I8ABMR

I think the height is realistic if you want to ride with a full car and the overall ride quality is so good that even the tech at the lexus dealer commented on how nicw the ride was. He even took the mgr of the parts dept with him bec he was so surprised at the ride quality.

GiSmo350

I8ABMR

Very nice. If it were dumped a little more, it would look even better

I8ABMR

I feel you on the looking better if the car was lower but been there done that with my last car. What looks good to people outside of the car burns tires , dents rims, and ruins the ride. I am trying to go with the more VIP/conservative look bec frankly I am getting older and have kids on the way god willing. I grew up in LA, I had my tuned cars that were slammed. I have magazine pics of my last car framed . I think also If you see the car now that the springs have settled you would be amazed at how much better the rear looks. I will post some morepics soon

rominl

iTrader: (4)

hehehe, for sure it's not in vip category then vip cars are pretty much all on air coz' they are slammed to the gnd

Evel

I'm new to this Forum. I have an '06 GS300 AWD, but had the dealer put on the standard 18" wheels (fan blade design) with Dunlop run flat tires as part of the purchase deal. Naturally the fender gap is horrible & I just learned (from Carson Toyo) that one or more other people w/ the new GS AWD line are using the Tanabe NF210 lowering springs, which were meant for the RWD version. I'm seeing plenty of pics of lowered GS's, but hard to tell if they are RWD or AWD version. I don't want to cause damage or screw up anything on the car by replacing springs or installing coil overs that you have to force to work on the car. I asked one person who inst'd the NF210 in the summer '06 to see if he's had any problems thus far, but no reply yet. This thread is fresher, so any recommendations you can give me would be greatly appreciated. I don't want it bottomed out, just an 1 inch or so lower for nice (adult) look. Getting too old for Fast & Furious look ( :

rominl

iTrader: (4)

that's new to me, i thought no springs fit the awd

I8ABMR

call tein and ask for the h techs. I am pretty sure the rep on the phone told me the h techs fit the awd. call them and confirm. They are very helpful and professional. Every thing you are telling us seems like the h techs are what you want.

I8ABMR

vip style started in japan from the mafia (yakuza) members trying to turn large japanese sedans into something more than a huge boring cruiser. You try to jazz it up with springs, exhaust, tinted windows, sound systems , and pretty much a buch of cosmetic mods like wood kits, junction produce goodies. VIP cars are not tuner cars like we know them. They are cars for cruising and looking nice. Its a tuner culture for adults with money. Most adults dont dig on the air bag setup. Airrunner( japans top air suspension company) makes kits for domestic and japanese cars wich is cool but I personally think the AIRBAGS MAKE THE CAR LOOK GHETTO!!!!!!!! Air bag technology started with the custom mini truck craze in the 90's. They would drop the freakn chasis onto the ground. Looked stupid as hell on a truck, and in myopinion it looks worse on sedans.. VIP cars are large, highend japanese sedans that have been dropped and modified with body kits, exhausts, tints, sound systems, and air suspension in some cases. But no not all VIP (bippu) cars are on bags.It is not a checklist kind of deal. Most of the cars I have seen at J tuned events or the VIP auto fashion shows were not on bags. I am aware of the difference in the VIP culture/ stlye interpretation between Japan and the US. In the states VIP applies to modied luxury or even exotics. But in Japan VIP (bippu ) comes from the modification of large lowered Japanese sedans ( JDM models like the the Celsior and Aristo as well as some large Nissan models). So to sum it all up yes my ride is VIP style. Construction has just started, but a body kit, exhaust, and ipod adapter have already been ordered for the car. I will be entering VIP auto fashion Car shows in Los Angeles and Phoenix. The car will also be entered at the Hot import night competition as a VIP category car. I sold my last ride ( multiple car show winner and in super street magazine) to build a more mature VIP vehicle, and in my opinion she is right on track. I guess VIP like alot of tuning styles is still up to the interpretation of the owner. Depending on what he likes and wants to build. VIP is the hottest car culture to come out of japan since drifting and I am very excited to see more of the cars on the streets and at local and national car shows

Evel

Hey I8ABMR,

Thanks for the additional referal for Tein. I sent an e-mail inquiry to Tanabe this evening & hope to receive a response from them tomorrow. I'll post their feedback to share with other AWD owers, ASAP.

If you go back to the opening of the Forum list & click on 3rdGen GS link, you'll see a posting from Pingoag (spelling) dating back to '05 (early '06 purchasers) who said he used Tanabe's NF210 springs on his AWD. I believe he posted another memo stating he kept the stock shocks.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

whatever you say fits your need, i am not going to argue. it's been a long long time since i last saw just springs on vip cars from japan. they are at least on coilovers crank down big time, or they are on bags.

take a look at vip magazines from japan and look at all the new gs and ls, most of them are on bags. i didn't say ALL of them are on bags, i said most. and i can for sure say your ride height wont' cut it. it's no where close to what vip cars are at. pretty much all of them are low like no gap.

whether you like it or not that doesn't define vip, nor how many winners you got in the past. imho if you want to rock the vip culture, having a set of american wheels are already quite off (that's just me), not to mention the offsets are far from aggressive (another common "requirement" to be vip cars)

in any case, this is a never ending debate, i won't spend more time on it. do what you like. go to the vip forum we have here and post up pics of your car, and see what the vip gurus say about it. i don't necessarily like some of the stuff they do as well, but you want vip, that's vip (and i don't even consider my ls460l hard core vip enough)

I8ABMR

I know what you mean in terms of the height , but this will be my personal interpretation of VIP. I have to admit I think its really cool to finally talk to car people who know real car culture and style. I would love to see some pics of your Ls man . Sounds nice.

Evel

Nice whip! Is it RWD or AWD? Have you given thought to adding the crome door handles to link up with the wheels & trim molding around the windows?

Just a thought?

I8ABMR

The car is rwd. I thought about chrome B pillars but I think I will leave it alone. I had carbonfiber B pillars on my last car that didnt age gracefully. Thanks for the comments guys

flipside909

Why did this turn into a VIP critics forum? I think we lost a little focus here.

LexFather

USDM VIP then? B/C TRUE VIP cars either have bags or coils, not springs/shocks. Then they have Auto Countare, Junction Produce, OZ, some very high profile wheel with VIP offsets.

A luxury branded car, a drop and some 20" chrome wheels are not VIP. Thats just a modified car.


Its not just you, but the term "VIP" has now been raped, maimed and abused to death.