IS 300h - difference in ride quality between SE and other models

[DJP]

Why do they over inflate like that?

[rayaans]

1 hour ago, DJP said:

Why do they over inflate like that?

Helps the economy and I presume its so they dont have to check it as often on their demos.

Also makes the car feel "different"

[ColinBarber]

9 hours ago, tanimbar said:

Previously I had tested a Sport (18 inch wheels) on a motorway and that ride was acceptably smooth and controlled, but also fed back knowledge of the road surface and imperfections to the steering wheel, i.e. just as you would expect for 18 inch wheels and sports suspension.

The Sport grade doesn't actually have the sports suspension, that is only on the F Sport grade.

[tanimbar]

Tyre pressures for the SE and Luxury I tested?

I did ask what they were set to and, after hesitation, the salesman said 32 psi. I thought then that he was quoting what he remembered of the official figures but didn't actually know the real pressures in the test vehicles. So, I agree, that was one uncontrolled variable.

[rayaans]

3 hours ago, tanimbar said:

Tyre pressures for the SE and Luxury I tested?

I did ask what they were set to and, after hesitation, the salesman said 32 psi. I thought then that he was quoting what he remembered of the official figures but didn't actually know the real pressures in the test vehicles. So, I agree, that was one uncontrolled variable.

They should be set to 36psi anyway

I highly doubt theyd be at 32psi. I think he just made that up because I presume the tyres would look somewhat flat if they were at that pressure

[marrat]

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and I am also a prospective IS300H buyer. I've been driving a 3rd gen Prius for a while now, it's a really great car. It's actually the car that made me consider the IS300H due to the CVT (yes I am a freak who actually likes the CVT) and the trustworthy nature of the car. Hopefully I'll be driving the IS300H for ten or more years and it'll be quite a step up from the Prius.

I really love the F Sport, that's why I reply in this thread since I am concerned about comfort. I have never before driven a sports car, so I never did use things like adaptive suspension. There are few used cars with adaptive variable suspension, so test driving one is problematic. I was wondering how big the difference in driving comfort will be between an F Sport with and without AVS. If I test drive a normal F Sport and hate the ride, will it be pretty much certain I won't like one with AVS either? 
I know it's impossible to expect a drive as comfortable as the Prius, from a model with "Sport" in it, but I really like the LFA dash and the pronounced style. To be clear I am not interested in the F-Sport because I want to race over B-roads, I just really like the design of it.

[DJP]

Welcome to forum Marrat, and you'll find plenty of fans of the CVT here [emoji846]. The IS300h is not really a sports car in the sense I think you mean. Put it into Sport mode and it will satisfy any boy racer urge you may have, and once that's worn off back into Normal and you waft around in quiet luxury.

I didn't have AVS on my IS but do on my NX and IMO it makes little or no difference. Either that or I am insensitive to subtle differences in the ride. The reality is you won't know until you try, but for my money if you drive one without and don't like it then driving one with AVS won't change that.

The F Sport is certainly a stiffer/firmer ride than the others but that's very subjective so until you've tried one you really won't know if it suits you or not.

You're right to love the F Sport though, it really is a cracking car.

Good luck and let us know how you get on!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[rayaans]

2 hours ago, marrat said:

Hi all, I'm new to the forum and I am also a prospective IS300H buyer. I've been driving a 3rd gen Prius for a while now, it's a really great car. It's actually the car that made me consider the IS300H due to the CVT (yes I am a freak who actually likes the CVT) and the trustworthy nature of the car. Hopefully I'll be driving the IS300H for ten or more years and it'll be quite a step up from the Prius.

I really love the F Sport, that's why I reply in this thread since I am concerned about comfort. I have never before driven a sports car, so I never did use things like adaptive suspension. There are few used cars with adaptive variable suspension, so test driving one is problematic. I was wondering how big the difference in driving comfort will be between an F Sport with and without AVS. If I test drive a normal F Sport and hate the ride, will it be pretty much certain I won't like one with AVS either? 
I know it's impossible to expect a drive as comfortable as the Prius, from a model with "Sport" in it, but I really like the LFA dash and the pronounced style. To be clear I am not interested in the F-Sport because I want to race over B-roads, I just really like the design of it.

I drove an IS with AVS and I didn't notice much of a difference either. In fact it was actually harsher over expansion joint in my experience but that could just have been the tyre pressures on them

You wont be disappointed in ride quality of the IS F-Sport. It rides softer than the Prius does TBH. The Prius and CT are quite rough!

