Lowering gear, AND keeping comfortable
 

Hey folks, So I'm thinking with buying some 18" wheels, this car may need to be lowered....

Only problem is this will be my daily 'get to work' car and where I live there are some horribly bumpy and uncomfortable roads (even in my honda accord)..... I know the suspension stock is ALREADY quite stiff, which is a little disconcerting but is there anything anyone would recommend that wouldn't put my spine out or at least improve the smoothness while still lowering it say around an inch or so? I know I may be asking to have and eat my cake at the same time too... any help or advice appreciated.

cheers -

How much are you looking to spend. People usually say that top notch coil over actually improve ride quality

Just make sure you get a quality set of springs/struts or coilover assembly and you should be fine. I prefer tein, but im also biased since i own tein flex coilovers. Also, make sure your spring rate on whatever you buy isnt to high. typically the higher the rate the stiffer the ride. But, that's the great thing about any spring, you can always order a different rate.

Heres a link i just google'd. Hopefully this will help a little with whatever future purchase you make.

http://www.tuninglinx.com/html/spring-rate.html

ALSO, if you get a coilover set, you can get shorter springs and still keep the same rate. Therefore, you can lower the car more, while still retaining the same spring rate. Just food for though.

So I'm riding on the RS*R coils and at full soft, and even up to like 8 from soft it's actually less rough than stock to just as hard as stock. The spring rates are 6kF 7kR. So it keeps similar ratios from stock. I have a bit of coil noise since I went with the pillow ball mounts. Moto-P has them as well, and has the hard rubber mounts so has none of that.

I'm in the same bucket (want to keep stock rates, but want to drop 0.5-1.0), from what I see so far for springs:

OEM Subaru BRZ M/T 0.0"/2.7k 0.0"/3.5k
RS-R Down 0.5"/2.8k 0.5"/4.5k

and that looks like the lowest.

Ahh these:
RS*R iSport Std +0.6-1.6"/6.0k +1.2-3.2"/7.0k SPIT065M $2449

Why did you go coils? I'd be happy with springs if I could get similar rates and a 0.5-1.0 drop.
What you say it keep similar ratios as stock, how can I see that from the specs? I see the BRZ is 2.8kF 3.5kR, which seems a long way of 6kF 7kR (granted coils are progressive)

I've never swapped the springs on a car before, but am really not a fan of the Suby Forester look it has stock.

Riki

The ratios I'm talking about are spring rate ratio F to R. So the GT86 is 3k F and 3.3k R. Doubling those rates gets you 6k and 6.6k. 7k is a bit stiffer, but it's very close to the stock ratio of F vs R rate.

I went coils since I could set them up to be a bit stiffer than stock, and have more fine control over the height level that I run. I can dial in a few MM higher or lower if I change wheels, and I can also adjust preload if I want to change the spring dynamics a bit.

I have the car currently set at like 2-3mm lower, and I'm going to get it all dialed in and corner balanced soon, setting it around 20-25mm lower than stock. I'm then going to drive on that with the shocks at the softest on some Auto-X and track days, and then start tweaking the stiffness levels from there as I build more confidence, and learn the car's handling on this setup.

I've swapped springs before, my 04 WRX is on Prodrive springs, but my AE86 was on coilovers. It's just how I prefer to tune my suspension. I want more control to be able to set the car up how I want it to drive so it can match my style of driving.

It's not as simple as "lower the car, keep the same spring rates."

Spring rates are only part of the equation. A major issue is the amount of drop. The car does not have much travel and if you lower the car an inch without increasing the spring rates, you're gonna be riding the bumpstops all day. The spring rate of the bumpstops is quite high.....

We offer our RCE Yellow springs...20mm drop, spring rates to improve handling, and shortened bumpstops. A functional spring that handles well, rides well, and looks good.

- Andrew

I'm in the same boat here. Interested in removing .5-1" without dropping down $2K for RS*R coilovers nor compromising the existing suspension.

My car is for everday use, and will likely see the track a few times a year only. A big $$ suspension seems awesome, but also overkill.

If you can afford it, I always hear KW Coilovers offer really good balance between handling and daily drivability/comfort. If you don't need some of the features I'm sure there are springs that are cheaper.