x2lacrosse

Have an 11/12/13 IS250AWD loaner right now. Upon getting in, it felt "stiffer" to me. The seats felt much more firm than mine and the car doesn't "sink" as much when you sit in it. Then driving it, it actually feels more planted and connected to the road than mine. Driving the same route for a day now, the car definitely leans less in corners and I feel more feedback from what the car is doing. To my knowledge, you can't put the F-Sport suspension on the AWD models and this car does NOT have the F-Sport sways ( unless they're now black). My car has the base suspension and about 61K miles. Given this, did they change the seats and suspension tuning or are my parts just getting worn? Would AWD contribute to the better feedback since the front wheels are doing more than steering? It's obviously slower in a line, but I actually feel more confident pushing this loaner (that I've driven all of a day) than I do my own car!! What do you think, is my suspension wearing or worn out?

knguyenk

To clarify, the AWD does have F-Sport springs (RWD and AWD are the same), shocks and sways (you have to specifiy RWD or AWD sets when ordering). I pulled this info from Sewell Lexus with 2012 IS (since sharing knowledge is helpful): http://is.sewellparts.com/accessorie...S250-2012.html

I do notice with my 2007 Lexus IS 250 AWD with 77k miles on the clock and it does feel a bit stiff and pretty planted; I haven't driven a RWD version so I couldn't give a comment on the ride of a RWD IS. From what I read on the threads here the sway bars on the stock IS AWD are stiffer then the RWD.

L3XOTIC

Correct. AWD suspension from my understanding as well is stiffer then RWD from the factory. My wife has an AWD IS, first thing she mentioned is how she actually feels like she is driving a vehicle similar to her 05' BMW 330CI as far as stiffness goes. I actually like the handling and response on the AWD. Makes me feel like im definitely driving a sports sedan that happens to be a beast when it snows

x2lacrosse

Based on your 2 comments and my driving impressions, that's definitely it then. This 250 feels so much more stable and planted than mine. Mine almost feels clumsy and boat-like when compared to this. I was planning on just upgrading my sways, but if I can get better snow reliability too, then I just might look at the AWD 350.

NimaM

iTrader: (1)

I can confirm this based on my personal experience. I used to own a 2006 is250 AWD and now I have an 08 is350. The AWD is250 definitely felt a lot more stable on the road and especially at sharp corners. I felt more confident driving my AWD is250 than my rwd is350.

x2lacrosse

Just me, or is that an odd way to tune your cars? I've always thought RWD was synonymous with performance and AWD more so w/ inclement weather capability.
So, what made you switch? Just the power or other factors?
Did u see better MPG in the 250? I'd think that should be true, but I guess the need to stomp the gas more has really made the gas needle drop much quicker than I'd think it should.

NimaM

iTrader: (1)

I had couple of reasons to switch to is350 but I'm not sure if I did the right thing. Anyways, the main reason was the power (thanks to clublexus) and to be honest the is350 is a lot more fun to drive but not as practical (at least for me considering the climate in seattle area). The other reason was I had already dealth with so many recalls and TSIBs, plus the carbon build up issue was a big turn off (the dealer did their best but they couldn't replicate the issue.) so, I decided to switch to is350 and found a very nice CPO is350.

As for gas mileage, the AWD is250 had slightly better gas mileage, but not much different. Actually I am very surprised by Is350's gas mileage!

x2lacrosse

Yeah, I can see the carbon issue being a deal-breaker. You know what they say, increase in fun/performance usually lead to decrease in practicality. So, guess it depends on which is more important to you. If fun, then you made the right choice. If the 2nd, then you didn't.

At first, was pretty surprised to see how easily the gas needle drops in this 250. Now that I see it's about 125 lbs heavier AND down alot in power, I can logically see why it's only marginally better in MPG. On the flip-side, the massive increase in agility and stability is a testament to what proper suspension tuning can do for you. Some people say that tire choice is the biggest factor, but I don't discount the suspension that easily.