NYC ES3

iTrader: (7)

Hello my fellow F owners
As we continuously mod our cars and toss our opinions (and some facts) on this forum to spread the word and maybe help those of us still investigating.

I wanted to put my opinion out about the swift drop spring drop vs. the stock 2010 ISF suspention.
(tokico struts n OEM springs).
I must say IMHO that the look of the swift drop is IMO the best looking spring drop out there. however having said that it is not the best performing .

The springs, although looking GREAT as far as ride height , gap in front wheel well, etc all beautiful
but my ride quality and performance suffered. the car did not feel as secure through cornering and sport driving, the car hit bumps and dips harder and it all around did not seem like the springs could deal properly with the F weight shifting and transfer under more aggressive driving

I rode them for a year...just changed back to stock set up and felt the difference immediately. Car is more secure, easier on bumps and dips and more controlled weight shifting in turns, etc.

I still have my "hot swap" assembley swift drop springs for shows , and look, etc...but for performance driving..Stock wins hands down (IMO).

vbb

iTrader: (3)

Your opinion is fair and appreciated. I have swift springs installed and for the driving I do, the car feels like stock to me, but looks like it finally has the proper stance. I have not taken my car to a road course and we don't have canyons around here so the most aggressive handling I experience is taking an on or off ramp from the interstate quickly, or tackling a few twisty back roads, and my car feels secure, planted and fast.

My thought is that if you're going to do some serious driving, you may want to stay stock or go with a coilover, but for typical street driving the swift springs won't let you down.

Bigcloud

OP thanks for your opinion. My stock IS-F suspension out performed several B7 RS4's on coilovers by about 1.5 seconds at VIR. This was with equal driving abilities and equal tires. The F stock suspension is very good. Or better yet I'm just that good of a driver. lmfao. I was thinking about getting springs and I can safely say I know and have driven the car to it's limit. I will get some springs for the front and see what changes.

VtotheJ

iTrader: (2)

Another case of where aftermarket is worse than stock.

vbb

iTrader: (3)

The ISF is set up to handle track duty almost straight from the factory. The only thing I could think of that someone might want are some grippier tires. Maybe some new track pads too. But I would venture a guess that very few amateur drivers if any can outperform the car in its stock setup.

Lowering springs (and coilovers that people buy, set once and never touch again) are about cosmetics, not handling. I didn't buy my springs so I could turn faster laps, I bought them because I like the way the car looks with less than stock wheel gap.

JT2MA71

iTrader: (7)

I feel the same way as the OP with my swift springs , especially when making fast turns at higher speeds. Stock felt more secure. I'll just drive it easy until I get a set of good adjustable coilovers.

NYC ES3

iTrader: (7)

I got them for the look mainly...as most did and do - that front wheel well gap is just too much for most of us who like a "good looking" standing still look.

Yes the gap in the front is a bit much, but the rear is Ok (for me)

but Lexus knew what they were doing when they set this up...but you can even see the difference in the actual thickness of the metal in the stock spring vs. swift (and Eibach)

Stock spring is thicker.

StraySheep

iTrader: (1)

Changing just the springs and using the OEM struts is only for looks.
The OEM struts are designed to work with the OEM spring rates.

Coilovers are the way to go for better looks without sacrificing handling.