First post with pictures!
02-19-13, 10:09 AM
#1
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First post with pictures!
I've been lurking in this forum since I got my GS. Tons of really good DIYs and general information. I didn't really feel like posting my car yet till I've done some "substantial" mods to it. Well, the time has come for my first post. I purchased a set of wheels from jbjones85 (flawless transaction by the way) last weekend. We were supposed to meet up Saturday but because of bad weather, we had to cancel it. Luckily, the weather cleared up and we completed our transaction on Sunday. Got the wheels mounted the following day and here it is:
I'm sure everyone here has seen the CV3s but here are the specs in case anybody's wondering:
Vossen CV3
20x9 +38 on Nitto Invo's 245/30-20 40psi
20x10.5 +45 on NItto Invo's 275/30-20 38psi
Lugs are torqued at 76lbs
I would have actually liked to go with 285/25-20 but these are what came when I got the wheels so I plan to just use the current set and replace when needed. I was worried I was going to get rubbing with this setup because I know it's about 3% over spec'd but luckily no rubbing. I haven't had anybody in the back yet and my trunk is pretty empty but I do have the hybrid battery so I think if you're running a GS 350, you should be fine if you use the same setup as me. I'll update once I get people in the back to see if I rub.
I'm dropped on Tanabe NF210 part number TNF112. I had it installed just last Saturday. I purchased mine off of Amazon.com (it ships directly from Amazon) and I think there were still two left in case anybody here is looking. Their prices are competitive with the vendor prices here. Most of the vendors here are have the springs on back order from when I was searching for it so anyone who's on the fence should jump on it.
Here you can see the springs peeking out from the rear:
Unlike what I've seen from other posts in the forum, drop has been pretty even for the front and rear when I picked the car up on Saturday. There hasn't been too much "settling" of the springs and I've driven it around a bit since I got the wheels installed. The rears are slightly lower but that might be because I have the 450h so there's extra weight from the battery. I have an extremely tight one finger gap in the rear and a lose 1 finger gap in the fronts. It actually looks lower in person when compared to the pictures I posted above.
Comfort-wise, it definitely isn't stock but nothing out of the ordinary. You feel bumps on the road more even when running on the stock tires and you I feel it a lot more when I installed the wheels but it's still comfortable enough for a DD. Cornering feels a lot better. Less body roll and you feel more confident taking turns faster. Definitely more road noise but it's not like you won't be able to carry a normal conversation in the car. It definitely makes the car look 100x better even with the stock rims because it eliminates the wheel gap.
In case anybody is from the noVA area, I had the springs installed at P-Tuning in Manassas. They also did my alignment. Their prices are a little high but from what I've heard, they're one of the best.
Here's my alignment:
I'm not an expert on this but from what I can read, it looks like my front camber is off. It's not by much so I don't think I'll need to purchase a camber kit for it. Everything else looks like it's within specs. Will probably pull of the tires in a few weeks just to see how the tire wear is going.
The wheels came with TPMS already installed. jbjones85 said he had it programmed at Discount Tire but unfortunately, we don't have that in my area. I tried Merchant's but they couldn't do it so I decided to just let Lexus do it. Charged me $135.00 for it which I thought was wayyy too much but I just wanted to get rid of the TPMS warning. I took home two muffins and some honey doughnuts from their lounge to make up for the highway robbery!
I think that's about it. Hopefully this can help other people with their setups if they want to run something similar to mine. All this information is in this forum if you search, but I know how nice it is to find everything in one post. Next mod is probably going to be painting the calipers and affixing the Lexus decal. Was trying to look for a place that's going to do it but it looks easy enough.
My other mods:
Vaistech ML+ - Installed this myself (I'm definitely not handy in anyway). Not too hard and definitely worth it in my opinion.
HID fogs - I'm using the one from Xenon Depot. I believe it's the volt kit (it's the cheaper one from the two he sells). Pretty easy install if you go through the wheel well. I've had it for about 4 months and haven't had any issues. I have it turned on every time I have my headlights on and they're holding up.
Tint - Llumar Air Blue 80 all around. Love this stuff. It's only a very slight blue and only when the light hits it just right. It eliminates a ton of heat though even though it's so clear. I had it done at L.A tint in Manassas.
