mooretorque

Long ago, in a universe far from this one (the one that existed when I was 21), watched a car break a driveshaft and do that very thing..............impressive.

24 years, eh?? Good job!! Only 10.5 here......................

RON430

It's not the years, it's the miles.

mooretorque

Roger that!

amwendwa

Hey Ron thanks for the great technical write up on the GS suspension grad course :-). I would like to know what is your GS430 setup (wheels and suspension)?

cheers-

RON430

I have stuck with the stock 16s although once the junky Michelins wear a little more (too cheap to just can them like the stock shocks) I will to go 245/50-16s for a bit more contact patch. Thought about increasing wheel size to put in aftermarket brakes but once you get used to the feel, the stock brakes are very good on the GS. Stock springs were fine with me but the shocks, at least on the 2k1 GS430, were awful. So, on went the bilstein sports. I would say 90% of my complaints with the suspension were cured with that one move, and one which the trophy wife agrees with. There was a bit more lean in a high speed off ramp than I wanted so on went the TRD blue sways. Now there just isn't any lean in cornering with no real perceptible increase in ride harshness, spooky. The blues might be overkill and I am a little worried about picking up some ride harshness when I go from the 225-55's to the 245-50s so after we got one set of Sportivo sways for the new GS3, I got another set to try out on the GS4. Really not interested in dropping. Maybe if I was younger but I have done that and experienced the joys of parking bumpers, steep driveways, speed bumps, and bottoming from having four people in the car making life that much more challenging so a drop just didn't appeal to me. If you look at the european suspensions, they tend to be somewhat softer on springing than US setups with more shock and suspension development than we would see on a US car to increase handling capability. And of course, people like Colin Chapman took suspension development to a much higher level through the use of things like stabilizer bars, bushing development, suspension geometry and settings, and a whole bunch of other things. A well setup Lotus is just spectacular.

Having said the above, I also have no problem with someone dropping the car but the overriding desired result seems to always be reducing the tire to fender well gap. And there are compromises with this, the camber is probably just one. Once you get past bimmermyth on suspension setup, the most impressive thing about bimmer suspensions to me has not been ultimate grip but maybe ultimate balance and that is really what I am trying to bring to the GS. I have to say that the GS3 with the bilstein HDs (also with stock 16s) is very, very close to a bimmer setup. And, as I have said, the bilstein sports are not meant for the stock GS3 unless you really want to find out what a buckboard rode like. Bilstein Sports always improved the bimmers to me (I think stockers are Boge, or at least they were). But I have a few friends autocrossing bimmers and they can compare lap times and the stock Boge shocks are surprisingly good (although they do eventually replace them with adjustables and do drop lap times because the Boge has a very strange feel to it with permitting initial roll and then just stopping, can be hard to drive fast) so what do I know? I think the Sportivo sways are going to be a great addition to put that last bit of stability in high speed turns in without any significant increase in ride harshness on the GS3. The balance of the GS3 is much better than the GS4 but that isn't too much of a surprise. I also think the bilstein HDs are going to be a might soft on the GS4 unless you have gone to harsh riding low profile tires and/or dropped. Everything has to work together.

oldguy

My car has the same reaction to large bumps that RON430 mentions on his wife's car before he replaced the sport shocks with the HD. It happens less this summer than it did last winter, but they were new then and I do live in MN where there is a certain thermal difference. It's occasionally annoying. The shocks I mean.

RON430

Somewhere in the still living brain cells, I seem to recall that the Sports are 50 to 100% stiffer than stock (actually I remember more the 100% number) while the HDs are about 20% stiffer. I thought that would make the GS3 a little too soft but the HDs give very little away in handling. But the ride is a lot better, at least on the GS3 and it has mellowed out a little bit now that we have some miles on it. As I said, very bimmer like, controlled compliance and really needing very little more for a great road car. With the sports on there was a definite thwack on big bumps and the rear end wanted to skip a bit to one side or the other. Very annoying and something the sports on the GS4 don't do.

Good point about the temperature effect, the dampers do have oil and gas in them and will act different in the cold. And that is something I don't have to contend with. Still like the bilsteins but they are probably right up against what qualifies for a comfortable ride on the GS. Any other ride affecting mods, like shorter/stiffer sidewall tires, etc., might push them to the harsh side. Lot easier if the factory sorts this out and matches the springs to the shocks. Very few factories get that right and we all know who's on the short list.

amwendwa

thanks for the response ron. i own a gs3, and would like to attain that bimmermyth balance. it appears that your wife's gs3 has achieved this to some extent. i owned a bmw 328i (e46) fully stocked (sport and premium package), man it was a joy to drive. I'm trying to determine how to achive this balance running on stock 17"s. this may be to subjective.

cheers
eugene

RON430

Hey man, you are miles ahead of the game at least knowing what type of ride/handling you want. Now, how long, and how many dollars you go through, is another question.