[Stage3Audi]

I've been doing a fair amount of research into what seems to be the top 3 or 4 tuners for the IS300 and am looking for your experience as to which tuner I should go with. There appear to be a handful of highly modded cars here on the board with no clear "best solution" yet. I'm looking to do either do a GTE swap on a new 03 IS300 or maximize the potential of the stock block with stronger internals. I would like to build a reliable 10 sec car. I currently own an 02 APR stage 3 S4 which consistently runs 12.3/116's on 104 but I'd love to walk a P-car TT, which today I can barely pull on (I'm also pretty much maxed out in terms of future potential on my current car). From your experiences, which route and tuner would you go with? What would you do differently if you could do it over again? Thanks for your help!

 

[lambchop11078]

It might help if we know where you're located. Toyomoto is the way to go if you're in the southeast. PHR if you're in the midsouth. Both tuners are well known but their kits are not shippable. If you're looking for a 400+ kit that's shippable then PFS is the way to go. By the way, the PFS stage 2 car ran a high 11 second 1/4 a little while ago.

 

[DL]

You're gonna get alot of biased answers that'll start an all out flame war. Best bet would be to call each tuner and ask questions about their kits. Try to get as much info as you can. Then you can PM individual owners about their kit and ask their opinions.

Here's a list of Tuners and the .net owners that I know of, it's not complete or if I put someone in the wrong tuner please fix it or add your name if you want.

Toyotomo
Freelance, Umve, Cariza (hope I spelled it right), and others I might have missed

PHR
Wxman plus 2 other I think

TBKO
IS300GTE, Fairuza (custom setup not their kits), someone has the SC kit can't remember their .net name

PFS
evolution_sfv, darkstorm?, malofiquest, and others that I don't remember

SRT
matssi, gavron, isman, also more here will let each one insert their names.

hmmmm if I get a pretty complete list I'll make a excel spreadsheet that people can use to ask questions about a particular tuner.

 

[Stage3Audi]

I live in Cleveland, but am expecting to drop the car off at the tuner. I'd rather stay east of the Miss, but location is not a factor.

I've talked to 3 tuners already, but of course am getting their sales pitch. Thanks for the list of .net owners, I'll connect directly with them.

 

[lil' IS 300]

Nobody is running 10's on stock internals yet. If you're swapping with GTE internals then it's a different story...it can be done. The closest you'll get with GE internals is PFS Stage 3 which has been running high 11's (like lambchop said) on an auto.

Oh, and if you want to swap with some GTE internals, contact SRT...they'll put you in the 10's if you seriously want to go all out. It'll be one hell of a loud IS and I don't think it would be too "streetable".

 

[redline814]

Nobody is running 10's on stock internals yet. If you're swapping with GTE internals then it's a different story...it can be done. The closest you'll get with GE internals is PFS Stage 3 which has been running high 11's (like lambchop said) on an auto.

Correction - PFS Stage 2 --> 11.7 1/4 mile

Here is a tuner list with their contact information --> http://www.is300.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13349731

 

[lambchop11078]

I live in Cleveland, but am expecting to drop the car off at the tuner. I'd rather stay east of the Miss, but location is not a factor.

I've talked to 3 tuners already, but of course am getting their sales pitch. Thanks for the list of .net owners, I'll connect directly with them.

PFS, SRT, and TBKO are probably the tuners you want to look at since they're pretty close to you. Look at the turbo/supercharger kit table redline made. It's very useful for a comparison on price and power.

 

[lil' IS 300]

Nobody is running 10's on stock internals yet. If you're swapping with GTE internals then it's a different story...it can be done. The closest you'll get with GE internals is PFS Stage 3 which has been running high 11's (like lambchop said) on an auto.

Correction - PFS Stage 2 --> 11.7 1/4 mile

Here is a tuner list with their contact information --> http://www.is300.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13349731

woops, typo

 

[Aubie83]

Hey,
In all honesty if you are wanting to build an all-out reliable 10 second IS300. I would go with SRT and let them do the custom work on your bottom end or ship your car to Toyomoto. Either one will do a very nice job on your car. The best thing you can do is call each tuner. Talk with them and tell them what YOU to have in your car. And make your decision from that. Thats the best way. Thats what I did. I am happy at the tuner I chose. Now if my kit will just get here. :crazy:

 

[doublins]

Any of the big tuners can probably suit your needs. The best thing to do is call each one, and discuss with each what you would like done, and whether or not they can help you to acheive your goals for a reasonable price, and in a reasonable timeframe.

Tuner Info can be found in the following thread:

http://www.is300.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13349731



In my personal opinion, SRT does AMAZING custom work, and you will see 2 of the fastest if not THE fastest IS300s in the world come out of their shop within the next few weeks. They would be my pick, partly because they are my personal tuner, and I have had a wonderful experience with them, but also from as unbiased a standpoint as I can realistically have- they do great work. Bottom line.

-Chris

 

[onyx_is]

I live in Cleveland, but am expecting to drop the car off at the tuner. I'd rather stay east of the Miss, but location is not a factor.

I've talked to 3 tuners already, but of course am getting their sales pitch. Thanks for the list of .net owners, I'll connect directly with them.