[marrat]

Thanks for the quick answers. As far as I understood, AVS constantly adapts to the road, making the ride better (except when in Sport+ obviously). Is that not the case? I've been looking for an IS300h for about 2,5 months now, in all that time only one has popped up with AVS. That one is about 270KMs away though. So either people buying new didn't feel any difference, or they didn't care about it. The only other candidate is the Luxury edition, which sadly is even more rare (2013/2014 models). I can live without the digital dash (with pain in my heart) and the looks, but I really do want things like back-up cam, memory seats, Mark Levinson audio system etc. Since we are relatively young and we can finally afford a really luxury car, we want to go full options and drive it a long, long time. I can't understand why a thing like AVS wasn't standard in a car tagged F Sport.

@Rayaans: I never drove the CT, but are you sure the ride of an F Sport is softer than a Prius? I can't even imagine that.

[ColinBarber]

It is ridiculous to suggest the IS 300h F Sport rides softer than a Prius. The Prius (series 1 to 3) doesn't give a great ride in the rear due to the old fashioned torsion beam suspension but it is still substantially softer than the IS.

AVS more aimed at reducing body roll and improving handling than improving ride quality, and as others have stated the effects aren't too significant anyway over the standard F Sport suspension.

Test drive an F Sport, with or without AVS, and make up your own mind. Be prepared to look for a different grade IS without the F Sport suspension and ideally 17" or 16" wheels, or at least consider putting 17" wheels on an F Sport to help soften it up a bit.

[rayaans]

5 hours ago, marrat said:

Thanks for the quick answers. As far as I understood, AVS constantly adapts to the road, making the ride better (except when in Sport+ obviously). Is that not the case? I've been looking for an IS300h for about 2,5 months now, in all that time only one has popped up with AVS. That one is about 270KMs away though. So either people buying new didn't feel any difference, or they didn't care about it. The only other candidate is the Luxury edition, which sadly is even more rare (2013/2014 models). I can live without the digital dash (with pain in my heart) and the looks, but I really do want things like back-up cam, memory seats, Mark Levinson audio system etc. Since we are relatively young and we can finally afford a really luxury car, we want to go full options and drive it a long, long time. I can't understand why a thing like AVS wasn't standard in a car tagged F Sport.

@Rayaans: I never drove the CT, but are you sure the ride of an F Sport is softer than a Prius? I can't even imagine that.

The AVS isnt worth it as an option thats why not many people got one. Pretty hard to find too.

5 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

It is ridiculous to suggest the IS 300h F Sport rides softer than a Prius. The Prius (series 1 to 3) doesn't give a great ride in the rear due to the old fashioned torsion beam suspension but it is still substantially softer than the IS.

AVS more aimed at reducing body roll and improving handling than improving ride quality, and as others have stated the effects aren't too significant anyway over the standard F Sport suspension.

Test drive an F Sport, with or without AVS, and make up your own mind. Be prepared to look for a different grade IS without the F Sport suspension and ideally 17" or 16" wheels, or at least consider putting 17" wheels on an F Sport to help soften it up a bit.

Nah its not, was in a Prius taxi yesterday and been in plenty of them, they ride really rough. The IS F-Sport is marginally better but not much of a difference. The IS tends to smooth the edges off, the Prius hit potholes and felt like it was on rock wheels.

Its like the saying the CT Advance is smoother than an IS F-Sport. Nope not the case, the CT loaner I had last week when my RX went for a service was shocking in terms of ride quality.

[ganzoom]

The standard coil suspension on the IS is by far the best OEM setup ive experienced.  The job of a good suspension setup is to communicate the road surface to the driver whilst maintaining body control over adverse camber etc. 

he damping in particular is spot on for UK B roads. You can carry sfupid amount of speeds through twisty bits safe in the knowledge the car will stick to the choosen line. If you want to see how not to setup suspension for UK roads just take any 2007 BMW M sport 3 series for a blast down a typical B road. Even the smallest pot hole can throw that car into the opposite lane!! 

[marrat]

Thanks for all the input, it seems there's no easy answer. I think I'll just test drive a normal F-Sport and assume AVS makes it slightly better. My emotional side says "go for it!", my rational side says "have fun with your aching back every time you drive more than 10 minutes"  :( Alarm bells ring when I read "sport" and "18 inch wheels", but the car itself and the dash look so good.

