Lowering springs questions

[samd1351]

So, I finally got the new wheels and tires on, and it looks great, except now it looks like I need to drop it down a bit to close up some wheel gap.

Questions are:

1) How much change will lowering springs make in overall ride quality? The wife still likes to ride and drive the car, so I don't want something that's going to make it ride like a brick.

2) I don't really need track level springs, just something to close up the wheel gap. Are springs enough, and/or the best option? What about coil overs, or are those more track related?

3) Steeda vs BMR vs FRPP vs ??

4) How low can I go? 285/35/19 front with a +35 and 325/30/19 rear with a +50.

The whole purpose of the car in general is to have fun. Mostly cruising around, a couple of autocross trips, drag strip runs and TNIA stuff, but nothing super competitive. I'm not trying to set the car up to be the next Jeff Gordon, John Force or Mario Andretti, just having fun. So ride quality would be the biggest factor in choosing the best way to lower the car to close up the wheel gap.

Please and thank you for any and helpful information, thoughts and experiences. BS comments welcome if they're amusing.

Sponsored

 

[Nagare]

1) Depends on the setup you go with and what aspect of ride quality you are looking for. My Steeda setup is definitely firmer than stock and not as cushy, but there is still great ride quality because it is predictable and controllable.

2) Coil overs are not necessary for that, a good set of shocks, struts, and springs should serve you well for lowering and maintaining good quality. The Steeda ProActives / Koni Actives are supposed to be comfortable and paired with a progressive spring would probably be much better than stock while still being cushy enough - I always recommend a linear spring (Sport Linears in my case) based on the terrible experience I had with Sportlines which were progressive. Two more that are very popular are the FRPP Track and the newer Bilstein HD6.

3) Steeda has options that cover the spectrum of drops, I feel like the 1" mark is perfect for our cars and that's what the Sport Linears deliver. BMRs don't drop quite as much but get a lot of love as well, FRPP aren't recommended quite often here for the springs (yes for the Track Shocks/Struts). Eibach...avoid Sportlines.

4) Could probably do Sportlines if you want the low life, but stick with 1" or less drop to avoid having to worry about scraping around town.

This is a shot of mine from a couple weeks ago to show the drop. This actually has a 1/8 spacer on the rear to lift a bit due to my speakers.

 

[samd1351]

That looks fabulous.

The ride quality I'm looking for is something similar to stock, just a little lower to close up the gap.

If I do springs, do I need to do shocks/struct as well, or is it more of, since I'm already in there, go ahead upgrade these as well type of thing?

Good to know about the sportlines.

I don't need the "low life", just need to get down some.

 

[michaelchatten]

Eibach prokit on mine. Just spring and stock shocks. Ride is maybe a touch firmer but still really comfy.

 

[RIBS]

My Ford Performance Street(NOT TRACK) Springs kept the factory ride and dropped one inch....they are only $25-50 more than 3rd party aftermarket...there are 2 types of springs, linerar and progressive. I think Progressive is the one with 2 different densities of winding of the spring and gives you the factory ride....

 

[15GTCA]

OP, any drop in ride height will cause a stiffer ride to some degree. If you do change springs, you should also consider struts/shocks.

 

[samd1351]

Eibach prokit on mine. Just spring and stock shocks. Ride is maybe a touch firmer but still really comfy.

Looks very nice! And so does the floor. Actually, I'm pretty jealous of the floor. And thanks for the info.

 

[samd1351]

My Ford Performance Street(NOT TRACK) Springs kept the factory ride and dropped one inch....they are only $25-50 more than 3rd party aftermarket...there are 2 types of springs, linerar and progressive. I think Progressive is the one with 2 different densities of winding of the spring and gives you the factory ride....

$25--50 is no big deal. Did you make any other suspension changes? Camber bolts/plates, sway bar, shocks/struts?

 

[samd1351]

OP, any drop in ride height will cause a stiffer ride to some degree. If you do change springs, you should also consider struts/shocks.

Ah ha! When you say i should consider shocks and struts, why? Is it because the wear difference between brand new springs and older/worn shocks, and if so, at what point would the wear difference be critical? I have about 6K miles on it now. Would you say there is cut-off, say (and I'm just throwing out some wild ass numbers here) if less than 10K miles, you would not need to replace shock/struts and over 10k you should? Or should I replace shocks/struts to match the performance of the new springs?

And I figured that any change would result in some ride quality concession, just trying to find the best to get a little lower with the least amount of give.

 

[michaelchatten]

Looks very nice! And so does the floor. Actually, I'm pretty jealous of the floor. And thanks for the info.

Floor is Cheap to do and easy.

 

[michaelchatten]

Ah ha! When you say i should consider shocks and struts, why? Is it because the wear difference between brand new springs and older/worn shocks, and if so, at what point would the wear difference be critical? I have about 6K miles on it now. Would you say there is cut-off, say (and I'm just throwing out some wild ass numbers here) if less than 10K miles, you would not need to replace shock/struts and over 10k you should? Or should I replace shocks/struts to match the performance of the new springs?

And I figured that any change would result in some ride quality concession, just trying to find the best to get a little lower with the least amount of give.

I have 35k on my car. Installed the Prokit I mentioned in my reply early on. Still stock shocks and no issues at all.

 

[Norm Peterson]

Ah ha! When you say i should consider shocks and struts, why?

When you make your existing shocks and struts work against stiffer springs, any tendency for the ride to be a bit 'floaty' increases.

Is it because the wear difference between brand new springs and older/worn shocks, and if so, at what point would the wear difference be critical? I have about 6K miles on it now.

Any floatiness would happen like right away (it's a % critical damping thing, tied to the square root of the spring rate). Increased wear rates would also start up immediately. Hard to say anything about the length of time or miles before some definition of 'critical' would be met because it's still a gradual deterioration thing rather than sudden death for one or more of the dampers.

And I figured that any change would result in some ride quality concession, just trying to find the best to get a little lower with the least amount of give.

For mild increases in spring rate, damper choice (and damper setting if they're adjustable) probably has more influence on ride quality.


Norm

 

[Nagare]

[QUOTE="samd1351, post: 2793241, member: 37060"

If I do springs, do I need to do shocks/struct as well, or is it more of, since I'm already in there, go ahead upgrade these as well type of thing?[/QUOTE]

Definitely the later part. It will still work just fine for awhile with the stock shocks/struts, but it won't be the same level as it would be with upgraded ones. It is a lot easier to just change them all at once and pay for alignment once that it is to do the jobs separately. If you're looking at something like CB005, try to do that at the same time as well.

 

[samd1351]

Thanks Bill. That is a lot of info to look at.TJ over at Steeda set me up with someone at their shop to talk it all through. When my younger son rolled up in his Camaro, he said two things: 1) Looks good 2) fix the wheel gap!

Sponsored