is350wh

Several months ago, I posted detailed reviews of each F-Sport part I added to my 2009 IS350. Here is a follow up on the F-Sport Springs. (Note that I kept the standard shocks, because I read that the Bilsteins plus the springs had issues with floating at high speeds after hitting dips, as well as further reduced ride quality.)

1) They make the car look 100% better. They nearly eliminate the standard wheel gap. Very, very good.
2) Minor bumps are no problem. The ride is still comfortable.
3) Significant bumps are pretty bad. Bad enough to have jarred my car several times hard enough to snap connectors (or something) in the console. The insides of my car now have little rattles here and there. Major bummer.
4) Medium bumps at extremely low speeds (e.g., 3" bump getting onto my driveway). These are annoying with the F-Sports. The soft part of the progressive springs makes the car "bounce" when going over these types of bumps.
5) Performance. Ugh. Not so great. They are a big improvement over the stock springs. Changing lanes on a flat freeway feels great...

But, when you push the F-Sport Springs hard, they simply don't handle the weight of the car well. I hit some bumps and uneven road at freeway speeds, and the car just about lost all of its composure, rocking side to side, and starting to twist/turn out of balance. The only thing that helped it recover was Lexus' stability control. It clamped down hard, which kept the car on the straight and narrow. It was not a good experience at all.

6) Reliability. They aren't broken, but they sound broken. I had the springs installed by a Lexus dealer. They sounded fine. I had them re-torqued later to make sure they were solid. Then the "cold weather" hit. The springs are now popping and making a lot of interesting noises. (Yes, I used the Teins silencers.) It's possible that if I have the dealer re-torque them again "while the springs are cold," the noises may go away. Or maybe not.

7) Height. Mine are low; lower than some of the pictures I have seen on here. For looks, they are great. For practicality, they aren't great. Unless I am very careful all the time, I will scrape when pulling out of the driveway, when a parking lot has a dip that's a little deep, when I pull up to almost any parking block. It's getting kind of old. I was prepared to be careful, but it starts getting annoying when I think that I had to put these springs on to make the car look and perform like it should have with no changes (e.g., BMW 3-series doesn't "need" to be lowered/enhanced to have performance and the right wheel gap).

#5, #6, and #7 really deal with problems that stem from the IS350's inherent problems - problems I tried to fix with the F-Sport Springs. No such luck. If I could do this again, I would probably do one of the following:

A) Top choice - Buy a BMW 3-series. It does almost everything better (and it even has a bigger back seat), but it doesn't look as nice inside, and the long-term reliability is questionable.
B) Next choice - Buy an IS with the Sport Suspension. I believe this is a little lower and firmer than the non-sport version. That would probably help looks and performance without having to invest time, money, and frustration into modifying a standard IS.
C) Next after that - Put the F-Sport Bilsteins on with the stock springs. I can only guess that this would have helped performance, compared to the stock spring and shock combination. (I have sways, so that also helps a lot.)

funnie

iTrader: (14)

hey is350wh. welcome back! i always look forward to your reviews. They are always very detailed and extremely helpful. You are making me think twice about going the coilover route. How are the other f-sport stuff working out for ya ?

KvnChu

iTrader: (5)

hey funnie i think he was talkign about a spring strut setup not a coilover system..

funnie

iTrader: (14)

hey kevin, i know what he is talking about. i have the f-sport springs as well (not installed), but was considering coilovers. I am now reconsidering the coilovers or maybe another set of springs since so many members are reporting issues with the f-sport springs...

IS-SV

Refering to item 6, get the springs replaced by same dealer with revised springs, the rears are a known/documented problem.

IS-SV

Refering to item B, buying IS with Sport Suspension,

I have the IS350 with Sport suspension pkg. I'm using Eibach 350 springs with OEM sport suspension shocks resulting in no noise, firmer handling, acceptable ride.

quang

iTrader: (8)

I guess I can eliminate F-Sport springs from my considerations

JoshIS408

iTrader: (11)

Replace em there is a TSIB if your still using silencers. Nothing wrong with mine and no scrapping so far.

ahnjae

iTrader: (2)

My F-Sport Springs feel just fine and I love the drop. Im not having any of the issues you are talking about. I also purchased the springs second hand and installed them myself. No silencers on mine with no sound at all from the rear. I have the older version and not the TSB one.

Im sorry to hear you are having problems. You might want to take a look at them yourself and see if it could be the installation. Thats why i dont let anyone touch my car. The only person that works on my car is me myself and I, that way I know exactly how every thing works and I know if I installed it right or wrong without wondering if they did something wrong.

IS-SV

regarding:
"A) Top choice - Buy a BMW 3-series. It does almost everything better (and it even has a bigger back seat), but it doesn't look as nice inside, and the long-term reliability is questionable."

IMO the 3-series sedan is too ugly, too expensive and not reliable enough. It wasn't significantly faster, but the handling was better. Many 335 owners lower these cars slightly to eliminate stock wheel gap and firm things up further.


I cross-shopped the 3-series sedan against the IS350. I chose the IS350 with sport package and later added Eibach 350 springs and 19" wheels, works great.

is350wh

Thanks for welcoming me back. I lost some interest after installing the last of the parts I had planned. (Basically, mission accomplished.) Plus, I had to spend almost $8K on some other things that were much less fun.

I'm having noises from the front as well. Maybe it's a bad installation, but I had one dealer install them and then had a separate dealer verify them.

When it comes down to it, I am still amazed at how good the car looks every time I walk up to it. To me - with the F-Sport Exhaust complementing it - it looks like a super car from some angles. It definitely looks much nicer than a 3-series.

Other parts include: Sways (front and back) - wonderful! Intake - also great. Exhaust - the best part I have added.

IS-SV

Dealers tend to be much less experienced at suspension mods/spring changes when compared to the better independent shops.

senators29

I had mine installed at an independent shop as well and i have no noise. Im also using silencers though.

IS-SV

Why did you use siliencers? The revised rear springs don't need them.

xuningshen

iTrader: (1)

3" bump into your driveway! thats huge

retorque your springs huh? top hat you mean?, that only needs to be done once when its done right to specs. theres a fix for the noise on f-sport springs, dealer will replace them for ya

you can't expect to just buy springs push your car hard into turns and have your body roll issues solved with that alone, especially on springs like f-sport w/ a conservative drop.

Scraping is a part of being lowered, your not low enough if you don't scrape :P

if you buy that bmw, scraping your car, will be the least of your problems when everything else on the car is falling apart

get real aftermarket coilovers, but you will loose ride quality for what you seem to be wanting according to your A,B, & C choices.

You can't expect comfort, no body roll, with practical ride height all in one