[DJP]

1 hour ago, marrat said:

Thanks for all the input, it seems there's no easy answer. I think I'll just test drive a normal F-Sport and assume AVS makes it slightly better. My emotional side says "go for it!", my rational side says "have fun with your aching back every time you drive more than 10 minutes"  :( Alarm bells ring when I read "sport" and "18 inch wheels", but the car itself and the dash look so good.

I'm not sure AVS = better, possibly different. The seats are very comfortable IMO, and if you get one with the memory seats the electric lumbar support is excellent.

[rayaans]

Ive driven over some nasty roads in the IS round here at a high speed without realising and its great! Turns out it gets smoother the faster you go as well!

[marrat]

1 hour ago, DJP said:

I'm not sure AVS = better, possibly different. The seats are very comfortable IMO, and if you get one with the memory seats the electric lumbar support is excellent.

I'm actually confused now. I asked the dealer a couple of weeks back what AVS was, I got an explanation boiling down to "the car constantly adapts the suspension to the road and makes the ride better". Since I was talking about comfort and such I assumed he meant "more comfortable" with "better". I don't expect a dealer to know about the technicalities of every system though, so he might have been quoting a standard pitch.

Nice to hear the car can handle rough roads nicely, I was expecting a very hard ride. I'll test drive an F-Sport and a normal edition when I have the time.

[DJP]

I believe it is supposed to be adapting to the road conditions all the time but in my NX or the GS that I drove I couldn't tell any difference. The only answer is to try them for yourself, but as I think you've already said, AVS is not found often.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[tayaste]

The official line :

 

1. An Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS) system is used.

2. The AVS controls the damping force of the shock absorber assemblies for all 4 wheels in accordance with the driving conditions and road surface conditions. In this way, it achieves a comfortable ride, excellent driveability and high levels of stability.

3. The AVS is a semi-active type of suspension. Its absorber control ECU estimates the vehicle conditions based on the signals from the sensors and the switches. Then, the absorber control ECU actuates the absorber control actuator, varies the flow of the oil, and controls the damping force.

4. By operating the drive mode select, the driver can select 2 types of damping forces for the shock absorber assemblies.

[rayaans]

22 hours ago, tayaste said:

The official line :

 

1. An Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS) system is used.

2. The AVS controls the damping force of the shock absorber assemblies for all 4 wheels in accordance with the driving conditions and road surface conditions. In this way, it achieves a comfortable ride, excellent driveability and high levels of stability.

3. The AVS is a semi-active type of suspension. Its absorber control ECU estimates the vehicle conditions based on the signals from the sensors and the switches. Then, the absorber control ECU actuates the absorber control actuator, varies the flow of the oil, and controls the damping force.

4. By operating the drive mode select, the driver can select 2 types of damping forces for the shock absorber assemblies.

Thats sales BS.

Essentially - keep it in normal or sport and the suspension stays the same. If you stick it in SPORT + its supposed to get harder but on the road you cant really feel it but in my somewhat limited experience, Sport + seems to affect expansion joints more where it thumps. I believe its because expansion joints are quite sudden

[tayaste]

3 hours ago, rayaans said:

Thats sales BS.

No. That's taken from techdocs

[rayaans]

40 minutes ago, tayaste said:

No. That's taken from techdocs

Agreed but that's the basic stuff they give to the salesmen. It's essentially sales BS, especially b. It doesn't actually make much difference to the car and certainly doesn't make it "more stable or comfortable", at least not noticeably so

[tayaste]

The vehicle actually uses the acceleration sensor, yawrate sensor, steering sensor, speed sensor and stop brake assembly through upto 4 ECUs to send can bus signal to the absorber control ecu and then to each of the 4 shock absorber control actuators.

Whether or not it makes and difference to the ride is down to opinion.

[bhardman]

Hi, I own the 300h SE with premium sat nav and love this car. There is no road tax to pay at all. I have just replaced all four 16" tyres for just over £200 for quality Dunlop tyres. I am getting just on 50MPG. I drive mainly around the Lancashire/Merseyside area where the roads are very poor in most cases and find the ride quality very good. I did test drive the sports model before purchasing the SE and found it a very firm and noisy ride, too firm for me picking up every bump in the road. Even the Lexus salesman commented on the difference in ride quality to the SE. Concluding that the 16" wheels do absorb a lot of the bumps and road noise.

[marrat]

This might be a stupid question, but I'll ask it anyway. How can another model (F-Sport in this case) be a nosier ride? Isn't it the same car with a different body kit? I assume they use the same materials and dampening material in all models.

[bhardman]

I assume its because of the low profile tyres and stiffer suspension.