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The Lexus IS 500 is one of the rare gems on the market today. A naturally aspirated V8 up front and driven wheels at the back – a cruiser that mixes luxury with muscle-car attitude, and Toyota reliability to boot. That is rare to come by. It is plenty of a car out of the box, but there’s always room to make it sharper and more engaging.
The right Lexus IS 500 mods can tighten up the handling, improve throttle response, and make the driving experience more rewarding. Here are five of the best Lexus IS 500 upgrades to bring out the full potential of your car.
Front Lower Control Arm Bushings
The IS 500's factory bushings are soft, which helps comfort but causes extra movement in the front suspension. The extra flex can cause uneven tire wear and a dull steering feel. Upgrading to polyurethane front lower control arm bushings eliminates excess movement and improves stability as well as steering feedback.
Image: RR Racing
A well-designed bushing set like RR Racing front control arm bushings uses a stiffer 88-durometer polyurethane that keeps your alignment consistent through corners and braking. The stronger 6061-T6 aluminum housing also handles higher loads, making this hidden mod one of the best Lexus IS 500 suspension upgrades for a more planted front end.
Coilover Suspension
The IS 500’s stock suspension leans more toward comfort than control. The car rolls more than you’d expect from a sporty V8 sedan, and lowering springs alone can’t fix it. Lowering springs just wear out the OEM shocks faster. Quality coilovers are the proper fix.
Image: RS-R
RS-R’s Best*i Active coilovers retain the factory Adaptive Variable Suspension while reducing body roll and tightening up cornering response. It also gives you customizability in ride height. The ride feels more direct, more confident, and far more capable when paired with upgraded front lower control arm bushings. This single IS 500 mod transforms the way the car feels both on twisty backroads and city streets.
Air Oil Separator
Even a healthy, reliable Lexus V8 can build up carbon over time from oil vapors entering the intake. Installing an air/oil separator (AOS) is a preventative reliability mod for any IS 500 owner.
Image: RR Racing
RR Racing’s Ultimate AOS is a billet aluminum unit that separates oil from crankcase gases before they re-enter the intake system. This helps reduce carbon buildup, keeps your throttle body cleaner, and maintains consistent performance. It’s easy to remove for cleaning thanks to its magnetic mount and dipstick setup. For those who track or drive hard, this is one of the most effective Lexus IS 500 reliability upgrades out there.
Exhaust System Upgrade
That naturally aspirated V8 deserves to sound like one. Swapping the stock exhaust for a higher-flow setup such as the A’PEXi’s N1 Evolution Extreme axle-back and midpipe gives your IS 500 a deeper, more aggressive tone.
The midpipe’s H-pipe design equalizes pressure between the exhaust banks for smoother flow and better scavenging. The axle-back’s lightweight titanium construction cuts some weight while adding a sporty, heat-blued finish. It’s a simple but high-impact Lexus IS 500 performance mod that restores the burbly V8 sounds.
Fukin Tuned Throttle Response Controller
The V8 under the hood is good for 470 HP. But the electronic throttle control system prevents you from enjoying those horses to the fullest with the initial throttle delay. This is right where the Fukin Tuned throttle response controller comes in. It intercepts your IS 500’s factory pedal sensor signal and modifies it with IS500-specific throttle mapping for a 1000x faster throttle response.
Fukin Tuned allows you to dial in the perfect throttle sensitivity for your driving style. It has four modes (Slow, Cruise, Fast, and Send It), each with nine sensitivity levels. That means you get 36 ways to fine-tune the throttle response. You can smooth out the throttle response with the Slow mode for better efficiency, bump up your daily drives with 1:1 response in Cruise mode, enjoy instant power delivery for spirited drives in Fast mode, and Send It mode unlocks the sharpest throttle response in your IS 500 when you really want to go all out.
Fukin Tuned is completely plug-and-play, and you can install it yourself in under 15 minutes. It does not flag the ECU, so if your IS 500 is still under warranty, it stays in tact. The module does not clutter up the dash – you simply hide it away in the footwell area, make sure it’s secured in place, and all you need is the free Fukin Tuned app to dial in your throttle response.
Plus, the integrated Anti-Theft feature allows you to disable the gas pedal at any time you leave your IS unattended. Fukin Tuned perfectly doubles as a seamless kill switch with the built-in Anti-Theft. The feature is free to try for the first 14 days, and then requires a subscription that only costs $0.99 a month or $9.99 a year.
Order your Fukin Tuned throttle response controller today and unlock your Lexus IS 500’s full potential every time you drive.