JBrady
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Here is a repost of the one I posted and lost in the server glitch 
Remote rear mount twins, modified 5.0 liter engine.
http://my.is/forums/f136/lexus-sema-2008-fox-marketing-artisan-performance-f-368442/index5.html
A chat with Brian Fox and Kenny Strickler, masterminds of the Artisan/Fox IS F
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It all started with a simple, offhand remark to Justin Hood, Lexus' IS F Launch Manager, at the carmaker's SEMA show stand, about how several my.IS members, in threads on the IS F and 2nd-Gen IS250/IS350 Go Faster Forums expressed their consternation at the rear exhaust location of the twin turbos used in the Fox Marketing and Artisan Performance Lexus IS F. To this author's surprise, Justin whipped out his cell phone, made a phone call and, within a couple of minutes, Brian Fox (of namesake Fox Marketing, and pictured above right) and Artisan's Kenny Strickler (pictured above left) walked in. I knew right then that I had to muster my best notetaking and improvisational questioning skills, for Justin had handed me a minor journalistic scoop with no advance warning or preparation. They don't call it thinking on your feet for nothing...
This author cut to the chase and asked about the logic behind the twin turbos' location. Brian Fox sheepishly admitted that the promise of twin turbos had been made strictly as a marketer, and for the "it sounds good on the spec sheet" impact, while Kenny Strickler half-jokingly threatened to kill Brian for not realizing the obstacles posed by boosting the direct-plus-port-injection 2UR-GSE 5-liter V8. To his credit, however, Kenny and his www.Turbochargers.com outfit stepped up to Brian's challenge and indeed produced the world's first twin-turboed Lexus IS F.
As many pundits (including Five Axis' Troy Sumitomo) surmised, Kenny confirmed that the primary reason for the unorthodox mounting of those turbos was, simply, lack of underhood space. Time was yet another constraint. We were quite impressed by the way Brian Fox was the first of the four tuners to set up his CarDomain Page documenting the Artisan/Fox IS F's build starting with its arrival near Fox Marketing headquarters in York, Pennsylvania on 9 July 2008, not to mention the fact that the Artisan/Fox IS F was the first to generate Internet stories such as a Front Page story on our sister site LexusF.com. (To interject a counterpoint here, AndyZ of MotorworldHype.com, in a post on our IS F Forum strongly implies that all four tuners did NOT receive their cars at the same time). Still, once the Artisan/Fox IS F's paint and bodywork modifications were complete, it was driven (not trucked) halfway across the country to Turbochargers.com headquarters in Houston, Texas, with generous helpings of blue painters' tape (vaguely recalling the car's original Ultrasonic Blue Pearl paint) to protect its modded exterior. At that point, a not-so-friendly reminder of what an unsympathetic...er...female dog Mother Nature can be came when she unleashed an angry guy full of blustery hot air named Ike into the Houston area, doing serious damage to Turbochargers.com's headquarters and setting back the build schedule by almost 2 weeks.
As stated earlier, space constraints under the hood (aggravated by header pipes that were already crushed) drove the twin Turbonetics GTK 350 turbos underground, so to speak. Undeniably, though, tucking the turbos up above the OEM exhaust and mufflers posed its own set of challenges, especially given Kenny Strickler's mandate that nothing in the car's chassis/undercarriage sit lower than stock. For one thing, this led to a mere ¼" drop, the least of the four project IS Fs. Hardly insignificant, on the other hand, is the 118 feet of tubing (or 59 feet per turbo and intercooler) required for this installation. Working around the front brake ducts (one of the installation's biggest issues, according to Kenny), the twin, side-by-side bumper-mounted intercoolers' lines merge into the center, as the tubing crosses over twice, travels up and back 3 times and loops around the spare tire well. Amidst all this, though, the two banks are equal (within 4") and are independent. And, yes, the turbos fire backwards, yet reach full boost at 3500 rpm.
Restless perfectionist that he is, Kenny Strickler admitted that this installation is not the last word in Turbochargers.com's plans for an aftermarket turbo for the IS F. One post-SEMA possibility is a twin-turbo installation with a turbo mounted underneath each headlight assembly, which brings visions of headlights melting under the heat generated by the turbos (as if this site needed yet another headlight meltdown). Most likely, though, is a single turbo mounted in the driveshaft tunnel. Also in the works is an attempt to work with Toyota Racing & Development (TRD) in removing the IS F's speed limiter, which might result in a top speed (of a modded turbo IS F) as high as 220 mph. Kenny's goal is to offer, by the beginning of 2009, a turbocharger installation for the IS F that maintains the stock 11.8:1 compression ratio (while adding a reflash) for $20,000, including pickup and delivery in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Sister company Artisan Performance will also offer aluminum front and rear diffuser plates for the IS F (which they have already developed but were left off the SEMA show car since they would cover the turbos).
Kenny Strickler then excused himself and left to check out some of the other cars his company had worked on that were being exhibited at SEMA, while this übercargeek car styling nut author chatted with Brian Fox about the bodywork modifications he had carried out. One of this author's favorite touches is the noticeable, yet tasteful and not over-the-top widened rear fender flares, which the stock IS F is crying out for. Brian and I then mused about how the design might work with a vertical vent at the trailing edge of the rear fender flares echoing the IS F's signature front fender vertical vents.
