Seattle996

I've been searching for the exact differences regarding the suspension tweaks on a 2010 vs 2011+ and found this helpful article. I know of the LSD changing in 2010, so I thought maybe Lexus did some suspension tweaking in 2010 as well. Anyways, here is a great read w/ pictures for those that are curious on purchasing a 2010 vs 11+ model years. Quite the difference in price between 2010 and up.

Not sure if this has been posted before, if so I apologize. Follow the link: Suspension Article

If you have real world experience of owning a 2010 specifically vs 2011+, please chime in your thoughts on real world city driving..

SoulFreak

iTrader: (1)

Yes, this was posted before. A very long time ago. Interesting read nonetheless.

lexuz125th

iTrader: (1)

When the upgraded suspension came out, i went crazy wanting to update my 08 suspension. Until i asked an LFA tech why Lexus went ahead and tweaked the suspension. Reply was simple, people complained it was to harsh, and car was a bit of a hand to handle . So they wanted to make it more road friendly. Not that the diff was a bad upgrade he said, it was an improvement however other tweaks were more focused on street driving and further benefited novice drivers on track.

737NG

iTrader: (8)

Thanks for the link, that was interesting.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

A simple peruse of the part number changes tells you exactly what changed. Yes, they change the camber by using different parts, and the Service Manual's dimensional checks reflect those changes. Yes, the suspension bushings got changed. No, nothing but shocks and springs were changed up front.

The Lightning Lap results were staggeringly better. The '08 lapped VIR at 3:14 flat. The '11 model lapped at 3:05.4. That's an eternity.

NSXGuy

Wonder how much of that improvement at VIR was due to the LSD and how much was the suspension tweaks?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

C&D complained about getting through the esses with the '08 suspension. I personally liked the suspension a lot at Carolina Motorsports Park, but it's not nearly as fast a track as VIR.

Quadrphnia

I know you upgraded your LSD and love it. Have you upgraded your suspension as well?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Not yet. It will be sometime soon, but I've had a number of reasons why it hasn't been the time. Check the car seat thread for more understanding.

WylieKylie

iTrader: (2)

Does anyone know if the suspension tweaks did anything to reduce the rear toe steer? Maybe its just me, but it seems like there is A LOT of toe change on the rear as it cycles thru the travel.

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

That was a primary focus besides spring and damping rates. Most of the bushings were replaced with stiffer pieces to the point of having a different part number for the rear knuckles because the bushing stiffness is so different.

WylieKylie

iTrader: (2)

^Interesting, I thought they changed the knuckle P/N because they had (slightly) moved some of the pivot points for some of the arms. If the casting is the same and the bushings are different, might it be possible to simply upgrade all the bushings with FIGS/Superpro stuff and get similar benefits?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Yes. That's my plan, especially after seeing the difference with just the diff and front LCA bushings. FWIW, the knuckle with the new part number is an acceptable alternative to the original piece. This makes me confident they did not change the geometry. This piece is widely used across the 2IS and GS platforms, so I am very confident we are just talking about different (stiffer) bushing.

If you don't care about NVH, just ditch all the bushings and use big spherical rod ends and eliminate all the stiction and phantom springs in the rear suspension.

JT2MA71

iTrader: (7)

The strut assemblies that came out of my 2013 are made by SACHS and not TOKICO. So is that something they changed also for later models? Or did Lexus just had at least 2 different suppliers?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

You have struts in an IS F? That's a serious problem.

Sachs made the shocks for 2013 and 2014 in an effort to improve handling.