Project Car Update: The V8 Edition
By Colin Holte
A quick glance at the project car column should tell you that MotoIQ has a large (and ever expanding) roster of project vehicles. With all these vehicles it can sometimes be tough to keep the updates flowing for each. In some cases vehicles may have even been sold but we still keep them on the project roll for posterity. These articles are intended to share a little bit of the details with you of where some of the project vehicles that haven't seen the spotlight in a while are at in their evolution. In this installment we check in with the V8s: Project Mustang V8 5.0, Project Tundra, Project V8 RX-7, and Project Lexus IS F.
Project Lexus IS F
I've been a passenger in Project IS-F back when it was still all stock during SEMA 2010.
Even at that time it already handled, stopped, and accelerated extremely well as you might expect a 416 horsepower super sedan would do. I vividly remember one night where we had to get Martin back to our hotel room in a hurry before he was sick that really drove home the performance and handling abilities of the car in stock form. One of the things that Mike expressed dissatisfaction with back then was the braking/brake dusting issues. Another thing that was notable from that ride was the stock suspension damping which while capable seemed somewhat harsh.
In our most recent installment we addressed the braking issues. Prior to that we worked with KW & Nitto, FIGS Engineering, and Sikky Manufacturing to supply a more capable and comfortable suspension. Power has already been enhanced with the assistance of JoeZ and K&N. So what's next? More power of course! Once again we will be working with Sikky to install a set of their headers on Project IS F. As long as California pee water doesn't mess with our Lexus' ECU too badly the addition of these headers could result in gains as high as 50 RWHP to provide a substantial boost for Mrs. Kojima during her school day lunch runs.
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| It's a shame you can't really see these headers once installed on an IS F as they're gorgeous. |
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| The headers come complete with a CNC bent dip stick tube, required gaskets and hardware, and microprocessor. |
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| Results from Sikky's previous testing look promising. |
