[TheRealScottyP]

Hello, I making this post to save anyone the headache I had from purchasing the Ultra Racing Front Lower Subframe Brace.

To start I did purchased their front and rear upper strut braces without issue and they are actually really good products, fit really well, and are one of the only solid strut bars for our cars. But with that being said stay away from their Front Lower Subframe Brace unless you plan to cut a notch in your chassis. I have linked their website below and picture of the brace part number.

LEXUS IS 300 (JCE10) 1998–2005 - FRONT SUBFRAME (7 POINTS)

LEXUS IS 300 (JCE10) 1998–2005 - FRONT SUBFRAME (7 POINTS) (UR-LA7-314)

ultraracing-usa.com

Part does not clear the unibody area pictured below and you would need to cut almost an cm of the chassis to fit:

More Pic Below:
Ultra Racing - Red marks is area where hits unibody
Tanabe
Stock

(you can see both Tanabe and stock do not have that issue. Looked up also TRD, Cusco, Megan, and others do not either. So maybe it does fit the JDM Altezza, but do not know since do not have one to try.)

 

[01 SolarYellow]

What did you do with the Ultra after it did not fit?

 

[TheRealScottyP]

What did you do with the Ultra after it did not fit?

They took it back and sent me a return label. I did send them pics and state that this should not be sold without notifying people that they will need to do this in US market IS300. I choose not to notch my car.

But their products are really nice and the front and rear upper bars are huge and work great.

 

[01 SolarYellow]

They took it back and sent me a return label. I did send them pics and state that this should not be sold without notifying people that they will need to do this in US market IS300. I choose not to notch my car.

But their products are really nice and the front and rear upper bars are huge and work great.

Okay, I was thinking if you were stuck with it. I might be able to use it as a template to make some that would fit correct.

 

[IS300 2001]

It looks beefy in comparison though, I wonder if it would be worth cutting..

 

[AConley]

Interesting. Thanks for the info!

 

[Adam P]

I helped install some of their parts on a subie and some of the parts had weld slag in the area where bolts were suppose to go through. I never personally bought any of their stuff.

 

[Gosurfun]

A few gentle taps with a hammer.

 

[SXEFreak]

did you actually feel a difference with the strut tower bars? Does the front one fit no problem? I was told many front strut bars for the altezza won’t clear the is300 because the 2JZ is way taller.

 

[Pnut00]

A few gentle taps with a hammer.

Did you fit one to your car? Just curious who might have.

Interesting, they are fairly common brand down under but i dont remember reading anything about having to cut steel for them to fit. Perhaps they are made to fit the Altezza not the IS300, i have heard from a guy who worked at Toyota that the Altezza was a more lightweight version of the IS, so maybe there is a few areas with less steel like those panels.

 

[Gosurfun]

Did you fit one to your car? Just curious who might have.

Interesting, they are fairly common brand down under but i dont remember reading anything about having to cut steel for them to fit. Perhaps they are made to fit the Altezza not the IS300, i have heard from a guy who worked at Toyota that the Altezza was a more lightweight version of the IS, so maybe there is a few areas with less steel like those panels.

If it come from Japan or Asia, it is very likely to only be made to fit an IS200 (GXE10, 1G 2L 6cyl motor) or an Altezza (SXE10 the sporty one, 3S 2L 4cyl motor) which are a bit lower than a 2JZ, (as the throttle body/inlet manifold is not the same, bigger and on top of the 2JZ between the strut towers, even though the IS200 has a variable length intake runners). They are the same body as an IS300 (JCE10 2JZ 3L 6cyl motor, JCE15 for the wagon) but different motor/gearbox/diff combinations between all three models. There are small difference like different headlight mounting brackets and interior trims, but basically the same car body. A lot of Asians would not know what an IS300 is as they had Chasers, Aristo's etc in abundance. The IS300 was created for the American market as who would buy a 2L car in the US. The big heavy 2JZ motor destroyed the excellent handling of the 2L cars, Americans typically prefer power and motor size over handling, but got the sales out of the car yards. I wish they had done a turbo 3S instead, as it would have had the same power to weight ratio, but with 50/50 weight distribution, better brakes and better suspension, than a WRX STI GC8.

 

[scnonah]

I don't see the big deal. Notch it and throw some rust preventative on it. Done deal.