How much did you lower your car?
 

Hey guys I am about to lower my BRZ. I've never lowered a car before so this is all new to me.
I am doing research and I need some opinions and advice on whether or not I would be fine with just purchasing a set of lowering springs or should I spend the extra money and purchase an entire coilover set?
(Note: I don't want to slam it but lower it maybe an inch if that. I just want to get rid of the gap between the fender and tire.)
As of right now I just joy ride but track days will be in the future. If you could help guide me that would be much appreciated!
Thanks in advance, Lane.

Start with TRD springs for an inch.

In my eyes triplets are already low enough as stock for state of average roads one sees when daily driving. Do you really need to lower? Good instructor or more seat time in track will make you faster way more then lowering of car (or any mod of any type).

The Eibach Pro-Kits are the same as the US market TRD springs, but I don't know if that's easier to get in Europe or not.

If you're staying on the stock struts, I'd stick to around an inch (25mm) or less for lowering springs. Trim (or replace) the bump stops. These cars have very little travel before the bump stops, so there's definitely a point of diminishing returns.

I went with the Racecomp Engineering springs - they're 20mm, and have higher spring rates than the Eibach/TRD springs. Still very comfortable.

With coilovers, you get what you pay for, more or less. They'll usually have more aggressive damping and more aggressive springs rates. The ride will be firmer. Well-matched dampers/coils shouldn't feel harsh, though. Some folks associate the two together, but they're not the same thing. Tein, Bilstein, KW, Ohlins, etc... are all popular options for these cars.

You'll also want to get an alignment. There's no camber adjustment from the factory, so camber bolts/plates for the front and lower control arms in the rear may be necessary beyond a certain height. The rears will gain negative camber as you lower it. The fronts will as well, but not nearly as much. Generally speaking, you want the front camber to be equal to or greater than the rear camber. Beyond -3 degrees will probably result in some uneven tire wear for daily drivers. Your mileage may vary. People can point you to a good starting alignment, but there'll be some fine-tuning based on driving style, which tracks you're on, tire compound, tire wear, etc...

The following threads may be illuminating:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8739
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45554

I started out with Swift springs when i first lowered my car, but eventually swapped them out with Tein Flex Z coilovers. if i had to do it over again, i'd have gone straight to adjustable coilovers because of the adjustable ride height, the adjustable damping (which i actually use) and the improved ride quality/performance.

Agreed with shiumai. I just swapped my lowering springs and stock struts to coilovers and the difference in ride and performance is night and day. Plus, lowering springs destroy the stock struts fairly quickly. My 25mm lowering springs shot the stock struts after 15,000 miles.

I would go for a set of coilovers that way you can adjust the height to your liking. Not sure if you're able to get some Tein Flex Z's in Germany though. If you can, great value for the performance you get out of them.

BTW- I'm only lowered half an inch and from my last alignment I was able to dial in -2.0 in front (flex z's come with front camber plates) and the rears were right at -2.2.

Eibach Sport Line -35mm all round.
Eibach spacers 25mm (r) and 20mm (f).

At the moment I'm happy with the look however will go with coilovers once I have decided on the rims.

I'm going to lower mine 15mm.

The car is already low and i find lowering it 20-25mm is too much for daily because you'll begin hitting things and will have to be super careful with driveways.

I have the eibach 1.4 drop springs on my car, They handle Chicago roads completely fine. I do not have a lip though, if you are going to have one it may become a small issue with certain areas. Ride is minutely firmer but easy to deal with. Springs are a simple choice for look if you do not want to invest in decent coilovers, I would say the handling improved, but honestly that happened more so from the 245 tires i put on the car more so then the springs.

Had mine dropped 1" on B14's imo it was too low, going to shoot for around 3/4" soon. IMO 15mm-20mm seems to be the sweet spot.

Also thought the lowering was no big deal in the looks department, raised mine back to stock height and thought it was broken after setting it on the ground. The clearance is nice though.

I had mine lowered 3 inches or so last summer, and I was always fiddling with slightly different ride heights and damping settings. Said fuck that, sold my coils, bought springs, wheels and LCAs for what I sold them for. Set it and forget it.

On RSR Superlows. Ride is fine (not great, but fine) for a DD. I have over 60K miles in a year and a half and have never has a strut issue. Car is just street driven. Closes the gap up just right for my tastes.

Looks so good in that blue.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/45619895/kwv18.jpg

This is 20mm on KWv1 (the stainless steel version of the ST that people here rate) from Germany where the best coilovers come from. That's the maximum height; I can go another 30mm down if I wanted to.

As a bonus I've learned two new german words from the box: Edelstahl (weil Edelstahl nicht rostet), and naturlich Gewindefahrwerke. ;)

Only reason for lowering springs is to save money, whereas coilovers can make the car better. These are quite firm, but far more composed than the standard dampers, which are always going to be compromised running at a lower height. But even if your only concern is looks you can adjust the height with coilovers. I think a lot of people with lowering springs end up disappointed with the amount of low. Factor in that you may be shortening the life of your dampers and may have to buy new ones anyway you may as well buy a decent package from day one. IMO.

Sure, I may shorten the life of my stock dampers, but barely used stock dampers come up in the classifieds very often for next to nothing. Hell, even buying new stock ones will only cost about 500

You know, the stock springs and struts are coilovers.

