Shnerez420

I just got my GS about 2 weeks ago and just about the only thing I dislike about it is the way the car rolls around turns.
I was thinking about lowering the car a bit but I heard alot of negative feedback about lowering these cars. I found alot of people say that loweing the car makes the car wear away much quicker.
Im thinking about a front strut tower bar, will that help with the roll? How will that effect the ride? Will I need to follow that with a rear STB? What else can I do about the roll without effecting the integrity of the car?
Thanks!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

if you dont' want to lower your car, get sway bars

Shnerez420

Any sway bars that you recommend?
Also, what do the STB's do to the drive of the car?
Thanks!

LB Lex

I have an STB on a GS with stock suspension. It really just makes the front end more solid because it connects the strut towers, so the stock suspension works effeciently. But, the stock suspension can only do so much in keeping the car stable during cornering, that's why you've got to upgrade the sway bars and the springs/shocks.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

persoanlly i recommend the daizen, which i have on the car and i love it. you can email todd@tmengineering.net to get it

some other people have the trd blues. they are good too, but i think the ride is not as good as the dizen

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Get upgraded sways or coilovers (or both ). Don't know what you mean by the car 'wearing away quicker' if it's lowered, you mean tire wear?

About sways, as rominl said, Daizen or TRD blue are the most common. The Daizen's are more comfortable than the TRDs but, (and this has been debated to death so it's JUST MY OPINION), I don't think theyre quite as flat as the TRD blues, but believe me, either set is going to be worlds better than stock. If you're not going to upgrade the springs/shocks or go to coilovers, I'd get the Daizen sways from tmengineering.net.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

can't agree more with you man espeically if you decide to stay with the stock suspension, get either the trd or the daizen will be just as good imho

Shnerez420

What I meant by "wearing away quicker" is that I hear that lowering the car puts alot of stress on the rest of the suspension, thus putting more wear on the other suspension components... would you agree?
What exactly is the benifit of the front STB and how would the feel of the drive change once a ffront STB is added?

PHML

iTrader: (33)

In order to get a completely better feel....a combination of suspension parts are needed....stb, lcb, sway bars, s/s or coilovers.

As for stb... when making turns, the body frame flexes. Stb keeps it from flexing by stiffening and squaring up the frame.

Lcb acts similarly to stb...it keeps the underbody components from flexing and stretching apart.

Sway bars eliminates/minimiizes body roll.

And lastly, s/s or coilovers drops the car height....more importantly, it actually drops the center of gravity...and imo, it makes your car look better too.

mooretorque

Short answers: no, I don't agree. Lowering the car (unless done radically) will not significantly change the geometry and therefore the loading of the suspension components (at least, not with a street car). And the only things that do wear in the first place are bushings and shocks, to all intents and purposes.

As PHML pointed out, the STB helps stiffen the frame but with the floppy/wobbly stock suspension, the change will be absolutely unnoticeable. And under ordinary driving conditions, the same applies. One must be driving fairly aggressively (borderline stupid on city streets, not that there aren't times when the only thing at risk is YOUR car and YOUR *** - you should never, ever drive in such a way as to potentially endanger other drivers with your behavior) in order for the forces involved to affect the unibody and therefore feel palpable improvement from the stiffer/boxed frame.

The single most important improvement, imho, is to upgrade shocks and springs. The GS4 series is scary and arguably borderline unsafe given its power when driven aggressively; GS3 maybe more so since most models had 16" 55 series tires and were therefore even more floaty.

As far as ride, a more controlled feel combined with essentially no degradation in comfort is easily achievable. I mean, c'mon, I'm 51 y/o and have to listen to SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED; SHE is not a gearhead by any means but prefers my GS now to its original condition.


Allow me to point out, young Jedi, that bitkahuna and rominl are Masters!! Their wisdom is hard won and from personal experience.

PHML

iTrader: (33)

I must disagree with you on this point....i felt the difference (albeit not drastic) with just the stb on stockers. Maybe you need to safely rip them corners more to get that feel.

Pete

HKGS300

I also disagree with Mooretorque

I have tried several different strut bars, and found out that even the puny Tanabe stb will have a significant effect on the handling. The car will feel much more solid and steering will feel much more solid as well.

I agree that the effect of strut tower bars are sometimes difficult to feel, and this is absolutely true for european cars, like Audi, BMW, Mini Cooper, since those car chassis are designed much more stiff.

However, the chassis of our GS ... is not known to be stiff... and that's why the addition of stb, sways, braces ... will dramatically improve the handling of our cars ... giving us the pleasure of modding

Shnerez420

Thanks everyone for your responses.

Im not looking to really mod my car up, I really want to keep its integrity but just get rid of that looseness Im getting around turns... or even sometimes changing lanes at higher speeds.
It sounds to me like the STB will be a small improvement but the sway bars will be really what Im looking for... possibly both.

What should I expect to pay for sway bars and intallation it?

Once again, thanks everyone for your input!

PHML

iTrader: (33)

Sways run about $500 for Daizens. Its a pure DIY job...get a buddy to help....if you can follow directions....and you got some tools....then its pretty simple.

Pete

Shnerez420

You know where I can find DIY instructions for that install?
Also, what makes one sway bar better than another? How do they differ?
Thanks!