Lowering Car

[Ken]

Hey guys,

Was thinking about lowering my car, probably after i get a reflash, and found this website selling some lowering springs for $219

http://www.roadracemotorsports.com/store...cts_id=444

My question is, would i need a camber kit? Or what is the best way to lower the car, coilovers? or something else i'm not thinking of? I know very little when it comes to this so forgive the noobness. Also, tires and wheels would be next on the list after lowering.

Thanks for any information you can give me

[.RJ]

You wont need a camber kit, but you will need an alignment afterwards. Excessive toe wears tires, not camber.

As for the different springs... look around and do some research, you dont want a really lower thats too soft, it will ride on the bumpstops all the time and the ride quality will be pretty bad.

[DavidL]

Just really do your research. When I was looking at springs for my car, I had a couple choices. You can go with lowering springs or sports springs. Lowering springs drop your car (for looks) but adversely affect handling. Sport springs drop your car (less than the lowering springs) and improve handling, but generally cost more. Read up on the Lancer or Mitsubishi forums or whatever and get a consensus on the best of each kinds, and decide what you want to eventually do with your car. I knew I wanted to autocross in the future, and handling was more important than looks, so I went with the sports springs; it is all up to you.

[Mike]

Lowering springs drop your car (for looks) but adversely affect handling. Sport springs drop your car (less than the lowering springs) and improve handling, but generally cost more.

I wouldn't say they're mutually exclusive. The lower you can get the car with still having enough spring, the better.

[Ken]

Yeah these are new and on the Ralliart forums someone said that they would be getting them and trying them out. So i guess i'll wait and see for their results. Lowering it for me would be probably for 65% performance reasons and 35% aesthetic reasons. (yes exactly 65, 35. No more no less lol)

[Goodspeed]

Fixed that URL link for you. RRM has tons of experience with DSMs and Evo's, as well as road racing so I'd be pretty confident that they're selling a good product and not Pep Boys racing springs...

Also, your car is pretty new, but give it some time and you'll probably be able to find a very good set of springs or some sort of package deal as more manufacturers make them. TireRack sells individual items and kits like Eibach Pro Packs (springs+sways) that would do nicely Just keep an eye out for quality brands like Eibach, H&R, KW and others.

[Evan]

dremel tool = free lowering springs!

[V1GiLaNtE]

dremel tool = free lowering springs!

LOL... I can think of so many things going wrong using that "tried and true" technique... :?

[Ken]

or as Ian suggested, just heat'em up.

[Mike]

dremel tool = free lowering springs!

LOL... I can think of so many things going wrong using that "tried and true" technique... :?

my hatch actually came with cut lowering springs :!: surprisingly, they worked fine for a few autocrosses and months of daily driving.

[Evan]

interestingly enough, cutting coils off of a spring does in fact increase the spring rate. No, you still shouldnt do it but its not quite as horrible as you may think.

fill in this equation (use a large number like 50000000 for rigidity) and change the number of coils to see how it affects spring rate
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ajdesigner.com/phpspringrate/spring_rate_equation.php">http://www.ajdesigner.com/phpspringrate ... uation.php</a><!-- m -->

[D_Eclipse9916]

interestingly enough, cutting coils off of a spring does in fact increase the spring rate. No, you still shouldnt do it but its not quite as horrible as you may think.

fill in this equation (use a large number like 50000000 for rigidity) and change the number of coils to see how it affects spring rate
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ajdesigner.com/phpspringrate/spring_rate_equation.php">http://www.ajdesigner.com/phpspringrate ... uation.php</a><!-- m -->

Yep, and youll actually find out when you look at spring rates the APALLING truth about some "sport and lowering springs". I actually found a few under research that had LESS spring rate then the stockers!

Also whats amazing is some companies offer different springs that lower different amounts but use the same effective spring rates. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE never order eibach sportlines.

Ive found mostly across the board on a lot of car forums, and looking at spring rates along with driveability, I would buy H&R sport springs and konis, or H&Rs and stock shocks for a little while. Mitsubishi actually equips their "sports" cars with pretty good shocks. The dampening and rebound on my gsx shocks (yes, they were equipped with different shocks than gsts etc for 2g dsms) actually did really well when matched up to sport springs. Jason is still running my setup.

Anyway, less rambling, go do research!

[BLINGMW]

there's seriously nothing wrong with cutting springs. :dunno: I mean, do the math, measure twice, cut once, all that, but really it's fine depending on if the design of the spring perch is somewhat compatible with it. For example, on the rear of a BMW, the perch is flat, the spring is cut flat too, so without a different perch, I wouldn't do it. But the front struts do fine with cut springs.

[cribbs-tc]

My question is, would i need a camber kit? Or what is the best way to lower the car, coilovers? or something else i'm not thinking of? I know very little when it comes to this so forgive the noobness. Also, tires and wheels would be next on the list after lowering.

Camber? Depends on how low you go and what your current wheel offset is. If your offset is so far that lowering would cause rubbing, then you may want to run some camber to tuck and prevent the rubbing.

"Best" way to lower a car? Depends on what you mean by "best". For me, the "best" way was to go with lowering springs because I was on a budget. For performance (and a high budget), coilovers are the way to go. Their adjustability (is that even a word???) will allow you to fine tune your ride height for whatever situation you are in (daily, track, autox, etc).

But from my experience, be prepared for a "harsher" ride. I have Tein springs, and they don't give as much as the stockies. So the car doesn't lean as much in turns, accelerating, and braking; but I do feel bumps more.

[WRXtranceformed]

Tein Flex with EDFC ftw

[D_Eclipse9916]

yah, if you want a junk coilover with shitty crosstalk.

[WRXtranceformed]

Ridden in two cars with Flex/EDFC including a TL-S and my old one and they had the best mix of being the most comfortable / best performing combo I ever rode on!

[Ken]

not overly concerned about comfort. Anyone take a look at that link specifically though? There aren't many out for my car yet, so i may just wait these just seemed like a good deal.

[WRXtranceformed]

not overly concerned about comfort. Anyone take a look at that link specifically though? There aren't many out for my car yet, so i may just wait these just seemed like a good deal.

Is the car your daily driver? Then you should be a little concerned about comfort. Have you driven around in a car with a really stiff suspension for long periods of time? If you can stretch your budget, something like EDFC or adjustable coilovers are worth it. You can enjoy mild performance and comfort on the street and turn up the stiffness at the track.

[Kaan]

RJ used to daily drive on 900lbs springs or something like that. To each their own as far as comfort is concerned.