OMG, night and day ain't the word folks... In short, curves now feel straight, the car feels so much more balanced and nimble. I have STOCK SHOCKS/SPRINGS. Imagine taking a CURVE on a HIGHWAY EXIT/ENTRANCE 15-20mph FASTER!!!

Write-up tomorrow (stock, vs stock with sways vs L-tuned with sways), big Clublexus KICK to Bitkahuna and VVTi.

 

Yah, but you think you'll ever get that thing to handle like a BMW?!?

Congrats on the install, I look forward to your writeup.

 

that's awesome!!!!! guess my trip to the shop to install it will prove well worthy

 

Okay, I am glad I added the sways with the stock suspension setup. I think this is another option for those that do not want a lowered ride height.

1. The TRD sways ACTUALLY replace stock sways, I did not know this. The TRD sways are heavier and feel thicker. The front TRD sway weighs twice as much as the stock one.

2. Turn in. It feels as if the whole front end is held with two huge hands. You will notice on basic TURNS, say at a stoplight, the car is smoother and more solid.

3. Lane changing. What a difference. The car moves with authority now, it does not feel tricky at high speeds (60+). FLAT is the word. Now you barely jerk the wheel and the car changes lanes.

4. UNDERSTEER. Without the TRD sways, the car had a tendency to enter OVERSTEER (your rear swinging out). I have yet to encounter this feeling yet. Amazing, the car is very competent now on any steering change. I DO FIND MYSELF ENTERING UNDERSTEER NOW! Which means, FOR THE FIRST TIME, the car is overpowering the FRONT WHEELS. This is tricky at first, as I rarely encountered this before in the GS. For instance, on a bridge on a highway, BEFORE I had to slow down on the embankment to about 35-40 MPH (Atlanta people coming from the Jimmy Carter freeway entering 75/85 south). Now, I am making this turn at 55-60 MPH, at the limits for this turn. The car feels very confident and I felt it overpowering the front wheels. No biggie, just ease off the gas, understeer is easy to control.

5. Feel. The car feels so much more confident now, it is easy to mis-judge. I find myself crossing lanes because I am steering too much on high-speed turns (80+) on the freeway. The car is so solid, it needs less turn on the steering wheel. I guess this will take time for me to adjust too.

6. Bumps. As many have stated before me, you can feel more bumps in the road, though it is not bad. The car is just more planted, so it just FEELS more. I like it.

7. Difference in shocks/springs more apparent. Having driven Bitkahuna's GS 400 L-tuned (ya'll know what he has by now ) over the SAME roads as I did now, you can feel the difference in stock suspension vs L-tuned suspension. While handling wise, I more closely mimic Bit's ride, his car feels more CONFIDENT over BUMPS at high speeds because his setup allows his car to return to the cars previous position almost immediately. With my set-up my car still feels very floaty when there is a bump, or when the highway changes from say OLD CONCRETE to new CONCRETE. Bit's car stays very PLANTED and returns to it's postion (maybe the car pops up once) my car pops up twice and bounces HIGHER. His car feels much safer at high speeds because of this. The TRD sways make this so apparent it is SICK! Also, you can enter corners in Bit's car at higher speeds and with more confidence, the car really seems unshakeable. My car still feels un-sure when the road is not smooth.

In summary, you HAVE to get the TRD SWAYS. Honestly speaking. The car is a DIFFERNT BEAST for the BETTER. I am assuming more BMW like in confidence. I suggest it to EVERYONE, the difference is like NIGHT and DAY!

HUGE CLUBLEXUS KICK to Bitkahuna for letting me push HIS CAR over the roads on my side of town last Sunday. This way I could record the differences in out set-ups for the benefits of our members.

HUGE CLUBLEXUS KICK to VVTi! VVTi did the install and showed me how it works etc etc Saturday morning. The guy is AMAZING and we are really lucky and blessed to have an enthusiest who is a top of the line tech who OWNS a GS 430. Talk about a HUGE difference in knowledge.

Finally, to Steve Ganz for the parts!

Any questions?

 

It is interesting that you note that oversteer is gone...
This may be due to your driving style (the fact that you're not used to the sways).

If you got the blue ones (race bars), the front is 50% stiffer than stock and the rear is 100% stiffer.

Stiffer bar at the rear increases OVERSTEER. The car comes understeer-oriented from the factory, to keep adventurous drivers on the pavement. Since you are stepping up to more performance with the TRD sways, they "uncork" it a little bit.

Let us know if you still feel that it understeers once you get used to it.

 

Sick, thanks for the write-up. By reading your post, I know exactly what to expect when I get sways installed. Do you mind sharing how much the installation cost... was done at the Lex dealer?

Thanks.

 

From my understanding, about $120-$140.

Vlad_Stein, I don't have the 2 confused do I?

 

Sway install is easy - I think my dealer charged $150 at MOST, can't remember.

 

1Sick - congrats man, you're getting there. Just be careful now - it's easy to get over-confident.

As for some asking about comparing to BMWs - I'll say again - my neighbor has a 540i WITH sport package, and my GS with L-Tuned springs/shocks and the TRD sways is WAY more capable than the his Bimmer. He has more body roll and more float. I could take him every time on any course. For a factory setup the BMW sport package is nice, but it can't match racing sway bars.

 

sick, please be careful out there. youre car is definitely more capable now, but physics still works. remember you are talking about close to 4000 lbs. not trying to sound preachy, but i would hate to see you wad that beauty up........


Rick

 

Congrats Sick - great mod! Just be careful with 'em like Bit and Rick said. Don't make me put a link to 'the Grinch is dead' pics out here as a reminder (or even your pics with the median skid deal from a long time back ).

---------------------------------------------------------
For other newer folks considering the TRD sways and reading these warnings.... the TRD sways actually make your car safer and better handling. The warning is for probably the craziest driver on ClubLexus - 1SICKLEX - who pushes his GS to the extreme limits of handling & speed pretty regularly. We who have seen him drive without the sway bars want to see him continue driving with the sways for a long time to come .

Carson Toyota has a few sets of the TRD sways still in stock, which is very unusual. If you're thinking about them - move fast they don't last long. I had to wait 3 months for mine.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...threadid=65163

 

1Sicklex, congrats and your welcomes man. I can see the big smile on your face right now...Like everybody said, drive safe and play it safe.
We went for a quick test drive and it's a huge improvement with less body roll. Even with 3 guys in the cars(1Sicklex,me and Tommy's 1Sick friend), his car still performed very well. Now, you just waiting for the Tanabe springs...lol. I know you'll be checking on UPS everyday

 

Thanks for the concern guys. I can't believe I did not have these earlier! I took my pops for a drive yesterday and he could not believe the difference! When he drove it, he said it felt better than the SC 400 in turns. Especially the U-turns.

I must also commend the new tires Yokohoma AVS ES 100s, these tires have not squealed yet. The Kumho's had less grip.

 

Understeer? Exact opposite of what I experienced. My car is now much better planted and has much higher limits, but when the cars hits the edge, massive tail swinging oversteer. Heh heh heh heh, I love it!

 

Wow SICK!!! You'll have to take me for a ride next time I'm in Atlanta!