Remote rear mount twins, modified 5.0 liter engine.
http://my.is/forums/f136/lexus-sema-2008-fox-marketing-artisan-performance-f-368442/index5.html
A chat with Brian Fox and Kenny Strickler, masterminds of the Artisan/Fox IS F
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It all started with a simple, offhand remark to Justin Hood, Lexus' IS F Launch Manager, at the carmaker's SEMA show stand, about how several my.IS members, in threads on the IS F and 2nd-Gen IS250/IS350 Go Faster Forums expressed their consternation at the rear exhaust location of the twin turbos used in the Fox Marketing and Artisan Performance Lexus IS F. To this author's surprise, Justin whipped out his cell phone, made a phone call and, within a couple of minutes, Brian Fox (of namesake Fox Marketing, and pictured above right) and Artisan's Kenny Strickler (pictured above left) walked in. I knew right then that I had to muster my best notetaking and improvisational questioning skills, for Justin had handed me a minor journalistic scoop with no advance warning or preparation. They don't call it thinking on your feet for nothing...
This author cut to the chase and asked about the logic behind the twin turbos' location. Brian Fox sheepishly admitted that the promise of twin turbos had been made strictly as a marketer, and for the "it sounds good on the spec sheet" impact, while Kenny Strickler half-jokingly threatened to kill Brian for not realizing the obstacles posed by boosting the direct-plus-port-injection 2UR-GSE 5-liter V8. To his credit, however, Kenny and his www.Turbochargers.com outfit stepped up to Brian's challenge and indeed produced the world's first twin-turboed Lexus IS F.
As many pundits (including Five Axis' Troy Sumitomo) surmised, Kenny confirmed that the primary reason for the unorthodox mounting of those turbos was, simply, lack of underhood space. Time was yet another constraint. We were quite impressed by the way Brian Fox was the first of the four tuners to set up his CarDomain Page documenting the Artisan/Fox IS F's build starting with its arrival near Fox Marketing headquarters in York, Pennsylvania on 9 July 2008, not to mention the fact that the Artisan/Fox IS F was the first to generate Internet stories such as a Front Page story on our sister site LexusF.com. (To interject a counterpoint here, AndyZ of MotorworldHype.com, in a post on our IS F Forum strongly implies that all four tuners did NOT receive their cars at the same time). Still, once the Artisan/Fox IS F's paint and bodywork modifications were complete, it was driven (not trucked) halfway across the country to Turbochargers.com headquarters in Houston, Texas, with generous helpings of blue painters' tape (vaguely recalling the car's original Ultrasonic Blue Pearl paint) to protect its modded exterior. At that point, a not-so-friendly reminder of what an unsympathetic...er...female dog Mother Nature can be came when she unleashed an angry guy full of blustery hot air named Ike into the Houston area, doing serious damage to Turbochargers.com's headquarters and setting back the build schedule by almost 2 weeks.
As stated earlier, space constraints under the hood (aggravated by header pipes that were already crushed) drove the twin Turbonetics GTK 350 turbos underground, so to speak. Undeniably, though, tucking the turbos up above the OEM exhaust and mufflers posed its own set of challenges, especially given Kenny Strickler's mandate that nothing in the car's chassis/undercarriage sit lower than stock. For one thing, this led to a mere ¼" drop, the least of the four project IS Fs. Hardly insignificant, on the other hand, is the 118 feet of tubing (or 59 feet per turbo and intercooler) required for this installation. Working around the front brake ducts (one of the installation's biggest issues, according to Kenny), the twin, side-by-side bumper-mounted intercoolers' lines merge into the center, as the tubing crosses over twice, travels up and back 3 times and loops around the spare tire well. Amidst all this, though, the two banks are equal (within 4") and are independent. And, yes, the turbos fire backwards, yet reach full boost at 3500 rpm.
Restless perfectionist that he is, Kenny Strickler admitted that this installation is not the last word in Turbochargers.com's plans for an aftermarket turbo for the IS F. One post-SEMA possibility is a twin-turbo installation with a turbo mounted underneath each headlight assembly, which brings visions of headlights melting under the heat generated by the turbos (as if this site needed yet another headlight meltdown). Most likely, though, is a single turbo mounted in the driveshaft tunnel. Also in the works is an attempt to work with Toyota Racing & Development (TRD) in removing the IS F's speed limiter, which might result in a top speed (of a modded turbo IS F) as high as 220 mph. Kenny's goal is to offer, by the beginning of 2009, a turbocharger installation for the IS F that maintains the stock 11.8:1 compression ratio (while adding a reflash) for $20,000, including pickup and delivery in the United States (excluding Alaska and Hawaii). Sister company Artisan Performance will also offer aluminum front and rear diffuser plates for the IS F (which they have already developed but were left off the SEMA show car since they would cover the turbos).
Kenny Strickler then excused himself and left to check out some of the other cars his company had worked on that were being exhibited at SEMA, while this übercargeek car styling nut author chatted with Brian Fox about the bodywork modifications he had carried out. One of this author's favorite touches is the noticeable, yet tasteful and not over-the-top widened rear fender flares, which the stock IS F is crying out for. Brian and I then mused about how the design might work with a vertical vent at the trailing edge of the rear fender flares echoing the IS F's signature front fender vertical vents.
