Lexus’ official car guide for SEMA 2008 was released today, and showcases six newly modified Lexus vehicles — and rather than post them all up in a lump, I’m going to take it one at a time, starting with 0-60 Magazine’s Modifed IS-F:

With track performance a common theme among IS F builders, 0-60 Magazine ups the ante on their IS F project with a supercharger to tease out another load of horses from the big V8. Carbon fiber body components reduce weight while lowering the center of gravity and a custom roll cage adds stiffness and protection. A beefy brake-upgrade kit was added to balance the performance equation.

Click here for the full modification list.

Exterior

• Seibon Carbon Panels: Hood, Fenders, Trunk, Spoiler

Interior

• Design Craft Fabrication custom roll cage
• Sparco Chrono Road Seats wrapped with interior-matching leather

Engine

• Greddy MP92 Supercharger w/ custom aluminum intake manifold
• Greddy Intelligent Informeter Touch
• Greddy Intake and filter
• Braille Carbon Battery

Exhaust

• Custom system using Greddy Spectrum Elite components

Suspension

• Tein Super Street Coilovers w/ EDFC Kit

Wheels

• Yokohama Advan Racing RZ Wheels
• Front: 19×9”
• Rear: 19×10”

Tires

• Hankook Ventus EVO V12:
• Front: 245/35-19
• Rear: 275/30-19

Brakes

• Performance Friction Lexus IS F Z-Rated brake upgrade kits (front and rear):
• Forged 4–piston monobloc calipers
• Radial mount caliper brackets
• 2-piece rotor/hat assemblies (372mm front; 355mm rear)
• Z-rated Carbon Metallic ® multipads specifically for IS-F chassis
• Stainless steel braided brake lines

When Lexus announced their SEMA lineup, I was especially interested in what ICON’s modified LX 570 would look like, especially given that it was described as the “anti-bling” version, subdued and super functional.

Well, the cat’s out of the bag, I stumbled onto Icon’s project page at CarDomain and all the secrets were revealed. Here’s the almost-final show truck:

They’re quite hidden in the photos, but this LX is rolling with one-off TRD brakes! Very cool.

Here’s a list of some of the other modifications:

• Matte two tone gray exterior
• Black chrome trim and emblems
• Side trim removed, roof rack deleted
• Custom Grille
• All interior wood removed and replaced with carbon fiber

There’s also mention on their page about a custom TRD F-Sport style intake, stainless steel exhaust and a custom TRD based supercharger, but this has yet to be verified.

Be sure to check out ICON’s CarDomain page for more details and plenty of photos.

In other IS-F modification news, Japanese performance company HKS has released a speed delimiter that allows the IS-F to pass its computer imposed speed limit of 170mph (273km/h).

Dubbed the Velocity Advanced Computer, or the VAC, this tiny black box is wired into the IS-F’s ECU and will let speed-crazy drivers test the upper limits of the 5.0L 416HP V8. So far, it’s unclear just how much top speed the limiter is suppressing, but I’m sure we’ll see some insane speedometer videos on Youtube any time now that will answer that very question.

The HKS speed delimiter is available in Japan for ¥157,500 ($1,550USD). Again, no word on North American release.

[Via: MotorAuthority]

It’s unfortunate that Japanese bodykit manufacturer Prussian Blue’s new front/rear lip underspoiler combo for the IS-F is overshadowed by what may be the strangest set of rims I’ve seen in a while. But let’s put them behind us and focus on the two spoilers:

Not bad, I’m not all that impressed with the front end, but I think the rear spoiler has a nice look. As far as cost, the front spoiler is retailing in Japan for ¥81,900 ($812USD) and the rear spoiler comes in at ¥71,400 ($708USD). No word on US availability.

[Via Club Lexus]

Lexus & Five Axis will be making another big splash at next month’s SEMA — last year, the Project IS-F was the result of their collaboration, and this year, Five Axis is turning their attention to the Lexus GS 460 (click for a larger version):

I know it’s a sketch and everything, but this is huge news. The GS needs this sort of attention, and I fully believe Five Axis are going to do a fantastic job.

Not only that, there’s more:

• Five Axis will also be bringing the Project IS-F back to SEMA, only this time it’s packing a heavily modified V8 engine. This could signal the IS-F modifications that have been bandied around since last year.
• Heavily acclaimed Icon 4×4 Design will be bringing an “anti-bling” version of the LX 570 to the show, which is promised to be subdued and super functional.
• Four custom Lexus IS-Fs from Fox Marketing, Import Tuner, 0-60 Magazine and MotorworldHype will also be displayed.

A lot of big news. Very excited about the Five Axis GS and the Icon 4×4 LX.

Last time we checked in on the 0-60 Magazine’s SEMA-bound IS-F, they had just started working on their modified entry. Fast forward until now, one week away from their deadline, and this video of the custom Greddy supercharger and exhaust system shows just how far things have come:

Seriously, look at this thing:

The 0-60 team have been maintaining a blog over at CarDomain detailing their efforts, and it’s a real show-and-tell affair that’s definitely worth checking out.