With Ford Motor Company bailing on the SEMA Show for 2022, their prized real estate at the Las Vegas Convention Center was taken over by Toyota and Lexus, who filled the sprawling square footage with more show-car eye candy than ever before.
This year, the showcase car at the Lexus booth was the entirely bonkers DSPORT IS 600+ Project Build – a fully race prepared beast that rolled off the assembly line as what is by comparison a mild-mannered IS 350 F SPORT
Billed as the most aggressive performance-focused project car Lexus has ever shown at SEMA, displayed at SEMA the DSPORT IS 600+ belts our more than 600 horsepower – hence the name.
To build it out, DSPORT started with a stock Toyota – Lexus 3.4-liter twin-turbocharged Dynamic Force V6 engine and added just the right stuff. Upgraded turbochargers with increased boost and air-to-water intercoolers along with an opened up dual intake system lower the intake temperature and free up the breathing.
A re-calibrated tune to its fuel and timing was the icing on the cake to bring the IS to well over 600 horsepower. In all, it didn’t take as much as you would think, meaning this motor can be a beast with the most common of tuning techniques. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a sequential 6-speed transmission.
Suspension gets KW Double Adjustable coil overs and stopping is handled with factory RC F Carbon Ceramic brakes. Wheels are 19” Advan Racing alloys and Michelin rubber gets it all to the ground.
Other major mods include a light-weighting and chassis stiffening with a full race 4-point roll cage integrated into the body structure. The interior was gutted near fully and added were Sparco racing seats and full harnesses.
The electronics and instruments were replaced with a MoTeC Motorsports color dash display, pedals replaced with Tilton racing units and paddle shifters provided on the Sparco steering wheel.
When it comes to body modification, the hood and truck were changed out to Seibon carbon fiber. An Artisan Spirits wide body kit, a lot of carbon fiber aero tweaks and a really big wing at the rear really makes it all look complete.
In all it’s a car that looks remarkably streetable and while fully built for track duty when it comes to suspension and structure, it didn’t take a lot to get it there in terms of power production.
