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25-04-2009, 11:26 PM | #1 |
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Suspension Help
Currently only got 15inch rims and i am wanting to lower the car.
im new to lowering so dont know alot about it. i dont want it to be too low but still low enough to make the car look good. i have a 1998 BA Hatchback. what price would i be looking at? and what are some good brands for springs? im also located in sydney so can anyone recommend a good place to get it done thanks |
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25-04-2009, 11:45 PM | #2 |
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depends on your budget?
Eibach springs & KYB shocks would be an ok combo, or if you want low and dont care how bumpy the ride is, king springs...
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26-04-2009, 12:37 AM | #3 |
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Astroboy can help you out with getting goods
It all comes down to budget and what you want out of the combo |
26-04-2009, 02:32 AM | #4 |
AstinaGT Regular
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You need to keep in mind that our BA Hatchbacks are really high cars especially emphasized by the big wheel arches. If you want to look good in my opinion you need to go at least 40mm lower. I've got Eibach Pro Kits and they only lower your car by 30mm or so and I dont think its low enough to look good. But Eibachs are more for handling so really depends what you're after.
If you want to go low to look good you'd have to consider Super Low King Springs or Whiteline Flatouts. These lower approximately 45-60mm apparently. Theres probably other springs that lower this amount too but these are the only ones I know of. I had a look at the Whiteline site lately and it looks like they dont have the Whiteline Flatouts for the 1.8litre anymore. Another option to lower is to go with coilovers. That way you can lower or heighten the car to pretty much any height you want, but get ready for a rough ride as these are meant more for track driving/handling. Approximate prices for a set - King springs or Whiteline springs: 250-350 - Eibach springs: 500-600 unless you manage to find a special on them. Ive seen them a couple of times go for less than 200 - Coilovers: depends on the brand but at least 1200 for D2 or G4 branded ones
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Last edited by phly; 26-04-2009 at 02:34 AM. |
26-04-2009, 06:38 AM | #5 | |
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d2 = 1400 g4 = 1600 |
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26-04-2009, 10:35 AM | #6 |
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thanks for the help. yeh lowering it about 45mm sounds like the best option. ive only got the 15inch rims on at the moment, so im going to try to lower it soon then upgrade the rims some time in the near future.
my 15inch rims that are on the car now look quite nice, even with the 15inch will lowering the car 45mm still give it a good look? Last edited by RickBrah; 26-04-2009 at 11:26 AM. |
26-04-2009, 05:41 PM | #7 |
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take a pic of your car and post it up. will allow us to answer your question better.
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26-04-2009, 05:56 PM | #8 |
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sorry about the quality, only used my phone. Based on these images what do you think my best option is?
http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...kyfukk/CAR.jpg http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...042009-001.jpg |
26-04-2009, 06:10 PM | #9 |
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do you want handling or looks or a balance between them?
if you want full slammed look and great handling go with coilovers. be aware that it'll be a stiff ride and you'll have issues getting up driveways/gutters and probably scrubbing if you get wider wheels later on. be prepared to dodge every pothole/bump if you want the low low look get some king springs/whiteline flatout springs. you'll suffer with a harsh ride and scrubbing with wider wheels. new shocks to match the springs will help a lot with the ride quality. if you want a lower look and good handling get eibach/mazdaspeed/RS*R springs. they'll drop the car about 45mm at the front. get some adjustible shocks and you'll have a lower, better handling car. this option also makes it still possible to get up gutters/driveways. downside is it doesnt have the "too damn low" look
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Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you. '97 1.8L Hardtop '93 3.0L TT 3000GT |
28-04-2009, 05:25 PM | #10 | |
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Quote:
id be going for looks more then handling i guess. king springs/whiteline sound good but the harsh ride is a bit of a downside. im going to research it more and ill probably end up going the kings/whiteline. i posted some pics of my car up above, will king springs still look good with only 15inch rims? |
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28-04-2009, 08:03 PM | #11 |
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You don't have to adjust them all the way down, you know - then they're no different to a similar spring/shock combo.
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28-04-2009, 05:35 PM | #12 |
AstinaGT Regular
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If you're going to put bigger rims on later does it really matter what the 15's look like? Also, if you haven't already you could look through the Reader's Ride section at other BAs to get an idea of what looks good.
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28-04-2009, 05:47 PM | #13 |
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if you are choosing between kings and whiteline i would suggest white line as they are a little more of a race spring than kings, which means that if u ever want to do any track event or even take a corner a little faster, you prob wont bottom out as fast as you would with kings
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28-04-2009, 08:17 PM | #14 | |
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Quote:
whiteline progressives are a more street friendly spring then kings though but if you're not gonna drop them low why get coilovers for a street car that wont see track use?
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Understeer is when you hit the wall with the front of the car and oversteer is when you hit the wall with the rear of the car. Horsepower is how fast you hit the wall, torque is how far you take the wall with you. '97 1.8L Hardtop '93 3.0L TT 3000GT |
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28-04-2009, 08:24 PM | #15 |
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Because they're a comparative price to a set of Eibachs and a decent set of shocks (like Konis).
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28-04-2009, 08:35 PM | #16 |
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hmmm my super soft kings had linear fronts and progressive rears. worse springs i ever owned. cannot say they were predictable at all. one second you had grip, the next you didn't.
Last edited by project.r.racing; 28-04-2009 at 09:04 PM. |
28-04-2009, 08:59 PM | #17 | |
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Quote:
thats what iv been told too ryan, kings were made for holdens with chromies that arent for any sort of performance, whereas whiteline as a company has some sort of performance history |
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29-04-2009, 12:08 PM | #18 | |||||
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Quote:
Whiteline springs are made by Lovells... a company that's been bank rupt 3 times, versus Kings, who are the largest spring manufacturer in the southern hemisphere, and OEM spring supplier to two of the highest performance suspension companies on the planet, DMS and MCA Proflex. Kings are far and away the better spring, and if the handling isn't what it should be, it's an inadequacy in your shocks to be able to control the spring properly... Quote:
What that means, is that it doesn't matter how fast a spring is compressed, it's rate remains constants. Whether you compress a spring slowly or quickly, if you were to force rate that action, the force required would be the same. (Excluding initial inertia figures). What isn't constant is the effective rate of shocks versus acceleration. The slower you compress a shock, the easier (lower force) is it. If you try to compress a shock really quickly, the force required is greatly increased. If you want to dump a car on it's guts, and have ok ride, get Lovells/Whiteline. If you want a car that handles, and you're performance oriented, get Kings, and find a shock that's capable of doing it's job properly. Usually Bilstein is a good place to start... Ok course if you want a $0.80 damper insert in a $300 strut body, but want to look cool at Macca's get G4/D2/K Sport... Here's some classic quotes I've round recently on the above mentioned cheap Taiwanese crap: Quote:
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Sick of paying too much for high performance brake pads? Want high performance and cold bite with low rotor wear? - QFM Performance Brake Pads - Also specialising in - DMS High Performance Shock Absorbers - Monit Rally Computers - Last edited by Astro Boy; 29-04-2009 at 12:10 PM. |
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29-04-2009, 12:53 PM | #19 |
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lol, yeah I know it's a bad habit!
And yet mention quality performance coilovers like DMS, Proflex or Reigers at Macca's on a Thursday night, and people look at you funny and have no idea what you're talking about. Irony is 90% of cars come with 'coilovers' standard, including the Astina...
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29-04-2009, 01:07 PM | #20 | |
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well you know what i mean yes back on topic sorry |
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