Improve/soften GS300 '02 Ride quality

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11-04-19, 07:17 AM

#16

TrueGS300

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Either way, pertaining to this thread, there are no aftermarket parts that are going to improve the ride quality (comfort-wise) of any car. The car was what it was from the factory and the only way to totally restore ride quality is to go with all OEM parts. It won't improve, just get closer to what it was mean to be. And as stated, if that's not comfortable enough, get into another car. 90's Cadillac's are very affordable lol.

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11-04-19, 10:37 AM

#17

Dampfwalze

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Muffinizer

If you're looking for comfort nothing new is going to ride like an early 2000s ES. Do you remember Toyotas "grounded to the ground commercial"? Everything is about being sporty and theres even a TRD Avalon now. The definition of luxury in a new car has changed from nice materials and a good ride quality that you got in older cars to tech, tech, and more tech with poor materials and sporty handling in everything including the SUVs. I don't think anything new is going to have what you're looking for from Lexus. I drove the new ES, LS, RX, UX, GS, and LC at a Lexus event and they all have a harsh sporty ride (even the LS) compared to their older cars. The 05 LS my dad has was much more comfortable ride wise then the new LS which is clearly tuned to be "grounded to the ground".

Thanks for the input. Good to hear the confirmation. Based on reviews/YouTube etc, I was beginning to think I was the only one that thought the old Lexus and Toyota cars ride better. I'll probably get LS430 as a spare for trips. Every time I test drive a newer car, I was thinking, well, actually the GS isn't too bad, it just doesn't ride like our old cars is all.

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11-04-19, 01:19 PM

#18

captainva

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The other thing at play here is that new cars come with huge wheels and thin tires and with a lot of manufacturers also getting rid of the spare to save weight which means run flats. Run flats have much stiffer sidewalls which further reduces comfort. If you're willing to take the gas mileage hit take a look at the 4th or 5th gen 4runner or Lexus GX since those are still old school SUVs and have small wheels with big sidewalls plus with pretty soft suspension from the factory. The gas mileage is really not good though. At 80 mph I get 25-26 mpg in my GS300 (05 LS gets the same mpg), in my GX470 I get 15-16 mpg at the same speed.