how low is too low ??

[mikul]

hey ozhonda,

Im thinking of lowering my car sometime soon. I had a look around and the lowering springs i looked at has a ride drop of about 2.5inch front and 2.25inch rear. I am going to get aftermarkets shocks to go with it as well.I cant get a picture in my head of how low this will be once its on the car. Im currently driving a dc2 rolling on 17's .. is this too much of a drop?? any recommendations ?

thanks for reading :)

[TheSaint]

you have to remember that most shocks will also lower the car

for example i initially bought Tein S-Tech springs - which on my car lowered by about 1.25-1.5"
but than i also installed Skunk2 Sport shocks and after that the car was at least 2.5"-3" lower than stock

i think you will get scrubbing problems with 17" wheels with any lowering

[Indie]

So it is best to retain stock ride height when getting 17"s? What kind of tyre profile would I be looking at with stock DC4 ride height and 17"s?

I'm just trying to work out whether to get 16"s or 17"s.

[najdi]

it depends on the person...if u fly everywhere dont go so low...but with the set up u described i personally dont think it will scrub..possibly the fronts on full turn but with dc2 integras get them a bit lower on the rear cos the fronts always look lower...but make sure youve got shocks to go with it...my crx scrubs everywhere its painful

[charliebrown]

For OP, i think 2.5 inch drop front is way too low on 17s. Rear seems fine though. Aftermarket shocks will make it lower than stock shocks


So it is best to retain stock ride height when getting 17"s? What kind of tyre profile would I be looking at with stock DC4 ride height and 17"s?

I'm just trying to work out whether to get 16"s or 17"s.

205/40/17 with offset of +35 or more, +38 or +40 is best. (quoting dougie)
Im running 205/40/17 +42 on king lows and still lots of room. I reckon superlows would still not cause any problems, maybe at the front on full lock but defs not at the rear.


it depends on the person...if u fly everywhere dont go so low...but with the set up u described i personally dont think it will scrub..possibly the fronts on full turn but with dc2 integras get them a bit lower on the rear cos the fronts always look lower...but make sure youve got shocks to go with it...my crx scrubs everywhere its painful
This... engine must be heavy as **** or something cos the front fender gap sits a good 2cm lower than the rear

[MWAKU]

i dont understand why the diameter of the rims plays any part of how low you can go? u can tuck on 17s depending on the width and the offset so unless you are going to tell us that information then theres not much ppl can tell you.

2.5" is nothing btw. if u have 17x7 +42 and ova, i rekon it would probably sit under ur guards fine, with that drop. you may have to roll the guards if anything, but 2.25" on the rear, on a dc2 is not much (might just tuck, so most prob gunna have to roll the guards). im currently on coilovers with a 3-4" drop at the back, the lower the better! :)

[Lukey]

no such thing as too low

[charliebrown]

Assuming this guy wants to be able to get around everywhere and up driveways, there is such thing as too low...

[charliebrown]

Or maybe OP should drop a little, learn to drive a lowered car then slam it later down the track? What you guys are telling him is to jump in the deep end not knowing how to swim

[Lukey]

what sorta aussie doesnt know how to swim?

[chauster]

Assuming this guy wants to be able to get around everywhere and up driveways, there is such thing as too low...

Low is never low enough

[waix]

you can never be too low, only 'not low enough'.

[dougie_504]

hey ozhonda,

Im thinking of lowering my car sometime soon. I had a look around and the lowering springs i looked at has a ride drop of about 2.5inch front and 2.25inch rear. I am going to get aftermarkets shocks to go with it as well.I cant get a picture in my head of how low this will be once its on the car. Im currently driving a dc2 rolling on 17's .. is this too much of a drop?? any recommendations ?

thanks for reading :)


What is the width and offset of your wheels, and how wide are your tyres?

I think 2-3" drop is good, you can avoid scrubbing if you have the right size wheel/tyre and roll your guards if you need to.


I just prefer to go with height-adjustable shocks. Then you can do w/e you want.



And no I don't think it's too much of a drop. My brother dropped about 2" on his 17's (DC4 Integra) and had no scrubbing. 205/40/17 tyres on a 17x7 +35 wheel.

[mugen_ctr]

you can never be too low, only 'not low enough'.

Thats a stupid way of puttin it LOL.......

So u would rather have looks over function? like those low riders, that scrape there chassis over the slightest crest?

