I bought my 2011 Lexus IS250 F-Sport in 2016 from a dealership in FL. I had it shipped to my house. It was beautiful even in stock form. Ultrasonic Blue has always been one of my favorite color
First major modification was the installation of air suspension which includes Ridetech ProRide air management system, with Viair compressors and D2 double bellow bags. The Air Suspension was installed by Matthew Meadow of Insomnia Motorsports in Apex, NC. Matt really hooked me up since we’re in the same car club. My buddy AJ Abraham and my brother Anh Tuan helped tremendously
Having Air suspension allows me to drive at ride height but also to slammed the car to the ground… well, almost to the ground
Next mod was a set of Leon Hardirritt Beil 19×10+27 and 19×10.5+6 wrapped with 225/35/19 and 235/35/19
That was my setup for about a year until I caught wind of the Clinched widebody kit being made in Russia. I immediately fell in love with it
After waiting for nearly a year from ordering, it finally arrived. I enlisted the help of my good friend Eric Norman, as we both tackle the task of installing it
………… D-DAY
After test fitting the Clinched kit we proceed to drill and insert rivnuts
Each body panel was test fitted and carefully placed. Shoutout to my buddy Morgan Darnell for lending us the Rivnut tool and Cleico pins
The car begins to take shape once the kit is mounted. The front lip is especially challenging to fit since Clinched did not make a compatible lip for the F-Sport version
There’s always time to stop and take pictures, and drink more beer
We also installed a hovering kit to help lift the car whenever we need to work on it. Best mod by far.
Since the lip isn’t compatible with the fog light housing, we decided to trim the housing to make it fit. This is the before pic
Test drove the car with the kit on for the first time. Everything felt solid
Now that the widebody panels are in place, it’s time to focus on trimming the wheel well to accommodate our wheel setup
Oh yeah, and install the duck bill spoiler too
Sparks are flying, there’s no return now
First the front, now the rear. Be sure to apply cover for the interior to prevent metal shavings from destroying the glass and leather
We did not trim enough the first go round. I eventually have to trim several more times to obtain the necessary clearance
Now we focus on prepping the kit for paint. First step is to wipe everything down with isopropyl alcohol. Then sand it with Scotch gray sponge. After some cleaning I realized I better let the pro do the prep and paint stuff. So we enlisted Chris Gifford from Young’s Motorsport in Mooresville, NC (Home of NASCAR country).
I ordered my Workmeister S13P from Work Wheels in Japan. threepiece.us helped with the transaction. It took about 4 months for it to arrive. The wheel spec are 18×10-33 18×11.5-52. I want to thank Peter Phothisen for helping me calculate the correct size for my setup. Now Time to test fit the wheel and calculate tire size
The wheel fits to my liking. Now onto researching the right size tires and size. I want the best and most reliable tires so I went with Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+
Not much room for error
Lip to fender, check
This is how the car will sit on the lowest air ride setting
Got this Tom’ Racing ISF replica rear diffuser
The 14-piece kit was delivered to Young’s Motorsport for some top-of-the-line paint job by none other than the amazing painter Chris Gifford
While we wait for the kit to get painted, I ordered a set of Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ from KTD 245/40/18 and 285/35/18
Loctite were used to provide the necessary seal protection for the air line. Some Muteki super tuner nuts arrived, ready to hold these wheels in place…with style
Meanwhile Chris ordered the Ultra Sonic Blue paint needed for the job. The paint was color matched professionally to ensure the perfect match
Ureflex Premium Clear Coat were used to prevent premature paint cracks once applied on ABS plastic as it faces temperature changes throughout the year.
In no time Chris had the bodykit panels prepped and ready for paint
My jaw dropped when I saw a pic that Chris sent of the final product. 🤩
The rear diffuser came out looking amazing. A combination of gloss black with metallic blue flakes to compliment the car’s USB color. WOW
Now back to more cutting and trimming the wheel well
The rear wheel well is made up of two layer of metal. Therefore we have to carefully cut and weld it together for a tight seal to prevent water damage
Seam sealant were applied along the welded seam
Body panel Rubber guard outline the kit to provide the necessary protection and create a nice seal between the widebody and the car
This is the first look of the painted Clinched widebody on the car. It is coming together nicely. Oh so I thought…
Unfortunately I ran into a huge rookie mistake, I didn’t test fit the wheel with tires on the car before I got the kit painted. Michelin tires happen to have the largest side wall and lip guard. Therefore my tire setup did not clear the wheel well.
I spent a considerable amount of time trimming the already painted kit to make the tires fit, without luck. My buddy Matthew Meadow from Insomnia Motorsports happened to have a set of Workmeister S1p3 in a different tire size that I can use to help figure out an appropriate tire replacement.
This is Matt’s chromed out Workmeister with 245/35/18 Achilles tires, mounted with two 1″ spacers
Here’s my Workmeister with 245/40/18 Michelin tires. In order to help keep the same aspect ratio with the rear setup, I decided to go with 245/35/18 as opposed to 225/40/18
Matt also pointed out that my car was missing the front bumper support, so we ordered a replacement.
Back to more trimming, which includes relocate the bumper tab mounting point
Despite switching to a lower profile tires, I still haven’t create enough clearance, so more trimming
Poor calculation leads to so much extra work, but that’s part of the fun
Finally the wheel fits and I can test drive the car. I went from Michelin Pilot Sport AS3+ 245/40/18 285/35/18 to 245/35/18 265/35/18. Thanks to our buddies at Exotics Inc. for coming through and order my replacement tires with gusto
First car photo shoot at Old Salem in Winston-Salem, NC. It rained shortly after
Second photo shoot at Richard Childress Vineyard in Lexington on my way back from picking up the painted rear diffuser
Now time to mount the diffuser. It’s a bit tougher without a second hand to help
I added our Team RPM crest over the start button. Fits perfectly
More grinding to get better wheel clearance
Rust-oleum flat sealant paint were applied to the wheel well to prevent rust On Saturday June 16th 2018 my car was ready to join the rank of other Team RPM members as we attend Dank Fest, an event hosted by our good friends from Wilkesboro Crew.