kam1996

Hey guys:

I have had my GS4 for about 2 weeks now. My previous car was an Audi A6 so for me the GS4 is a totally new experience. As much as I like the GS's power and quite ride, in just 2 weeks I have goten bored of the "floaty" and "numb" ride of the car. From what I can feel, it totally isolates me from the elements (prob what Lexus intended to do and were 100% succesful).
My biggest concerns/complains are
- numb steering at low to mid speeds
- Under steer at moderatly fast turns,
- Very quick transition from understeer to oversteer without warning(mostly because I cant feel the road through steering or seat)
- Floaty ride over bumps and humps

What I do like so far is
- The POWER
- smooth ride over bumps at low speeds
- Quite as Hell engine/tranny

If I was to wish for a perfect GS4, I would wish for the stuff i dont like to go away, or subside or atleast minimize with the smallest degredation to the quite and smooth ride.
I know what i am asking for is may be too much, or may be its what every one is after, but there has got to be an affordable compromise where I can feel the car more, have fun with its rear wheel drive (what i always wanted in a sport sedan) and not be afraid of it being so darn unpredictable...
If enough money is spent , any car can be made ideal for a certain person, So i am not looking to spend 5,000 or more just so I can feel the car better..Just trying to research if this car can be made to feel a bit like the "Germans" (no offence intended) with a reasonable price.
So please feel free to share the wealth of knowledge you guys have collected over the years..and if I may steal a line from one of my favorite movies:
Explain to me like i am a 5 yr old"........

On a side note, just a couple of observations while I have been here....
I work very late hours and have been searching the forums like a mad man. My coworkers think I am obssessed or something, what I am trying to say is, that after hours of reading through various posts, i have found the people here to be just as help ful as the Audi forum i still go to. Only small complaint from my end is that sometimes i have seen people jump all over each other too quick, Over too little. I understand the median Age of the forum attendees may be much lower than that of the Audi page i visit, and that may be the reason I have seen more friction among some users. Not to say that it didnt happen in the Audi or BMW forums, there are always people everywhere who seem to forget their First day or early days of the "Car Bug" and start having the "know it all" complex or "how stupid is that question" fever.
Anyway, just an opinion from a newbie.
So far I love it here and am hoping for a long term relationship with my GS and the forum.
Peace..

kam1996

Hey guys:

I have had my GS4 for about 2 weeks now. My previous car was an Audi A6 so for me the GS4 is a totally new experience. As much as I like the GS's power and quite ride, in just 2 weeks I have goten bored of the "floaty" and "numb" ride of the car. From what I can feel, it totally isolates me from the elements (prob what Lexus intended to do and were 100% succesful).
My biggest concerns/complains are
- numb steering at low to mid speeds
- Under steer at moderatly fast turns,
- Very quick transition from understeer to oversteer without warning(mostly because I cant feel the road through steering or seat)
- Floaty ride over bumps and humps

What I do like so far is
- The POWER
- smooth ride over bumps at low speeds
- Quite as Hell engine/tranny

If I was to wish for a perfect GS4, I would wish for the stuff i dont like to go away, or subside or atleast minimize with the smallest degredation to the quite and smooth ride.
I know what i am asking for is may be too much, or may be its what every one is after, but there has got to be an affordable compromise where I can feel the car more, have fun with its rear wheel drive (what i always wanted in a sport sedan) and not be afraid of it being so darn unpredictable...
If enough money is spent , any car can be made ideal for a certain person, So i am not looking to spend 5,000 or more just so I can feel the car better..Just trying to research if this car can be made to feel a bit like the "Germans" (no offence intended) with a reasonable price.
So please feel free to share the wealth of knowledge you guys have collected over the years..and if I may steal a line from one of my favorite movies:
Explain to me like i am a 5 yr old"........

On a side note, just a couple of observations while I have been here....
I work very late hours and have been searching the forums like a mad man. My coworkers think I am obssessed or something, what I am trying to say is, that after hours of reading through various posts, i have found the people here to be just as help ful as the Audi forum i still go to. Only small complaint from my end is that sometimes i have seen people jump all over each other too quick, Over too little. I understand the median Age of the forum attendees may be much lower than that of the Audi page i visit, and that may be the reason I have seen more friction among some users. Not to say that it didnt happen in the Audi or BMW forums, there are always people everywhere who seem to forget their First day or early days of the "Car Bug" and start having the "know it all" complex or "how stupid is that question" fever.
Anyway, just an opinion from a newbie.
So far I love it here and am hoping for a long term relationship with my GS and the forum.
Peace..

ballin

Daizen Swaybar F/R = $450?
SwaybarUrathane bushings F/R = $30?
L-tune steering ECU = Discontinued
L-tune shocks, and springs / or H&R springs,and Bilstein HD Shocks = $500-$1000?
TRD Front / Rear strut supports = $500

These are what I've gathered reading from other treads that these are what the minimalist would do to upgrade to a sportier GS ride. From what I've read, Hameed would have a pretty good setup on this board.