I'm sure everyone here has seen the CV3s but here are the specs in case anybody's wondering:
Vossen CV3
20x9 +38 on Nitto Invo's 245/30-20 40psi
20x10.5 +45 on NItto Invo's 275/30-20 38psi
Lugs are torqued at 76lbs
I would have actually liked to go with 285/25-20 but these are what came when I got the wheels so I plan to just use the current set and replace when needed. I was worried I was going to get rubbing with this setup because I know it's about 3% over spec'd but luckily no rubbing. I haven't had anybody in the back yet and my trunk is pretty empty but I do have the hybrid battery so I think if you're running a GS 350, you should be fine if you use the same setup as me. I'll update once I get people in the back to see if I rub.
I'm dropped on Tanabe NF210 part number TNF112. I had it installed just last Saturday. I purchased mine off of Amazon.com (it ships directly from Amazon) and I think there were still two left in case anybody here is looking. Their prices are competitive with the vendor prices here. Most of the vendors here are have the springs on back order from when I was searching for it so anyone who's on the fence should jump on it.
Here you can see the springs peeking out from the rear:
Unlike what I've seen from other posts in the forum, drop has been pretty even for the front and rear when I picked the car up on Saturday. There hasn't been too much "settling" of the springs and I've driven it around a bit since I got the wheels installed. The rears are slightly lower but that might be because I have the 450h so there's extra weight from the battery. I have an extremely tight one finger gap in the rear and a lose 1 finger gap in the fronts. It actually looks lower in person when compared to the pictures I posted above.
Comfort-wise, it definitely isn't stock but nothing out of the ordinary. You feel bumps on the road more even when running on the stock tires and you I feel it a lot more when I installed the wheels but it's still comfortable enough for a DD. Cornering feels a lot better. Less body roll and you feel more confident taking turns faster. Definitely more road noise but it's not like you won't be able to carry a normal conversation in the car. It definitely makes the car look 100x better even with the stock rims because it eliminates the wheel gap.
In case anybody is from the noVA area, I had the springs installed at P-Tuning in Manassas. They also did my alignment. Their prices are a little high but from what I've heard, they're one of the best.
Here's my alignment:
I'm not an expert on this but from what I can read, it looks like my front camber is off. It's not by much so I don't think I'll need to purchase a camber kit for it. Everything else looks like it's within specs. Will probably pull of the tires in a few weeks just to see how the tire wear is going.
The wheels came with TPMS already installed. jbjones85 said he had it programmed at Discount Tire but unfortunately, we don't have that in my area. I tried Merchant's but they couldn't do it so I decided to just let Lexus do it. Charged me $135.00 for it which I thought was wayyy too much but I just wanted to get rid of the TPMS warning. I took home two muffins and some honey doughnuts from their lounge to make up for the highway robbery!
I think that's about it. Hopefully this can help other people with their setups if they want to run something similar to mine. All this information is in this forum if you search, but I know how nice it is to find everything in one post. Next mod is probably going to be painting the calipers and affixing the Lexus decal. Was trying to look for a place that's going to do it but it looks easy enough.
My other mods:
Vaistech ML+ - Installed this myself (I'm definitely not handy in anyway). Not too hard and definitely worth it in my opinion.
HID fogs - I'm using the one from Xenon Depot. I believe it's the volt kit (it's the cheaper one from the two he sells). Pretty easy install if you go through the wheel well. I've had it for about 4 months and haven't had any issues. I have it turned on every time I have my headlights on and they're holding up.
Tint - Llumar Air Blue 80 all around. Love this stuff. It's only a very slight blue and only when the light hits it just right. It eliminates a ton of heat though even though it's so clear. I had it done at L.A tint in Manassas.
Love the color combo and the drop. I had the same color CV3's on my benz. Thanks for sharing some pics with us. Post up the wheel thread bro. Niiiice!
02-19-13, 11:37 AM
#7
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It actually looks bluer in the pics than in real life. It's more grayish most of the time. I wanted to match the blue tints of the hybrid headlights.
Thanks! I was trying to match my fogs with my headlights which I replaced the stocks with 6000k m-tec bulbs. I never liked the stock bulbs for the headlights or fogs - just a little too yellow for my taste.
Thanks! I was trying to match my fogs with my headlights which I replaced the stocks with 6000k m-tec bulbs. I never liked the stock bulbs for the headlights or fogs - just a little too yellow for my taste.
Nice write-up and great photos.
