LAS VEGAS � The Lexus IS 350 C has proved to be a favorite tuner car, as a look around the 2009 SEMA Auto Show makes clear. A trio of customized IS 350 Cs rubs shoulders with an IS 300 and a GS 350 at the show, the work of both Toyota Racing Development and private companies.
VIP Auto Salon and JTuned.com teamed up for a "subtle" � but pricey � version of the IS 350 C. As subtle as a Matador Red paint job and black leather interior can be, that is. A high-performance exhaust, custom tires and wheels and carbon-fiber hood and trunk-mounted spoiler are among the changes. There's also a raft of other carbon-fiber add-ons from a lip kit to the grille and mirror trim. VIP Auto Salon and JTuned.com say their treatment cost $15,000 and took a month and a half of "hard labor."
0-60 magazine and Design Craft Fabrication jointly created an IS Coupe off the IS 350 C. It gets a GReddy Performance exhaust system, engine management computer and gauges, a set of Brembo brakes, Advan Racing lightweight one-piece racing wheels and a coil-over suspension. That's in addition to an "aggressive" body kit.
Toyota Racing Development loaded up the IS 350 C with F-Sport accessories and painted it Vibrance Orange Glow and added Five Axis ground effects. A set of 19-inch 10-spoke aluminum wheels, performance brakes and lowering springs all come from F-Sport.
TRD gave the same treatment to the GS 350, adding F-Sport lowering springs, performance brakes and 19-inch aluminum wheels � along with a matching candy-colored Vibrance Orange Glow paint job.
David Huang's IS 300 wins the cost contest � and the Lexus SEMA Showcase prize � with a $100,000 remake of the IS 300. He calls it the IS 1000, for the estimate of 1,000 horsepower from the modified engine. Everything is reworked, from the frame and body to the suspension, with 20-inch anodized chrome wheels, coil-overs, brakes and sway bars from JDM.
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