Jls343

First time post here. I have been lurking for the past month though. Mostly researching the twin turbo ISF. Reason being that I just bought the one in Houston that was online. Drove it home last weekend. Here is an update of the car. First off, I love the car. The wheels look great and obviously it is crazy fast. I know I know, I dont have any numbers or anything to substantiate that but the sound and how hard it accelerates still blows my mind. Talk about a kick in the pants when you hear the turbos spool up and it just accelerates harder and harder. With that said, I am not sure I want to keep the turbo system on the car. It runs fair down low but I can tell its not perfect. It isnt kicking any codes so I dont think the tuning is that far off but I do think it needs someone that really knows what they are doing and access to a dyno. I'm pretty sure it has a unichip piggy back and I have read on this site that the AEM ems is a better way to go. Im sure that is debatable though. Im sure this car could be used as a daily driver but I am honestly not sure I want to mess around at a tune shop spending more money to get it to run perfectly. I am in Kansas City and I doubt any of the tune shops here would have a clue what to do with this car. I am considering selling it and putting on a JoeZ exhaust in its place and an intake. I think it would be easy to take off and put back on another car and I have a lift to do it. I guess we all have our priorities with our cars and mine is more of the daily driver with no headaches. What do you guys think? Keep it or sell it? Any input or discussion would be greatly appreciated.
Jeff

CCColtsicehockey

iTrader: (3)

Wouldn't it have been easier to just but a stock one to begin with? Just saying.

Jls343

Yeah maybe. Its also easier to drive our cars stock and not modify them. Just ask splat... We all have our reasons but since you asked, for the price I paid for this car, I can afford to do whatever I want to it and still be well under what I would have paid for an 08 with 40k miles. Not to mention Im a sucker for wheels.

Evil Teo

iTrader: (13)

i say keep it unless it is giving you problems. save money for other stuff. its a unique car. post some pics.

MRxSLAYx

The kit has flaws to it but i would keep it. Do you know exactly what is done to it? Do you know if the car has Stock injectors or methanol injection?

Jls343

That's a good question. I spoke to Dave at Turbochargers.com and he didn't mention anything about methanol injectors. He is very helpful by the way and seems to be a great guy. There is a methanol/water injection system that seems pretty simple and I'm pretty sure it dumps a 50/50 mixture into the air intake somehow which makes me believe it wouldn't require methanol fuel injectors. Everyone I talk to says the system is easily reversible. I will confirm the injectors though. I'll get some picks up soon. The car has Forgestar f-14's 19x9 and 19x11 in the gunmetal finish.

MRxSLAYx

I actually meant methanol injection. To my knowledge, there is no such thing as as a specific type of injector needed for methanol.
Looking forward to the pics

Underdog_

iTrader: (3)

No offense to you personally Jeff, but after reading your post, this would be my nightmare. Buying an already (substantially) modified high-end, complex car and then having to search around forums and stuff trying to piece together what the car has/doesn't have and then hope I can find someone to sort out the tune without grenading it. Gives me the chills just thinking about it.

I've built my share of cars over the years and I just can't imagine being in this scenario. However, since you're asking for our input, if I was in this situation I would challenge myself to learn and do as much as I could with the car on my own. Start small and then work your way up. I didn't know a damn thing about tuning 13 years ago, but I knew that if I researched and learned it inside and out, I could do some cool stuff and wouldn't have to be at the mercy of others. Same goes for welding. I took some classes, befriended an expert welder and now can fab up whatever I need, which is extremely handy. I hope this doesn't sound like horn-tooting, I'm simply saying that this could be a learning opportunity for you. Dissect the methanol injection, study and learn about it. Confirm your engine management, study and learn about it. Research other engine management solutions and consider the pros/cons. You gotta go way deeper than searching on forums too.

All that said, if you don't have the time/passion to take on these challenges, I would recommend going back to a simple, naturally aspirated setup that only requires an oil and filter change every so often.

Either way, good luck to you. The good news is, you've got a freaking awesome car whatever path you choose!

-Tom

Fapout

iTrader: (6)

Welcome bro, I'm over on the STL side of MO and we have several shops here that are knowledgeable on these points. I think you're kind of S.O.L. If you don't want to spend anymore money to perfect the tune on it. Not to mention going to just a NA setup is going to cost money as I'm sure you're going to have to pull the engine to change out the turbo system to stock headers and exhaust which will cost you a bunch of money in the end. You have a special IS-F, so enjoy it and work out the bugs, come over here to STL and I'll help you out however I can but I'm afraid there's going to be no cheap way to make your car run smooth, whether it's tuning your turbo system or buying n/a parts and having them installed.

What do you mean it runs fair down low but it's not perfect. What exactly does it do through it's power band?

7No

iTrader: (1)

How can it have methanol injection assuming you've driven it a while? You'd need an ecu with a meth map and when the meth runs out, that map would not be good for the engine. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.

7No

iTrader: (1)

Turbo lag, I assume.

Fapout

iTrader: (6)

You could have a meth shut off switch but would need multiple maps for a/f ratios and timing and such so it's possible but I don't know about tuning software, what it's tuned to run with. If he's running a meth map without meth this story will quickly end in bad news.

OP do you know where the car was tuned/built? That might be able to enlighten you some more.

Fapout

iTrader: (6)

I wouldn't think it's boosting that much psi that there would be noticeable turbo lag. Most TT v8s (unless they have a built motor) are boosting between 4 to 8psi. I'd like to see the laundry list of mods on this thing.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

These cars have STS turbos. Lots of piping to pull off, but no major exhaust mods at all.

If there is a Unichip, it's a one off. There is no AEM EMS for the F. There are piggybacks to alter the MAF signal, but nothing to fundamentally change the engine's tune and definitely no plug and play engine management that plays well with CAN and BEAN for the rest of the car to work right. Trust me, we'd all love it if there were an option for this, but the market for the F is tiny, and the engine's configuration is unique in the Lexus line up. You really can't tune it right, you can only fool the ECM with piggybacks to get some wiggle room.

If you got it for a steal, just drive and be happy.

Jls343

Hey thanks guys for all of your input. I only have a few minutes to reply. On a date and she doesn't understand why I have to reply on my phone. Obviosly not a keeper. Anyway, the car was built and tuned by split second performance. Components supplied by Turbochargers.com. It seems to run rich down low and will occasionally hesitate and just run like crap for a few seconds and then clean out and run fine. Before buying the car I researched plenty. I would consider myself a fair mechanic and have build my share of hotrods but have no experience with turbo systems. Anyway, when I bought it, I planned on removing the system and putting on a JoeZ exhaust and intake unless this system was flawless. No motor pulling or anythingike that. The piggyback ems is spliced in with ten wires that will have to be reconnected. The entire turbo system is in the back of the car and will easily unbolt from the stick manifold. From there, I have to come up with a cold air intake since the stock airbox is gone. The methanol system consists of a tank in the trunk that has a mixture of 50/50 water and methanol and seems to last quite awhile but it is using some. Don't understand it completely bud do know I can take it out in no time. I'm leaning more towards selling this system to someone that wants to reinstall in their car and mess with it. I'm convinced I can uninstall everything and have it running on the stock ECM in a day. That is unless I can find someone I am confident in that can make it run perfectly. Biggest fear is spending five hundred here and there and still not perfect. Thanks again and I'll get some pics up soon. Oh and by the way, this chick is crazy