Some More Parts to Improve the Car...

In my quest to improve my IS-F in the most efficient manner possible, I have been slowly collecting some parts over the past year or so which I thought would bring me the best bang for the buck. Because I haven't been as good at updating this blog as my GT-R blog, I'm going to simply lay out all of these parts.

First -  I decided to replace the OEM halogen fog lights with later year (2011-2014?) OEM LED fog lights - just plug and play...

Before

Much whiter!

And yes my car wasn't clean when I took this photo...

As for performance of LED vs halogen, hard to say really. They are mounted so low and act only to fill in the dark space under the headlights so I think the effect is more of a visual, than performance difference. Oh well, wasn't that expensive and it gives a more modern look...

I had also learned from Yamada-san at CREF (where I had the clear film installed) that when Toyota was developing the IS-F, they found that the large amount of power meant that the rear subframe would actually move and cause some instability, and that this was especially noticeable on a rain slick track. So, Spoon Sports developed the Rigid Collar kit for the ISF.

Just a few collars...

For anyone not familiar with the Rigid Collar concept, here is a video link that describes how they work.

Yes it sounds too good to be true, but yes they work and I will go into more detail in a future post about what they did for my car's handling. I had gotten them for my GT-R and was suitably impressed so the lack of internet feedback on their use on the IS-F didn't bother me.

I had also read on the ClubLexus forum how the Apex'i throttle controller made the car feel much more responsive (but not necessarily faster - but that's ok, I just want something more responsive!). So, I ordered one and the car-specific harness.

From: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-f-2008-2014/626697-apexi-throttle-control-installed-i-love-it-d-2.html

In a later post, I'll discuss this part - all I will say for now is, it really is worth getting!

Finally, some bling - I found something in my closet that I had ordered when I first ordered the car, but was not delivered in time for the dealer to install it, a dry carbon fiber rear license plate frame from LEMS.

Two photos from their website (as I was too lazy to unwrap it before handing it Ninomiya-san to install):

Side facing out

Body side

Here is the rear license plate before:

... and now afterwards! 

As you can see in Japan, there is this metal "cap" on the upper left bolt that has to be installed by special tooling (available only at the DMV). So Ninomiya-san had to make a quick trip in order to get it done... but I think the results are worth it!

Now I have to decide whether to splurge on a matching dry carbon fiber FRONT license plate frame and/or a rear trunk lip spoiler...but before that, one more piece of (possibly functional?) bling... stay tuned!

Suspension Upgrade + LC500! (Part 1)

Ok ok so I have been very very bad about posting updates on this car - my excuse is that my free time is spent blogging about my GT-R, and getting used to a new job I started in May.  Oh and I was overseas for a few weeks too, back in March.

Excuses aside, after I returned from my trip in March, I decided it was about time I did something about the car's ride. As many know, the early IS-F cars were criticized for having a harsh ride, while some people claimed they got used to it, or that it was the price to pay for the sporty nature of the car.

The problem for me was, I did not want to purchase another set of Ohlins like I have on the GT-R - which as a result was driving more smoothly and more comfortably than the Lexus!  But, while the Ohlins DFVs are superb, they require rebuilding every 2 years or 20,000kms. For a durable car like the Lexus (i.e. Toyota), this was not going to work.

Further, as some of you remember, I been given use of a GS-F as a loaner - and I loved the way that car rode.  Some asking around revealed that the GS-F uses dampers made by Sachs.  Then, I read on the ClubLexus forum that someone had replaced their 2008 IS-F OEM shocks with those from a 2012 IS-F, which also happen to be made by Sachs!  

So I knew a swap could be done, and further, these parts were OEM and thus not as expensive as aftermarket Ohlins! And no need to rebuild! So win-win...

My dealer agreed to do the swap, but told me they could not extend the car's warranty to the shocks, only the warranty for the shock itself would be available. Not a big deal. So I went ahead and ordered, and a few weeks later got the call!

Nothing special about these cars other than the new car smell...

Lexus hospitality can't be beat!

