Official Tungsten Pearl ISx50 Thread
03-28-14, 06:11 AM
#484
Short answer...yes. I posted my review of the brace about two years ago which I'll repost below:
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/7369798-post10.html
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/7369798-post10.html
I too am going to add my 2 cents to this topic as I've been reading this debate over the F-Sport chassis brace for years on this forum and have been reading a lot of criticism from people that don't even have the part installed to give a true before and after opinion.
My IS350 had slowly gone through the full evolution of the F-Sport Suspension throughout the years (since 2008) and I can go to detail on my perceived feel of the vehicle through each iteration but that will be too long of a report. Essentially, my IS350 went through these F-Sport mod phases which I will use as a reference point:
Phase 0) Stock Suspension
Phase 1) Rear Sway Bar
Phase 2) Rear Sway Bar + F-Sport Shocks/Springs
Phase 3) Front and Rear Sway Bars + F-Sport Shocks/Springs
Phase 4) Rear Chassis Brace + Front and Rear Sway Bars + F-Sport Shocks/Springs
Slightly off-topic but since I have listed my 4 phases above, I'd like to provide my opinion on those that are on the fence on getting just the rear sway bar or both front and rear as a mod. When I was on Phase 2, I had all sorts of oversteering issues with the vehicle; when I went to Phase 3 and installed the Front Sway Bar to supplement the Rear, the car felt very neutral and all four tires had pretty much equal traction.
Back on topic. When I went from Phase 3 to 4 above, I immediately noticed that the rear chassis brace improved the polar moment of inertia and that the steering became immediately responsive to any rapid slalom type manuevers I performed on the road at speeds above 30 or 40mph. I still vividly remember the night I took the IS350 out for a test drive once the chassis brace was installed. The car felt 'twitchy' when I performed sharp turns or tested its center of gravity with slalom twists and turns. At first I didn't like the upgrade as I didn't feel as much in control with how responsive and immediate the car moved with only the slightest turn of the wheel but now that I'm used to it, I wouldn't go back to the looser feeling that the IS had previously.
Like Kurtz mentioned, I would ONLY install this rear chassis brace once you have done pretty much every other suspension mod to the car first (aka stickier tires, F&R sway bars, upgraded shocks/springs or adjustable coilovers, etc). I don't have first hand experience on this but I assume that the rear chassis brace would have negligible benefits if your still on a stock or mild suspension set-up.
I do autocross my IS and the car feels very planted with all the F-sport suspension mods installed. Maybe one day I can try a few laps with the OEM chassis brace and then swap to the F-Sport chassis brace to see if there would be a time difference (though the logistics in doing a chassis brace swap in the middle of a parking lot doesn't seem too viable
).
My IS350 had slowly gone through the full evolution of the F-Sport Suspension throughout the years (since 2008) and I can go to detail on my perceived feel of the vehicle through each iteration but that will be too long of a report. Essentially, my IS350 went through these F-Sport mod phases which I will use as a reference point:
Phase 0) Stock Suspension
Phase 1) Rear Sway Bar
Phase 2) Rear Sway Bar + F-Sport Shocks/Springs
Phase 3) Front and Rear Sway Bars + F-Sport Shocks/Springs
Phase 4) Rear Chassis Brace + Front and Rear Sway Bars + F-Sport Shocks/Springs
Slightly off-topic but since I have listed my 4 phases above, I'd like to provide my opinion on those that are on the fence on getting just the rear sway bar or both front and rear as a mod. When I was on Phase 2, I had all sorts of oversteering issues with the vehicle; when I went to Phase 3 and installed the Front Sway Bar to supplement the Rear, the car felt very neutral and all four tires had pretty much equal traction.
Back on topic. When I went from Phase 3 to 4 above, I immediately noticed that the rear chassis brace improved the polar moment of inertia and that the steering became immediately responsive to any rapid slalom type manuevers I performed on the road at speeds above 30 or 40mph. I still vividly remember the night I took the IS350 out for a test drive once the chassis brace was installed. The car felt 'twitchy' when I performed sharp turns or tested its center of gravity with slalom twists and turns. At first I didn't like the upgrade as I didn't feel as much in control with how responsive and immediate the car moved with only the slightest turn of the wheel but now that I'm used to it, I wouldn't go back to the looser feeling that the IS had previously.
Like Kurtz mentioned, I would ONLY install this rear chassis brace once you have done pretty much every other suspension mod to the car first (aka stickier tires, F&R sway bars, upgraded shocks/springs or adjustable coilovers, etc). I don't have first hand experience on this but I assume that the rear chassis brace would have negligible benefits if your still on a stock or mild suspension set-up.
I do autocross my IS and the car feels very planted with all the F-sport suspension mods installed. Maybe one day I can try a few laps with the OEM chassis brace and then swap to the F-Sport chassis brace to see if there would be a time difference (though the logistics in doing a chassis brace swap in the middle of a parking lot doesn't seem too viable
).
04-13-14, 12:54 AM
#486
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04-17-14, 07:20 AM
#489
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Join Date: Oct 2012
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3IS 2014 IS FSport 18" Wheels on a 2IS
goes nice with my new headlights/tail lights/mirrors!, (car is a 2007)
04-17-14, 07:32 AM
#490
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