JWS3

I notice no difference whatsoever. I only faintly had the clunk and it was intermittent at most. Started @ 2500 miles or so and I've got about 3500 now.

Not much to say- I sense nothing different. Firmness, handling, etc are all the exact same. The way home was 95% highway, so I didn't even get to test for the clunk itself. If I see/hear/feel anything I'll keep all posted.

Jim

looknow12

I put a lot of thought into this at the time. I truly didn't like the vehicle's agilty, handling, and safety without the KDSS. That's my opinion and as a result traded my GX in for one with KDSS. Have never looked back.

Here's my review: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...now%27s+review

The G Man

Humm, interesting, could it be that this TSB only make the non-KDSS GX handle better.

W8MM

Same for me.

It was KDSS, or no GX!

When I test drove the GX without KDSS, my wife and my two teenage daughters complained bitterly about how "tipsy" the standard GX was in the corners. They said no way. (We were trading an LX470.)

Then, we drove a GX equipped with KDSS (admittedly rare at that moment) . They liked the cornering manners (greatly reduced body roll) much better as passengers. And, I gave up wishing for a Cayenne (too small for all their stuff). I was sold on KDSS before I left the dealer's lot for the test drive. I did a couple of "pace lap" swerves on the way to the driveway exit and could see there was a night and day difference in the suspension even before I took it up to speed.

The GX with KDSS is the perfect compromise between ride and handling in an SUV.

I've owned lots of sports cars and race cars over the years and I wouldn't even consider a GX without KDSS.

GGGXXX

In my opinion, KDSS is worth it - -even if you don't offroad. The larger sway bar simply means less body roll in turns and I think someone rightly pointed out that even for passengers it doesn't bounce around as much or feel tipsy in turns...so just a flatter ride.

KDSS + highest setting on sport is the way we drive it...good enough for somewhat sporty handling for this size suv....within suv limits of course

I like the darkened headlights and the graphite wheels although not having 18" wheels like 4runner is just plain stupidity from Lexus...maybe they will introduce it in '07? The black wood is not the best but I like the silver/titanium interior .....(and I did not like the orangish steering in the base anyway....)

looknow12

If you're doing all highway driving you may not notice the differences KDSS provides as you're driving mainly straight. Here was my bullet point of differences:

You don't feel that hoola hoop sensation the GX used to give. Kind of like a boat, the car would rotate on its axis appying the load to each wheel in a clock wise, or counter clock wise fashion.
The KDSS eliminates that bracing everything together

Braking is much more solid. The GX without KDSS would typically favor one front wheel to shift its weight to during braking causing an unstable stopping situation. The KDSS seems to keep the truck's weight very evenly distributed between the two front wheels during braking. This makes for a much tighter solid braking experience.

The bottoming out seems to have been eliminated. Perhaps it's harder now for the vehicle to bottom out. My theory was always that the front suspension would hit a dip in the road and shift the weight to the back suspension causing the rear to bottom out. However the front to rear is linked, this effect seems to be nearly eliminated.

Handling is amazing. Take a turn at nearly the speeds you would with an IS and you'll motor right through. The harder you push the GX through the turn, the better you seem to notice the improvement with the KDSS.

Wind Sway does not appear improved

The suspension can now be left in the Soft setting at all times. The only time I would select a stiffer setting is if I was going off road.
The soft suspension seems a bit stiffer than my 03 without KDSS. I must remember that this GX has only 800 miles on it, things may still break in. I have reduced the air pressure in the tires to 32 front/33 rear. That's the way I like it. No the air pressure monitor did not get set off :-)

The G Man

I definitely would not compare the IS to the GX, even with the KDSS. The KDSS helps but it is still a truck with high center of gravity, the KDSS system does not change that. If you push hard into a corner like you would a IS, you will be in for a big surprise, hopefully the VSC will help you out and brake for you.

looknow12

Both will force the VSC to kick in before anything happens (speeds under 40). My comfort level may be different than others certainly. As a side note I was speaking of the 1st gen IS, not that it matters. Certainly the center of gravity differs, but in terms of understeer, expect the same amount of understeer from the IS 1st gen you would from a GX with KDSS. There's not much.