lostape45

Hi all!

I picked up a super clean and original 2014 Lexus GS350 F Sport AWD with only 58k on it in early October. This is my 4th Lexus, past cars being an ES300, GS300, then IS300. Brief break to an Acura TSX and Civic Si and now I'm back! I didn't really find any reviews of the GS350 F Sport or any model designation and a review of lowering comfort, or at least not as in depth as I had hoped. The car desperately needed lowered especially being an all wheel drive model with the extra bit of height from the factory.

That being said, I ordered a set of the standard BC Coilovers in the BR flavor for the AWD version of the GS350 (LR15) with the standard 10k springs in both front and rear (thanks to Meraki for the help ordering!). I was a bit skeptical on how the car would ride once lowered and especially since this was my first set of coilovers on any car and we all know the GS rides very nice in stock form. Let's get into some photos before I give my full review:

Before coils:


After coils:


I apologize because I completely forgot to measure fender to ground distance from stock to lowered, so I do not have accurate dimensions as to how far I have the car lowered. However, I am estimating it is about 1.8-2 inches just based off of my hand measurements. As you can see from the photos, the car sits MUCH better than OEM and has a proper stance and presence to it. May be too low for some, but overall the GS isn't a low car so making it this low aftermarket hasn't caused me any issues with driveways, speedbumps, etc and I even have that front lip installed that gives it about another half inch lower valance in the front.

Handling and ride comfort:
I am not joking when I say there is little downside to putting these specced BC coils on the car with the 10k front and rear spring combo. Sure you can upgrade for another roughly $1000 to get the RSR coils with adjustable damper compatibility with the stock AVS system, but I personally never found myself changing modes in this car, and these coils will be a set it and forget it for me. The car can ride rough and crashy in full stiff and have excellent handling or just as soft as normal mode in the car in full soft and some improved handling with less body lean. For anyone on the fence about either replacing the stock worn out suspension or anyone looking to lower the car, I cannot recommend this coilover package enough. The adjustability has impressed me as far as the range it can be adjusted, as well as the amount of height adjustability available for those who do not want to go as low as I did.

I have personally never installed or removed any suspension by myself, but I was able to get it done with little issues on this car. I'm giving the car a few hundred miles before I get it aligned in case I want to adjust the suspension one last time. The only hiccup being the rear sway bar end links, so if your car hasn't had them replaced yet or within a few years, I'd highly advise having an extra set ready to replace as mine needed to be cut off. There are plenty of guides on the forums and youtube videos for the GS350 and GS-F, which for the AWD version, there is just a difference in how the shock attaches in the front to the lower control arm which is not difficult to figure out. If anyone has any questions, feel free to reach out! I figured I'd post this up since I was very worried I'd "ruin" the ride of my nice new GS and couldn't find anyone's review after they installed any form of coilovers. Rest assured, you can keep the ride fully stock feeling or you could make it quite stiff with the dampening adjustment of these coils.

Enjoy some more pictures of the car in lowered form below:

jgscott

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for sharing the review. Looks nice. I am not a very low drop fan, and that looks not very low so I like it. Can you describe a little more how the ride is, over bumps and other?

lostape45

Yeah I didn't want to "slam" the car, but I did want to eliminate wheel gap and felt it's at a good medium now. I would say the car absorbs bumps better than stock, as in they upset the chassis much less. With stock suspension a mid corner bump or expansion joint would cause the car to sort of "jump" but that has all been eliminated. The dampening will determine what the car rides like, full stiff is ungodly stiff, and full soft rides very similar to OEM in normal mode. Definitely a tad floaty, but overall more composed than the OEM suspension. I would say it is less jolty over bumps with the new coilovers and really the only way I can tell the car is lowered is solely just from the overall ride height adjustment. I have the car set at the middle between soft and stiff and I would say it rides like Sport + with an additional +. A bit more firm, but hardly any body roll and still very smooth on the highway and over bumps. Basically you have the option to dial in how you want it to ride via the top of the shocks and the dampening adjustment. I hope this helps!

er34

Are you running spacers too?

initial

What setting are you on for your BC? I'm at 17 in the fronts and 15 in the rears.

lostape45

yes, 15mm front and 20mm, I have had some rubbing on what I would imagine is the fender liner in the front on large highway dips

normally I run about 16 and 14, but I've been running on 12 and 8 for ultra highway cruising comfort with the holiday traveling

asciarra21

Car looks great!
And thank you for the review.
Now only to talk the wife into letting me add coil overs to her GS

lostape45

Thank you! Honestly if you can steal the car from her for a day, you might be able to get away with swapping them out without her knowing

kuzumi

I love the height!... I am currently waiting on some Advan GT's for mine. My current setup is on Tanabe lowering springs. I wish mine could look that good.

lostape45

Thank you! I have some Velgen VMB5s that I picked up for my summer wheel set, I'll be running the stock F sport 19s for winter. I thought about going with lowering springs, but the original shocks at 58k made me shy away as I wasn't sure how long they'd last with springs on them. Plus the height adjustability alone was worth it for this chassis as I know some people end up having the rear sit lower than the front. That was the case for me at first, but I was able to just lower the front end in less than an hour. If your shocks ever go, I'd highly recommend going with a full coilover setup.