I think it was actually my falut. The guy is confused about something that many people find confusing, and I made a remark that was pretty harsh. I just hope he won't let his anger interfer with clear thinking as we move forward with the discussion.

 

Spoolin, I'll bet you didn't expect your question to stir things up the way it has. There are always people who have opinions that run contray to fact, and sometimes I'm one of them, but in the end we always get to the bottom of things here on S2kI. If you can bear with us and ignore the internal bickering you'll eventually end up with the information you actually need, and confidance that the informaiton is accurate. The bickering is just a part of the process we have to go through to sort out the good information from the misinformation.

Thanks for your patients.

 

No problem. I actually learned a lot from you and will continue to look into the Eibach Prokit. Thanks a lot for the right up and explanation and your experiences with lowering and everything; it has greatly informed me.
BTW, my 2002 S only has 10,000 miles on it, so I don't think the struts are going to go anytime soon. If they do, then I will just purchase some Koni struts to replace them and put the Eibach Prokit springs on them. If those are in fact the springs I go with.
Again, thanks a lot guys.

 

as long as the drop is no more than 1.25" you should be able to get away with stock shocks based on my experience. people who have blown shocks after lowering their car a year later are the people who have 1.5" to 2.25" drop.

i had trd springs on my celica which was a 1.25" drop and had stock shocks for 2 years and never had a problem. when i started road racing the car at streets of willow is when i switched to the trd truts.

my is300 had tanabe NF which had the stock shocks for two years and never had a problem. great springs! if you don't plan on racing the S at a track but want that lowered not slammed look w/o the harsh ride these are the best springs to have.

http://www.tanabe-usa.com/springs/

 

Tugz and I have exchanged a couple PM's, and we're on the same page now. There is always disagreement when someone asks about lowering with just springs, and it's always because of some kind of basic misunderstanding. Next time this question comes up we'll have the same discussions, involving different people. In the end everybody learns from everybody else, so it's all good.

The misunderstanding here involved struts; Struts resist longitudinal compression, so they are subject to stresses that conventinoal shock absorbers (or dampers) never see. Our cars have unequal length A-arms which handle all the forces and compressions, so our shocks just have to work as shocks, and aren't exposed to the stresses a strut sees. The only extra stress alternate springs are apt to cause are related to the frequency at which the springs oscilate, so unless you make a HUGE change in the rates the shocks don't see enough additional stress to be concerned with. It is an entirely different matter on cars with struts.

I have not been able to veryify this, but the stock shocks appear to have been made by KYB, and in any event, they are at least as high in quality as KYB shocks, so they are not apt to wear out too quickly under normal circumstances.

You can do a lot more with the car if you upgreade the entire suspension rather than just putting on aftermarket springs, because you can corner weight, alter the bump/roll steer profiles, raise the roll center, and then fine tune every aspect of the cars handling to fit your driving style, but if you just want to change the original design tredeoffs, exchanging some suspension travel and ground clearance for a lower stance, a Pro Kit will do the trick. The drop is minimal, which is a plus, and the progressive rates work well with an otherwise stock suspension setup. If you can stand (or enjoy) the oversteer of an early AP1 then you'll like the ProKit.

I'm against lowering most cars, because most of the time it does screw up the handling, but in the case of the S2000, modest lowering without totaly trashing the handling is easy. When you get your ProKit installed, have the car aligned to the UK specs, and then alter the alignment (and tire pressures if necessary) to fine tune the handling. I don't think you'll be dissipointed.

 

Thanks LiquidSilver!

My car is actually dropped a little over an inch in the front, because of the extra weight of the SC/AC, but I can't actually recommend a drop over an inch, becasue I don't have direct experience. However, I do believe that you're right, and that up to an inch and a quarter isn't going to harm the shocks. Thanks for adding your experience to the thread.

Nobody has mentioned this so far, but when you drop the car it's a good idea to upgrade the bumpstops. The stock bumpstops are fine; I'm still running on them, but Koni makes a stop that is more progressive than the stock rubber stops, and it can be trimmed to tune the rate at which it stiffens the suspension as the car approaches the limits of its suspension travel. The improved stops should (I haven't actually tried it yet, but at least in theory) allow more speed over dips that set the car down on the stops, because of their more progressive rate. They should also reduce the impact loading if and when the suspension bottoms really hard (and should also offer the same benefits with stock springs, becaue the car will bottom with them too, if you hit a big enough dip carrying enough speed). LOL, the things only cost a few bucks, so I need to just go ahead and put a set on the car as a proof of concept.

I have used the Knoi stops on other cars, and they've always been a plus, but I'm autocrossing on the stock stops, and they're actually amazingly progressive, so I've left them alone. Guess I need to reconsider.

 

What do you think of the Tanabe's TRD talks about?
I'm not into slamming the car as I just want to give it a more aggressive look and keep, at the minimum, the stock handling capabilities. I was thinking of around a 1" drop in the front and .75" in the rear but, a 1" drop front and rear would be fine also.
Also, what are the UK's spec alignment you mention? Is it diferent than the US?

 

Since I don't have any experience with the Tanabe's I really don't know. I think they drop the car over an inch, but I'm not even sure why I think that.

TRD, how much do they drop the car.

UK Specs:

 

http://www.tanabe-usa.com/springs/spring_a...ations.asp?id=2

then the NF are perfect cause its 0.8" drop all around. that would be a sweet drop in the S2K. i was getting ready to drop my S with the NF two weeks after i got it but getting in and out of the car is hard enough and when you sit in the S it already looks lowered.

 

if you want an aggressive look, go for tein s-techs. if you want improved handling, but dont want to buy coilovers, then i suggest leave it stock. springs wont really improve handling to the point where you'll notice.