OK - why does the GS handle so poorly?
#16
Pole Position
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: California
Posts: 244
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
After driving the STI during the week for my commute, driving the GS on the weekends feels very different as you can imagine. I have the daizen sways with the Tein Flex sitting pretty low. Although clearly much better in the handling dept. from stock form, it's just not as agile as my commuter. But I don't and will not expect it to be an all out performance car. The GS is a luxury performance sedan that was designed for a smooth ride. It does extremely well in that department.
#17
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (7)
Originally Posted by gsfour
After driving the STI during the week for my commute, driving the GS on the weekends feels very different as you can imagine. I have the daizen sways with the Tein Flex sitting pretty low. Although clearly much better in the handling dept. from stock form, it's just not as agile as my commuter. But I don't and will not expect it to be an all out performance car. The GS is a luxury performance sedan that was designed for a smooth ride. It does extremely well in that department.
#18
Originally Posted by lexforlife
bro always set the rear 2 clicks softer then the fronts , front handles weight of engine and is fiirst to establish turn in so you want it slightly firmer , rears establish ride comfort
#19
Guest
Posts: n/a
As for the heavy factor? Audi A6 2.7T. I have driven this car, rather agressively I suppose, and it out handles the GS noticeably. Is it the AWD?
Compare this chart. And no, this isn't a request for "Why don't you just go buy an Audi?"
These mods we purchase for this car to barely achieve what other cars have stock, is what's strange to me - that we have to go 2x the distance to almost get to the finish.
Also - I think there's a misconception about the dampening adjustment on the Tein products. This does adjust rebound yes, but doing that also affects over/understeer significantly. Setting the front to the highest rebound ('stiffest') does not make the car handle better.
Compare this chart. And no, this isn't a request for "Why don't you just go buy an Audi?"
These mods we purchase for this car to barely achieve what other cars have stock, is what's strange to me - that we have to go 2x the distance to almost get to the finish.
Also - I think there's a misconception about the dampening adjustment on the Tein products. This does adjust rebound yes, but doing that also affects over/understeer significantly. Setting the front to the highest rebound ('stiffest') does not make the car handle better.
Originally Posted by chuckb
I love my 430, but the GS is just not an agile car. it's too long, heavy and numb. sometimes it feels funner to whip my wife's caravan through the twisties than my GS with Tein CS and 18 inch wheels.
#20
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (7)
Originally Posted by Lvangundy
Also - I think there's a misconception about the dampening adjustment on the Tein products. This does adjust rebound yes, but doing that also affects over/understeer significantly. Setting the front to the highest rebound ('stiffest') does not make the car handle better.
adjusting damper to a stiffer setting controls jounce or basically reduces the ocillation of the springs giving more immediate rebound to the springs.. you will corner faster and lane change quicker in a stiffer setting
doing this does not have adverse effect on understeer or oversteer.. your sways(meaning if adjustable and what setting its on) and other braces and how your wheel alignment is setup will have a profound influence on if you introduce understeer or oversteer however with teins cs and the like that just have lowering and damping setting while good can introduce a slight tendendcy to go out of balance when you go to low on your height for now you are changing the preload on the springs .. another point that most of us dont realize is when you drop your car say below 1.5 inches or so you can actually make your handling seem to be worse for you are changing the susp geometry by having your tie rod ends and lower controls operate at angles that they were not designed to operate within, whats needed is a roll center adapter to raise the steering knuckle to bring susp arms back within spec while driving but yet have the abilitly to lower the center of gravitiy of the car to obtain go cart like handling ..
i myself just installed a set of roll center adapters this past weekend that i obtained out of hong kong made for the aristo and it did what it said it would do , bumpsteer is gone , it leveled out my susp arms , and i had to raise my car almost 1 inch to account for the steering knuckle being raised a inch however my ride height is almost slammed , so in short , my susp thinks its barely lowered but my center of gravitiy is one that appears to be slammed , so i retain full shock travel and my spring preload is at its best to give ride comfort with razor sharp handling
#21
The Audi has a much stiffer chassis than the GS ... IMO this is the often the case between Japanese and German designs.
