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Hi Stephen, yes it just wasn't designed to be that sharp or precise. You already have the coilovers so stiffer sway bars (ARBs) would be the next thing to consider upgrading to improve the handling without the loss of that relaxed, laid back, SC character. The front strut bar will make just a very small difference. When I added the ISF rear sway bar, that was a great improvement.

I can confirm that if you polish it, the strut brace is indeed very shiny and probably adds 10 bhp despite the increase in weight.🙂 The short serious summary answer is, I don't think there's any significant handling advantage in having a front strut brace for normal or even fairly spirited driving. On the track, on the limit or in a smash where it should add a bit more rigidity perhaps it's worth having. To improve the handling without compromising the ride, fit good tyres, coilovers and better ARBs. When I first fitted it I would say I was 'in tune' with the car and was convinced the front top strut brace would make no difference at all but in practice I felt it did make it feel a fraction more stable. It's a shame the old forum notes are gone as I remember doing a very brief review. The SC is good fun and more capable than most realise considering it's a flexible cabriolet but If you want the car to handle and go fast the first thing to do is to leave the roof on, the windows up and think about fitting a roll cage. They are strong, well built cars but you really don't want to be upside down on the tarmac or in a ditch in one of these. Coilovers, wide wheels, wide sticky, tyres, uprated front anti-roll bar (Aristo/GS TTE) and an ISF rear anti-roll bar all definitely make a noticeable difference. Adding the underbody brace also stiffened it. Having a proper leather steering wheel to grip helps too. Mine isn't a posh Cusco brace but it has the optional authentic Lexus sticker to impress Uncle Bob the race scrutineer.

The OEM suspension and exhaust are now back on the car. This is now back to stock except for the window tints and chrome delete. PM me an offer on the RCF (39,980 miles), the RSR iSport coilovers or the Hayward & Scott cat back exhaust with ceramic tips.

Thanks, iv seen some posts on that but I'd be afraid of damaging the sensor or even touching it at this stage of its life. Just thought the controller would let it down enough for what I'm looking for, All fails il get coilovers 👀

Finally got all the parts for fitting coilovers, top control arms and rear drop links. Plus insurance is due. Current insurer will not insure me with mods. Been looking around for an insurer to cover mods. Got what I think is reasonable quotes considering changes from OEM spec. Costing me about £400 more than last year, bearing in mind insurance has rocketed in price.

Picked up some front end pieces. It slowly taking shape. Coilovers are going on this weekend if the weather holds. Android Head Unit is on order too, arriving next week. I went for the more OEM looking model this time. Also doubled up on the RAM (4GB. I had the 2+32 spec last time and I had no issues with smoothness of it etc, but I used it for about a month before I sold the green Lexus so I thought I'd future proof it a little with this one. Wheels from Japan should be with me at some in May and then it's more or less done.

Maximus Prime air lines are they just push and turn? As for getting another garage to do the work I have issue mentioned before, if I remove jack stands from front of car bottom of front bumper is on the deck. Be lucky to get an ant to squeeze through the gap. Recovery for lowered cars is jack them up and but wedges in the coil spring. No coil springs is going to make even more difficult. Can take bumper off to help. Nearest garage that I could find that would do cambelt, water pump etc etc was 8 hours driving from me. So went to dealer. If you look at map of UK find Orkney im right up in that corner of Scotland, part of Highlands and islands. Swapping suspension should not cause to many issues if I do it myself. Have done spring swaps on MacPherson struts that is a very dangerous game. No air in struts being removed. Coilovers already have springs fitted. Got adjustable top control arms to fit on all 4 corners as well at same time. Off with the old on with the new. Will be keeping everything for air suspension refitting. Also bought some super lightweight road rims that look stock to go on. Lightweight rims might take some harshness out of ride by reducing unsprung weight. Next job after fitting this lot is to sort exhaust out. Previous owner fitted a straight through 3" exhaust with 2 straight through silencers. Need to get a resonater fitted to get rid of drone.

