speedkar9

I've got a 3GS and my brother has a 2GS. Both 6 cylinder RWD. We both notice that on a windy day, you can really feel the car being pushed around on the highway.
However, on my Solara, and other FWD cars I've had (Camry, Accord, ES330), the car is stable; you can hear the wind, but not feel it in the steering wheel.

What's your experience with FWD vs RWD in heavy winds?

MattyG

Pretty easy answer to the question: fwd cars have a lot weight on the car's steering and its front suspension. Less side-to-side crosswind bobbing. A big cruiser like the GS catches some wind on its big body. Lexus engineers concentrated on its 0.29 front to back CD rather than its ability to counter crosswind components. I have driven rwd, fwd, awd and my GS does catch some wind, no doubt about it.

The wind doesn't care about your vehicle in terms of weight or aerodynamics. Just look at Youtube videos of 747's trying to land in a stiff crosswind. Those weigh over 750,000 lbs.

Blaze876

iTrader: (1)

I was having issues with this, especially when passing a big rig. After changing my steering rack bushings it improved a bit. I then changed my caster arm bushings and it handles much better in the wind.

GSdre

What's up, just chiming in on the conversation, my car used to wander and weave all over roads (highway), I then read that the 98-05 models have tendency to do so when the Caster arms bushings are worn. Of course other parts help to contribute if they are worn but if you wanted a start , checking those bushings health is a good place to look.. trust me , I dropped the energy suspension solid bushings in and the car plants itself at like 60-80 or anything above (no street racing) it super smooth , hope this helps ..