Neo

iTrader: (3)

I thnk the soft ride is part of the isolation from the road. In order to increase feel, you will have to take a little hit in the ride quality. Obviously you can minimize the change but it will depend on your tolerance.

Firstly, depending on the wheels you have not, you may need to upgrade it. If you have 16s (I don't know if the GS4s came with 16s), I'd at least bump them to the 17s. Some people actually like the handling with just the 17s. Otherwise, I'd go to 18s, staggered (or not if you want to rotate). If you want better looks, then go to 19s or even 20s. Realize, though, that with each increment, the ride quality will decrease and the noise level wil increase. BUT that will get some of the feel back. Depending on the qheel quality, though, you may have blown your whole 5k budget. You may be able to find some deals in the classified here or get good (but not excellent) wheels for under 3k.

Of course, with the larger wheels comes the lowering to compensate for the "SUV/4x4" look. I f you have enough $ in the budget, I'd go for Tein CS with EDFC. You can then get very soft cruising modes or tighten it up for a bit better handling. All this setting from inside your cabin. There are other good coilovers but I am just suggesting one as an example. I think this will set you back about 1600 - 1700. Install not included. There are also shock/springs alternatives like L-tuned or Daizen.

If you want to tweak more, Daizen f/r sways. You can adjust the rear ones to control understeer or oversteer (3 settings: under, neutral, over). $500 parts.

Then if more tweaking, Tom's f/r LCBs are nice. $750 parts.

The wheels will probably be your biggest ride quality impace. The Tein CS are actually pretty smooth. Daizen sways are surprisingly near-stock like with great control of body lean/roll. The LCBs will add some harshness but great to tighten up the car, expecially the rear-end "jiggle".

If after the sways and you just want to manage the rear, the Tom's 6-link LSB is also pretty good. These are 300+ for parts.

Let me know if you want more info.

D2-AUTOSPORT

That is a very good point you make about the Newb questions, and you are right, at one time or another we were ALL newbs! LOL

There are a couple members on the board that have/had GS4s with suspension mods and wheel upgrades that were not overboard (17s, 18s) PM a couple guys like DaveGS4, 1SICKLEX, Hameed, etc) All of these guys have 17 or 18" wheels (to maintain ride quality), and some of them (Dave, 1SICK) did their suspensions to the upper limits (braces/sways and all) so they could probably give you a blow by blow of the part, and the diff it made.

Good luck bud

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

Kam,

If you want to take a road trip to Charlotte, I'll show you what a fully decked out GS with suspension feels like so you can see the end result.

I recommend for many new members that they read this thread which is a great primer. There are some new items now available that aren't described in that thread (Daizen sways in particular come to mind) because they weren't out then.

I hope no one has been rude to you and we pretty much are a civil and helpful bunch here. I was actually pretty surprised to read that in your post since ClubLexus really is pretty mature and we don't tolerate the flaming that goes on in many other forums I browse. Enjoy your stay

I'm also moving your post to the suspension section of this forum since thats what your questions address

3dog

iTrader: (1)

i thought the gs400 sloppy and floaty to. so first i got the bilstein sport shocks, a bit stiffer than stock, and i liked that but sometimes the rear end would kinda hop over small bumps. so i got the eibach pro springs. that got rid of the hop but i noticed at over 60 mph if i went over a bridge bump the back end would wobble, same thing on a big uphill curve i like to go up around 80 mph the back end would start wobbling and i didn't like that. then i thought okay get the daizen sways and at the same time i got the trd front strutt tower bar. hey ride improved and stayed flatter but still had some of the wobbles at higher speeds. next it was the toms front lower brace, rear lower brace, six piece link set and the upper rear strutt brace. well that improved the tightness of the steering like you wouldn't believe and ride was flatter still. still had a few wobbles though and didn't like how low car was because of the springs (kept hitting concrete curbs and barriers with nose of car) so i decided to get adjustable height coilovers first i ordered bilstein pss in early oct and they charged my credit card and then told me they would be here sometime around new years. well i can't wait forever when i want it right now so i canceled that order and got some jic magic FLT-2AS that i read about on this forum. so now car is exact height i want and i'm still fooling with how stiff the ride is, but guess what all the wobble is gone under all conditions and the only limit seems to be the size of my ***** on curves, cause the car will go faster than i've wanted to push it. this car handles better than i ever dreamed that it would but i have given up the soft cushy ride it had. would i want to go back no way. next is torsen limited slip 3.76, on order should be installed within two weeks. then torque converter next year and at some point large wheels and big brakes