Performance mods are far and few in between. There are a few kits available from manufacturers such as Wald, Auto Couture, Tom's, and Ventross.

For suspension, you can go with coilover set up or springs. You can search the vendors section and you'll find plethora of information regarding aftermarket parts.

Check out the modification thread and Photography thread.

Good luck with your purchase.

Terrance

stantaur

Considered all of those as well. ISF won easily, with ~ same priorities. Lexus reliability, more refined than M3 and C63. M3's DCT is suspect too, and inferior to the 8 speed. I get 20 in town, my friend's M3 gets 15. I get 26-27 highway (70 MPH, not using A/C), he gets 21. We both can run 12 sec quarters and would be within a couple of tenths at any auto-x were we to have the same tires.

C63 could be faster, but with far worse mileage and crap-tacular ergonomics. ISF had the best ergos of the ones you listed.

I went Matador Red - it accentuates the lines perfectly. Also curious what the poster before me has for wheels / tires. I run 10" front / 10.5" rear CCW Corsair C10s (285/30/18f and 295/30/18r Hoosier A6s on my 450 RWHP S2000 turbo (SCCA SSM class, 123 MPH trap speeds) and may ping CCW about a set for the ISF.

eyeESSeff

Thank you all for your responses. I have a testdrive scheduled for 10:30 since yesterday morning, so as soon as the gf and I are done with breakfast, we will be on our way

( I want to respond to all your insight, but I'm on my iPhone.)

TommyT

iTrader: (26)

where part are you located in CA?

T-Rex06

iTrader: (12)

I went with Work Gnosis GS3 19x9 and 19x10.5. As for tires, I have 235/35 and 265/35 Michelin PS2.

Terrance

gsrthomas

iTrader: (1)

Full Factor = 6MT M3

Auto's are just to boring for me. No matter how fast they shift or how many clutches they have.

I would be in an ISF now if it had a 6MT option.

bnizzle87

welcome to CL! obsidian is very hard to keep clean indeed. but id go for starfire pearl or even smoky granite mica if the ultrasonic blue mica is not available. as for the interior, choose black if you dont feel like cleaning the white interior. the choices you've narrowed down are all remarkable. for the FUN FACTOR that you speak of, many people might pull a slight edge towards the m3 simply because of the manual tranny, but personally, living in so cal there are so many m3's on the road- i wanted something that was different.

as for the WALD kit, my friend clark has a great quote ready, and can even have it installed at his shop. i like the rear diffuser look, but the front is way too busy for my taste. but overall a much different look of the car, which is great. enjoy your new F, and definitely post pics when you take delivery! best of luck!

gs2isf

iTrader: (1)

I have the Starfire Pearl with the Alpine interior...good luck trying to find one in that combo if you do jump on it without hesitation....total show stopper. I did some mod's including wheels and I agree that the Starfire looks great with aftermarket wheels. Do a search on the threads started by me and you'll see plenty of pics with my mods...The M and Amg are great but not as reliable In the end you are the one paying...get what makes YOU happy

Fitment Factory

iTrader: (-1)

Welcome to Club Lexus!! Wald body kit, Tein coilovers and ISS wheels

If you do want to vary ride height and ride comfort, go coilovers. Many of our customers end up buying coilovers after having springs installed for two weeks.

Enjoy your stay!
Tony

eyeESSeff

Just got home from a looong day. Test drove the F this morning, and I will be buying one as soon I can figure out what color combo I want. Its between USB or Starfire pearl. Yet even when I decide the exterior, I don't know which color Interior I like. Alpine or Black.

A few things I do not like about the F is the wheel gap, and how the rear exhaust tips are purely cosmetic and not part of the actual exhaust. With that said, I'm already itching my mod bug bite(I know this is silly, hence I do not eevn have the car, or have chosen a color.), you only live once right? I see that ISS has an exhaust that the tips go all the way through where the fake tips are, and I hope that there is coilovers suitable for the F.

One thing a lot of you suggested is WHEELS. THE ONE THING I WILL NOT TOUCH ON THIS CAR ARE THOSE BEAUTIFUL WHEELS. Maybe (MAYBE, maybe, MAYbe, mayBE) spacers? What do you guys think?

Thank you all for your above responses, they are all greatly appreciated, but i was wondering if you guys can help me find pictures of the F in USB and SP modded.

Thanks in advance!

jkeifer3

The fact that the exhaust tips do not physically connect to the pipes does not mean that they are not a functional part of the exhaust system. Many high performance care mfrs, including Ferrari, use this technique to extract the exhaust gasses efficiently. Make your determination about the exhaust outlets based upon whether or not you like them and not because you think they are only cosmetic in nature.

Welcome to the forum!