So heres the problem, ive been running 18" Axis Halo's for some time now, love them to death but it almost feels like im riding in a huge truck.. especially when i get right next to a miata or z4 or even another s2k.

I want to lower my car, as after you see the pictures i believe you will agree, i think it will make it look much better, and i wont feel like yao ming next to other roadsters. Ive been wanting to get lowered for some time now, but i have a big concern about ride comfort, this is a DD, although i am young so being a little bumpy isnt too much of a concern for me at all, i just dont want it to be unbearable.


I was hoping to be able to find just some springs, or something for under $500 or so that will give the drop i want and not disturb the ride quality too much.

Thoughts? are there such springs? or should i just endure the look a little longer and wait for coilovers?

price range is around $500

 

I think 100% people here would say to lower it....

 

I am running the Tein FLEX Coilovers. They are easily adjustable to any height within about 3 inches of stock. They also have 16 damping settings.

I had the same question and am very pleased with the FLEX setup. I have kept a log of the adjustments with the resulting lift and handling changes. Took me about two weeks to get the system right where I want it on the road. I can adjust it to track settings and then right back to road.

Perfect.

 

I wish i could grab some coilovers, but im looking for just some lowering springs, because i dont track this car really, im just looking for a good look, but nothing thats TOO stiff

 

I wouldn't be concerned about ride, the S2K rides pretty rough stock. I originally purchased Espelir ASD coils with Koni Yellow shocks. The Konis have two height settings, one stock, one is about a half inch lower. With the Espelirs on the Koni's "stock" height my car looked great, but was too damn low. I scraped over every dip in the road and just getting in and out of my driveway. Also, my wheels are a bit more aggressive offset than stock, so the front tires rubbed on the fenders over dips in the road. I was worried about damaging my fenders, so I had the coils removed and replaced with the stock coil springs, but had them installed on the Koni "sport" or low perch. IMHO, the car looks clean, not as dumped but more importantly the car handles and rides better. I still scrape the little forward mudflaps going up driveways.

Although the car didn't seem to ride any rougher, I did notice lowering it compromised the handling, even with a professional alignment. With just a half inch drop on the Konis the car handles much more like stock.

You can pick up the Konis for about $600. If you think the car needs to go lower, buy coils later. You'll probably need new shocks with the dropped car anyway, I've heard the OEM shocks don't work well with lowering springs.

Oh yeah, as far as coilovers go. For me I could't justify the price, plus I had no intention of changing the ride height of my car, so the adjustability was not needed.

 

Here is a pic of my car on the Espelir coils:

 

I had a completely different experience w/ the Espelir ASD springs, which I still have on my car. My car is just as low -- I don't scrape over every dip in the road, that is definately an exaggeration, unless you live in an area where the roads are really bad. I will scrape on extremely steep driveways/entrances if I don't go slow, but if I slow down and come in at an angle, I don't scrape at all.

Handling -- they are better than stock springs. They have increased spring rates, but they have softer springs in the rear (like AP2s do, the AP1s have softer springs in the front) so the car handles more neutrally than a stock AP1 would, plus the fact that the spring rates are higher than stock front and rear contributes to better handling. I have a professional alignment on my car, and the car handles like it's on rails (I have a UK Spec alignment, but w/ -2 to -2.5 camber front and rear).

I've had the springs on for a year, and I'm still on my stock shocks, and my shocks are still absolutely fine (I put about 10k-12k miles a year on my car).

I have a set of Volks with a fairly aggressive offset, and I had a set of Blitz Type 01s with an even more aggressive offset before these. I don't rub at all. My old Blitz wheels had a 9 inch wide rear with a +45 offset, and they didn't rub with the camber I have dialed in. Honestly, rubbing has to do with a lot more with your choice of wheels (offsets and widths) than the springs ... that's more your own fault for not matching everything up properly.

Overall, the height is perfect for me, the performance is better than stock (not as good as good coilovers though, plus no adjustability), and it rides a little stiffer than stock, but not bad at all. If you're looking for other options, Swift makes a set of springs that only drop the car about an inch (Espelir ASDs are something like a 1.3-1.5" drop), or you can go with an adjustable set of springs from Comptech or Ground Control for about $500 where you can set the height to your liking (the Ground Control are also nice b/c they use Eibach race springs, so you can easily change the spring rates if you want).

Here's my car w/ the Espelir drop:

 

I just installed some Skunk2 springs I got for cheap. It's pretty damn low. Personally, I don't really like the ride. It became more "fluffy" I guess would be a good word to describe. I'm going to buy coilovers soon anyway though.
OP, how low of a drop are you looking for?

 

height wise.. im digging this look right here

(4th post from top, silver with ings front and CF hood)

i would want something similar to that height, probably a tad higher, judging on my car, i would say maybe 2"?

 

He's on coilovers ... the drop is about 1.5" in the rear, about 1.8" in the front I would say.