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Its just the nature of the softer suspension and it is bottoming out and hitting its bump stops. The size and weight of the overall wheel and tire will contribute significantly to how well it handles bumps. I literally blacked out for a split second when my new 2008 ES hit a big bump and it only had 17's. Luckily the tire didnt blow but I certainly felt it and all of it.
My LS460 bumped into a dear in the city several weeks ago. Headlamp cover is broken, panel above the light bend a little bit and bumper is coming out loose a little bit. The damage estimate is $5000 and our public insurance company pay for the fix because it is caused by wild animal. The headlamp alone is $2500.
2 days ago, my AFS panel light is flashing and ask me to check my AFS with the dealer. I check the issue online and I guess the height leveling sensor is bad. It should have nothing to do with my broken headlight lamp?
Oh, No. That black & white pic of my LS460 was taken before hitting the deer.
I am drive at 30miles/hour when I hit the deer and it just ran to the bushes. I don’t know whether the deer has a injury or not. There is 1 truck parked northbound, one SUV was driving northbound and I was driving southbound. The deer came out when the tails of 2 northbound vehicles and the front my car aligned one straight line. I have no time to see it coming. When hitting a deer, I just hear a light pop sound. It is almost like pushing away a paper box in front of you when you are running. I feel very calm and relieved once I saw it is not a human and keep my steering straight.
No. AFS warning lights coming up several weeks after I hit the deer. Lots of people online said it has something do with the leveling sensor underneath the car at the back
Im with Steve on this. Just because the deer strike happened doesn't mean it's unrelated. FWIW, yes....one sensor at the back (and one at the front) can set off the check light, but so can a damaged motor in the headlamp housing, or if the motor and associated gearing were jostled or damaged. For example, I installed an LED bulb in my housing that caused the headlamp bulb to not move appropriately inside. This caused the AFS warning light to come on, which resulted in many hours of useless diagnosis of the sensor.
have any of you driven both to compare how the ride is between:
1) LS430 or LS460 with air suspension; compared to:
2) GS 350 RWD with air suspension.
How does the ride compare? Is the GS as soft and smooth as the LS? Is the GS as prone to this "bottoming out" phenomenon? (in other words, is LS more prone due to its higher weight and longer length/wheelbase)
?
Originally Posted by SW15LS
I would try the lower pressure. What do you have to lose?
That illustrates the point, my 04 430 was 30 if I remember correctly. It's exactly the same car as your 06, so why the change?
As for tires I'm very happy with the Pirelli Cinturato P7 Plus on mine, but again I still find it rides better on lower pressure.
have any of you driven both to compare how the ride is between:
1) LS430 or LS460 with air suspension; compared to:
2) GS 350 RWD with air suspension.
How does the ride compare? Is the GS as soft and smooth as the LS? Is the GS as prone to this "bottoming out" phenomenon? (in other words, is LS more prone due to its higher weight and longer length/wheelbase)
I had both. First off the GS does not have an air suspension option. It has an AVS adaptive suspension, but its just adaptive dampers, not an air suspension like in the LS with AVS.
The GS is nowhere near as soft and smooth as the LS. The GS is a much more firmly sprung car, and bumps and jolts of all sizes are felt much more firmly in the GS than in the LS. The GS is very refined and solid, like the LS but the difference in ride is immediately apparent.
I feel the LS with the coil suspension rides very similarly to an LS with air suspension in "normal" mode. "Comfort mode" softens it up a little, but it tends to float and bob which makes that not as pleasant an experience as it could be if that makes sense.
I've never felt any of my LS sedans bottom out. I firmly believe the OP's issue wis because of tires and wheel size (sidewall size), and that better tires aired down will make an impact.
In May, I was looking for pre-owned LS460 and tested 2 2010 LS460s with air suspension. 2010 model comes with air suspension by default. One of them, set to normal and comfort modes, the ride is so firm that I can feel very inperfection on the road surface. The other one rides similar with the coil suspension but has lots of rust. I think air suspension on brand new LS should be better than the coil, but over the time, air suspension will stay in the mediocre status a long time before it failed.
I like the air suspension on the Jaguar XJ much better.
Even new, the air suspension is very similar to the coil spring car.
I think a lot of your ride issues with these cars test driving them is tires. The ride doesn't change that quickly over time. I bet a lot of those cars you drove that rode poorly had really high pressures. I've seen cars on lots with 40-50PSI and that has a huge impact on the ride.
