Well, my car is back to stock. Work was completed today. I posted an ad in the marketplace for the swift springs.

 

Was it just the springs being switched out? And what’s the ride like going back stock?

 

I have become tired of the mismatch in damping between the fresh 2018 rears I had installed last year and my KYB aftermarket fronts, especially with my RSR springs. I may be installing rear KYBs in the coming months and posting the OEM dampers (10,000mi, all with RSR Down springs) with up for sale if anyone is interested.

 

What difference do you notice in the dampening, are the fronts stiffer than the rears? Are they AVS?

 

You going back to Stock springs also?

 

Correct. I believe KYB benchmarked the valving of one of the 13-15 AVS dampers when they developed their aftermarket replacements. The fronts feel stiffer than the rear. The rear is very comfortable, but I don't like the feel.

Absolutely not.

 

True.
I find the OEM 2016-20 RWD shock absorbers nice and floaty.
Meanwhile the OEM early-2014 RWD has firmer body control, with the OEM 2015 RWD giving the most "tied-down" ride - handling almost like a compact sedan - but a tiring ride.

 

Technically not exactly. Back to Stock 13 AWD AVS. When you get some test time driving let us know how that switch to the 13 springs feels? I keep saying IMO the 13 was the firmest handling suspension of all the years. If you have not done yet.... go front and back and try to push down or your car now. My stock 13 would barely move down with very little rebound also.

​​​​​@peteharvey I went back and measured my 2013 RWD AVS springs and they are also exactly 1" shorter height than 2018 RWD AVS springs. My thoughts of late are to try the 17+ GS F AVS springs. The GS F does sit lower if you look at pics of them stock. Do you think the Springs are why they sit lower? The Shocks are diff on the GS F and have a diff shock mount also.

 

It's been a long time since I was able to drive my OEM 2015 RWD springs back to back against my friend's OEM 2013-14 RWD coil springs.
They felt pretty much the same, so I wouldn't be surprized if you said your OEM 2013-14 RWD coils are bit firmer, because on photo, they look very much the same, with the original 2013-14 having a squared end which is theoretically firmer than the 2015 RWD's tapered end.
The biggest difference between my OEM 2015 RWD and my friend's OEM 2014 RWD is the damping - nee body control.
My OEM 2015 body control is extremely taut, and my car handles "almost" like a compact sedan!
My friend's OEM 2014 is floatier body control, and cannot handle as well as mine, but he has a less tiring ride.

However, my retrofitted OEM 2016-20 RWD shock absorbers are really soft and more floaty.
The retrofitted OEM 2019-20 RWD coil springs have exactly 1" more axial height at rest with the same ride height, hence are more compliant too.

Your OEM 2016-18 RWD coils are exactly 1" taller in axial height too - hence I can only imagine it is more compliant, and possibly exactly the same as my OEM 2019-20 RWD coils - albeit strangely with different part numbers - some posters like JDR76 many years ago alluded that it may be sourced from different suppliers - hence different part numbers but the same specs?
The only way I can really find out is to test drive my 2015 retrofitted with 2019-20 RWD coils against a 2016-18 RWD GS350.

The GS F springs will be different.
I wouldn't be surprized if GS F V8 has a lower ride height than the GS350's.

 

Yes, lowering springs was the only mod on my car. To clarify, I installed OEM 2013 F-Sport AWD springs. My GS is a 2018 F-Sport AWD. As for ride...well...after having sport lowering spring, anything is going to feel like a boat. I will need some time to get used to OEM. However, I can tell you it is silky smooth again, and, any bounce, jolt or jerk when traveling over something like a sewer cap, going over RR tracks, etc... is gone and/or greatly subdued with OEM. I do have to say visually is sucks and you do feel like you're sitting higher in the car. It feels bigger. On the way home from the dealer, I did go through the drive modes. Eco is like riding on a pillow in an 80's Cadillac. Sport+ does tighten things up "a little." But, at this point I feel the aspirations of any performance are gone. I'll add more feedback as time goes on, but simply stated, it feels like a luxury highway cruiser again... as it was intended. Another reason for going back to stock is that I may be trading the car for something else. I'm trying to talk my wife into it.

 

Update:
It has been one week since going back to stock springs. To re-iterate, this was the only mod on my car--everything is stock. After a week of driving around here and there, it's clearly back to feeling the same way when I first bought the car: Big-Old-Boat. The front may be a "smidge" firmer since they are 2013 springs (all around), but honestly hard to discern for sure--especially coming off sport lowering springs. I can provide this piece of advice: For those of you that are considering going back to stock springs/dampers, etc., AND currently have a host of other performance mods on your GS already, then I do not recommend it. IMHO, the stock suspension will totally mismatch the other performance improvements of your GS. I only had the swift springs on my car for a couple months, and still, going back to stock was a big change. To be honest, it was bigger than I thought. Of course, there is some noticeable firmness when in Sport+. However, I now have to leave the car in that mode all the time if I want any inkling of feeling sporty. I've yet to pull the AVS fuse to see what that feels like. Btw, having been using sport+ for a while, I discovered I do not care for that white ring that displays around the rpm dial when in sport+ mode. It's actually a visual distraction for me--especially at night. I wish it had the separate analog dials from the base/luxury models (as well as the 13-15 GS's). I feel they are classic and match the rest of the GS interior. I always felt the "f-sport" instrument cluster is a little gimmicky and should be left to the true, high performance F models. If I could swap to the analog cluster I would--especially if I end up having to keep the car for a little while longer.

 

The white ring is very distracting at night. What I have done is set my Custom mode to full sport, so at night I can run essentially Sport+ without the white tach ruining my night vision.

 

Didn’t know that. I’ll check it out.

 

Custom mode is kind of useless for anything else. The factory configurations cover most of the bases; I don't see a use case for combining Sport suspension with Eco Powertrain and Eco Climate, or Normal Suspension with Eco Powertrain and Normal Climate, etc.

 

Update (#3)
I finally got around to pulling the fuse to deactivate the AVS system. My
brother and I took a drive for about 50 miles. Holy crap!
If you want your GS to drive like a go-kart, then this is the setting for you. It is super firm and you feel everything. And I’m back with stock springs. I couldn’t imagine what it would’ve been like with the Swifts. It seriously felt like the car was half its size (vs. driving a boat). I wonder if this can be turned on/off while the car is on? I would run wires from the fuse box position, incorporate the fuse and an on/off toggle switch. Then you have 4 modes: Eco, Sport, Sport+ and KB (Kidney Buster). Lol…