How LOW can you go??? Practicability of lowering

I have always hated the wheel gap that became painfully obvious after putting 17s on my stock 98 model teg with a mugen (replica) lip, and have finally gathered sufficient funds to get that fixed. Thus a set of lowering springs (most likely kings low or super low) is coming.

Current measurements are:
Wheel gap : 3 inches
Front lip ground clearance: 7.5 inches

Aim is to lower approximately 1.5 inches (2 finger gap) all round or more

However what struck me today was the practicality of lowering. My driveway is sloped, going to uni to park theres an inclination along with many (strangely large) speed bumps, shopping centre parking that are sloped with speed bumps :thumbdwn:. Worst case scenario would be coming home and not being able to get into my driveway!

So I ask, those with experience of driving a lowered car, how practical or a nuisance is it? How much can I lower before it makes daily driving much harder and finally, will I inevitably lose my front lip with a 1.5 in drop? :(

In summary, what is a recommended height to lower it by?

Cheers

1.5 is nothing.. slam it 3inches and you'll start having a problem imo anything less is fine..

you will be fine...
drop it like its hot :p

1.5 inch is not realli much...... ull prolly wont have to much trouble wif your lip... as long as you take bumps nice and easy/slow.. u'll be fine.... just zig-zag wen appropiate,,

If your worried, ditch the lip.

1.5 finger gap is nice

-1.5 finger is teh sex. lol

3 inch or gtfo

I would definitely like to lower it more than 1.5 but the implications as mentioned above....
Just thought 1.5 would be a reasonable estimate without any problems.

I guess a 1.5 finger drop would be around 2 inch drop?

get king springs super low. they drop 2.5 which is prefect for what u want
but hey its only a replica front lip, u can always get another since they are cheap and its plastic anyways.

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Originally Posted by jdm_kid

get king springs super low. they drop 2.5 which is prefect for what u want
but hey its only a replica front lip, u can always get another since they are cheap and its plastic anyways.

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Yeah but I don't like throwing around $180 here and there on a speed bump/slope.

Thanks for the recommendation will take note.

as CB7_OWNER suggested, just zig-zag when you approach a speed hump/drive way gutter.

my front lip is about 10cms off the floor, and my car is lowered lowered, havent hit or scraped the front lip in months. the only thing u should be worried about is the muffler pipping hah

1.5 is just nice ... about the height of a DCtypeR isn't it ? I never had any problems with that. going too low is just dumb and uncomfortable. I've seen those guys doing the zig-zag at 3-4km/h in shopping centers and over speed humps and you just say they're stupid. I've even seen guys that can't even get into their own driveways at home and have to park across the road on the street. I've had low cars before and sydney streets just rip out front lips and scratch the hell out of them.

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Originally Posted by jdm_kid

as CB7_OWNER suggested, just zig-zag when you approach a speed hump/drive way gutter.

my front lip is about 10cms off the floor, and my car is lowered lowered, havent hit or scraped the front lip in months. the only thing u should be worried about is the muffler pipping hah

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thats cos you have a baller front lip! ahaha its gg if u scrape i would cry! lol

muffler piping is the worst. I used to cry every night but you get used to it

If you know how to drive you can take care of your lips just fine :thumbsup:

My cusco front lower bar sits 2.5 inches off the floor, it's finnneee...

Lower it manggg.

1.5 finger wheel from guard is practically.. lol.. In fact, JDM laws will allow that at max.. JDM=0.5 finger.. lol..

anyway, mugen lip with 1.5 finger spacing will clear most bumps and go through bumps zig zag and rmb to slow down to avoid excessive bouncing that causes front to compress springs lower.. I used to roll on 17"s and mugen lip onli with 0.75 finger all round.. clear almost everything except the obvious huge bumps...basically jus try to avoid those bumps.. i am sure u can.. such as finding lvl parking around UNI, shopping centre.. and lastly, for ur driveway measure the height required to clear it..

Also get coilovers will be better.. if not, at least save for some koni yellow adjustable shocks to match kings for more adjustability if u wan more fun..

depending on where you live, it may or may not be a pain
sydney roads, forget it

strangely enough i'd scrape my header on uneven roads with 195/50/15 but with 205/50/15 or even 195/55/15 it'd raise the front 5mm and 10mm respectively and it'd stop scraping the road

to keep some practicality though don't go more than 2inches and it should be right for most roads

just remember that if you are going to purchase a set of king springs that they still sag more. so there standard 35mm drop, will coem close to a 2" drop over time.

my DA was lowered 3 all around... f*cking nuissance man, especially at UWS where all the noob bumps ruin your car... raised it 1.5inchs and its all good now...

driving a lowered car is like making love to a women, if ya get ya angles right both you and her will be happy......