While the mechanics worked to install the suspension, the dealer decided to give me taste of what to expect.

"Go have fun!" they said!

Unfortunately, it was all for nothing. Because a few hours later the dealer called and told me that they had only ordered the shocks and NOT the springs! Oh and something called a bump stop needed to be ordered as well.

Obviously, being the first to try something in Japan means that you have be very patient.  Or, have a sense a humor about the situation, or both.

In any case, I returned to the dealer somewhat disappointed, but then soon forgot about it as I spotted this car, one of the first ones in Japan!

Trust me, looks WAY better in person!

Hard to tell with the black leather, but the interior is ALL leather...and GORGEOUS!

Nice little touch there

My advisor was particularly proud of this touch - the 3-D effect LED taillamps! Hmm, maybe an idea for the GT-R? Lol.

So this initial visit wasn't a total loss - I got to see the new LC500 (and got a free car wash. Oh and got to drive the GS-F around all day...)

Another LED Upgrade

So after one of my turn signals failed, I was too lazy to replace it myself. So, I rolled over to my local Lexus dealer for some (expensive) love.

While they were at it, I asked if they would make an exception to policy and replace the parking lamps up front, with LEDs. Amazingly, they agreed!

The OEM parking bulb is "white" but next to the HID low beam, looks orange-ish.

Courtesy ClubLexus.com

From Car and Driver

Thanks to both sources for the photos of the OEM parking lights - I forgot to take photos of my own car, so have to borrow these photos.

Anyway, as the mechanics replaced the burnt out turn signal bulb, they went ahead and installed these:

So 5000K whiteness, and 110LM.

I chose these bulbs because of their high lumen capacity, and also because 5000K is probably similar to the kind of whiteness we now see on modern car's lighting.

The result:

At the dealership, I couldn't contain my excitement. Excuse the lens flare!

Because of the flare, I decided to try again at home:

This time better. Amazing how bright those little LEDs are, except in this photo it's hard to tell anything other than the whiteness

The actual brightness, compared to the other bulbs on the car, is as above. I guess here the brightness of the foglights serve as the primary lightsource for the iPhone camera. Because:

With the foglights off. No, the LEDs aren't any brighter, it's just the way the light affects the iPhone camera.

In any case - the white parking light, adds a modern touch to the car. The only thing left to finish it off would be LED foglights.  And of course, I'm already planning for this. Except, I wonder if there is a way to deal with the orange-ish high beams first?

Trunk Interior Lamp LED Conversion

So in continuing to update the OEM lighting of the ISF, one light that seemed noticeably (and pathetically) dark to me, was the trunk lighting.

Here, at night, the OEM bulb lights up only the rear edge, you can't see what's back there deep in the trunk...

There are lots of options - sure I could find and use many of those LEDs found on Yahoo Auctions and such, but I wanted an easy to fit, and also one that actually was brighter than the OEM incandescent bulb.  So this time I turned to LEMS, known here in Japan for their Lexus specific tuning parts. They had a prepackaged, LED version of the trunk light module - so it would be a quick and easy swap out - no need for me to take my trunk light out and replace the bulb with LEDs.

It's plug and play. I didn't even open the instruction book.

Once you pull out the assembly (from the right side), the assembly hangs down like this. OEM bulb.

One clip is all that holds the assembly in place. Unclip the old, and clip on the new LED assembly.

Instantly - much better. You can see the details on the ski pass-through (compared to the first photo above)

Here is a photo my DSLR took in auto mode with the OEM bulb - the shutter stayed open longer than in the LED photo below, suggesting lower light intensity

Photo by the same DLSR - you can see how the LED provides much sharper detail around the rear shock assemblies and the edge of the rubber mat.

So now, I think I am addicted to these newer tech LEDs... the technology has improved so much since I experimented with LEDs on the GT-R.  Not sure what my next mod will be but perhaps there are other LED bulbs that can improve the IS-F...

Reverse Lamp LED Conversion

So on 4 January, while satisfying my OCD need to clean the less visible parts of the car, I decided to spend a few minutes during the afternoon, and later at night, to see how the latest LED bulbs compare to the OEM back up lights.