I can vouch for BC Racing - a quality, really well made kit. Ordered mine from ID Workz website and it arrived the next day. They offer Klarna too - that's if you don't fancy forking out £949 in one go, and splitting the bill may help you with putting the car on the road quicker: https://id-workz.co.uk/products/bc-racing-br-series-coilovers-for-lexus-ls430-ucf30-01-06 I've watched a number of videos on these suspension swaps beforehand, and knew what needs to come out and how it's all accessed. Once the air lines are disconnected, the fronts are a straight swap, and the rears are slightly harder to access, in that the top mounts are hidden behind the rear seats and the parcel shelf. Ideally, you'd need to undo the rear seats (or get the garage to do it for a little extra), and drop the backs a bit - they can be temporarily held in place by seatbelts if needed. Then lift the rear parcel shelf slightly and voila - you'll see the mounts. This is what I did before taking the car to the shop, but if don't fancy messing around - ask them to do it. There's a video that covers the lot, including the rear seats here (rear seat removal starts at 10:50): In addition to that, I printed off the suspension diagrams from Club Lexus forum (attached), and brought with me a photo of a car that had its struts replaced - to give my mechanic an idea of where things are, and to show my desired ride height, as I wanted the car lowered whilst they are at it. My final request was to leave everything in place as much as possible, i.e. not a full demolition job, and keep the air compressor and other related bits in place. I've also asked them to ignore any lights that may come up on the dashboard as I will deal with these myself - there was only a single fuse that needed removing to stop the compressor from pumping air and if memory serves me right, it was located either in the engine bay or one of the footwell fuse boxes - easily accessible and I can check which one and where it was tomorrow for you if you like. Since that was done - no warning lights whatsoever! They charged me just over £400, and left the old air struts in the boot, so I could resell them later if I wanted to. He said it was all quite straightforward, and they only struggled with undoing one bolt on the rear strut, but considering the age of the car that was to be expected. The air lines were disconnected from original air struts and everything else has remained in situ, so I could technically have it back on air in future. These BC coilovers are fully adjustable, so you will have options to play around with for both the ride height and ride quality. I may be wrong, but pretty sure there were two settings on the top mounts - for Sport and Comfort, a little dial you can twist - I haven't looked since I've had them installed, so memory is a little foggy now 🙂 But the ride height is definitely something worth thinking about if you are having the suspension swapped anyway. The garage will be able to set it whichever way you like - and it can be adjusted to go lower or higher at a later date, the kit comes with all the tools if you are mechanically minded. Positives: 1. Car is now much more planted in corners, handling feels superb, and the body doesn't roll 2. As mentioned above - the kit is fully adjustable, the world is your lobster oyster 3. Quality - these struts feel like they will outlast the car, they are that well made The one negative: Ride quality doesn't compare to air suspension, it will be firmer. I think the only way to counter this would be to have the ride height set higher to allow the struts to work their magic with greater suspension travel. But seeing that I expected this before the swap, I am honestly not regretting it one bit, and in my opinion it's probably the best upgrade you can do to prolong the life expectancy of your LS 🙂 If there's anything that I've not covered - let me know, happy to help!

David hi …….. are you on about 300k miles if my memory serves me 🤔 Reading various posts about negligible comfort differences ( if any ) twixt air / coilovers and if it was me, and your cars still brilliant, well, I’d seriously consider the coilover solution Good luck Malc

Hi fellas, hope everyone is well, and be most welcomed to this build thread. This is my first Lexus venture and also my first Japanese car, purchased with legit 41K miles on the clock, pretty decently taken care of interior. It seems like the car had a small front end cosmetic damage that was sort of "repaired" by the previous owner. (Head lights and front bumper). Being so the headlights went under some modifications by the previous owner (Stated that he wanted to do something different) so the inner mask or garnish or what ever the name is for that, has been binned. Don't know why, it looks stupid without it. but since everything inside is black it kinda stays blend in at a further distance. This project is meant to be a "Daily" that I can occasionally drift or track it. Kinda defies the purpose of being a "daily" but well here we are. I haven't done much to it just of yet. Car: Lexus IS250 SE (205bhp) from 2006 Beige & Black Interior Factory Tinted windows. Modifications so far: Suspension - Tein Street Advance Adjustable CoilOvers Wheels - Rotiform RSE 18x8.5 & 18x9 with Nankang NS20 225x35R18 & 235x40R18 Exhaust - Dual Stainless Steel CatBack Non Resonated Tail-Lights (Middle Boot Section) Updated to 2010 retaining the outers from 2006/07 Duckbill Boot Spoiler Team Heko Tintedw Wind Deflectors Future Wanted Modifications: 3UZ V8 Engine Swap Enkei RPF1's 18x9 & 18x10 Seibon Carbon IS-F Front wings IS-F SideSkirts Seibon Carbon Vented Bonnet Seibon Carbon boot 6 pot Front Brakes and Floating Rotors. 2 Pot Brembo Rear add on Hydro Calipers. I hope to update soon... and thank you for reading. Best Regards, Igor.