2'- 2.5' lowered ftw

i had all wheels under the gaurds and i travel fine all around sydney. Just gotta learn how to take speed humps

I guess the muffler piping will be more of a problem with a 3 in drop

2 inches sounds like a practical drop for the driveways you are driving on.Anymore and it wil scrape,slightly when you get how to drive up and down them :)

Hey man you've seen the height of my car and I have no trouble at all with any driveways, speed humps or shopping centre carparks at all. My driveway has quite a deep spoon in it but we altered it to help low cars access and we can get anything in. Some nasty spoon drains near where I live so a small angle is needed but no dramas.
I see so many guys zig zag over bumps and drains so much more than they need, I think they trick themselves into thinking they're real low lol and slow everyone else down

Yeah that's true,I sometimes just drive strait over those big speedbumps (I drive this road everyday) and if anything it just scrapes slightly sometimes.I'm running king lows and stock shocks (100,000km).1 finger gap at front and 2 at rear.I'm getting adjustable coilovers soon.

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Originally Posted by T-onedc2

Hey man you've seen the height of my car and I have no trouble at all with any driveways, speed humps or shopping centre carparks at all.

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Ah yep. I asked you about it a while ago but have seemed to lost your pm (inbox is a mess).

Had another look at it though :
http://ozhonda.com/forum/showthread....24218&page=109

Seems ideal in terms of looks and practicability to me.
Would you be kind enough to tell me again what your drop all around was?

Cheers

Spoon Progressives are 30mm lower than OEM Type R springs, front is marginally lower than rear. Overall might be 50-60mm lower than stock.

Very nice drop.

ive broken 3 lips now.. with my car just around 10cm from the ground.. just had to becareful about the exaust over speed humps and the mudflaps is about 3 fingers from touchign the floor but that doesnt matter its only rubber

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Originally Posted by bigjo5

ive broken 3 lips now..

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ouch! :eek:

I have had my car stuck on a speed bump at one of my clients... I needed to get some of our guys to come out and help me over the bump...

Its just that little bit too low :)

When my car was lowered around 7cms off the ground i had no problems going on drive ways going in a multi level car parks and speed humps that goes up and stays up for a while than goes down... all you need to do is take the corners sharp as possible & slow...

Now my car is lowered with Tein H Techs drops f35mm r30mm... has 2 finger gaps from tyres to guards (front & rear)... this height is the best height for everyday use... :p

not meaning to hijack thread, but what do you guys reckon would be a suitable drop for eg civic, on kings spings? not looking for anything about 2.5". what shocks do you recommend, im pretty noob.. so.. where to get it all done, cbf do it myself.

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Originally Posted by AKILYA666

driving a lowered car is like making love to a women, if ya get ya angles right both you and her will be happy......

2'- 2.5' lowered ftw

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lol.. what an example..

i dont know if you're from syndey, but here we're only "legally" (LOL) allowed to be as low as 100mm(10cm) off the ground.

But, it doesnt matter unless you get caught right :)
just think about the practicability of not having to worry about getting defected.
if thats one of your concerns of course.

As I would normally say to most is deck it on its ass ! get the thing tuckin rim hehe its going to look hot but your going to have the shittest ride ever. General rule is to not lower it anymore then 2inches as the shocks are bound to give way sooner or later if your going any lower. Kings Springs Lows should do the business, if they sag they have a lifetime warrant and will replace it.

pfft are you guys serious.

Speed bumps are probably the easiest of all the hardest things when driving a lowered car .....if that makes sense.
I hear you all yelling WTF.
Reason- YOU CAN SEE THEM! if you see a massive bump and a big yellow sign, you know to slow the fk down and angle your car.

The hardest thing is probably being on a multi-laned road and driving over massive ditches in the road you cannot avoid. that is where you do the damage.

Tips for driving when you lower your car-
1.ANGLE ANGLE ANGLE EVERYTHING, dont worry about the pricks behind you, they can wait the extra 2 seconds, i have had a fk wit overtake me on a speedbump and he came within inches of a head on collision.
2. Driveways- Park your car on the road or on grass, install a great alarm and avoid the ugly driveways, so when u pick up your lady walk her down to the road, its not that much further.
3. Before lowering your car, inspect your weekly driving routine. This is extremely important and VERY effective. for instance if you go to uni and have 5 speed bumps which are unavoidable, look for an alternative route, maybe a loading zone round the back of buildings etc. If you do the shopping or go to a shopping centre, look for other entrys which are less of a headache.

Basically the only way to really affect your car once its lowered is by unexpected/unavoidable bumps or dips in the road. If your going over speed bumps and driveway very slow, then you will only scrape probably your exhaust (header piping down the bottom, cant remember appropriate name). If you have ever seen this bit, it is pretty thick, it can take a fair beating, once you start seeing some scratches, go to supercheap and get some exhaust cement, put it on the scratches and it forms a bond when heated. that way when u scrape it will scrape off the dusty cement shit, not your exhaust.
your front lip will get scratches, get some touch up paint.

conclusion-
Be careful, avoid things that are ridiculous, you will start hearing different sounds for different parts scraping. the most common is prob the exhaust, but you will occasionaly hear your lower control arms(a softer sound than exhaust) your tow hook (wow thats impressive) or your oil pan, engine mounts etc, but thats pretty unlikely.
Just be careful! you can do alot of damage if your reckless.