I like the look of a lowered S, but what kind of adverse effects does this cause on handling and are they easily remedied? Thanks, in advance, for your time!

 

There's an article on the main page regarding modifying the suspension.

 

the spring rates, ride height and shock valving need to work in harmony. changine one or two of these puts this out the window.

 

Unfortunately the article is a little misleading.

I'm no expert (self proclaimed or otherwise) but the comments on lowering with springs alone are extremely misleading. Self proclaimed experts seem to love making sweeping statements, but when it comes to suspension modifications you have to look at the specifics (and it shouldn't take an expert to realize this).

Springs alone will NOT improve the handling of the car, but do they actually degrade the handling? Some do, that's for sure, but do they all? Companies like Eibach do a very competent job of minimizing the negative effects of lowering. Their Pro Kit lowers the car an inch all round, and the car can be aligned after the lowering so that grip and handling are so close to stock that very few drivers will be able to tell the difference.

Speculation and generalizations notwithstanding, I run my car in SM2, riding on an Eiback Pro Kit, OEM tires, and UK alignment (plus RPSS, 4.30 gears, and KAZZ 1.5 LSD). I am not really that great a driver, but the only cars that run faster times (in any class) are those running R compound tires or racing rubber. If the springs screwed up the handling badly this would simply be impossible.

The moral is that even if you read it in a featured article here on S2kI you need to take it with a grain of salt, especially when someone is making sweeping generalizations. Sure, if you drop the car an inch and don't align the car afterward, the handling will suffer. If you install poorly engineered springs (or cut the stock springs) then of course handling is likely to suffer. However, with well engineered springs and a modest drop the car can still be alighed to provide supurb handling. I've done it, and have the trophies to prove it.

 

That is a part of what a suspension engineer considers when designing springs to lower a car. The Pro Kit (for example) is designed to work with the stock shocks. Suspension is always a compormise; A well designed kit simply rearranges the compromises a little.

 

which springs would you guys say address the issue out of the ones out there available?

 

Obviously you're going to get lots of opinions, and they're going to vary. I've been autocrossing my car successfully for two years on an Eibach Pro Kit, so either I'm a good enough driver to make up for the handling problems the lowering causes, or there is some way to make the car work well after lowering. However, suspension design and modification both involve compromises, and lowering affects more than just handling.

No matter how you lower, you're going to have some clearance problems. In this area the roads are such that a drop of more than an inch is asking for trouble, but roads vary, so you might not be able to get away with as much (or might be able to get away with more).

Ride quality will be altered. Eibach uses progressive rate springs, so up to a point the ride quality isn't much stiffer than OEM, but as the bumps get bigger the stiffer portion of the spring comes into play and the ride suffers. Also, the reduction in suspension travel can be an issue if you have a habit of slamming into things like pot holes at speed.

Even though I've lowered my car and am satisfied with the results it is something that you should do ONLY after careful analysis. The surfaces you drive and compete on need to be considered, as well as your tolerance for the downsides. Keep in mind that if you lower with springs only, you will NOT see an improvement in handling and you'll still have the downsides of less suspension travel and clearance. Improving the stocks will do more for the handling than lowering springs, so figure out what you want to accomplish before spending your money.

As an aside, I put the Pro Kit on my car to determine whether or not I could stand a 1" drop on the street. I had every expectation that the handling would go to pot, and every intention of replacing the springs with a full coilover system (but only if I was able to live with the drop on the street). After the install I initially aligned the car to UK specs, but with an additional 1/2 degree of negative camber in the back, but after some testing using tire temperatures the rear camber went back to the two degrees (negative) called for in the UK spec. The car handled so well with the setup that I decided that I'd focus on other areas first and come back to the suspension later, and since then we've added the RPSS, SC/AC, gears and LSD, and I'm still not at point where I feel that the suspension needs upgrading. There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with the way the car handles. It's easy to drift, easy to hold on the edge, and it handles well enough to take home the trophies.

 

The only experience I have is with the Eibach Pro Kit, so that's all I can address. Eibach does an excellent job of minimizing the downsides of a modest (1") drop.

Others may do as well, but without testing them myself I couldn't say for sure.

 

what's an RPSS?

 

richard paul short shifter ???