Welcome :] i am a former Lexus Master tech. One time an IS came in with a Injen intake and Injen exhaust. The sound was pure and it did have a little more pep in it's step. Not much but enough to notice in the seat. I would go with an Injen intake only because I-6 induction noise!!!
Make it loud. Glasspack or straight pipe and remove the cats. Easy / Cheap. Cold air intakes are bogus, but you can swap the filter box for an open-style cone if you want some intake noise.
I used to have an 02 IS. You can get a pretty cheap air intake pipe that just replaces the pipe itself, not the filter, that most tests showed a decent HP gain. Pipe was around $60 back in the day. I didn't notice a power difference myself (I never have with any intake), but it gave the car a bit more growl!
Glad to see you made the right choice and removed the plastidip. As far as mods on a college budget... Is it a manuel? What are we working with here?
If you asked the Jay Lenos or Wayne Carinis of the world about barn finds, they’d likely say the era when you could find a relatively unmolested gem in someone’s garage is long gone. While that may be true for a ‘30s era Duesenberg J, the time to find modern classics in strange places is just beginning. That’s how I…
