To Lower or, Not to Lower... ... That is the Question
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Joined: Mar 2001
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From: Baltimore
Silver & CoralDoc,
Do you guys remember twists at Loch Raven Reservoir ("the seven sisters") or the sweeping "S" turns on Tufton Road (@ Cal Ripken's house now where the Hunt Cup Steeple Chase Type Horse Race is performed)?
Man, I gotta get out of this office & DRIVE!!!!!!!
Do you guys remember twists at Loch Raven Reservoir ("the seven sisters") or the sweeping "S" turns on Tufton Road (@ Cal Ripken's house now where the Hunt Cup Steeple Chase Type Horse Race is performed)?
Man, I gotta get out of this office & DRIVE!!!!!!!
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From: Monterey
Gary- STOP!!! I wish I could drive through Loch Raven! Man, some of the best roads and it's nice and quiet for the most part. As a matter of fact when I bought my car in March my girlfriend and I drove over to Cal's house. He lives like 6 minutes from me and all of those roads are so great! I can't believe we're like practically neighbors. Well, at least were. You must live very close to Craddock Estates then. Hey enjoy those roads out there! Also, how is your car with the 18's on the rear and 17's up front? I've thought about doing that. Any regrets? How's handling vs. same size all around? Take care!
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From: Timonium
Gary,
I debated the same question and decided against lowering. The deciding factor was advice from a good friend who is a very experienced Acura/Honda mechanic. He said, "Honda spent millions engineering the car for optimal performance and balance, so why go screwing around with it -- you're an amateur. It will add nothing to performance, you'll scrape the hell out of the bottom of the car, and handling and tire wear will be degraded." I took his advice.
I debated the same question and decided against lowering. The deciding factor was advice from a good friend who is a very experienced Acura/Honda mechanic. He said, "Honda spent millions engineering the car for optimal performance and balance, so why go screwing around with it -- you're an amateur. It will add nothing to performance, you'll scrape the hell out of the bottom of the car, and handling and tire wear will be degraded." I took his advice.
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Joined: Feb 2001
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From: You wish
No offense to Rick's good friend, but saying that lowering a car won't add anything to performance and will degrade handling and tire wear is just as bad as saying that lowering your car will make it handle worlds better.
Barring any other changes, lowering a car's center of gravity (Cg) is almost always a good thing. It reduces weight transfer in all directions (one of the few mods that does so - spring rates, shocks, sway bars do not affect weight transfer). That means less roll and better utilization of your tires even if spring rates and alignment settings remain the same.
The real key with changing springs isn't so much how far down they take you, but what the rates are and whether or not they change the relative ride heights front and rear. Rates are critical because the relative rates front and rear do affect handling balance. And if the stock car runs progressive springs, you'll probably want to stay that way if you're keeping stock shocks (and if the stock units are linear, the same applies). Usually, because most sport springs do lower the car, you'll want slightly stiffer rates because you now have less static bump travel available in the shocks.
Provided these things are taken into account (and usually companies like H&R, etc. do a pretty good job), then a mild spring that doesn't run too much more rate and doesn't drop the car too much can improve handling modestly. The tradeoff is a slightly stiffer ride and more clearance issues. With the S2K you don't even need to worry about alignment because you can adjust everything back to stock settings if you like. If you're a serious racer, then nothing but adjustable coilovers with pick your own rate springs will do, but for the casual owner, just ask for spring rates from the manufacturer, get info on the drop and then compare with the stock rates (available on the King Motorsports site).
UL
Barring any other changes, lowering a car's center of gravity (Cg) is almost always a good thing. It reduces weight transfer in all directions (one of the few mods that does so - spring rates, shocks, sway bars do not affect weight transfer). That means less roll and better utilization of your tires even if spring rates and alignment settings remain the same.
The real key with changing springs isn't so much how far down they take you, but what the rates are and whether or not they change the relative ride heights front and rear. Rates are critical because the relative rates front and rear do affect handling balance. And if the stock car runs progressive springs, you'll probably want to stay that way if you're keeping stock shocks (and if the stock units are linear, the same applies). Usually, because most sport springs do lower the car, you'll want slightly stiffer rates because you now have less static bump travel available in the shocks.
Provided these things are taken into account (and usually companies like H&R, etc. do a pretty good job), then a mild spring that doesn't run too much more rate and doesn't drop the car too much can improve handling modestly. The tradeoff is a slightly stiffer ride and more clearance issues. With the S2K you don't even need to worry about alignment because you can adjust everything back to stock settings if you like. If you're a serious racer, then nothing but adjustable coilovers with pick your own rate springs will do, but for the casual owner, just ask for spring rates from the manufacturer, get info on the drop and then compare with the stock rates (available on the King Motorsports site).
UL
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From: Kirkland
Hey, Ultimate, I've seen your posts on every board I've visited. And all your posts are long and info packed. Is internet board posting your full-time work?
As to the lowering... if you have 18s... you really should. It looks jacked up with the stock suspension. NSX, S2000 look great with the stock rims. But once you up the size, the car looks way lifted.
As to the lowering... if you have 18s... you really should. It looks jacked up with the stock suspension. NSX, S2000 look great with the stock rims. But once you up the size, the car looks way lifted.
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Joined: Oct 2000
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From: Plano, Tx
As soon as I get my 17" Work wheels, I'm going to order kg/mm dual-rate springs from Mingster. It'll only lower it about .60" front & rear. And no, I don't work for Mingster
...I'm just a satisfied customer
.
...I'm just a satisfied customer.
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Joined: Apr 2001
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From: Los Angeles
I love the look of slammed cars with big wheels. That's why i like to watch Speedvision when the GT class are racing. Those E46 M3's with the M5 engines and all those tuned up Porsches are awesome. I can watch those cars go around for hours. However, making my car look like that just isn't practical. I don't know anything about tuning suspension. It definitely isn't just buying lowering springs and a set of shocks. My car has about two finger spacing all around, maybe a little more on the fronts. I don't think that looks too bad with my 18 inch wheels. The bigger tires definitely filled out the wheel well a little better. That's why I'm not planning on lowering my car. It looks alright, and it's already balanced from the factory. It's simply hassle free.