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Braces and sways, oh my

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Old Oct 21, 2014 | 01:49 PM
  #1  
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tknx
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Default Braces and sways, oh my

As I put together my upgrade list, I find it frustrating that there are so few upgrade parts for the car. And no central place for seeing what the options are.

I have a 2013 F-Sport and it seems like there are underbraces and strut tower braces by Tanabe. Is that it? Is there an F-sport brace out there?

What about sway bars? Worth upgrading or not?
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Old Oct 22, 2014 | 02:41 PM
  #2  
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Originally Posted by tknx
As I put together my upgrade list, I find it frustrating that there are so few upgrade parts for the car. And no central place for seeing what the options are.

I have a 2013 F-Sport and it seems like there are underbraces and strut tower braces by Tanabe. Is that it? Is there an F-sport brace out there?

What about sway bars? Worth upgrading or not?
I have the upper and lower braces from Tanabe. As far as I know, F-Sport doesn't make them for the 4GS.

I heard there might be aftermarket sway bars but I don't think they are any thicker than the stock ones if I recall the thread correctly.

Coil Overs are also available for the 4GS.
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Old Oct 22, 2014 | 03:28 PM
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So far, I have found:



1. Tanabe strut tower brace
2. Tanabe underbrace
3. Think Design Center Floor Brace - http://www.think-design.jp/center_floor_brace_top.html
4. Think Design Center Suspension Member Brace (http://www.think-design.jp/sus_member_brace_top.html)

Think also does a bunch of other collars and other stuff - Stabilizer bracket (http://www.think-design.jp/stabilize...ket_top.html); DIff mount collar (http://www.think-design.jp/duracon_d...unt_top.html); etc...

terry - did you find the braces worth it?
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Old Oct 22, 2014 | 07:24 PM
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Aftermarket parts support for this car is horrible, but slowly and gradually it is getting better
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Old Oct 22, 2014 | 08:48 PM
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subscribed
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Old Oct 23, 2014 | 09:34 AM
  #6  
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Yeah, mods for this car are kind of thin, and I don't see very many of them here in the Bay area, so I worry it will never really develop.
- I emailed Apexi about their supercharger, but I suspect it would be cheaper to just trade in on a GS-F.
- I also am looking into hacking the information display between the speed and tach to put radar detector info there

For suspension stuff - I know that one member (e39ng) has the Think Design stuff listed in his sig, but haven't heard from him when I PMed him.
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Old Oct 23, 2014 | 11:16 AM
  #7  
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Hello all,
Yes I have some think-design stuff on mine...I bought:
Center Floor brace--Installed
Adjustable front sway bar link--haven't installed yet
Rear suspension member brace--Installed
Rear suspension member collar--Installed
I also have:
Swift Springs
TRD front and rear sway bar
Tanabe front under brace
Tanabe front strut tower bar






I am very satisfied with all these parts. My car handles 10x better. Maybe you can achieve the same thing with just a coilover but this is my daily driver and I want to maintain a reasonably comfortable ride.
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Old Oct 23, 2014 | 12:26 PM
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From: CA
Default

Originally Posted by tknx
So far, I have found:



1. Tanabe strut tower brace
2. Tanabe underbrace
3. Think Design Center Floor Brace - http://www.think-design.jp/center_floor_brace_top.html
4. Think Design Center Suspension Member Brace (http://www.think-design.jp/sus_member_brace_top.html)

Think also does a bunch of other collars and other stuff - Stabilizer bracket (http://www.think-design.jp/stabilize...ket_top.html); DIff mount collar (http://www.think-design.jp/duracon_d...unt_top.html); etc...

terry - did you find the braces worth it?
Body feels stiffer after installation. It is actually most noticeable when going up driveways at an angle.

The parts feel great on my daily driver, but it's hard to say whether or not something is "worth it" without being able to quantify the improvements before and after (like at the track?).
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Old Oct 23, 2014 | 12:31 PM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by tknx
Yeah, mods for this car are kind of thin, and I don't see very many of them here in the Bay area, so I worry it will never really develop.
- I emailed Apexi about their supercharger, but I suspect it would be cheaper to just trade in on a GS-F.
- I also am looking into hacking the information display between the speed and tach to put radar detector info there

For suspension stuff - I know that one member (e39ng) has the Think Design stuff listed in his sig, but haven't heard from him when I PMed him.
There was a recent thread about the Apexi blower set up, but it was taken down for what ever reason. The last time they installed it onto a car for a show didn't last long. I was told there were tuning issues and the blower didn't make as much power as they wanted.

I'm very curious to know what they used for engine management.
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Old Oct 23, 2014 | 05:18 PM
  #10  
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Yeah, what I've gathered is that the engine just can't take FI. Which is why lexus didn't follow up with the supercharged GS from several years ago (I suspect the GS F might have been supercharged if it had worked). I miss the days when Toyota build engines like the 2JZ which had basically endless capacity...

As it is, I think you are better off trading for a GS-F or, hell, going Tesla S P85+ D or whatever they call it if you want more power/speed.
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Old Nov 16, 2014 | 10:47 PM
  #11  
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tknx
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Originally Posted by e39ng
Hello all,
Yes I have some think-design stuff on mine...I bought:
Center Floor brace--Installed
Adjustable front sway bar link--haven't installed yet
Rear suspension member brace--Installed
Rear suspension member collar--Installed
I also have:
Swift Springs
TRD front and rear sway bar
Tanabe front under brace
Tanabe front strut tower bar






I am very satisfied with all these parts. My car handles 10x better. Maybe you can achieve the same thing with just a coilover but this is my daily driver and I want to maintain a reasonably comfortable ride.
So have you thought about adding more of the Think stuff - lower arm bushings, etc.? Shame that nobody local is doing this stuff - although I know FIGS does it for the IS.
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Old Sep 5, 2016 | 03:57 PM
  #12  
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From: PA
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Does the Tanabe lower Under brace make a big difference? I have installed the strut bar and notice a little bit when making turns. I am planning on use the 2013 GS AWD as a daily driver.

Thanks.
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Old Oct 16, 2016 | 06:09 AM
  #13  
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Sorry for resurrecting an old thread. Anybody know if the Think Design parts work on AWD models?

There doesn't seem to have been much of an increase in after market support over the past couple years
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