I just leased another GS for business use, a 2010 GS 350 RWD. I've been driving my personal 2006 GS 300 AWD for years now and I swear I feel a big difference in the steering feel. My GS 350 is noticably more powerful, but for some reason the GS 300 has a sportier tighter steering feel. As if it has less power assist and more direct feel.

At first I thought I was crazy when I was driving it home, but then I jumped back into my 2006 and I know for sure there is a difference. Is there a different steering option that I am unfamiliar with, or was there a change? My 2006 did have the steering rack recall done years ago, but I didn't notice a change when they did that so it has felt the same since I bought it.

Anyone know what the difference is here?

 

The only thing i can think of is tires that make it softer,

 

It's not that. My 2006 actually has 17 inch tires with larger sidewalls than the 18's on the 2010. Also the difference is in the steering feel, not the comfort.

 

I think he's referring to tire pressure, which can cause it. I'm with you though, I wish my 07 had better feedback and less power assist but it is what it is. It's not a sports car!

 

Well 18 weight more then 17, check tire pressure. Also if you got grippy tires it will be harder to steer. Thats really all i can possible think of that could be the difference between the 2. Oh well maybe gs350 weights more because of bigger engine and awd differential in the front which will also make steering stiffer.

 

Wouldn't the differance between AWD and RWD play a factor in this? With power going to the front wheels, I'd think the steering setup between the 2 cars would be a bit different.

 

Did you have VGRS on your GS300? VGRS increases assist at lower speeds. Could be that.

Also If you have both AVS and VGRS there is a noticeable difference in steering weight in sport vs normal.

 

That's got to be the difference. I think that the GS300 has VGRS and the GS350 does not.

 

I think its actually that the GS430 and GS460 have the VGRS and the GS300 and 350 have 3.1 turn lock.
here is the site link.http://www.lexus.com/models/GS/detai...fications.html

 

That link you posted won't show the GS300 because it is only showing the current models. The GS300 wasn't manufactured after 2006.

This link shows the GS300, GS430, and GS450h as having the option. Curiosly, the GS460 is not on this list. Also, let me clarify that I'm only saying that my GS350 doesn't seem to have the option. Don't know about other ones.

http://www.lexus.com.bh/technology_e....asp?model=All

 

It's strange though. I've driven other cars with this type of technology and this isn't really what I'm experiencing. The steering just feels tighter at all speeds.

 

if your 06 has vgrs, then it has to be on your sticker because it's an option, i don't think it's standard feature.

and even if your car has the feature, i doubt it's what making your 06 steering "tighter". the whole idea of vgrs is to making steering more responsive at low speed, it doesn't make the steering tighter. i have driven a lot of ls460 and my ls460l had vgrs so i could tell the difference.

it could be that when they did the steering rack recall, they tightened up the steering column pretensioner. back in the 2gs days it was a way to get tighter steering with a bit compromise on power steering. if you had the car and did the recall and steering tightened up, changes might not be as obvious compared to now when you jump between the two cars.

i know when i put mods on my car, often time i notice difference, but they are much more noticeable when one day i take everything out

 

It's definitely not a VGRS issue. I agree. After I thought about it, the VGRS would not cause the differences I noticed between the two cars.

 

i really tend to wonder if the steering recall had something to do with it.

i don't have much personal experience with the 06 gs300 (or gs430 for that matter) to give a good comparison

 

The best way I could describe it is that my GS300 feels as if it has about 70% the amount of power steering assistance than my GS350 does. I don't think there was a difference when they did the steering rack TSIB.