Today I found out that after 94,000 miles, my rear shock is leaking. For about 60,000 miles, my shocks have been supporting my H&R springs. All of the other ones are in good condition and don't show signs of leaking.

So, I felt that it is time to upgrade to new shocks.

While, I understand some will say "Just get Megan EZs!", I don't care to do this. I adore my ride height right now and don't feel coilovers are necessary. I drive approximately 20,000-25,000 miles per year. The car visits autoX every once in a while, but I'm in no means trying to be competitive. Just enjoying myself and my car.

I understand there are the Tokico HTS, but as much as I find them amazing, I can't justify spending $900 dollars on shocks. I also feel that I may be romanticizing them and they are just way more than I need (and I won't really use them for their potential). And if Tokico made Illuminas for the 2IS, I would immediately jump on those.

So, I have boiled it down to F-Sport or Tokico HP (Blue).

Please help me come to an appropriate shock for my needs.

 

Interested to see some feedback on this. I was thinking about f sport shocks as well.

 

I will vouch for the F Sport (Bilstein) shocks. 1) They are tuned just right for the 2nd Gen IS, 2) You retain the Lexus ride comfort but gain handling performance when you're pushing it.

 

+1 for F-Sports. They are made by Bilstein and are of high quality.

 

I think you answered your own question

 

Thanks guys, and thank you Ryan.

Ryan I read your review/thread of the Tokico HTS on your IS-F and I was thoroughly impressed by them. Alas, it just sadly is not in my price range.

I guess I will be going with the F-Sport. I feel like that would be great middle ground between the Tokico HTS and Tokico HP.

 

I actually heard differently from members of the my.is forums and one of the forum vendors.

They recommend Tokico HP over the F-Sport strut. Also note, if you get the factory sport strut seen in F-Sport/Sport packages, it is also made from Tokico; just customized to OEM specs.

Usually the struts last until about 60-80Kish from my understanding (basing it on my old car back in the day), so seems like your timing is about right.

Depending on how low your are, if it's very conservative which I am going to do for instance, it is not worth getting coil overs for the price. ie. 0.9" front and 0.3" rear.

 

H&R Springs lower 1.4 in the front and 1.3 in the rear, Sango. If I had coilovers, I would have it at the exact same drop as I am now. It PERFECTLY matches my wheel offset and I didn't really need to do fender work.

I am aware that the stock shocks are Tokico (they are clearly labeled as such), and I've been quite happy with how they performed under the pressure of my lowering spring. That is why I considered the Tokico HPs in the first place.

 

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Sorry, the numbers I posted is the drop which I am going to be doing, using Teins H Tech Springs for my 11 IS250. I wanted it very conservative for it to look good and not to scrape. I initially did consider the H&R but it looked too low based on the pics that it can scrape; a local member around the area PM me while ago that with his H&R springs, he did scrape on them on his 11 IS350 F-Sport.

I contacted Tokico, sometime last week about their OEM vs their HP one. They said the HP one maybe a bit stiffer than the stock.

 

In my many years of modding cars and having Tokico Illumina;s and HP's, I'd say go with the F Sport because Bilsteins are a awesome!

 

Our cars don't use struts.. they're shocks. I driven an 2is with fsport shocks/springs and I dig it

 

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Opps, yes actually meant shock. Dunno why I mix up the terms my bad!

 

ummm

Are the IS250 shocks made by Tokico or KYB??

I am in the same boat and while I like the soft(er) ride of the stock shocks, I am not averse to a slightly firmer ride as long as they last as long or even longer than the stock shocks.

Pls. advise.

 

The IS's stock suspensions is made by Tokico customized to Lexus's specs.

 

Can I use F-sport shocks with my stock springs?