Eh, it's fun to be pedantic but I think in this forum we're all speaking the same language that 'coilover' = 'off the shelf matched spring and damper set'

I'm being pedantic because it's foolhardy to say that 'coilover' = better than stock, when we know that not to be the case. It's the same sort of logic that results in folks buying crap and not knowing better. It's 2005. We can do better than that.

I am with @jawn on this issue. Not all off the shelf stuff is good, some is even worse then stock. Some people are okay with that as they just want to go low and dont drive hard. That is why those brands are still around.

Well the post that generated the pedantry didn't imply that all coilovers are an upgrade (explicitly stating that they "can make the car better"), I agree sometimes (most times) you get what you pay for.

It's silly, there's no non-coilover package for this car by strict definition, OE is coilovers, lowering springs on stock dampers are coilovers, $600 ebay spring/damper combos are coilovers just like $12k Penske's. It's a non-distinction in this discussion unless everyone agrees and has generated 5 useless posts so far.

It's like when the interior decorator (gf, wife, paid professional, gay uncle Joe) asks you to choose between paint colors and you say "the white one" and they groan and say "eggshell or buttercup?" and really all you care about is that it's not puke colored.

I want to go an inch lower but I already scrape when going up the entrance to parking lot at work. :(

Should check how the midpipe is holding up...

The post that garnered the pedantry also implied that there's no reason to go with lowering springs other than cost considerations, which is simply not true. Like coilovers, not all lowering springs are the same. And I'm not sure we're on the same page here, strat, but a silly statement requires a silly response.

All a matter of perspectives and opinions.

Assuming intent makes an ass out of you and me.

:cheers:

We are on the same page, we just take different paths to get the point across.

toe-may-toe
toe-mah-toe

I don't scrape any more frequently than I did when I was stock... which is to say I still scrape with a fair amount of frequency. Mostly on the underside of the front bumper, or the skid plate (and both of which are there to take a certain amount of abuse).

I also want lower, but im scare with the midpipe too. I want go lower more than half inch and less than one inch

I am Turbo'd making just shy of 400hp and I am on stock suspension. I did switch to larger wheels (18x9.5 +38 265/35/18) the ride quality is amazing my BRZ handles like a dream. Lowering the car is more of a personal taste thing than a performance enhancement. Improve wheels and tires for a real change. ***Save the suspension upgrades for a set of COILOVERs, a professional shop to counter balance the car and truly dial in suspension.*** The reality is 99% of people with all of these suspension upgrades will never see a race track, so whats the point?

I've got my ST coils set at almost max height. I'd say it's perfect for thrashing around and not scrapping at all. The ride is super comfortable, much more than I expected.
Attachment 130598

It was an opinion not a statement of fact. But what are the reasons for going for lowering springs other than cost? Are you saying that the OE dampers are the best that money can buy even when paired with springs they weren't designed for and operating lower than they were designed for?

The question was whether to buy coilovers. If you're buying a coilover clearly you're replacing the stock coilover so it's irrelevant that the stock coilover is a coilover.:lol:

No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that there are coilovers that are significantly more costly than lowering springs and significantly worse than the stock dampers paired with a quality spring. It's important not to speak in generalities because there's such a huge spectrum of products. Megans and Penskes are both coilovers. One of them is definitely not better than stock or stock + springs.

Also, lowering springs/aftermarket dampers are nice for folks who run their cars in the salt. Anything with threaded adjustments after a few winters of salt and road grime, stainless steel or not, can get pretty nasty.

I am going to put this to the test if I get lazy don't want to switch back to stock every winter lol. I did buy those ISC coilover condoms though so we will see how they work lol

http://d5otzd52uv6zz.cloudfront.net/...f58639-800.jpg

http://www.nwrallysports.com/wp-cont.../261102902.jpg

Eibach Sportlines 1.4" drop, Koni Yellow shocks
RPF1 17x9 +35 on 245 rubber

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...2014.43.35.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...pics/meet3.jpg

Awesome. Thanks for the attached photo. That is the look I'm going for, not a slam but just a slight gap between the tire and fender.

Awesome! Looks great. Thanks for the pics

I like this look and your wheels too. What are your wheel specs?

Do people really switch back to stock suspension every winter? D:

I'm getting coilovers installed this spring. I dont have the means to install/uninstall on my own... would rather not keep paying a shop to do it for me.

I'll give those condoms a shot I guess.

Wheels are Apex Racing ARC-8 17x9 +42 with 255 RS3's

How much did you lower your car?
 

Depends if you have anybody kit of not. With a bodykit on you can only lower a tiny bit more.... Unless it's a hard Parker or you just wanna toss money down the drain pipe destroying the kits..

Like STI front lip for brz is like dropping your car by a inch & half.... So ya you can't really drop it much more from stock height before you starts to scrap everywhere.

Just something for you to consider if you have plans to add more mods.


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Haha I have access to a shop with a hoist I hope isn't too much of a pain to get a lowered car on and off as well as an alignment machine so it shouldn't be much trouble for me. However for most people you can just set and forget.

RCE Yellows with camber bolts and rear lca's.
http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t...125_152405.jpg

@D_Thissen 17x8 on the wheels?