We had a mini CL meet yesterday, well sorta. Jawnthen was in LA and he was gracious enough to hook up with me so I can ride his car. His GS4 has Bilstein sport shocks, H&R springs, TRD sways, RMM front STB, and TRD rear STB, 20" wheels on Nitto 555, and L-tuned steering ECU.

First off, he drove my car which is completely stock. I have 17" wheels covered with Dunlop SP Sport 5000. We did some winding roads and freeways and he showed me how my car exhibited body roll / lean on turns. Also, we both agreed that my car's rear suspension was marching to its own drumbeat - you have the feeling that it's not connected when you make high speed turns. I also showed Jonathan how the car with the stock suspension behaves on the freeway when driving over ripples or undulations at 70 mph - the cowl would literally shake!

Then, we used his car and drove the same route. I noticed immediately how tight the steering was. He has the L-tuned steering ECU. He did not do the steering pretensioning being discussed elsewhere in CL. Lexus advised him that a TSB has been done previously on the car which required replacing the nut. Just looking at the nut ,they said, will tell you that it has been replaced.

Janwthen's suspension is definitely much firmer than stock. But here's the kicker- it is more comfortable than my stock suspension. The undulations on that part of the freeway that always made me thinking my stock suspension must be so firm as to notice those with vigor were wonderfully damped by the Bilsteins!! Minimal to nil cowl shaking. Remember that he has the 20s also!!! Unbelievable.

On curves, the car felt planted and inspired much more confidence on the driver - ala IS300 or the 3 series. Jawnthen's suspension is actually better than those cars in the sense that it is a tad more firmer but more comfy. Nice balance of firmness and comfort that suits my taste. Nothing harsh or hints of it. I imagine that the 17s would actually make the ride softer if you want it. The 20s are just right.

After the meet, Jawnthen still had to to meet another friend and then drive back the 500 miles back home in the Bay area that night. Cool guy.

I am posting this to benefit folks who have not had the opportunity of an actual back-to-back testing of stock suspension vs. modified (as above). Now I know exactly what to buy. Thanks again Jawnthen.

 

good review white, thanks

this proves to me once again Bilsteins makes great stuff....with lifetime warranty...

 

whitels,

man you handle is misleading since you now have a blackGs...hehe anyways it was fun comparing our cars. Its been so long since I've driven a stock GS and since I did my mods one by one, I didn't realize how far the suspension's performance was raised. great meeting up with you, thanks for the halo-halo.

one correction tho...the rear STB is TOM's.

--jawnthen

 

Great write-up!! Sounds familiar though! I have L-Tuned springs/shocks, TRD sways, TRD front STB, TRD lower chassis brace, Tom's rear STB, L-Tuned steering ECU and staggered 18's with Toyo T1-S's.

My car handles just as you described his car. It's SO much more fun than the stock setup.

 

In addition to the above suspension mods, Jawnthen's has the TM plugs. I didn't know it at first but when I pressed the gas upon leaving the parking lot, the car lurched forward. I mentioned to Jawnthen that his car felt faster than my car and that's when he said that he has TMs installed. Hey, another testimony in favor of the TMs. I was a skeptic of this mod before but have since converted after seeing the dyno, and again, after driving one with TM installed.