Hey guys I'm asking the people that know they technical stuff....What is the best height to lower a Civic to get the best handeling? I know lowering your car makes handeling better, but when you lwoer it too much, it actually makes it worse. How much should I lower it to get the most handeling from my car? Thanks alot.
best lowering height
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RE:
I say 1.5" drop is about the cut off line for a street performance/autoX setup.
Racing setup is more than just lowering, there are more things to take into consideration, and a lot more modification to do on the suspension to make it handles extremely good.
Racing setup = design for race track. Street is not a race track, road condition, road surface, road traffic, and other factors in everyday driving to think about, so racing setup isn't alway the best depends on what you are going after.
Also, Racing setup, requires the shocks, sway bars, and tires that will work the best with it to make it worth it.
I say 1.5" drop is about the cut off line for a street performance/autoX setup.
Racing setup is more than just lowering, there are more things to take into consideration, and a lot more modification to do on the suspension to make it handles extremely good.
Racing setup = design for race track. Street is not a race track, road condition, road surface, road traffic, and other factors in everyday driving to think about, so racing setup isn't alway the best depends on what you are going after.
Also, Racing setup, requires the shocks, sway bars, and tires that will work the best with it to make it worth it.
i know what u are talking about lx98 Civic, you would think that neuspeed made their springs a little bit lower in the front to compensate for the gap in the front being a little bit bigger than the gap in the back, but after all that, the gap in the front is still larger than the gap in the rear....oh well, I guess a .25 inch difference does'nt do much huh? by the way....u know a good place where I can get your Bilsteins from? i checked shox.com already but their stuff is kinda pricey compared to other places online.
What I did:GenXcopz said:
1) called modacar.com (got a quote)
2) called shox.com (who beat that quote)
3) called modacar.com for a 2nd time (they beat shox's quote)
4) I was happy and bought there
If they both sell the Ground Control's I may do the same thing Monday
Later!
Yeah, I am pretty pissed about my Sports!! Even though the ride is AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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It totally depends on a ton of factors.
For most "street-cars", 1.5" is about the max you want to lower...and a bit less than that if you have a strut type suspension with less travel.
Suspension setups and geometry can really change what you can do to the car.
For most "street-cars", 1.5" is about the max you want to lower...and a bit less than that if you have a strut type suspension with less travel.
Suspension setups and geometry can really change what you can do to the car.
Race cars also only race on the track, where the road is nice and smooth, and there aren't any bumps or anything to kill themselves on. Race cars also usually have different suspension mounting points than street cars (including Le Mans cars and all the other "production" car race groups...they are lowered a lot, but only because the rules allow them to change suspension mounting points). I suppose that if you had the money to turn your car into a dedicated race car and never drove it on the street then yes...race springs are the best things.lOOkatme said:
For a car that is driven on the street...I agree with McLaren, 1.5". Maybe 1.75" if you are feeling crazy.
in my opinion it also depends on where you live..here in NY, the roads are all f*cked up. i got Eibach Prokit springs (1.25 all around ) w/ tokico blues. nice drop + good ride quality ( feels like stock ). I can go over most bumps with no problem. it feels like you just "glide" over them. Cornering capabilities are decent. i plan on getting more suspension bars. all i have is the front strut tower bar so far. But my opinion on the Prokit is thats its a good noticable drop with good ride comfort. hope this helps..peace.
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soon,... im gonna be dropped on h&r race springs which are a 2.0 in front and a 1.8 in the rear and i think that should be fine for a "daily driver." im still in school so im not driving to work everyday in traffic and we have decent roads around here (chicago suburbs). im gonna be on koni yellows too, so shouldn't i be able to make the ride softer??? peace!
They will make your ride softer, but will that be enough? Going from a ride quality that will make your teeth fall out to just bone jarring might not be what you're looking for.
But recommending against Race springs has more to do with suspension geometry and camber and spring rates and a host of other things than it has to do with ride quality....
But recommending against Race springs has more to do with suspension geometry and camber and spring rates and a host of other things than it has to do with ride quality....
I agree with the basic consensus here - there's too many factors to be able to say one particular drop is better than another. The biggest of them being how high the particular vehicle is to begin with. If you've got a Type R, it's slightly lower to begin with.
But on I'm a firm believer in the fact that on a street car, suspension travel is "a good thing". If you drive on perfectly maintained, track quality roads at all times, there's obviously a lot less need for lots of travel. In that case, slam it as low as you can to drop your center of gravity.
For me, anything more than an inch lower on my stock prelude, I wouldn't be able to get out of my driveway. Well, I'd probably make it out, but my oil pan may not. And on the roads where I live, I typically scrape the bottom of the car a couple times a day at stock ride height. So obviously, on my car, a 2.25" race spring drop is hardly a good idea.
Doesn't ground control make a modified pillowball mount now? Something that adds another inch or so to your suspension travel?
But on I'm a firm believer in the fact that on a street car, suspension travel is "a good thing". If you drive on perfectly maintained, track quality roads at all times, there's obviously a lot less need for lots of travel. In that case, slam it as low as you can to drop your center of gravity.
For me, anything more than an inch lower on my stock prelude, I wouldn't be able to get out of my driveway. Well, I'd probably make it out, but my oil pan may not. And on the roads where I live, I typically scrape the bottom of the car a couple times a day at stock ride height. So obviously, on my car, a 2.25" race spring drop is hardly a good idea.
Doesn't ground control make a modified pillowball mount now? Something that adds another inch or so to your suspension travel?
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