Upgraded my suspension recently, thought I would provide some thoughts and feedback.

I like a slightly sportier drive than the stock ES300. I know from experience that a few simple mods would help out and I didn't want to spend a bunch of money. Not racing, don't want to "slam" either car is just a daily driver. I can list all the parts replaced, I built whole new struts, but I'll focus on the "mod" parts right now.

Tokico HP "blues" struts - I like these, little firmer than the stock struts, hardly a sport part but probably a compromise as the same part is spec'd for the Camry, Avalon, and ES300. Better wheel control but a little more harsh is the trade off.

Whiteline 24/20 sway bars - Big tradeoff but I love these. Much flatter cornering, expected with such a thick sway bar. My stock bars measured 17/16. If you know your math you'll know the 24/20 is a HUGE increase in stiffness. There is a "loss of independence" with big bars, so the ride suffers a bit here too. This provides the extra spring needed as I used stock springs, there really isn't any spring out there any good for handling, just "lowering springs". *

Bridgestone RE760 - Basic performance summer tire, 215/55/16. Fit great on refinished stock 16s. I am going to run snow tires so this works out. I replaced the typical Michelin MXV4s. RE760s are just as quiet, slightly harsher ride, though I need to try sub 30psi pressure. Grip is way beyond the Michelins.

I have camber bolts, but at this time I have exceeded my expectations and met my goals, so I'll shelve those for now. It is impressive what more tire and a bit more spring can do. There is no need for the coilovers with adjustable height and crap dampers. this car will handle just as good, but it is not low with 18's and I have "wheel gap" and I'm not "VIP" so many will not like that. Cornering is limited by my ability to hang on to the steering wheel, as you all know the seats won't hold you ;-) The ride is not so smooth and loose like stock any more, but I can live with that.

(*)Now here is where I get to rant, before someone chimes in with the Internet car-board meme "front sway bar increases understeer" let me just point out that is WRONG. I drove around for a couple weeks with just the front bar installed in fact, and there was not very much difference from adding the rear bar. I didn't need to test it though because it is already known. If you think different Google "strut camber gain"

 

I haven't upgraded my front sway bar, but I will agree that having a bigger RSB helped a lot. I still have to do my struts and tires, so I'm hoping those will improve it even more.

One thing I experienced with my RSB upgrade is that it started to feel soft after some time. I can't tell if it's the mounting brackets or the fact that I got used to it.

 

Those rear mounting brackets are pretty solid, I bet you got used to the bar ;-) Do the front bar though, you will be astounded at the grip increase and neutral cornering...

Tires and struts will make a big difference. I was just driving today thinking how nice the ride still is. A little jarring over sharp surfaces, I still need to try the 26 psi in the tires see what that feels like. Much more my style of ride/handling compromise than the stock ES.

 

Hey Power6, would you by any chance have any part numbers for both the front and rear Whiteline sways?

 

BTF38
Front Sway bar - 24mm heavy duty

BTR39
Rear Sway bar - 20mm heavy duty

This is from Whiteline website.

 

^^That is correct. I would buy now if you want those I read Whiteline is discontinuing them soon.

 

I wonder how they would compliment my set of coilovers ^^

 

Do you know the spring rates on your coilovers? The Whiteline bars are stiff, it could be too much overall wheel rate depending...

 

yep, Front: 7kg/mm (392lbs/in) and the Rear: 3kg/mm (168lbs/in)

 

^^ How do you like your coilovers? How is the ride?
I'm contemplating coilovers for my '95. But i'm wondering how the ride feels, like if I were to take a trip to SoCal on a weekend, is the ride bareable for 5+hours? :P

 

Hey Smee,

If everything on the coil-over is set to soft then it definitely will be bearable.

If you want more comfort for a 5hr trip, install your OEM Wheels, the tire sidewall will provide more comfort than the low profile tires.

 

Good to know! I'm looking at D2 Coilovers.

What size wheel do you run?

 

Currently I'm driving on my OEM 205/65/15 set, since I sold my 18's which ran on 225/45 tires

 

That's pretty crazy. IIRC, the stock front bar is 18mm and the rear is 16mm.

 

cool, now you could use some brake upgrades and maybe an exhaust
pics would be nice