Lowering advice

[qmjona]

Hi all,

I'm thinking of lowering my euro and would appreciate some advice,

firstly on some economical springs, basically just to lower the ride perhaps between 1"-2" (ie. handling is OK for me, so not after adjustable shocks etc, just want to lower for looks)

I went to pedders today who quoted $660 fitted, which seems a bit high to me I was hoping i could find something around 400 - unrealistic?

Anyway, the main thing I was after some advice on was the experience of those who have lowered their car regarding practicality, this is still my daily car / family car, my wife drives it and I hook up a trailer every now and then for a trip to the tip etc. How impractical does the car become after dropping say 1.5"? Will I be scraping on every driveway, and speed hump etc.

Appreciate any advice.


btw, check out my photoshop lowering (this was real cheap!) how tough does the euro look dropped right down. (yeah I know this is much lower than 1.5" and that this would be TOTALLY impractical etc - looks cool though)

http://www.ozhonda.com/gallery/data/508/2381DSC02470_copy.jpg

[LOC888]

Definatley spend the money and get quality springs or Coilovers...
I've lowered mine just over 1.5', and I dont think it has affected the practicality of the car. Depending on the speed hump and driveway, u should be able to clear most. You will notice the car handles better than before. The ride will definately be bumpier compared to stock, the missus is gonna hate it..Be prepared...

[baboo]

qmjona,

What do you want to achieve? better looks or better handling?



If you want handling without the hassle of wife nagging, scraping driveways, I suggest you invests on quality rear sway bar. It does wonders to the handling of the Euro & corners alot flatter too.

[Pum[Z]]

Getting good springs for your car is ur no.1 priority if u want a comfortable ride. Since u don't want to get coilovers or adjustable shocks then i highly suggest getting Eibachs or H&R...

Those 2 springs would give u a good ride and lower it a bit... Since ur car has no bodykit or kit extentions then u shouldn't be scrapping once its lowered...

Of course with a lowered car it will become bumpier but hopefully it won't be too stiff that u can feel it inside ur body...

BTW uheheh man if u lowered ur car like in that photochop ur car will be impractical driving it...

[nav12c]

']Getting good springs for your car is ur no.1 priority if u want a comfortable ride. Since u don't want to get coilovers or adjustable shocks then i highly suggest getting Eibachs or H&R...

Hi Pum[Z],

How much should someone be paying for Eibachs or H&R installed? Is a camber kit required for the above?

Thanks

[baboo]

roughly $700 bucks. ( installed/ wheel aligned)

Camber kit is not necessary, but if you worry about uneven tyre wear on the rear you can install them.

[Pum[Z]]

Yeah as what baboo said...

Depends where u get em and how much they want to rip u off.. I remembered a year ago when i was enquiring about the eibachs they quoted me $900ish installed.. That was a load of rubbish back then and thats why i opted for adjustable coilovers coz if it costed $900 just for springs then it was more worthwhile to get coilovers..

But then again my gf got her eibachs installed for $550 for her car but that was on specials from the distributor...

Nop camber kits aren't required.. I haven't got any camber kits on my car yet.. Although i do wonder if i should so there is no uneven tyre wear...

[EuroAccord13]

If you're going to track your car... Go Coilovers.. But it you're not, I suggest you just go for some Eibach Springs...

The Euro comes with -1 degree camber on the rear wheels, someone in the forum lowered it and the rear went -3 degrees after lowering, he had the camber kit installed and the rear camber went to -0.75 or something.. Search around for the correct figures :)

CHEERS

[PNR888]

Hey, qmjona. Dont know if you have read about KL1368's lowering experience. His honda dealer wanted to charge him $990 for a set of King's spring fitted.
He found the rear end is much lower than front.
worth a read that thread if you havn;t done so.

[Slugoid]

I think anything besides King's for the Euro is good :D

I have Eibach's and it's nice except going over speed humps. The springs lowered the car by 1" or so and with stock rims it just covers those nasty 4WD gaps. Scraps going down steep inclines, but that's quite rare. Just go really slow and it's ok.

