intense1

Has anyone driven the IS 350 with and without the sport suspension. I'm in the process of ordering the 350 with the sport package, but I'm concerned that the sport suspension might be to harsh of a ride. The dealers in my area have no 350's in stock with sports package so driving one is not an option. I know this is a pesonal preference, but any advise will help. Thanks

sjava

I have the same question but i'm into a stiff/sporty ride. How much the body roll decrease with sport suspension? How big are the wheel gaps with sport suspension? Thanks.

Ratman009

Unfortunately, I did not get to drive the two cars back to back, nor were they on the same roads (two different dealerships unfortunately). So here's my general impressions. I really didn't care for the Luxury package with the 18's. Felt too soft to me. A lot of understeer. The sport package seemed to cure a good portion of this. Personally, I would go for the sport package unless you really want the wood trim or you are looking for a more cushy ride and don't care too much about enthusiastic driving. My only gripe with the suspension echoed Car and Driver's complaints about the suspension feeling a bit too "busy" over washboard type bumps (i.e. small bumps spaced closely together). I could feel the suspension working VERY hard to keep up with all the little undulations, but it just couldn't do it. Kind of felt like the fluid in the shocks is too viscous or something. I did think that the car looked better with the slightly (I believe .5 inch) lower right height. Wheel gap is pretty minimal for a "stock" car.

Only other gripe is that the faux metal trim looks pretty darn cheap. It is obviously painted plastic. They really should have used real aluminum or something, though actual aluminum does tend to scratch easily) It also seemed to get glommed up pretty easily with fingerprints and such. Granted, this was a demo car, so it may not mean too much. At least the plastic wasn't scraped or gouged up yet, which is a good sign for long term reliability of the faux metal trim.

I also drove the IS250 AWD right before the sport packaged 350, and actually thought the 250 AWD actually handled better. The AWD has noticeably better feedback/weighting to the steering. I actually felt that the AWD car inspired more confidence than even the 350 sport package, at least at sane "daily driving" speeds.

cooney

Coming from an M3, albeit a pretty old M3 (I've had it since 1994), I was inclined to get the sport suspension too. . But it drove me nuts that it is only available in a $3,700 option package, which included a lot of stuff I didn't care about. . And the standard faux brushed metal which is required with that package does look pretty cheap. . (To my surprise, I really liked the wood trim, especially with the black leather interior, so I ordered the more modest, but still over-priced, "Premium" package.)

Back to the sport suspension. . Search this forum, or for that matter the web, for Tein CS coilovers. . Not cheap at $1500 list (though you can find them below $1300), uninstalled, but the comments are universally good. . Much less body roll and still very comfortable. . And lots of adjustment capabilities, so you can dial-in what suits you best. . Worth checking out, I think.

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