Best option for a slight drop
 

Do I just save for coils or can I get away with STI/ Tein springs?

I have the Aero bodykit with a front splitter and am currently 11.5mm from the ground on stock ride height with 18” wheels on 235 tyres. I have an angled driveway and would scrape on an angle every day when I was on my 17” wheels so I believe anything over 15mm will be too low for me.

I daily drive, my commute is fairly bumpy in one area (not an issue on my current height but I had to be careful when I was on the smaller wheels). It’s hard for me to justify the cost of coils unless it’s REALLY worth it as I don’t care to mess around with camber. I just want to close the fender gap slightly and retain a similar ride quality

Any recommendations on what I do?

Best option for a slight drop
 

Do I just save for coils or can I get away with STI/ Tein springs?

I have the Aero bodykit with a front splitter and am currently 11.5mm from the ground on stock ride height with 18” wheels on 235 tyres. I have an angled driveway and would scrape on an angle every day when I was on my 17” wheels so I believe a drop greater than 15mm will be too low for me.

I daily drive, my commute is fairly bumpy in one area (not an issue on my current height but I had to be careful when I was on the smaller wheels). It’s hard for me to justify the cost of coils unless it’s REALLY worth it as I don’t care to mess around with camber. I just want to close the fender gap slightly and retain a similar ride quality

Any recommendations on what I do?

Racecomp Engineering Yellows would be a good option but they're a 20mm drop. I'm not aware of any springs that offer less of a drop than that. Maybe coilovers set really high would work if cost isn't an issue.

STi and RSR Down are both 5-10mm drops while being stiffer.

RSR SUPER Down takes you lower than an inch I believe.

I’ve seen good things about RCE’s but I think 20 will be too much. The aero front lip alone visually lowers the car about 20-25mm from stock and I have a splitter in addition to that.

I know JDM sti springs and Tein are 15mm I just haven’t heard much about how they handle on stock struts or whether there’s a better alternative.

At this stage I would say I’m on a budget. It’s hard for me to justify paying 4x the cost of most springs when I wouldn’t really be utilising everything coils offer aside from ride height

If you're not looking for aggressively spec'd wheels, springs and struts work fine for cheap (especially if you're installing them yourself). Some specs require coilovers to fit.

I commute in my 86 on Tein Flex Zs and haven't had any harsh ride issues BUT I only dropped the car an inch.

I just installed Tein Flex A and lowered about an 1". Similar report as @Wally86 as to ride quality.

11.5mm. I`m sure it`s 11.5cm;) 100mm is legal minimum up here. i`m on MCA coils and lowered about 30mm. Sure i still have 110mm+ to the lip. I can check when the sun comes up. I`ll give you the wheel center to wheel arch measurement(355mm F 350mm R measured at the top center)

Thanks,
Yea the body kit visually lowers the car a lot. The 11.5 measurement was from the front of my splitter, if I go off the side of my splitter it’s 10.5mm. This is my ride height after installing larger wheels. On 17” wheels I would scrape leaving my driveway and entering work on a daily basis. That’s why I’m hesitant to go beyond 15mm

All my suspension components are completely stock
https://i.ibb.co/7Y2N5Fp/A4-B698-EF-...-C75011-DC.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/31X8qcd/AE958-F2-B-...89-E98-D79.jpg

Height on 17” wheels (about 5mm lower than what the 18” raises me by) still stock suspension with 225/45 tyres. This height was fine for 90% of my daily driving but there were the occasional steep ramps/ dips I would scrape.
1inch drop from where I’m at would put me around 20mm lower than this picture which I think will just be that little bit too low for the repetitive scraping to start causing damage to my bumper over time
https://i.ibb.co/hYxKJ5v/3-D522-F95-...A76-F822-B.jpg

Drive more aggressively and wear your tread off. Replace the tires with smaller OD tires.

