mso4

iTrader: (1)

I've been thinking about lowering my F Sport RWD for about six months now. Previously I've lowered a BMW and a Corvette. For the most part I love modifying cars. They always make a seemingly common car more unique and exciting.






Here's the 4GS with just the fogs.




Obviously there are some disadvantages when you take a perfectly great car and change it. Like scraping on driveways, unwanted attentions, harsh ride, expensive tires, extra wear and tear on suspension parts. Hence I was a little hesitant at first thinking Lexus engineers spent a lot of time perfecting this suspension let's not mess that up. But then seeing all these cool rides here on CL made me think oh well what the hell...

Last week I got the Tanabe springs and after 150 miles aligned the car back to specs. Yes everything is back to specs even front camber, albeit it's a close one so I might have a little more inside tire wear. Notice the toe were pretty far off so be sure to get an alignment as soon as you think the springs have settled.








Overall on OEM F Sport 19x8/9 rims the Tanabe lowered the front by 1in and the rear by 1.1 inch (measured from the rocker panel with 1/2 tank of gas). The front chin is lowered by 0.8 inch. Before the drop the wheel gaps were 1 3/4" in the front and 2 1/4" in the rear. After the drop it is 7/8" in the front and 1" in the back. Looks much sportier than stock.

After the drop my headlights aimed down slightly. At 25ft from the wall the hot spot is 3" below the headlight height. Before the drop it was about 2.25" below. So once I get the new wheels I'll turn the lights up slightly. I like to log in a few more miles before I tell you what I think about these springs. And I'll post pics of the wheels later this week once they are mounted.

Special thanks to those on CL who provided me with your experiences and invaluable information. You guys arew awesome!!

UPDATE:

Ok folks, here are the pics!

Modulare B18 forged monoblock wheels in the tinted brushed finish, 20x8.5 +38 and 20x10 +44.

Enjoy.

Seize

Your GS looks good with the subtle drop. I look forward to seeing it with the new wheels on, should look fantastic.

I noticed your previous cars were silver any particular reason you went with black on your GS?
Just curious, that's all

Stew4HD

Looking great!

mso4

iTrader: (1)

And the subtle drop makes the F Sport wheels look twice as good.

I go through phases with colors. I had three silvers starting with that BMW. The C5 Corvtte and later the Infiniti were both silver. Then w my BMW 335i sedan I wanted to try black. I liked that so much I got the C6 Corvette as well as my current 4GS in black as well.

But now that I know how easily whirl marks form on black cars. I think my next car might be dark gray. Right now I love white seeing all these beautiful white cars on here so we'll see. Black gets dirty too fast and I have to be a big less OCD to enjoy the color. I am liking it more now and I can't wait to see how it looks on the new titanium tinted wheels.

nickhaaa

iTrader: (1)

Nice write up and the car looks great with that drop.
I'm at the stage you were previously at...not wanting to mess with the factory settings for all the reasons you mentioned above (scraping, harsher ride quality). I do want to so bad though haha.

terrycs

What ..... Wheels still not on yet?

Looks good so far!

mso4

iTrader: (1)

Hey thanks.

And trust me I'm very anxious to put the wheels on too. Just need to layer a couple coats of sealant on and let them cure first.

So how's the ride after the drop? But first a disclaimer. As you all know the F Sport has a Normal and a Sport+ suspension setting. Even on rough pavements I can only tell about 2/3 of the time that I'm actually in Sport+ mode. My GF cannot tell which is which. Nevertheless, I've attended a 4-day Bondurant Driving School driving a Corvette as well as a formula race car a couple years ago so I can discern a little bit about a car's steering feel and handling.

I've since logged on over 600 miles with the Tanabe (including a drive from Orange County through downtown LA to Valencia) and here are my impressions of the Tanabe with the OEM wheels and tires.

Over smooth pavement you cannot tell. On rough pavements the ride is definitely firmer but not harsh. I would say it's more comfortable than a E90 BMW 335i with sport suspension and a lot more comfortable than a C6 Corvette with Z51 sport suspension. If you live in cities where most of the road is bad like some parts of SF, Boston or NYC, you will probably notice a firmer ride.

Handling is similar to OEM spring but this car already handles beautifully right from the factory. I have to say though that less than 5% of my driving is consider spirited so I can't completely assess that. The car seems slightly more planted though. I do feel the road more from the steering wheel than before which I really like. Reminds me of my old BMW 335i steering wheel. Except the ride is still more comfortable than the BMW over Los Angeles freeways.

Now as a passenger my GF cannot tell the difference after the springs regardless of road conditions. So overall I'm very happy with these springs.

mso4

iTrader: (1)

Delivery truck made an appointment at 3p. I arrived at 2:59p and he was already waiting for me. Also I've never seen wheels packaged so nicely before. Now that's service!





The wheels with 2 layers of sealants ready to be mounted. Hopefully I'll have them on the car this weekend. It's been a busy week at work.








Also in case you want to know what 245/35 on 20x8.5 wheels looks like, here they are:




Here's 275/30 on 20x10:

Stew4HD

..... well..... get them mounted, dammit! Did you get them with TPMS installed?

mso4

iTrader: (1)

Haha I get off work early today so I'll have them on soon. Believe me it's killing me too (:

And yes the tpms are on already going to take them down to the local Discount/ America's Tire to have them paired.

Stew4HD

.. i am waiting on the call to tell me my wheels are in... it's been 4 weeks... sigh

e39ng

They sure are very high quality , I was told the person in charge of their assembly is from HRE.
I waited mine for almost 6 weeks but it definitely worth the wait.

mrpartsman

where are the pics man, come on, and may i ask y did u go for 8.5 fronts and not 9 and also what offset did u go with, thanks, and harry up.

elusive

iTrader: (2)

Wheels look great. Nice garage floor too haha

terrycs

What do you mean two layers of sealant on the wheels? Did you re-do the clear coating? Or were they bare aluminum?