If you're getting a "sales pitch", then I'm guessing you haven't talked to Lance at Toyomoto! He does NOT sell... in fact one of his drawbacks is that once he gets you car in the shop he's way too busy working on it to be taking calls and wasting a bunch of time.... enough about Lance, let me try to help here:

You mentioned you want a 10-sec car, well then... you're NOT going to achieve that with any standard "Stage II, etc" kit out there. For you to go 10 seconds in an IS, you'll need more power to the ground than either the auto or the stock 5-speed will handle.

So, here's what I believe would be a kit that starts to approach a 10-sec IS300:
-supra tt 6-speed & rear end swap
-Large turbo (i.e. T67+)
-supra tt internals (or JE/pauter/etc)
-720cc injectors
-Fuel rail upgrade

I'm sure that you already know that you'll need over 600 whp to even have a shot at going 10 seconds in a 3500 car and the above are the minimum components that you'll need.

Now, who can do this? I believe that everyone will agree that when it comes to building 10-second cars, no one can compete with Toyomoto or PHR. Toyomoto would win hands down if we were talking about an auto, but PHR is very well respected when it comes to building "balls to the wall" 9 second supras and I'm sure that they can do the IS w/o a problem.

My choice... read my signature! Reason I chose Toyomoto is simply that Lance has the longest and cleanest record with turbocharging the Lexus/Toyota GE engine; bar none.

 

[kmcbride]

Toyotomo
Freelance, Umve, Cariza (hope I spelled it right), and others I might have missed

How could you forget dt1313? :crazy: :wink:

 

[ITP]

I live in Cleveland, but am expecting to drop the car off at the tuner. I'd rather stay east of the Miss, but location is not a factor.

I've talked to 3 tuners already, but of course am getting their sales pitch. Thanks for the list of .net owners, I'll connect directly with them.

If you're getting a "sales pitch", then I'm guessing you haven't talked to Lance at Toyomoto! He does NOT sell... in fact one of his drawbacks is that once he gets you car in the shop he's way too busy working on it to be taking calls and wasting a bunch of time.... enough about Lance, let me try to help here:

You mentioned you want a 10-sec car, well then... you're NOT going to achieve that with any standard "Stage II, etc" kit out there. For you to go 10 seconds in an IS, you'll need more power to the ground than either the auto or the stock 5-speed will handle.

So, here's what I believe would be a kit that starts to approach a 10-sec IS300:
-supra tt 6-speed & rear end swap
-Large turbo (i.e. T67+)
-supra tt internals (or JE/pauter/etc)
-720cc injectors
-Fuel rail upgrade

I'm sure that you already know that you'll need over 600 whp to even have a shot at going 10 seconds in a 3500 car and the above are the minimum components that you'll need.

Now, who can do this? I believe that everyone will agree that when it comes to building 10-second cars, no one can compete with Toyomoto or PHR. Toyomoto would win hands down if we were talking about an auto, but PHR is very well respected when it comes to building "balls to the wall" 9 second supras and I'm sure that they can do the IS w/o a problem.

My choice... read my signature! Reason I chose Toyomoto is simply that Lance has the longest and cleanest record with turbocharging the Lexus/Toyota GE engine; bar none.

^DITTO^ This guy has it down!

 

[Wino_II]

I would like to build a reliable 10 sec car.

If this is the true case and you have the cash...you should talk with Mo at SRT. Also, come by the SRT BBQ in September...you will see 2 IS300's pushing near 1000whp...but you didn't hear that from me :wink:

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[Aubie83]

I would like to build a reliable 10 sec car.

If this is the true case and you have the cash...you should talk with Mo at SRT. Also, come by the SRT BBQ in September...you will see 2 IS300's pushing near 1000whp...but you didn't hear that from me :wink:

Let me know if you have any questions.

**Aubie dances a fuckin' jig** :chill:

 

[Stage3Audi]

Thanks everyone for your input. It's good to hear a bit about your experiences. I look forward to joining those of you who have Stage 3/4/5 kits out there!

If anyone has a Stage 2 kit and wants to race a 360 rwhp S4, sounds like it would be a good street race. I'll plan on going to the SRT BBQ in September and meeting some of you all.

 

[Wino_II]

I'll plan on going to the SRT BBQ in September and meeting some of you all.

Let me know and i will put you down.

 

[ITP]

Thanks everyone for your input. It's good to hear a bit about your experiences. I look forward to joining those of you who have Stage 3/4/5 kits out there!

If anyone has a Stage 2 kit and wants to race a 360 rwhp S4, sounds like it would be a good street race. I'll plan on going to the SRT BBQ in September and meeting some of you all.

So you have a 360rwhp S4 :lol:

 

[Core]

i call b.s. .. you can't have a 360rwhp s4, because s4's are AWD .. unless you changed the drivetrain. you might be thinking 360whp?

Thanks everyone for your input. It's good to hear a bit about your experiences. I look forward to joining those of you who have Stage 3/4/5 kits out there!

If anyone has a Stage 2 kit and wants to race a 360 rwhp S4, sounds like it would be a good street race. I'll plan on going to the SRT BBQ in September and meeting some of you all.

 

[SophieSleeps]

isn't the audi all wheel drive...

and you have 360 rwhp?