I had done substantial research and decided I wanted to find, and then try, the brightest LED bulbs possible.  A few years ago I had experimented with back up bulbs on my GT-R, and ended up installing an HID bulb - mainly because the GT-R only has one reverse light and in the dark it can be hard to see while backing up.

Anyway, the results were discouraging back then, and I still was not sure whether LED technology had improved to the point where such bulbs, even at high lumens, were comparable to good halogen bulbs. There is also the issue of the reflectors being designed for halogens which emit light in all directions versus LEDs which tend to shine light in one direction.

Flash forward a couple of years, LED technology seems to have improved - my research had found these as the (claimed) brightest T16 size LEDs available in Japan - in fact the retailer is a mostly Toyota/Lexus LED bulb specialist so naturally there was a price premium. However their claims of 900 lumens, being 340% brighter than a regular white bulb, as well as using Chip On Board (COB) technology (which I was totally impressed with in a mod for my GT-R), convinced me to take a chance and buy a pair.

They arrived the day after I ordered... thank you Amazon!

I first used a special tool I had recently picked up to remove the clips holding the lining to the trunk lid:

Interesting how Lexus uses Velcro ensure the lining stays flush with the trunk lid!

Yellow arrow is the back up bulb... note the wiring is held in by a clip. The clip has to be undone, otherwise there is not enough slack in the wiring to remove the bulb from the trunk lid-side housing easily.

iPhone photo comparison

So as the above photo shows, despite supposedly being 3.4x brighter and 900 lumens, the OEM halogen bulb on the left still seems to be brighter.  Or maybe it's the camera? With the naked eye the difference didn't seem this large.

Nikon DSLR photo

This above photo is more accurate as to how I saw it. I did try to do a comparison, by using my hand to shield each bulb in turn to see which lit up the back of the garage better.  (Incidentally, the halogen got hot very quickly but even these COB LEDs stayed cool...) But during the day it was hard to tell. From the perspective of a car behind me, the LED obviously looked whiter and cleaner.

iPhone photo at night

When I covered up each bulb in turn, admittedly the halogen seemed to cast more shadows than the LED bulb - implying that the halogen was indeed brighter.  I then opened the trunk to see how the lights would look on the ceiling of the garage:

But the difference is slight, I think. The LED seems to have a more focused light than the halogen, if anything.

But as I had come this far, and if the difference was indeed slight, I decided to install the LED on the right side as well. And then see how these lights worked when viewed in the back up monitor from the driver's seat - would there be an improvement?

Again iPhone photo, no flash, both LEDs installed.

Oh, and if you're wondering about that OEM ISF alloy wheel in the corner... well I hope to have a blog post about what I was doing soon enough!

Nikon DSLR photo, without flash.
Compare the brightness of these LEDs with the OEM LED bulb used to light up the license plate.

What's interesting is that, while from the outside the halogens do seem slightly brighter, from INSIDE the car, these LEDs clearly work better with the back up camera than the OEM halogens.  I initially believed the difference to be one of color - one can see clearly in the rear view mirrors that the LEDs provide a whiter light - but on the navigation screen, the light coloring and brightness seemed to be the same.... until I took a close look at what these following photos revealed:

Backing up - OEM back up lamps while braking

Backing up - same spot in garage - with the LEDs and braking... see the difference?

While the rear view camera appears to automatically adjust to get the brightest image possible, the LEDs (second photo) allow the camera to transmit a cleaner, crisper image.

Even without brake application:

OEM back up lamps, no braking

LED back up lamps, no braking

Everything is crisp and there seems to be more definition, and there is no yellowish tinge.

So my conclusion is that even if not quite as bright in relative terms with the halogens, to the extent these LEDs work well with the reverse monitor camera, I will use them until either someone comes out with an even more clearly brighter LED, or there is a need to put the halogens back.

Oh, and now that I've tinkered with some LEDs...I've begun to research what other bulbs in the ISF can be replaced with LEDs that actually improve the lighting. Stay tuned!