Lexus RCF rear mount turbo
 

For the past few years ive been seeing videos and blogs about guys doing a twin turbo set up on the Lexus ISF, with no computer mods and running low boost.

Whats your thoughts on doing it to an RCF and how similar the build might be to the ISF? LIke similar issues or computer problems


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SktYAwjr2aM

Nope.

You don't take an expensive car, slap a couple turbos on with no tuning and expect anything more than a massive repair bill.
The ECU in Toyota vehicles (Lexus included) have had a self learning feature to make adjustments to a set number of conditions, however anything like boost can not be properly compensated for. You NEED some form of engine management to deal with the mods or you will end up with a massive pile worthless metal.

any thoughts on how the guys the Lexus ISFs are doing it?
Cant find any sold information on it as the cars are not as mainstream and tend to be done differently everytime.

Was also thinking doing a single rear mount turbo, not too big either, maybe getting an extra 80-100 wheel horsepower would be ideal.

I dont know of any off the shelf kits for an ISF that have worked.
The ECU is not an easy work round in the cars and there are not enough of them out there doing this yet.
The kits I have seen are ranging from 7k up to $17.5k and range from 100whp to over 250whp gains. However much of the work needed is custom and the tuners to do this kind of stuff are limited around these parts.

With the limited power gains from doing it and the high cost you probably wont see a lot out there for this kind of thing.

I'd say that a JZ swap would probably be easier in the long run.
Or a standalone. The turbo Tundra guys have tried for years to work with the ecu, but they've pretty much all gone with a standalone for the 3uz V8.

Stand alone is the only real way to make things work properly, however with the ISF you will loose many of the other features of the car. This is fine if its a weekend car or track car, but if its a daily it sucks loosing many of the features.

I'm dealing with this now with my turbo IS300.

Ya if the computer can make small adjustments, I wonder if a small setup would work.

The computer can not compensate properly for any positive boost pressure. People may have just slapped a turbo on there but there engines will run lean and they will risk damaging/destroying the motor.

Modding an expensive car by cutting corners will cost you a hell of a lot more than doing it right.

How do you think the ISF was able to get away without running a stand alone?

Any suggestions?

I have only found one person with an ISF that went turbo with no engine management. They ran this way long enough to drive it to the shop and get tuned. They went with Haltech 2000 I believe.

You may be able to do it, but the factory engine software does not have the capability to properly adjust for boost. The injectors will be pushed to max cycle and there is no way for you to adjust the timing externally so the computer will still be putting way to much timing in and you will run VERY hot combustion temps.

An EGT gauge on the car would confirm that.

If your looking for that small of a gain on a car like that then you should look at other things. Cams, exhaust, intake. There is room to grow there, stay completely reliable and not worry about that kind of stuff.

Also worth nothing, the heat shield near the fuel tanks are not very effective. Putting a turbo back there can cause you some issues if you were to run the car hard.

Thanks i appreciate the feedback.

I looked more into the Platinum Sport 2000, Do you know if i would loose anything computer oriented in the car if i were to use this?

Didn't the RCF just come out?

New this model year, yes.
Very similar setup when it comes to being able to rear mount the turbos and such. No aftermaket engine management support, everything would be custom at this point and that is the problem with the turbo setup.

Would the platinum sport 2000 be considered a custom aftermarket ems?

Haltech 2000 is a stand alone engine management system. As for custom, it would need to be wired into your car. Either using a plug and play adapter (doe snot exist yet) or via a complete custom engine wiring harness.
If you went this route you would loose a huge number of systems in the car as you ditch your stock EMS and replace it with the Haltech unit.

Would render an RCF as a track only type car at that point, or you live with a car that cant do half the things it used to.

As of now, there is no good system on the market for the car that keeps it streetable for a daily driver.

Thank you, But damn everywhere i look it seems that Lexus is one of the most difficult manufactures to work with