In the first episode of this new series, sponsored by eBay, Alex tests his 15-year-old IS 200 on track against a new GT86!
Hello and welcome to this awesome new series proudly sponsored by ebay where i’m going to take this 15 year old lexus is 244 which i paid 900 pounds and i’m going to turn it into the ultimate budget track weapon in today’s episode i’ve got a toyota gt86 that i’m going to race around cobra sprint course where we are now to set a benchmark time after that it’s
The turn of the mighty lexus is 240 see how much slower it is but first let’s take a look at the car after a few days searching ebay i found the perfect car a couple of messages with the owner later and i went to check it out so i’ve just arrived to have a look at the is 200 that i can see in front of me and i’m going to meet its owner daniel daniel very nice
To meet you thank you very much for showing me around is 200 sport you said hundred thousand miles on the clock and everything works on it is there pretty much a little central locking doesn’t work on it breaks me doing as well look at that any gets pasted here so right if i start it up yeah i think i’m convinced welcome everybody to my latest ebay purchase it
Is a 2002 model so this would rival the e46 320i and i have to say that given a choice between a 320i or an is 204 like this i would i would definitely go for the sport the 6-cylinder engine in this it’s probably one of the most beautifully balanced six and inter engines i’ve ever driven these lex i is that is that the plural of lexus work clearly built to last
Because this is fifteen years old and everything still works let me quickly talk you through all the goodies that you get with a sport model so we have heated seats satellite navigation this is what a 2002 sat-nav looks like very pixelated electric windows they all work a gloss sunroof checking outlet tilt works and every door that’s nice air conditioning obviously
I’ve got a cd player i’ve got electric seats there you go oh they’re nice and fast as all the most of them these are strong this six-speed manual gearbox is an absolute peach way better than you find in a bmw it’s one of those gearboxes that you’re really happy to use not that you actually need to use it that much because this car is pretty talking we’ve got an
Inline 6 2 litre 150 ish horsepower it’s probably lost between 10 and 15 on the way the brakes on this it’s not so good they need changing so that’s going to be dealt with the suspension is pretty wallowy so i’ve driven a few hundred miles on this already i’ve probably done about 500 miles actually if you’re not honing your cruising and the lexus is250 the dials
Are really nice and i’ve got an mpg meter there and that shows me how many mpgs i’m not getting because let’s face it the lexus is 209 for being particularly economical there’s no weird rattles or squeaks or anything half leather seats as well this is genuinely a car that i would own myself and with this skaar i’m going to be putting on a whole bunch of really
Cool new parts everything is going to be bought on ebay i’m going to try and make this faster than a toyota gt86 around the track which i think it’s probably going to be a really really tall order but with brakes wheels tires new exhaust system suspension i think it might be doable with that said i headed for cover a sprint course in litchfield and began the day
With a few sighting laps in the new gt86 the lap starts at the bottom of the track before a gradual and fast left tightens and turns into a 45-degree right-hander it’s a small straight now ahead of another 45-degree right-hander which immediately turns 90 degrees left before another full bore straight ahead of the hairpin which is where you need to be careful not
To get on the power too soon to risk losing time with too much oversteer then it’s hard on the gas before slowing slightly for the chicane to test the cars balance and chassis control after which the taps are open fully off the line in third gear so then this is the toyota gt86 a car that you know very well we’ve got a 2 liter boxer engine so the engine is nice
And low down so we’ve got a great center of gravity we’ve got 200 horsepower naught to 60 of around seven point seven seconds and a top speed of 140 miles an hour and i’m a little bit worried that we’re not going to get anywhere close i mean even in the same minute as this car in the is 200 and i’m about to go out for 3 laps and then choose the best lap of the
Three which will be our our time to beat now our official adjudicator on the start/finish line is mr. ethan smile so count me in three two with a wheel spin there got to get rid of that the next time into second gear long left-hander i’m going to keep it in second for this left and then this right this is such a good little truck in this car is amazing hard on
The brakes is the left they want to oversteer yes that’s good and then we’ve got the hairpin on the right after which we have a new addition to the track a chicane oh yes no drifting that’s good that’s good into third gear and then hold on the brakes chicane yes come on there we go one lap down that’s not too bad but i can save a second off that little less wheel
Spin this time yes so this is the nominal this track second gear left and a bit of oversteer that’s all right though hairpin do not power slides keep it nice and use the track yes this is so much better hit the third chicane hot on the brakes and like you’re good oh i think that was a good time point five three fourteen point five three seconds okay i need to
Be a little bit more delicate on the start there so ethan tell me in when you’re ready that’s better good shift in two seconds it’s the third be brave it’s left-hander good using all of the tracks hard on the brakes into second here come on nice and smooth we’ve got the hairpin harder on the brakes this time ease it in use all of the track it’s too much over
Thin and really want that hold on the brakes right and left come on ah tell me that was 30-something seconds i don’t think i could have got any faster 39.9 yes 39.92 seconds that’s awesome i’m really happy with that with the gt86 now cooling down it was time to test my mighty fifteen-year-old lexus is 202 beyond its comfort zone ethan i am ready when you are
Ready my body is ready let’s do this let’s find out what this is 204 can do no wheel spin i think i can be a bit braver on the start there right these toys are crap i’ve never even heard of to make i can’t even remember what they call so i can’t tell you exactly what they are sighs feels like a boat that can gear bouncing off the limiter the brake i’m really
Bad bit of oversteer there but i’m not too worried about that and here we have the hairpin right come on keep tracking kick trucks and kick trucks and use all of the track that’s good we’ll plant on the ball in the third chicane don’t hit the cars oh good come on ah all right either tell me the bad news 45.0 ones i think some serious weight reduction needs to
Happen at some point 4000 rpm that’s better that’s a better start into second gear the gearbox is amazing i love to give up oh tires squeal god whoa hold on the break its back again whoa arius it’s just drifting around that corner i don’t think we’ve lost too much time though john the brakes are already starting to fade come on use all that track come on we’ve
Got a limited slip differential don’t want to power slide out there into third don’t hit the cones or come on oh forty three point three seven four remember the car is completely standard yeah that’s good good launch second gain i thought it’d be fairly gentle around this left-hander yeah good second gear getting that oversteer again not too bad got some money
Flying around in the cabin come on use more of the track do not oversteer come on come on come on come on sir flap to the floor go go go go go go go happy bro bus oh that was a lot faster through there come on tell me good news tell me good news forty-two point four six oh my god that’s amazing i’ve only got about two and a half seconds to find the lexus is 240
About 200 250 kilos heavier and this is got from factory 154 brake horsepower this is a lot quicker than i gave it credit for at the very beginning so that is now the end of episode 1 of this new series and i think that i’m surprised you’re surprised the whole crew are actually pretty surprised at the results so the toyota gt86 did a best time of 39.92 seconds
After improving from 42 and 40 point 5 3 seconds the lexus is 300 a best time of forty two point four six after improving from forty three point three seven after a first lap which i was expecting anyway a forty five point zero one so i don’t know how you found what’s that two and a half seconds but you did it and you’re only two and a half seconds slower than
The gt86 so while the lexus is 204 time in its 15 years old it is a surprisingly awesome track car and throughout this process we’re going to make it the best track car ever oh that’s just a lot better than it is now in today’s episode i’m going to be putting new wheels and tires onto my is 200 sport to see how much faster i can make it so they’re 17 these are
16 so we’re going down the side but it’s going to look epic you
Transcribed from video
The Ultimate Lexus IS 200 Track Build By Car Throttle