And also, think about which part is the lowest part in the car.... the exhaust or lip, so really, either one will be the first casualty

Think about it, go half way, lower abit but enough to get u over anything without the 4wd look :)

[meatball]

Well i guess its low enough if you put a hole in your fuel tank... Happened to a mates car ahaha

[babiiiiiiiiiii]

just remeber when you not touching or very close to the guard that arent too low , but if u touching the guard is low, and dont get pull over or defect for too low ... cops got this can thing ( like a can of coke) to roll under ur car if that didnt go through then you are dead set defected

[votek]

i cant swim!!

[Red_EG4]

Thats a stupid way of puttin it LOL.......

So u would rather have looks over function? like those low riders, that scrape there chassis over the slightest crest?

And also, think about which part is the lowest part in the car.... the exhaust or lip, so really, either one will be the first casualty

Think about it, go half way, lower abit but enough to get u over anything without the 4wd look :)
http://i528.photobucket.com/albums/dd328/don-adamo/picard-facepalm.jpg

you say it's a stupid way of thinking, others don't.

I'm just glad I got height adjustable coilovers to lower my car, that way I can easily drop it a bit when I'm feeling like it's not low enough.

Mikul didn't mention that he wanted the lowest functional or optimal performance drop or anything to that effect so my answer is as low as you feel comfortable with.

[mikul]

The springs i've bought but havent installed are the Tein S.Tech Lowering Spring which lowers it by 2.5" front and 1.7" at the rear

also the shocks im planning to buy are the Tokico HP shocks. Do you guys think i'd need an engineering cert with it? And whats the legal limit on lowering your car?

[Indie]

The springs i've bought but havent installed are the Tein S.Tech Lowering Spring which lowers it by 2.5" front and 1.7" at the rear

also the shocks im planning to buy are the Tokico HP shocks. Do you guys think i'd need an engineering cert with it? And whats the legal limit on lowering your car?Wouldn't you lower it more at the back than the front? The Teg always looks a bit higher at the back...

[mikul]

Wouldn't you lower it more at the back than the front? The Teg always looks a bit higher at the back...

nahh i find the front higher then the back.

[4age8u]

your not to low unless your scrapping

[JohnO]

until youre eating pavement

[dougie_504]

Speed humps at the top level of Westfield...danger.

[steeeven]

Well i guess its low enough if you put a hole in your fuel tank... Happened to a mates car ahaha

It wasn't my fault either. It was the uneven road that put the hole in the fuel tank lol

[Alexplicit]

your low enough when u get gravel rash on front and rear bar on a flat road. id say thats a bout low enough

[azzacrombe]

Hey guys

I just got a new set of 18" rims on my DC5. Now there is about a 2.5" gap between the top of the tyre and the car. It doesnt look that bad but I think it would look a lot better if I lowered it by probably an inch. The place that installed the rimes said that they can lower it for me, but I was wondering if it would be better to get a new set of springs (like h&r or something) or would it be alright on the stock spring?

[charliebrown]

Hey guys

I just got a new set of 18" rims on my DC5. Now there is about a 2.5" gap between the top of the tyre and the car. It doesnt look that bad but I think it would look a lot better if I lowered it by probably an inch. The place that installed the rimes said that they can lower it for me, but I was wondering if it would be better to get a new set of springs (like h&r or something) or would it be alright on the stock spring?

I had 2.5" gap... looks fkn terrible. i lowered it by 1.5", still too high (25mm gap ish). Go at least 2" lower for satisfaction!
And what do you mean "new set of springs or stock spring"... if you're talking about compressing stock springs, just get shorter ones. Less dangerous, better ride and similar price.

[Lukey]

get low.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/260009_10150631913270696_894625695_19068494_746803 9_n.jpg

[dougie_504]

Lol that's sick. My Civic still scrapes on half the speed humps, my own driveway etc and that's after I raised it up two notches on the shock LOL. I hate it.

[dougie_504]

Side view?

It's mostly the mudflaps of course (which I'm happy to keep on) but sometimes I get exhaust scratches in bad car parks and if I have a passenger in my car going into my driveway (dips too much on either side of the footpath too much).

I'm gonna raise it up another notch I reckon...

[Lukey]

my zorst scrapes over nearly every speed bump

i took my rear mudflaps back off aswell

[trism]

****ing bawwwww

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k197/trism/civic/Picture017Large.jpg

[c1v1c]

****ing bawwwww

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k197/trism/civic/Picture017Large.jpg

Loved this thing back in the day!!! So Sad that its gone :(