Just bought my 2018 IS300 AWD F-Sport yesterday and have done extensive research on tuning. I live in toronto so the options are limited. We have M-Force and a local shop called torontoecutuning (on instagram). I’ve done a pretty good amount of research on M-Force and D3 and haven’t found much for 18+ since they changed our ecu. I have a buddy who got his 19 IS300 AWD tuned at torontoecutuning but I like that the D3 is an access port and can be changed on the fly. Long story short i’m going to be buying the D3 tune in the coming weeks once I get my exhaust setup fine tweaked and get in intake and I will let you all know how it feels before and after tune (butt dyno) and might even get it dynod later on in the summer. The performance community for the 3IS, the new ecu specifically is very slim and I’m hoping to help give some more people with the 2GR-FKS guidance on what’s available for tuning.

*EDIT*

Just purchased the tune. Will let you guys know when it arrives. Planning on tuning it pre exhaust+intake and post exhaust+intake so I can see all the differences it provides for you stock guys and FBO guys.

*EDIT* Emailed D3 a few times because they never responded to my original question emails prior to the purchase. One of the biggest things I wanted was to increase the rev limiter which they said i’m capable of doing with the tuning software (I sent a very extensive email outlining all of the question I originally had) and after purchasing the tuner and wanting confirmation on those capabilities I haven’t received a reply in the past 3 days. I’m going to chalk it up to it being the weekend and all but I asked the question the same day that they had replied to another question.

*EDIT*

They responded and confirmed all of my question are indeed true (as well as help from XelaFyre). When purchasing the tune you have full access to the Tune Wizard which allows you adjust a multitude of parameters. Shipping seems fast it’s already in chicago, and best part of all D3 claims the price of the module is $100 to alleviate duties (what beautiful people). Next update will be when i receive the tune. Will hopefully get a dragy before it comes in and fill up on 94 and do some completely stock test runs.

 

I want to tune my 2020 IS300 F-Sport RWD 2.0L; any recommendations?

 

Theres tons of other threads discussing the topic, this is for the IS300 AWD which has the 2GR-FKS V6. D3 and i think others offer tunes for your platform. Refer to this thread or the many others https://www.clublexus.com/forums/rc-...e-8ar-fts.html

 

Following. Keep us updated. I have a '20 IS350 and was also thinking of getting the tune. I also live in Canada (AB) so am also wondering on how long it takes to get it.

Cheers

 

I have a 22 - IS350 and I'm doing my intake and exhaust this weekend. Curious to see more feedback on the D3 plug n play tune. Thinking about getting that next before doing speaker mods on this car.

Will follow your results also.

 

*UPDATE*

Got into the Toronto shipping facility the 27th. Took about a week to get into the city and I imagine if it wasn’t the weekend it would’ve arrived already so shipping is super fast! Took a test dragy of a quarter mile and got a 14.03 1/4 and a 5.79 0-60. Will post the dragy report. Very slight hill but the only place near my house that I know there isn’t cops so all testing will take place in that spot. Gonna do more testing when I get the tune with stock intake and exhaust then will do stock tune post intake exhaust and then tuned with intake and exhaust and post dragy results.



*UPDATE*
Tune came in, installation was a breeze but didn’t get the pop and bang preloaded in custom tunes so shot em an email. Upon first glance we got absolutely shafted with base tunes. I’ll attach photos below of the 2GR-FKS base tunes for the lexus and the camry below and we definitely got the short end of the stick. Also i’m in a groupchat with someone who has a 22 IS350 and had the D3 so i have confirmation that it does indeed work, he said butt dyno felt faster on it too but never got numbers. Will be going out and getting dragy numbers tested later. Still on stock intake/exhaust, intake should be coming in either today and tomorrow and exhaust later in the week.

*EDIT* So they reached out and said that intake has minimal if not hinders performance on Lexus because the Lexus 2GR intake setup is much more free flowing than the camry so that’s why they don’t have the cold air intake tune, and that lexus only runs on 93 because of whatever reason so they only 93 tune lexus. Setup was super easy to install the pops and bang tune and for anyone wondering the Enhanced Throttle tune is the horsepower tune but also includes enhanced throttle (so there’s no reason to run only the hp tune) and you can increase rev limiter to 7200 and 7400 from the base tune 6900. Lastly they have an option for headers. Getting exhaust setup installed tomorrow and intake hopefully is coming in tomorrow as well. Will get dragys on same road in hopefully same condition tomorrow both stock tune and full performance tune including my intake and exhaust so you guys can see the comparisons of the tune between stock settings and tuned with full bolt ons and between absolutely stock everything vs intake exhaust and tune.

 

Camry Base Tunes

Lexus Base Tunes

 

Hey i'm looking into the D3 tune. Just wondering if you purchased the Performance Turner or Pro Turner? Other then the device is there any difference ?

