I am happy with the Tein CST, but I will be taking the car in for its final alignment and height adjustment in a few weeks. I have a 245/30/20 in front a 275/30 in the rear. The drop is set to a finger gap front and rear ( before settling) Because the 275/30 has a fatter sidewall than the 245/30 the car is a little higher in the rear. I can either lower the rear to match the front or raise the front to even it out. I am leaning toward lowering the rear, but I dont know what thats going to do to tire wear. well I know what its going to do, but how fast will it burn tires on this big fat luxury car with staggered fitment that cant be rotated. what do you guys think??????????

 

Lower the rear. Usually the front takes a toll when it comes to inner wear due to camber, toe, and steering.

 

Then wouldnt it be better to raise the front up to match the rear?? I have to admit I can see the negative camber in the front tires as much as the rear right now. I know the reasonable thing to do would be to raise the front and spare the tires and even a touch of ride quality, but I know she will look hardcore if I bring the rear down.

 

pay to play, lower the rear

 

Yup, what rominl said. You've gone this far with your mods, it's too late to back off now to worry about tire wear. Drop the rear!

 

lower the rear...search for camber correction kits or plates if they make it

 

theres nothing available yet!!

but i agree with everyone else......lower the rear.

 

I went to lunch with corporate yesterday and I felt a little to low for comfort. They were looking at me like " what did this dude do to this lexus". I like the drop in the rear, but I will admit it will look better with the rear dropped a quarter inch. I can easily set it low now and then raise her up half an inch in the future. I love tein cst. I am leaning toward raising the front though. When you look at the car from the side the front looks to low now that the springs have settled. I feel that it takes away from the beauty of the front fender lines. Plus I drive 22-24k miles per year. I think with this car it might be time to grow up and go the responsible route. But damn it would look so nice dropped.

I think in the end my final plan will be to lower the rear for HIN in october, then raise it up after the show

 

who cares about what others think, do what suits you

i don't give a damn about what people in my office think, just like how i don't understand how they spend 2000 bucks on their wive's LV bags

i do over 24k miles a yr, even if i have to pay 1k per year on tires, that's nothing compared to a 50k car (and if anything i should look out on my 500 bucks/month gas bill first should i?)

 

Even at stock height, you will have inner tire wear with the stock tires. The lower you go, it will only increase your tire wear. The negative camber, inner tire wear is a fact of life with the geometry of our suspension. There is no way around it. As Rominl said, you gotta pay to play. If you are concerned about inner tire wear, fuel consumption and what people think about how your car looks, you should put the car back to stock, sell it, and get something else. It's really not that hard of a decision to make. Do what suits you. Other people's opinions will vary...and will only make your decision to make things happen even harder.

 

In terms of what people think about my car, my concern was perception and professional reputation.I am a doctor. In my line of work its not good to look juvenile or to cool. Thats not what inspires confidence. So if Im going out to lunch with corporate 1 time a year I am not stressing what anyone thinks, but I do notice the opinion of people outside our little lexus/tuner world (most of the real world). In this case it wasnt what they said as much as what they didnt say. I will probably just have the rear dropped a tenth or 2 and see what kind of tire wear I have, then I will go from there

 

who cares about perception by others, i never buy that. those who are streotype enough to judge a person's professionalism by what he's driving, those people have serious identity crisis. and driving a modified car is juvenile? i think that's more like your perception isn't it?

i am a professional and no people link my job with my car
i have a friend who's a university professor and he drives modded sport cars, no one cares
i have doctor friend who just mods cars like i do and park his car right outside his clinic, people are surprised but no one put him down on that

oh well

 

Most BMW's seem to be almost over the wheels. They are so low from the factory, I do not see anyone not too familiar with the GS and it's low production #'s seeing the one inch difference as out of place. If using it five times a year for corporate use, why not rent a car for the day. You could have something larger and not get those non enthusiast / busy body germs all over it. Hopefully there will be some camber plates in the near future.
If it's your only car, I would just go for tires earlier than planned, you seem to be passionate about it so go for it.

 

I would leave it alone, it looks flawless with just a hint of a down angle. Kind of like you are in attack mode.

steviej

 

Exactly. I have meetings with corporate entities for business lunches and dinners several times a year, Presidents, VP's CEO's you name it. I don't care what they think about what I drive or how I roll. I think this is more of a self esteem issue and a lack of confidence more than anything else. It's very clear that looks and material possesions are more important than one's actual professional reputation.