ISF08

I recently purchased an ISF and am in love. Coming from an Escalade, its a completely different animal to say the least. My only gripe is with the ride quality. As a daily driver, its starting to become a bit too much, especially with the type of roads I have to drive on (crumbling, old, poorly maintained roads). With the Escalade, I never noticed just how bad they really were. I am looking for a way to make the ISF as smooth as possible. No, I do not care about body roll, cornering, ect. I just want a smooth ride, nothing else. As far as stance, it would be nice to maybe drop it a half inch in the rear and a tad in the front. I have been doing research and it seems a lot of people like the KW V3's. Are these a good option for making the ride smooth? What other options are out there? Any help is appreciated, thanks.

MWIS350

Maybe BC Racing coilover? Some people install 2014 ISF stock shock and spring. They said it improve 50%.

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

I have KW V3 on my ISF and I love them! If made a huge day and night difference for the Los Angeles roads. Let me know if you'd be interested in a set!

-Josh

MrFunex

If you wanted to keep the ride height the same, you could swap the coilovers for 2012/2013 ones. They're a straight swap and improved the ride quality on my '08 no end.

Also, try dropping the tyre pressures by a few psi. I found a world of difference dropping from 40psi all round to 35....

ISF08

I was leaning toward the KW V3's but now im starting to get discouraged. For every person that says they improved ride quality, another seems to say the opposite. Some even go as far as returning back to stock struts/shocks. Are you sure the newer OEM struts are a simple swap?

Meraki Autoworks

iTrader: (8)

Not sure where in California you are, but if you're local you can check out my ISF on KW V3.

-Josh

MrFunex

Yes. My local dealership even did the work for me, oddly because they were the cheapest garage near me!

Old springs and shocks out, new springs and shocks in. Job complete.

If you're going from '08 to '13, you don't refit the rubber isolators between the spring and damper. Must be a slight change to the design when they moved from Tokiko to Sachs.

imp0rted1

^ interesting. I didn't know this was possible.


I have to admit early is-f suspension is pretty rough for stock

Vervish

iTrader: (4)

All the options above are great - but keeping in mind that the F is a sports sedan that rides on low profile 19" wheels. The ride is not going to get anywhere near Escalade smooth..you will maybe get Honda Accord smooth at best.

Another option is to switch to 18" wheels with a higher profile tire - this should create a significant improvement in ride..

mindcrime

iTrader: (2)

Well I just want back to stock springs in the front(rear's this weekend) with stock shocks that have about 8k miles on them and I can say the front is much improved. I also installed USRS(thanks at Meraki Autoworks). once I replace the rear shock and springs I'm sure it'll be night and day difference. I'm also going to check my air pressure and set it at 35 psi. I'm sure the F rides and handles much better in 12-14 years, but unless you pay for top of the line coil overs, lower springs will not get you a better ride quality(that is subjective though). I have Tien lowering springs on stock tokico shocks. next upgrade is 2012 ECM steering, possibly some chassis stiffening braces. I'll stay stock for a while.

pharnhyte

iTrader: (1)

I have Tein Springs on my 08. Ride a bit softer than stock but not where I want it. I'm going to put the Tein Street Advances in next, they are 40% off, made in Japan, and soo smooth on my supra. In fact, having driven, owned and worked on so many MKIV's, I'm 100% confident that if the Lexus application is anywhere near as good as they are on my supra, I'll have no regrets with buying the Tein Coilovers for 5xx on sale over the KW's at 2xxx. Well I get them at cost, so 18xx i think it is but still.


So the Tein coilovers it will be.

http://www.tein.com/products/street_advance.html

tronim

iTrader: (1)

hey buddy, I just clicked on your link and not only see that these are OOS, but at 690.00?
how can we get in on that 5xx deal? ;-)

tas02

iTrader: (2)

In order to receive an intelligent recommendation, please advise the model year F you purchased, and whether or not you currently have (or want to retain) the standard oem wheel & tire.

And from your original post, it's not really clear what you're after. "...I am looking for a way to make the ISF ride as smooth as possible. No, I do not care about body roll, cornering, etc. I just want a smooth ride, nothing else. As far as stance, it would be nice to maybe drop it a half inch...". Two strong statements about ride, then you mention lowering.

If you really want to make your F ride smoother, you don't want to drop it.

plusONEran

iTrader: (2)

i vouch for kw v3... with a moderate drop it rode as if it was the most comfortable suspension i have felt on a lowered vehicle. previously i had the bc coils with swift, i had the tein comfort sports. the kws win hands down.

i brought it below the recommended range from kw and while it was a bit more harsh, it was not much.

Sameer89

Of course coming from an Escalade, the ISF is going to feel pretty rough in comparison. It's never going to come close to riding anything like a Cadillac. Instead of looking at aftermarket suspension, I'd say stick to getting 2013+ suspension as recommended earlier and lowering your tire PSI.