Although in the US Audi may not be compared to a BMW, in Germany, Audi is really eating into the BIMMER market share, and to do so, Audi had to come up with a more 'driver's oriented car.
IMO ... a stock Lexus handles more like a stock Mercedes ...
Although in the US Audi may not be compared to a BMW, in Germany, Audi is really eating into the BIMMER market share, and to do so, Audi had to come up with a more 'driver's oriented car.
IMO ... a stock Lexus handles more like a stock Mercedes ...
#22
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (7)
Originally Posted by HKGS300
The Audi has a much stiffer chassis than the GS ... IMO this is the often the case between Japanese and German designs.
Although in the US Audi may not be compared to a BMW, in Germany, Audi is really eating into the BIMMER market share, and to do so, Audi had to come up with a more 'driver's oriented car.
IMO ... a stock Lexus handles more like a stock Mercedes ...
Although in the US Audi may not be compared to a BMW, in Germany, Audi is really eating into the BIMMER market share, and to do so, Audi had to come up with a more 'driver's oriented car.
IMO ... a stock Lexus handles more like a stock Mercedes ...
#23
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (1)
Originally Posted by lexforlife
not quite true my friend
adjusting damper to a stiffer setting controls jounce or basically reduces the ocillation of the springs giving more immediate rebound to the springs.. you will corner faster and lane change quicker in a stiffer setting
doing this does not have adverse effect on understeer or oversteer.. your sways(meaning if adjustable and what setting its on) and other braces and how your wheel alignment is setup will have a profound influence on if you introduce understeer or oversteer however with teins cs and the like that just have lowering and damping setting while good can introduce a slight tendendcy to go out of balance when you go to low on your height for now you are changing the preload on the springs .. another point that most of us dont realize is when you drop your car say below 1.5 inches or so you can actually make your handling seem to be worse for you are changing the susp geometry by having your tie rod ends and lower controls operate at angles that they were not designed to operate within, whats needed is a roll center adapter to raise the steering knuckle to bring susp arms back within spec while driving but yet have the abilitly to lower the center of gravitiy of the car to obtain go cart like handling ..
i myself just installed a set of roll center adapters this past weekend that i obtained out of hong kong made for the aristo and it did what it said it would do , bumpsteer is gone , it leveled out my susp arms , and i had to raise my car almost 1 inch to account for the steering knuckle being raised a inch however my ride height is almost slammed , so in short , my susp thinks its barely lowered but my center of gravitiy is one that appears to be slammed , so i retain full shock travel and my spring preload is at its best to give ride comfort with razor sharp handling
adjusting damper to a stiffer setting controls jounce or basically reduces the ocillation of the springs giving more immediate rebound to the springs.. you will corner faster and lane change quicker in a stiffer setting
doing this does not have adverse effect on understeer or oversteer.. your sways(meaning if adjustable and what setting its on) and other braces and how your wheel alignment is setup will have a profound influence on if you introduce understeer or oversteer however with teins cs and the like that just have lowering and damping setting while good can introduce a slight tendendcy to go out of balance when you go to low on your height for now you are changing the preload on the springs .. another point that most of us dont realize is when you drop your car say below 1.5 inches or so you can actually make your handling seem to be worse for you are changing the susp geometry by having your tie rod ends and lower controls operate at angles that they were not designed to operate within, whats needed is a roll center adapter to raise the steering knuckle to bring susp arms back within spec while driving but yet have the abilitly to lower the center of gravitiy of the car to obtain go cart like handling ..
i myself just installed a set of roll center adapters this past weekend that i obtained out of hong kong made for the aristo and it did what it said it would do , bumpsteer is gone , it leveled out my susp arms , and i had to raise my car almost 1 inch to account for the steering knuckle being raised a inch however my ride height is almost slammed , so in short , my susp thinks its barely lowered but my center of gravitiy is one that appears to be slammed , so i retain full shock travel and my spring preload is at its best to give ride comfort with razor sharp handling
I'll have to ask you about suspension mods in the future. Anyways, for that roll center adapter. Where did you buy that? Since the suspension is raised back up, does this correct some of the camber issues?