2008 Lexus iSF suspension shocks cars is on 49k miles , no knocks or bangs , no leaking or any other issues some surface rust that doesnt affect nothing reason for sale upgraded to Coilovers looking for around £400 collected from Swindon open to offers as just need them gone

I’ve seen these fitted when coilovers have been added …. https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-push-fit-socket-plug-grey-110mm/18082

Hi all , I’ve been trying to find out if you have to remove height sensors when changing to coil overs, also does anyone no camber angle

Bit of a strange one, I bought a stock ISF suspension setup, mostly for the springs with the intention of going with Bilstein dampers. They were bought from a tuning company and now they have turned up, the dampers are cosmetically in far better nick than expected and I would love to find out what mileage is on them. From what little the company told me I reckon they sold an ISF owner coilovers. By any chance are you that owner? On the off chance the owner is on here, I completely understand if you don't want to message a randomer like myself, if its cool though please drop me a PM with rough mileage they were on when removed. Thanks

Just saw this after a quick search - coil over conversion kit for RX450h https://www.fittedvisions.com/products/fv-suspension-coilovers-08-15-lexus-rx450h Look like a £1K ish - may be some tax. I did this years ago on a LS430 when the air suspension bags started leaking and the ride height sensors wore out. Rockauto may have the parts a lot cheaper that Lexus UK will sell them if you want to fix your existing suspension. Good luck Bren

Hiya lads, Im new and this is my 1st post, ive read alot of the forums on the lexus we have and its a pure love or hate thing... Theres no middle ground. I absolutely love my car and after 4 years its time for a rehaul... Ive managed to get coilovers but i need a camber kit... Other than ordering it bit by bit would one of the kits for an isf or is250 work? I know the shocks and springs are the same but i cant seem to find much more. Also... Are all 250 an 220d parts interchangeable, and what about the is200d?? Thanking you all in advance.

Thanks Vlad. He's free to do what he wants haha.. It's just advice as I don't know how much experience he has. I wish someone told me about cheap parts & "expensive" parts when I was younger. People often think that cheap wheels or coilovers are the same as branded ones, you just don't have to pay extra for the name. It's not always true, especially when it comes to suspension or wheels. The two things that are under the most amount of stress.. This is a forum, we should share the knowledge we have. If you choose to listen or not is up to you 😅 Also just to clarify, not saying BC Coils are on the same level as eBay chinesium. Both TEIN and BC Racing coilovers are entry level budget coilovers but Teins are more suited for the streets. BC would perform better on the track.

Stew did a nice creative thing with the coilovers. He fit some 3 to 4" circular hifi speaker covers over the carpet area cut to fit the coilovers. I'll post a pic when I get a chance. They actually do just look like an extension to the sound system. Very neat really.

I guess the coilovers can be dialed for max comfort rather than max performance? Best price I can find. £929 https://www.kamracing.co.uk/meisterr-zetacrd-coilover-lexus-sc430-uzz40-2001-to-2010.html

While you are here Neil. Meister coilovers seem to actually be a cheaper alternative to replacing all four corners with new Lexus shocks and springs. Might as well replace the 16 year old springs if I am doing the shocks. Do you need to cut little holes in the carpet for the rear ones? If so how do you pinpoint where to cut the hole?

I have a 2010 ISF that I’m considering selling due to lack of use, but it’s difficult valuing it due to it being such a small market. 2010, USB, 89k miles, full history, new brakes and tyres, 11months MOT, Tein coilovers, H&S exhaust and loads of little jobs done on it. Ones for sale on Autotrader don’t seem to be selling at all?

If anyone is breaking or selling parts suitable for RC F, I am interested to know what ya may have. Considering various exhaust solutions, aftermarket alloys and a decent set of coilovers (but do not need to be extreme performance). Gimmie a poke!

You can bounce the back of the car to see how it reacts but how does it drive? That's the key. Almost everyone likes Meister. They are better than the originals especially old originals and they are adjustable but there are alternatives. If the standard suspension on the SC was the same as it is in the GS3 is would have been fine but Lexus set it up to be quite soft so the handling is biased that way and therefore compromised. From memory the aftermarket coilovers improved the ride and handling significantly but my addition of very wide low profiles take that comfort gain away. Just replaced the fronts on the GS with original Lexus units and they were about £360 each.

Meisters. Would there be two types for Mk1 and Mk 2 car? Seems cost of coilovers is less than standard shocks and springs?

Recently? New gear knob, new center caps, coilovers, new rear LCAs + bolts, RC-F LCA bushings on the front, 6.3l of Castrol's finest and a genuine filter to boot, as well as a new N/S washer jet.