Tanabe USA

Greetings new IS owners!

We currently offer the NF210 lowering spring for the second generation IS. The NF210 is more suited for comfort and has a similar ride quality to the factory equipped sport suspension package.

One of the other springs in our lineup is the "GF210" which is a more performance oriented spring that features higher spring rates. The ride is firmer, but is engineered to maintain ride quality with some progressive coils.

Seeing as many of you are coming from M model BMWs and tuned G35's, many of you are already familiar and accustomed to building up the suspensions of your vehicles.

Would the GF210 performance spring be an application that would interest the 2IS community? Our engineers will be coming back for more R&D soon, and would like to hear some input from the community themselves.

More information about the GF210 spring line:
http://www.tanabe-usa.com/springs/gf210.asp

More information about the manufacturing process of our springs:
http://www.tanabe-usa.com/manufacturing_spring.asp


All of our products are available through authorized CL vendors such as TM Engineering, Carson Toyota, and other reputable CL vendors.

al503

First of all, I think it's great that you are looking for our input.

I know a little about springs but it's probably a lot less than you so please feel correct any misconceptions I have.

If the GF is your more performance oriented spring I would think that you would want it to keep it fully linear. Having one side/corner loaded at a particular rate and the other side/corner unloaded at a different rate could upset the chassis at the worst possible time.

How about keeping the rate between ~15% to 20% stiffer (instead of 20% to 30%) so you can keep the springs linear with an 'acceptable' ride. I went to springs that were 10% and 15% stiffer front to back in my G and the difference was definitely noticeable. I don't know if people would go for 20-30% especially since some are complaining that the stock sport package is too stiff as is.

Drop: I agree that it's more important to get the ride height correct v. gap concerns. However, many here won't see the track and are just looking for good aesthetics. I think you're giving up a large piece of the pie because of this. Any spring will be a compromise as you know.

t0e

iTrader: (1)

Im real surprised no one has commented on this post yet, so I will.

I think most IS owners that want to lower their car will be willing to push it to the limits, but most deffinatly dont want to have an "OVERKILL" drop. Also, trying to make the drop as even as possible is in our most interest.

I'm sure you have noticed, that most members are using your springs "BUILT" for an entirely differnt car. This drop is pretty extreme, so that lets you know that lexus owners are willing to take that step, I think its up to your team to develop something with that in mind.

Personally I'm more worried about the people installing my springs, hoping they know what the hell they are DOING!!!!

conekiller

I'm interested. My 350 has the sport suspension, and for the roads I drive on (Northeast US), the firmness is ideal as is. 20-30% firmer than stock sport combined with 19" wheels would be too firm for my driving habits and road conditions. Unfortunately we don't have glass-smooth roads like southern California. I went nuts with my previous car's suspension (2000 A4 w/staggered springs...450 lb. front and 500 lb. rear + 19mm rear antisway bar) but that was back when I lived in GA with very smooth roads, plus it was my track vehicle.

I don't intend to go so far with the IS...again, the stock sport suspension is very well done as-is, however I would like to lower the car slightly. The front ride height needs to come down just a bit...the rear less so. If the springs will be stiffer than stock sport, I would prefer it to be ~5% but no more than 10%. I would also like to see them tested with some good shocks with recommendations from Tanabe about which ones work best with the springs.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

ride comfort improves with an aftermarket spring set if you get aftermarket shocks and struts, mainly adjustables so you can adjust some of the stiffness as you see fit. I have KYB AGX on my prelude now, have the dampening setting adjusted on those struts and it rides excellent

conekiller

What works in TX doesn't work as well elsewhere...I've driven on TX roads and they don't compare to the Northeast. Our roads are in bad shape due to harsh winters.

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

either way you put a spring that has a higher spring rate than OEM shocks can dampen its going to take more than one rebound to settle a bounce, resulting in a junky ride, people underestimate how important shocks/struts are to a cars ride quality

conekiller

I don't disagree with that...I'd never pair aftermarket springs with OEM shocks anyway.

slowandlow

i went throgh many setups on my project car befor i went to air. i had cut springs they were nice sleve coil overs with springs to soft. now i have air and it is like super performance.

t0e

iTrader: (1)

Can we get some AIR on the IS?

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

air will never perform as well as springs/shocks on a track

Tanabe USA

Guys/gals,

Thank you for the great input! It will go a long way towards the development of better parts for the vehicle. Undoubtedly, other manufacturers will also be using this to take notes and improve their own products for the car, but we wanted to be the first to begin the discussion.

Progressive springs can actually be beneficial on the street car, as they do allow for a certain amount of compliance and comfort over road irregularities. The majority of all springs do have some progressive coils, including very sporty vehicles. We will definitely look into the possibility of linear springs. Just to reiterate, their higher suspension frequency of a purely linear spring may be a bit much for many luxury car owners.

The DF210 for the GS on the many IS' are definitely a good example of how far the 2nd gen IS owners will go to build their vehicle. The GS DF210's are a progressive spring and are rated around 15% stiffer than factory GS springs...considering the weight difference between IS and GS, those spring rates are roughly equivalent of a GF210 application with a very extreme drop.

The recently released NF210's for the IS350 are only about 5% stiffer and are much more conservative with the drop. Carson Toyota, TM Engineering, end users and others can provide more insight regarding that application. These are ideal for OEM shocks.

We are still waiting for more aftermarket dampers to become available; as 4TehNguyen stated, too high a spring rate with OEM shock can lead to increased spring oscillation (underdampened). It shouldn't be an issue on new shocks, but as they show wear, it can become more pronounced.

PS. California roads are very very far from glass smooth

Smooth1

I am also interested in lowering my car , for me I would like to see the spacing or gap between the front wheel and the rear wheel to be the same not (( lower in the back)). The other thing that I think would be a good Idea is to have two different set off springs for the different type of drivers , some people like the stiff suspension because they want to hook the turns, other people like myself think the ride is perfect as is but just want to lower it , I wish I could get a matching set of springs and shocks that would compliment each other and yet still retain the ride characterstics that the car currently displays.

That being said IMO I think this would be the perfect amount of Drop.

uschardcor

just to answer the poster's question. the ride of the 2IS is already a pretty firm ride but comfortable enough to enjoy on most roads. any loss of ride quality beyond that i wouldn't be interested in and would just opt for coilovers. i think most people buying this car with the will and/or $$$ to upgrade the suspension will do so as long as ride quality isn't risked.