They are progressive wound springs, so softer ride for normal use and stiffer ride when pushing hard. I think that's a really good thing for the Euro cos it still retains the stock feel (90% of the time) yet doesn't compromise the performance. I guess any other brands which offer progressive rate springs (such as Eibach, H&R, Comptech etc.) are are good for the Euro.

[toE]

Hey qmjona.

Not being a smartarse or anything, but maybe this thread (http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10844) might be of use.

Just trying to promote that thread. :)

[qmjona]

Thanks for the advice,
I'll do a bit more reading but sounds like the eibach's are popular and won't make the car too impractical.

[PNR888]

Hey qmjona.

Not being a smartarse or anything, but maybe this thread (http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10844) might be of use.

Just trying to promote that thread. :)

toE: the thread index is fantasic. very easy to find the info I need, and it is model specific. Thanks for the good work. :thumbsup:

[civ_sik]

yes i dont think you want to go too low as you dont want to be hitting the euro on the ground all of the time.

[Hipsi]

I've got King's and don't really have any complaints...except maybe that the front wheel gap is a little too big.

[Gibbo]

ive got pedders and im very happy with them - cost around 600 installed with a wheel alignment and balance etc... i have a camber kit on order it needs it ohhh the drop is approx 40mm and i have a front lip spoiler and dont have too many issues with height !!!

[qmjona]

40mm drop, thats interesting, When I went to pedders yesterday the guy told me (25mm) thanks.

Sounds I should expect to pay $600-900 depending on brand

and yeah, great indexing ToE, very useful, hadn't looked at it before.

[Calvo]

dont even touch pedders...

[Peekay34]

Actually Kings make the springs for Pedders. No matter what Pedders may say.

KMAC make springs I have those they were $330 delivered as I wanted the set to the height I wanted. But you will need a camber kit other wise the wheels would look like /-----\.

My car was dropped by 20mm but in reality probably was more. They cost $135 to fit + but then when put on a machine found the camber was at 3 degrees out. So bought a Fulcrum camber kit for approx $300 (which is a set of bushes with off set centres). This cost a further $100 to fit. All up with the spings and camber kit cost approx $860.

If cost is a thing you will have to consider this.

[qmjona]

Actually Kings make the springs for Pedders. No matter what Pedders may say.

KMAC make springs I have those they were $330 delivered as I wanted the set to the height I wanted. But you will need a camber kit other wise the wheels would look like /-----\.

My car was dropped by 20mm but in reality probably was more. They cost $135 to fit + but then when put on a machine found the camber was at 3 degrees out. So bought a Fulcrum camber kit for approx $300 (which is a set of bushes with off set centres). This cost a further $100 to fit. All up with the spings and camber kit cost approx $860.

If cost is a thing you will have to consider this.

Hmm, so will any spring with a 20mm drop give that much camber or is this just the way the KMAC springs wored out? fogive my ignorance here, but is the camber simply related to the drop in height or some aspect of the particular springs used? or does the result vary by installation or car to car?

[EuroAccord13]

Hmm, so will any spring with a 20mm drop give that much camber or is this just the way the KMAC springs wored out? fogive my ignorance here, but is the camber simply related to the drop in height or some aspect of the particular springs used? or does the result vary by installation or car to car?

A negative camber is when the top of the wheel is tipped inwards towards the body and a positive camber is when the top of the wheel is tipped outwards away from the car. Track cars have negative camber for better cornering responses aka less understeer.

When you lower the car it forces the suspension links down thus pressing the wheel inward causing a negative camber. This is where the camber kit comes in, it is there to compensate for the negative camber by pushing the wheel wheel back to less of a negative camber or sitting the tyre to as close as possible to it being flat on the ground...

If you got a -3 Degree camber, it will cause excessive wear on your inner part of the tyre because the tyre will not be sitting flat on the road you will be mostly driving straight on the road and not doing twisties on the track...

So a camber kit helps to reduce wear on the tyres......

[TwEigh]

i got kingspring done on euro for $370 fitted. riding is ok for the price. still bit high..
find more info for adusjtable spring. i saw couple made by dropzone or arospeed...

[euro77]

what about bilstein shocks, anyone has experience with it? are they in par with eibach?

[will_pop]

i had bilstein with my 98 accord... they r too stiff...