Thanks

 

Hey, I purchased the performance tuner which i think is the only option, the pro tuner is the software which is included with the performance tuner. I think you need to the performance tuner to install the tune files though i’m not sure you’d have to ask them.

 

*FINAL UPDATE*

After testing turns out there’s next to no performance gains at all whatsoever. It does increase throttle response a considerable degree and the pops and bangs are fun but for a local tuner and an apexi throttle controller you achieve the same results for half the price. Kind of dissapointed in d3’s claims with regards to the RC350 being the same gains as the IS300 would. I was expecting TUNED IS350 numbers not stock IS300 numbers. Below are the dragy comparisons. Their customer service is fantastic just really unfortunate that they -im assuming- pulled a fast one on us 2GR-FKS owners.

Pre Tune


Post Tune

Yes one could argue the tune made a difference but cmon. 0.1 seconds off the 0-60 and 0.2 seconds off the 1/4 mile. Lexus claims the IS300 AWD comes with 260HP and 238TQ. D3 claims stock for the RC350 RWD was 250RWHP and 235WTQ and they’re tune numbers were 274RWHP and 240WTQ. That’s a 14HP and 5lbft of tq difference. Lastly please keep in mind those numbers I listed are stock CRANK number not WHEEL numbers, i wouldn’t be surprised if an IS350 of the same year and model was able to beat my IS300 tuned, no matter what you’d assume power would increase to at LEAST stock IS350 levels. The car should be vastly outperforming what it does stock, I’ve also since installed an intake tube (stock airbox with smog filter removed so IAT are lower than stock and have better flow) and a catback exhaust the original test was at a full tank and the new test was half tank with spare tire removed (only thing that possibly could’ve hurt performance was the 10°C temp difference). Quite disappointed with the outcome and sorry to let down anyone who was hopeful about the tune. Feel free to ask any questions. I’m going to do one more test soon and tune the car back to stock, do a run, turn around, start at the exact same spot and add the tune, and do another one. I will let you guys know the dragys when I do that to truly see if there’s any difference.

 

Thanks for testing all this out. Makes me wonder whether the RR tune will make any difference if/when it ever comes out. Love my '22 IS300 dearly but just needs a bit more top end oomph which is exactly where the de-tune from the 350 hits.

 

If you're just installing the tune and immediately making a dragy run, the results were always going to look like that. The Lexus ecu has to relearn all the new tunes and mods, it takes up to 100 miles of aggressive driving to do this. You should get a obd reader and find out your KCLV. This is the number that resets and pulls timing every time you retune the car.

I would leave the current D3 tune on and drive for a while, make sure to run through the gears and hit the redline. Once you've verified that your KCLV is around 22 or higher, then make another dragy run.

 

Also which Tune options are you selecting, type of gas? Like the previous poster said what's your KCLV? If it's low you wont get anything out of the Tune until it goes up some. You may need to run a Tank of Octane booster to drive up your timing. Some of the D3 Tunes are set to be in Sport mode. Do you have Sport mode? Just work on it with the Tune on it 1st.

 

Second this aside from the "Sport mode" comment. All 3IS models will have Sport mode (Sport+ is unique to the pre-'21 F-Sport and '21+ DHP models). I do want to also add that ambient air temp will certainly play a factor on a recorded drag run, along with other variables not accounted for. For instance, If you were doing a lot of stop and go driving prior to the run, the engine will be more susceptible to heat soak.... further hindering performance vs a run that was done after continuous highway driving and at a lower ambient temp.

Another thing to consider is it doesn't matter which flash tune you go with from these companies. At the end of the day, they are all just generic tunes and are mostly a waste of money. Every single tune offered will calibrate your ECU to still run rich during WOT. This is done as a safety precaution and to make sure they aren't hit with a bunch of claims of internal engine failure as a direct result from the use of their product. With the mods you listed, you cannot realistically expect that much of a drop in 0-60 times on this N/A engine. A 1-2 full second reduction is a substantial drop in time. I believe a lot of the disappoint comes from the placebo effect that is generated around the word "tune" as it thrown around the forum. Remember, this is not a big turbo engine. You are not adding 10psi of additional boost or extensively advancing ignition. The vehicle is also not in front of a live person who is able to data log each run and make "fine adjustments" on the fly. We are receiving a generic "one size fits all" file that changes a few things from factory..... deemed to be better for a sportier feel. My point is to not have high expectations from these tunes as they will never compare to a custom dyno/road tune.

 

With all due respect, I think you should do some research on Tunes. Lots of it.

To get a 2 sec drop in 0-60 you have to do lots. There are a ton of Generic tunes on many different cars that dropped 1/2 to a full sec. The Tune is based on a/f, Timing, Throttle response, and Transmission changes. Not just a/f only. A Tune is a tool to use to further increase performance changes. Not a magic Software. It's not for everyone. There are many Tuned IS vs not tuned run vids out there. Go see the results.