My Lip is 120mm 10.2cm clearence and the car is low enough on 18" x 9" rims with 255 35 18 Zestino Gredge 07rs

Do the MY17+ BRZ’s sit higher than the 13+ 86’s from factory?
I’m visually at the same height as you with no suspension mods, just my front lip and splitter….

https://i.ibb.co/XL7Gb74/3717-D0-F0-...E727-BB323.jpg

Mines a Ts its factory lowered on the sti springs and sachs shocks to start with. I am now on Mca coilovers lowered 30-35mm. Measure upwards from the wheel center to guards lip. Mine is 355mmFront and 350mm rear. So mine may have a different rake angle. Mine is all recommended settings by Gazoo racing car suspension builders MCA (Mike Cootes Australia). And it handles f**king perfect street or track with some simple turns of a dial.

From what I've seen for minimal drop, I'd say best bet is JDM STI springs or RSR Downs (very mild 15mm drop), followed by Racecomp Springs (mild 20mm drop).

Thanks for the suggestion, hadn’t seen RSR before and found a relatively cheap pair locally.

Will have to research more as I don’t like the fact they’re advertised as 10-15mm and not 10 or 15. I’m hoping it’s 15 as I don’t want to see 0 visible change as I saw in someone’s review in case my stock ride height is already lower than it’s meant to be like he suspects was the case for him
https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121999

RCEs look good but they’re too expensive with shipping added based on not living in the states.



Found this 2020 BRZ Ts for sale on market place… I’m assuming it has the upgraded shocks, I can see it has the pink JDM springs, it’s an 18 wheel with 215/40 tyres on it…
So why does it look like it has double the fender gap than I do on stock MY15 springs??? @gen3v8 are you sure the BRZ ts doesn’t sit higher factory? That would make more sense why you were able to drop 30mm
https://i.ibb.co/BfB6tL8/226-CE9-B0-...3-B3-A0822.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/vq3G3HZ/6-E5-CFAC5-...1-B9136-C5.jpg

Going off Willtheyfit, and adding the fact that the BRZ has 15mm springs, the BRZs fender to wheel gap should be 9mm lower than what I’m currently on… (4mm decreased gap for me vs 15mm decreased gap for the Ts- think the will they fit calculator
adds the top and bottom measurements so it should be 4 not 8)
https://i.ibb.co/VpWPCsD/D0677480-9-...-E5-C6-E70.jpg

I told you where to measure. If you post dodgy pics you can`t be helped.

I don’t think the photo comparison is dodgy.. they’re taken at similar angles. Anyway here you go, 350-355mm for my front centre of centre cap to the wheel arch, same as yours on a 30mm drop?
https://i.ibb.co/6JFTr4y/DD801724-C5...51-D45-A09.png

Now measure the back. If it`s more than 355 it pushes the front lip down. So if it``s lower than 350mm it lifts the front lip up because of the rake angle. My rake angle is what was given by MCA for a recommended track street option.
Your front is maybe low enough, maybe coilovers is your best option. Mine is one of the quick NAs on the track with the setup I run and for a slightly above average driver(very slightlyLOL).
When you lower the rear the negative camber increases. So its nice to keep the front camber a few degrees more negative. Camber bolts will be good for the front Not too much or the inside of the tire wears if you don`t corner hard enough. The rear is harder to match or adjust camber without Adjustable lower control arms for example.
I`ll try to find some pics with the same tires and wheels STD and Lowered. Found some with 225 45 17 Nitto Nt01`s. I think you can see the rear seems lower?
Good luck with your decision.

Thanks, I’ll check the rear I believe it is higher than the front. Im not doubting your suspension setup, I just want to make sure nothings wrong with my stock suspension before I change springs. I’m basing my ride height drop based on my current height. If my springs for whatever reason are sitting lower than they’re meant to, then putting a 25-20mm may only lower me 5mm more than I’m currently at rather than the full 25mm from where it currently sits if that makes sense…

I currently have a set of whiteline 25mm springs and camber bolts that I’ve been hesitant to put on.

Edit- measured the rear and it’s 360mm from centre of centre cap to lip, which lines up with what I thought was the factory higher rear if my fronts are around 350-355. My measurements were on my driver side which I’m pretty sure sits higher than the passenger by design

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120033

usdm STI Ts springs drop a little in the front like 5mm and about the same as stock height in the rear. some report a slight raise.

get HKS HIPERMAX S. THis is the best ever for 86/brz