SW17LS

I never cared for how the non AVS GS rode, thats why I got the luxury package. I felt my luxury package GS rode similarly to a BMW 5 series.

Those tires suck, get the Pirellis and run them at like 31PSI. Factory pressures are higher than they used to be for better fuel economy, you can run them at 30-31 no problem and it will help the ride.

Simple, don't get the air suspension. I've had the LS with and without the air suspension, the ride is pretty much the same. I specifically avoided the air suspension.

neilsarkar

Thanks a lot SW15LS - these are some really helpful suggestion! I shall swap the Bridgestones for P7 asap.

My 535i had AVS (or as BMW calls it: "Dynamic Damper Control); but I have test driven 535i with fixed suspension. And it's a beautifully tuned suspension - the ride is firm, but never crashy or jarring. Hopefully P7 will give similar ride to the GS, since all the car mags heap tons of praise on the suspension tuning of 4GS.

SW17LS

Make sure you get the P7 Plus, not the P7.

The GS is the better handler, and thats what the car magazines are praising, but the BMW overall is probably the better riding car. Its bigger, longer wheelbase, its tuned more for comfort than handling. The tires will help, but I would anticipate that its still not going to ride as well as your BMW.

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

Did you ever get your GS ride issue resolved? I purchased a 2015 GS350 with the Luxury Package about six weeks ago. I was unpleasantly surprised on how firm the ride is too. As you described, very busy on the highway. I swear it's bruised my kidneys a few times, lol.

When my plates came in last week, I took it back to Lexus to be detailed (as promised during the purchase) and have a few rock chips to be painted/blended. I mentioned the FIRM ride and my salesperson suggested we go for a ride together. Yep, she agreed. We then took a 2015 GS F-Sport for a spin, we BOTH agreed it rode much better than my car. Lastly, I have a 2014 GS350 F-Sport loaner. Guess what? Both my wife and son mentioned how much better it rode than my LUXURY PACKAGE. My sales person suspects the tires, but the loaner has the same make/model and still has a smoother ride.

I'm waiting to hear back from them this week but was wondering if you had any luck. It's a little embarrassing to look in the rearview mirror and see my rear seat passengers' heads bobbing around, even on a "normal" road.

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

Alright, this may leave me wide open to criticism but here goes: how does the adjustable suspension work? It is certainly not mechanical, so I'll guess that there may be an electrical current going to each shock/strut. I'll continue to speculate that an increase in voltage creates stiffer/firmer dampening. Is that what happens when I select Sport+ over the Normal suspension setting? If so, couldn't there be a way to reduce the voltage even in the Normal mode to give a smoother and/or more compliant ride?

Bartman619

The F Sport RWD AVS is just mechanically adjustable via electric motor, hence the electric adjusters you see on top on the front shock towers and in the rear. When you put it in Sport+, the adjusters tighten the valve on top of the shocks, causing a mechanical change in the flow of the shock fluid, thus make it more stiffer. I don't think there is really no other way you can change the settings by playing with the voltage for the shock adjusters. Either get the J5 coilovers which allow for the use of the AVS, or install non AVS coilovers and adjust the stiffness as you like, or install stiffer springs, or unplug the AVS shock adjusters when you are in the Sports+ setting, leaving the suspension in permanent Sport+ setting.

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the insight. My 2015 GS is not a F-Sport, so I assume it might be a little different. Plus I am going for a smoother ride, so keeping it in Sport+ doesn't really interest me. The AVS website is, uh, a little cryptic. Ballpark guess, what am I looking at to get a smoother ride? This is assuming the Dealership has no success in taming the beastly ride.

JDR76

All AVS equipped cars (Luxury, F Sport, RWD, AWD) are the same in this regard.

spoogenet

As noted, all the AVS equipped cars (F-sport, Luxury) have on-the-fly adjustment via the electric motors attached to the ends of the struts. Also as noted, it adjusts the mechanical action of the shock (damper) to make it feel 'stiffer' or 'softer' depending on how you set it up. This is basically an OEM EDFC with 2 options instead of many more.

As with everything, there are trade-offs. For a smoother ride, the main options on the table are:
a) Change to tires with softer sidewalls. Trade-off -- worse cornering performance. Focus on touring or grand touring tires instead of high performance models.
b) Lower your PSI. Trade-off -- worse cornering performance, lower fuel economy, higher road noise.

If you want to go deeper, you can get softer springs, at the risk of increasing the bounciness.

If you want really smooth, you can bag the car (air bags) and get adjustable ride height and a smooth glide, albeit at considerable cost and some additional maintenance.

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the input. I have the tire pressure about low as I'd like to go - still rough. New tires might be an option, I am currently running the Potenza RE050A 235/40-19 units. They were new when I purchased the car, so there's the full tread wear remaining. The reviews of this tire don't rate the ride quality and/or noise too badly. That's part of the reason I don't suspect the tires have a large part in the poor ride quality.

