Sportivo Stabilizer Bars

[GuyTelefunken]

Hey all. I recently installed both front and rear Sportivo stabilizer bars on my '98 GS300. Contrary to what I was led to believe, they seem to have a noticeable effect on ride quality.

Seems like I can feel all of the "bad vibes" and none of the "good vibes" both through the wheel and the body. Road cracks and bumps seem especially harsh compared to before installing the Sportivo kit.

Does anyone have these installed (or the TRD, etc.)? Did installing stiffer bars negatively impact your ride quality?

Granted, it corners much flatter and whips around better, I'm having second thoughts about the jiggly ride.

[BRAKATK]

Sorry to hear about the jiggly ride. Do you have a front or rear strut brace? I added a front strut brace from an Aristo and it really helped front end response. I am running factory bars. Maybe go back to the factory bars and ad strut bars?

How are the GR2 shocks? My GS is getting kind of bouncy after 93k miles and a 30mm lowering spring install. Did you install them yourself? How was that?

[GuyTelefunken]

GR2's are great. Not aggressive but firm enough. Still feels like a Lexus.

Yes I installed them myself. No problem at all if you're comfortable with a strut spring compressor. Pop the upper ball joint, drop the steering knuckle, unbolt and remove. Took about 1.5 hrs. per side. Of course, I have the Lexus service manual :D

I don't have any strut braces, I really don't believe in that stuff...kinda' have the same feeling about their usefulness as I do about cold-air intakes; "Stuff to make the kids go "AHHHhhh""!

[BRAKATK]

Thanks. I should invest in a service manual. Where did you get yours? As far as strut braces go, the one I installed is the factory Aristo front brace, and I can attest to the improved steering response, solid feel and flatness in turns. I talked to others (some LOC)with it before I installed mine-all felt it helped. I race vintage mustangs and they make a huge difference on those cars as well. Believe what you want. They also make people go AHHHH!

I do not know if the rear bars make much difference, but maybe someone on here can enlighten us.

[GuyTelefunken]

I would assume the torsional regidity of the body of a "vintage" mustang to be less than stiff. In that case, I would agree that a strut brace would make a difference.

I got my manual on CD fron Ebay. It's really just a collection of .pdf files with no index though. After running it through Adobe Acrobat creator and generating a searchable index, it works just fine.

[Neo]

I'm surprised to hear that white Sportivos would give you that much ride quality problems. I've had the Racing (blue) sways on and they were stiff. BUT the handlign was phenominal. I am riding on Daizen sways now and theya re pretty soft to me. I've lost a smidge of handling capability but gained a lot of the ride back. Still, I have always heard that the Spotivos are pretty soft. I'm not sure what to tell you. I currently have sways (and a lot of "useless" braces ;)) but the ride is still pretty nice.

I guess it all comes down to different individuals' butt-o-meters.

[GuyTelefunken]

Over the Easter holiday, I took my baby out on the "back roads," allow me to clarify....really bad, dirt roads. After that little stint, I realize now that my car rides just fine on good roads. I suppose the regular roads in my area are just in bad shape.

So there's my suggestion for proving to oneself just how well your car does ride. Load up mom in the car and take a ride out to the cabin. I hope she enjoyed the ride as much as I did!