Lowering the car
 

Ok i want my car to sit about 1" lower and i was wondering what your guys' opinion on lowering springs vs. a full coilover kit. I mean obviously a coilover kit is the way to go in an ideal world, but my wallet likes the lowering spring idea. HOWEVER i know that sometimes you can get weird compression and rebound rates with stock shocks and lowering springs, as well as excessive wear to the stock shocks. for those of you who have any knowledge, or have been running the lowering springs + stock shock setup, let me know what you think so far. (yes i have searched this but cannot find any diffinative answeres)


Also, to prevent questions, NO this car is not my DD and YES it will see a track day here and there.

any input is appreciated. THANKS!

There are a few threads about springs vs. coilovers, and there's a lengthy one about Swift Springs...the community who are going with springs are really liking this one. You've mentioned some of the pros and cons of both. I decided on coilovers b/c I could do less than 1" drop b/c the streets where I live aren't the best. In an ideal world, I'd like to be lower than 1", but in the real world, it's not practical. Plus, I wanted to corner balance my Z as I do go to the track now and again. There is a concern that if your shocks aren't matched to your springs, then you'd have excessive shock wear and etc, as you already mentioned, however I haven't heard any complaints or reports of such from the various spring threads I've come across.

Use the keywords "Swift spring review" in the search section and you'll find a "Swift Spring" thread with over 590 posts...ask there as you'll likely get a lot more responses and feedback.

If you have the budget, go with coilovers, if not, springs is the way to go. :tup:

I have swifts, I want to go lower, but it's hard not to scrape your car if you're any lower.

I love my swifts. I think next stop from here is kw's.

I like my Eibachs, I have their full caster and camber kits also and love them too. My scraping is actually the "factory" deflectors infront of the front wheels. I did not remove the "factory" deflectors or front lip to install my stillen front lip. I use them as caution reminders, if they scrape I know to watch my speed or the bumps closer. Hammer down and enjoy:ughdance:

say i do just decide to go with stiffer springs instead of coilovers, what other parts have to be changed when you put those in? (such as struts, shocks, etc...). or is your car more or less good to go with just these springs installed?

i'd think camber and alignment would be dramatically effected by just lowering the car 1"?

With the drop you will need the caster/camber adjustment. The Eibach kits has adjustable upper A-arms in front (both adjusts caster and camber), adjustable toe bolts and camber arms in the rear. My settings came back into factory range with these. The kits are not cheap but give you the sense of security. After all the tires are $375 a piece so wearing a set of 4 will cost you more than the kits.:ughdance:

Most have got away from having a camber kit with the Swifts... The more you drop the more of a need for a kit.

I had my springs installed then the aliegnment was too far off. I think that it is better to check first before paying for the kits if they are not needed. Unless you drive alot of miles you shouldn't do too much damage to the tires while you wait for the kit to come in. Plus they are not cheap. Why pay for something you don't need.

You won't have to change anything else as long as you can live with the alignment. Getting a front/rear camber kit would be required if you want more adjustability. But yea I'd wait until after to see if you want to get the camber kit.

As far as springs lowering the life of the oem shocks, you probably won't see a difference unless you're planning to track or autox. If/when the stock shocks give way, you can probably get new ones cheap here or just go the coilover route.

What ^ said. If you lower the car get an alignment (camber etc); otherwise the tires will be worn "relatively" quick.

I got TEIN Monoflex coilovers with EDFC and then had an alignment and corner balance done. The difference on the track compared to stock is amazing!

:iagree: I totally agree! And if you're going to bother to go through all this, might as well do it right and get front and rear camber kits to get all your adjustments done right.

Springs are plentiful if you are just going for a lower stance with the benefit of added performance. If you are a track guy and goes to the track on a regular basis, then invest in a good set of coilovers. Most of us just do it for the looks and the added handling benefit.

so you guys are telling me that with the swift springs, that I MAY the able to get away with not putting a camber kit on my car, aaaand can still keep stock shocks???... Maybe

You will get induced negative camber when you lower your car with either coilovers or springs, no matter the brand. That's the way the suspension is designed to do as the wheels move up higher into the wheel well. To correct this negative camber or to adjust it to whatever specifications, you will need camber kits because the front camber is not adjustable with OEM parts, and the rear is only adjustable up to a certain point. What people are trying to convey is, that for some, correcting for this induced camber is considered optional. If you can live with the possibility of uneven tire wear and having to replace the tires sooner, or you don't need to tweak the camber to adjust how your vehicle handles, then you CAN go without an aftermarket camber kit.

And, you can go with aftermarket springs WITHOUT having to simultaneously replace the OEM shocks with aftermarket ones.