#24
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (7)
Originally Posted by JeffTsai
Seems like you got the suspension knowledge down pretty good
I'll have to ask you about suspension mods in the future. Anyways, for that roll center adapter. Where did you buy that? Since the suspension is raised back up, does this correct some of the camber issues?
I'll have to ask you about suspension mods in the future. Anyways, for that roll center adapter. Where did you buy that? Since the suspension is raised back up, does this correct some of the camber issues?
thanks for the comps , i do a ton of research
yes the roll center does help bring the camber back within spec for you dont have to adjust the coils down beyond 1inch to get what a 2-2 1/2 inch drop would give you without them
after i installed these i had to raise my car up over a inch and right now i barely have a broken finger gap up front
#25
u guys have alot more done to ur cars than mine.. i have
tanabe df210 springs
l-tuned shocks
and carson tuned stb
19x9.5 19x10.5 wheels
i think my car handles pretty good for a car that weighs over 3k lbs
tanabe df210 springs
l-tuned shocks
and carson tuned stb
19x9.5 19x10.5 wheels
i think my car handles pretty good for a car that weighs over 3k lbs
#26
Pole Position
Originally Posted by lexforlife
i myself just installed a set of roll center adapters this past weekend that i obtained out of hong kong made for the aristo and it did what it said it would do , bumpsteer is gone , it leveled out my susp arms , and i had to raise my car almost 1 inch to account for the steering knuckle being raised a inch however my ride height is almost slammed , so in short , my susp thinks its barely lowered but my center of gravitiy is one that appears to be slammed , so i retain full shock travel and my spring preload is at its best to give ride comfort with razor sharp handling
And please tell me you will be at the Lexfest in Atlanta. I would love to ride in your car with these "roll center adaptors".
#27
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (7)
Originally Posted by KevinGS
wha-Wha-WHAT???? Please explain this further, and are there any trade-offs with this mod (excess tire or suspension wear, or excess coilover wear). This sounds very interesting. You been holdin' out on us???
And please tell me you will be at the Lexfest in Atlanta. I would love to ride in your car with these "roll center adaptors".
And please tell me you will be at the Lexfest in Atlanta. I would love to ride in your car with these "roll center adaptors".
yes yes i will be at lexfest this year with my crew
google search (roll center adapter) to better understand why its needed and used in racing
actually it is quite the reverse of what you asked , decreased tire wear because your camber will be well within spec , decreased susp wear for you are riding slighlty lower then stock but you actual ride height can be very low
#28
Pole Position
Originally Posted by lexforlife
yes yes i will be at lexfest this year with my crew
google search (roll center adapter) to better understand why its needed and used in racing
actually it is quite the reverse of what you asked , decreased tire wear because your camber will be well within spec , decreased susp wear for you are riding slighlty lower then stock but you actual ride height can be very low
google search (roll center adapter) to better understand why its needed and used in racing
actually it is quite the reverse of what you asked , decreased tire wear because your camber will be well within spec , decreased susp wear for you are riding slighlty lower then stock but you actual ride height can be very low
And I'll be looking for you at Lexfest.
#29
Lexus Champion
iTrader: (24)
I've had the roll center adapters on my GS for over a year and they do the job. My car is pretty low and I'm getting good wear patterns on the front tires with the roll center adapters. Like Ed, I had to raise my coilovers about an inch because I was really 'slammed,' and my front end was very susceptible to damage. If you want to be low, roll center adapters are worth the investment.
#30
Lexus Test Driver
I owned an Audi A6 2.7T before buying the GS and that car handled great. I think a large part of the handling was the quattro factor. All four wheels getting you around a turn creates great confidence in your driving. The GS feels like a much more lumbering type car. I was suprised by the A6/GS comparison chart above. I always thought the A6 felt much smaller than the GS. The GS just feels bigger and more "Luxury". Even with some suspension mods, my GS is not really close to the handling feel of the A6. I really think I need to do the Diazen front bushing swap to really tighten up the front end. That will be my next mod for sure.