DerrickM

Whoa! I love my F Sport. At least I did after getting the brakes fixed lol. I suppose if I lived in San Diego or another place with lots of freeways and heavy traffic the high performance brakes would be awesome, but waking up my neighbors when taking my kids to the bus stop was not fun.

R Z, what else don't you like about the F Sport?

SW17LS

I can understand it. It’s firmer, sharper, edgier. It’s subtle but it has an impact.

R Z

Its not the brakes. That never was an issue. I just followed up on a TSB. The car rides rough to me. It’s louder. I feel the road. Maybe it’s the tires. Riding on the xway, it’s real loud. My 08 was silent and smooth.

For now, I’m sticking with it. Should I ever sell it, I’m thinking my next car won’t be a Lexus.

SW17LS

What tires are on it? Is it road noise or wind noise or what?

You have a couple things you’re up against, it’s an F Sport so it’s going to be firmer and sportier. It also has 19s and your 08 had 18s.

My guess is your big issue is tired (it usually is) but there could be some sort of issue with seals or something like that.

If I remember correctly didn’t you buy it having never driven an F Sport?

R Z

The engine is louder, the road noise on average roads is loud, there is some wind noise. It may be the tires for a lot of it. It’s not a terrible ride. Just not a luxury ride. Perhaps that’s the same complaint of the 500? Don’t get me wrong, the car is a hell of a machine. It looks amazing. I’m just not as much in love with it as I was with my 08. You are correct, I’d never driven a F Sport.

R Z

Oh the tires are some kind of Michelin. Couldn’t tell which.

SW17LS

The engine will be louder. It actually has an intake sound generator on it that’s only purpose is to increase intake noise. This can be removed.

There should be a model name on the sidewall of the tire. My guess is they are UHP tires, and replacing them with grand touring tires will help the ride a lot. I would also try running the tires at 31 PSI. Post a picture of the tires.

Wind noise I would make sure all the seals close up properly, and I would treat all the seals with shin-etsu grease. Does it have a original Lexus windshield?

R Z

R Z

I ordered the shin etsu grease. I read on it and it appears to fluff up the rubber. That should resolve any wind issues.

DerrickM

Mine is definitely on the firm side for a land yacht, but I wouldn't say too firm. Road noise is definitely worse with the 19" tires, and right now mine has snow tires; but even then it's not *that* bad. The Energy mxv4 s8 tires have good reviews. I would drive a non f-sport to confirm.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Energy+MXV4+S8

SW17LS

Those tires are not bad, but not great. Having had the car on the same tires (Pirellis) with both the 18s and the 19s, the upsize wheel doesnt increase road noise, What does change is impact sharpness/hardness. Even with my current one being LWB and having the air suspension I still needed to adjust to the change. It no longer bothers me and I feel my car rides incredibly.

What pressures are you running RZ? Can you post a picture of the tire's tread? Replacing the tires would almost certainly help with ride and noise, obviously thats a big investment though. I don't think you can run 18s with the F Sports brakes.

R Z

I try and run 32 on the tires. I'll try and take a photo of the tires eventually. I now get the car so it's all about me adjusting to the differences.

DerrickM

I really wanted to buy 18's for my snow wheels, but I couldn't find anybody that could say for sure that it's possible. I suspect some 18's will fit, but it's probably a "try it and see" type thing. I ended up just buying 19's to be safe.

FatherTo1

I still remember test driving a 2014 LS F Sport at an MB dealership before we bought our 2013 LS 460 SWB Ultra Luxury. The F Sport rides .5" lower IIRC, and the stiffer springs rode like there's no suspension travel! Granted, the road conditions were not good during the test drive, but the jarring ride was unbecoming of a Lexus, let alone the flagship LS. I knew then and there that the F Sport was not for me. I still stayed with an LS though.

I have quoted the following from MotorTrend a few times in the past:

"In comfort mode, the F Sport rides much like Sport S+ in the standard car...". That statement is pretty dead accurate and the ride just gets stiffer from there. The Pirelli P7 Plus can help but it's still not going to be as cushy as the non-F Sport.

R Z

Got it! Gonna try it tomorrow.