If I go with a new tire, what would be the best riding option? The Michelin Pilot Sport AS3 has served me well in the past and it is rated VERY quiet and VERY smooth. I believe I would need to move to a 225/40-19 size however (cannot find the AS3 in a 235 size). I am still very perplexed as to why my Luxury packaged car rides more firmly than the loaner F-Sport and/or the F-Sport I drove while at the Dealership. As I stated before, the loaner F-Sport also has the Potenza RE050A tires AND the tire pressure is set the same as on my car.

Is there a softer shock option for the rear? Every search I try returns: racing shocks, lowering kit, fully adjustable (but lowered from stock), etc. God help me if I spend a grand trying to fix this and end up with a slammed, worse ride (lol).

peteharvey

Wow, how on earth did your 2015 Luxury end up with Potenza RE050 tires?
When I purchased GS350 Luxo, I thought only the F Sport were fitted with Bridgestone Potenza RE050 tires?

The Potenza RE050A's are noisier than the Sport Maxx 050's.
The Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus is best for softness and quietness.

Furthermore, you may consider downsizing your rims to 18", and downsizing the tires to 235/45R18.
225/50R18's will give even more comfort and quietness.
225/55R17's moreso again, but the styling may be unfashionable, and check that 17" rims fit over the larger front brake rotors.

For a floatier ride, with a lower frequency of vertical oscillation, you may have to consider retrofitting the original 2013 GS front coils and shockies...

realkrs

+1 ^
Larger wheel diameter with shorter tire sidewall will always stiffen a ride. Runflat tires make it worse generally, across the board.
The styling trend to large diameter wheels gives the "Look" but costs comfort.
I believe that Japanese shock absorbers, adjustable or not, are stiffer/less supple than European shock absorbers

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

Let me reiterate, everyone that has ridden in my car says it is rougher than an F-Sport model. I have driven in three F-Sports, all had 19" wheels and one of them also had the Potenza RE050 tires. These are the same tires that are on my car (although the F-Sport has a staggered setup, whereas mine is square). It's not my imagination. My wife, my 16 year old son, my friend and the salesperson at the Lexus Dealership all same the same thing, "wow, this is a very firm ride, not at all luxurious."

Of course the Service Department says everything "checks out" and "it's normal". So I should get my car back tomorrow or Wednesday.

So why does my luxury packaged car ride rougher than the three F-Sports?

Since I have a loaner, I decided to do a little tinkering (lol). Why the hell does this 2014 F-Sport (this is the one with the same tires/wheel size) ride so much better than my car? Someone mentioned that there are motors on top of each shock that turn/tune the shocks. Easy enough, there are three 14mm bolts securing the motor cover...let's look.



There it is. I wonder if I can manually adjust the shocks and leave the motors unplugged. When I took the cover off of the driver's side shock, guess what? (this is still the loaner car) the motor is loose and is able to spin freely. It obviously is NOT adjusting the shock like it's supposed to. It's hard to tell from my photo, but the motors are anchored by the shiny metal clips on each side. I would call it a "friction fit". So I "form" the metal tabs/clips on the driver's side motor, it now fits very snugly on top of the shock. Put everything back together and it rides even better than before!

Just a wild *** guess, but couldn't something like this be the problem with my car? As I have described it before, it feels like it is stuck in Sport+ mode...so maybe, just maybe it actually is!!

DallasDave

iTrader: (1)

Fingers crossed!

peteharvey

Dave, do you know the compliance plate year, or year of manufacture of the three F Sport models?
Before you took the 2015 F Sport for a spin with the sales rep, did you check the air pressure with an air pressure gauge, and did you note the tires used?
Your current 2014 F Sport loan car, do you know what are the cold air pressures early in the morning, and what make model tires are used?

As far as I know, from 2015 onwards, the part numbers for the front coil springs and front shock absorbers are different, and the ride is firmer and much more controlled.
Also, from 2015 onwards, the adhesive used in the front windscreen is stronger, giving the GS a stronger A pillar, and greater torsional rigidity and bending stiffness.
If I remember correctly, 2015 also included the move from HDD-based sat nav, to micro SD card-based sat nav, and in 2015 the sat nav software is improved too.
The part numbers for the rear suspension, and the sway bars were the same for 2013 vs 2015.

Lexus advised me to retrofit the original front coils and original front electronic shockies from the 2013 luxury model, and I also retrofitted 18" alloys on new 235/45R18 tires too, but it was worth it; I only wished I had have moved to Pirellis as well, because although the new Dunlop Sport Maxx 050 235/45R18's are quieter, they are still progressively loud from 50 mph onwards.

My original 19" wheels look exactly like yours.
19" are big wheels, and these IMO actually make the wheelbase look shorter, and the car look smaller.
I would have to agree that the OEM 19" look more attractive than my aftermarket 18", but my aftermarket looks good enough, and I get a much better ride.
If I put my original OEM 19" back on with my retrofitted 2013 front suspension, the car is too firm and too noisy for me, but damn sharp handling almost like a compact car.
It all boils down to what level of handling/ride refinement compromise you're after.
The softer set up has fewer creaks and rattles too...