'04 IS300 - Project (Not Really) Nice Daily

[Goodspeed]

The A/C servo and headlight leveling system have been fixed (new servo and front sensor), and I put on the clear front lenses and got it tinted yesterday. I went with 40% as planned - much nicer to drive around in now. It looks pretty dark in this pic, and the installer estimated the factory glass had a ~72% tint of its own, but in person it's not as dark.



Well...it was found that I picked up a nail in one of my back tires (on the shoulder), and another has a weird sidewall tear, kind of like a flap of rubber hanging free. Both are holding air but I didn't want to chance anything, nor do I feel like driving on them any more than at lower speeds around town. I was hoping to leave them on for a while longer, possibly until it was time to get winter tires....oh well. This gave me all the excuse I needed to go ahead with the aforementioned wheel/tire and spring/shock plan.

I got everything through Tire Rack, and went with a package of 18x8 ASA AR1's w/225/40/18 Yoko S.drives. For lowering, I went with the Eibach "Pro Plus" kit of Pro-Kit springs, and their f/r swaybars. What really sold me on the kit (besides lots of positive reviews) is the fact that the Lexus "L-tuned" accessory springs/sways are re-branded Eibachs, so they're not anything overly harsh or aggressive. They advertise a 1" drop front/rear, and seem to settle to ~1.3 or so over time apparently. As I've gotten used to driving the car I've noticed where a bit more responsiveness and less body roll will be a nice addition, so I'm looking forward to it!

A few shots of roughly how the car should look (not as low as this, I think):



With nearing 80k I decided to replace the shocks/struts too - I went with the Koni STR.T's - basically an OEM replacement unit that can handle a lowering spring. TR had them on special and people who are just looking for a little "extra" seem to like them.



And I nabbed that exhaust from ebay as well. Might have all this on by the MM show/auto-x. Now to let my wallet recuperate...

[Kaan]

go yellow or go home when it comes to Koni

[rherold9]

go yellow or go home when it comes to Koni

+1

[Kaan]

also its the spring time koni sale. I think you can get yellows for the same price (or close to) as those oranges 8)

[CaptainHenreh]

also its the spring time koni sale. I think you can get yellows for the same price (or close to) as those oranges 8)

+2

When I talked to the Koni rep I was all "Y U NO FSD'S FOR IS" and he was all "lel, bruh, no one buys konis for lexisssss"

[.RJ]

also its the spring time koni sale

Where?

[Kaan]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.koni-na.com/newsandevents.cfm">http://www.koni-na.com/newsandevents.cfm</a><!-- m -->

under news they have their March 1 2015 event sale. I think its also at TireRack. I got my best deal from Chris at RedShift Motorsports.

[Goodspeed]

The yellow's are on sale via TR but are still a good deal more $. I wanted to stick to a budget for all this so as not to go overboard and didn't feel that I needed the adjustability of the yellows...the oranges were getting good reviews so I took the gamble.

It was either them, or KYB GR2's ("direct" OE replacement, KYB made the oem IS300 dampers) or Tokico's (I hear blue's suck and Illuminas are just OK). I did read about Bilstein HDs and the yellows and apparently they rode a bit harsh. If these can handle a mild drop and have near-stock ride quality I'll be happy.

[Jake]

Car should look great after all the updates! I like the rimzz.

[Goodspeed]

Wheels/tires, suspension, and exhaust installed, with big thanks to Paul Galleron for the install work and Blair for helping as well. Everything went fairly smoothly - some slight modification of the exhaust's hangers to get it to center properly in the bumper opening was required but nothing too major.

So far I'm very happy with the results - the Eibach springs on the Koni's ride exactly like stock. There is literally no perceptible degradation in the ride quality whatsoever, and so far I'd guesstimate a 1" drop with likely a bit more settling to come. The sways and new tires also provide for a much more sure-footed feeling when bombing around morning traffic as well - it's a much better car to drive now. The exhaust is just right - it's mellow but makes some noise when you want it. Above all I just felt it was a crime to completely mute a straight six, and now there is a nice 2JZ soundtrack :thumbup:

Pretty much the only things left to do are to give it a good detail (I haven't yet had the chance/weather to really go through it) and look into options for providing USB/aux capability to the factory head unit. I'll probably go with a kit from Grom Audio on that front.

[V1GiLaNtE]

Looks clean. Post up an exhaust vid for us!

[Goodspeed]

Looks clean. Post up an exhaust vid for us!

Thanks! Sounds just like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psWXWYMkOT8&t=0m15s

[*insertusernamehere*]

Yes. I am a fan. A big fan.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Senor_Taylor]

[youtube]psWXWYMkOT8[/youtube]

FTFY

[fiveoh2go]

Wheels/tires, suspension, and exhaust installed

[WRXtranceformed]

You're making me nostalgic for mine

[fiveoh2go]

You're making me nostalgic for mine

Go get one!

[Beej]

Wow, I really like those ASA's on this chassis. :thumbup:

Ride height looks good for DD use, too. Much lower than that and you've reduced travel too much and are hitting bumpstops way too often.

[ButtDyno]

I'll be very curious to see what you get in the way of the front tires rubbing on bumps and such. I'm currently on:
* stock wheels w/ 205-50-17 The General snow tires
* Koni sports
* Eibach Prokit
* Tanabe front bar

It will rub on bad expansion joints, or when loaded in a corner with a decent bump. And that's on the 205s

I'm on the not-as-low perch in the front and the low perch in the rear.

[Goodspeed]

Thanks all, I'll take better pics at some point, I too am glad I picked the ASA's, I was on the fence initially but they really set it off in person.

ButtDyno, I checked and both your size and mine seem to be 25.1" OD or thereabouts. No rubbing whatsoever yet, I've hit a few bumps here and there but nothing major. I'll have to think about what size snow tires to put on next winter, the stock 215/40/17 is a 24" OD but I'd rather not have the car any lower in wintry conditions methinks.