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Home > Performance Mods > Suspension & Brakes > Lowering springs affect ride handling?

Lowering springs affect ride handling?

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Squishface
  • Detailer
 Hey just got my tC yesterday WOOO! god i love it. Black Sand Pearl and beutiful, oh! got floor matts!. sry just had to say that.
anyways, back to my question.
I really want to lower my tC, think of either Hotchkis or Goldline or possibly tein h-techs. I want a nice fill because im getting 18's later.
My real question is, would lowering your tC affect the way it handles? I love the way it handles with the stock springs and shocks, but keeping the stock shocks on and putting new lowering springs, would that make it worse or better?
Im guessing since its lower to the ground it would have better handling but then u dont have much shock room and it could affect handling some way im not sure.
Thanks
-Squishface

[#] Nov 27, 2005 09:28pm
Vicious
Orlando
Florida, US
  • El Chupacabra
 your steering angle will be reduced.. other than that it's all good

[#] Nov 28, 2005 02:46pm
viro
  • Detailer
 With the TRD springs/Stock struts you get the least impact on ride confort and still get an agressive look and handling improvement...

[#] Nov 28, 2005 04:24pm
Squishface
  • Detailer
 That sounds great. Looks like i will be askin for some springs for christmas.

[#] Nov 28, 2005 04:26pm
blackscionTC
  • Detailer
 i have on the s-techs right....i love them....it reduces the body roll it gives the car a great look. the negative side is that its a little more bumper and im in constant fear of scraping wen going up and down inclines and declines.

[#] Nov 29, 2005 01:45am
Squishface
  • Detailer
 I have on the stock 17" rims. I plan on upgrading to 18" rims possibly 19" so I dont think i would need to go as low as the s-techs with the fear i might be rubbing against the fender.
I think with the h-techs it will be like a near perfect fit depending on the tire i get, and i might have a little smoother ride with the h-techs because they dont lower as much as the s-techs.

[#] Nov 29, 2005 08:46am
bzboardz
  • Tire Changer
 i have hotchkis, its a very clean look. the roads around me are pretty good so its hard to tell a dif in comfort but you can tell alittle when you get onto bad streets. i used to be scared of rubbing and speedbumps but i have had some pretty unexpected encounters and have never scrapped anything, i have even had 3 other ppl in the car and have not scrapped anything

[#] Nov 30, 2005 01:43am
AznZX
  • Window Washer
 To answer the question, YES it will effect your handling. It will also affect your tire wear, ride quality, and your ability to turn tight corners (think parking lots or parallel parking).

[#] Dec 06, 2005 03:10am
Squishface
  • Detailer
 finally. thankyou.
So then lowering by only changing springs will effect it negatively.

So the only way to get better handling then stock would be getting a whole set? like springs and shocks? that would probably take care of the other problems too.

[#] Dec 06, 2005 08:35am
Vicious
Orlando
Florida, US
  • El Chupacabra
AznZX wrote:
To answer the question, YES it will effect your handling. It will also affect your tire wear, ride quality, and your ability to turn tight corners (think parking lots or parallel parking).


= steering angle

[#] Dec 06, 2005 09:44am
AznZX
  • Window Washer
Squishface wrote:
finally. thankyou.
So then lowering by only changing springs will effect it negatively.

So the only way to get better handling then stock would be getting a whole set? like springs and shocks? that would probably take care of the other problems too.


Well any component of an entire suspension set will give you an improvement in handling. Even something like a strut bar even though you won't really notice it much. Springs by itself will generally improve handling since most springs out there aren't extremely stiff beyond what factory shocks can handle. This is primarily true because most buyers of springs are street drivers, and manufacturers keep that in mind. Spring rate and dampening force don't have to necessarily coincide according to a graph, there is a range of departure that can exist between the two. It's usually when you go to a spring that is very low or very stiff (usually very low springs have a high spring rate to prevent bottoming out) is when you have to think about stronger dampners.

Also when you go very low (beyond about 2 1/2"), the fluid in your factory shocks compress because the rod is going into it, therefore you can blow your shocks if you get close to bottoming out because there is a significant increase in internal pressure. "blowing your shocks" means that the seals that keep the fluid in your shocks give out due to the pressure inside. Also, when the pressure inside builds close to the point of blowing, they have a "hydrolic" effect which means that the fluid pressure starts acting like spring. Just think of using a hand pump to pump up a basketball past the ideal pressure, the handle of the pump feels like a spring.

If you're just looking for a mild drop, say less than 2 inches, most springs will be fine for the stock dampners. Make sure you go onto spring manufacturers' websites and even call them if you need to in order to find spring rates, and compare them to factory spring rates. Turn that into a percentage of difference beyond the factory springs and let that guide you as to how stiff (and rough) your ride will be.

Make sure you don't make the mistake of thinking, " I wan't super handling so I'll get the stiffest springs!" because with really stiff springs, you need an increase in dampening. Or else the road will feel bouncy! Remeber that super stiff race springs are made for tracks and that tracks are well groomed, flat, smooth, and consistant; streets are not!

So my suggestion, get the springs if you want them now. There's nothing wrong with being economical. You'll get the looks you want, AND a noticible increase in performance. Remember that even if the springs you buy are barely stiffer, you'll still notice the improved handling because of your lower center of gravity. Also, you can also add the shocks later if you'd like. I think a lot of self-proclaimed guru's overspend for their applications (street driving).

Other things to consider- the lower your car goes, the more negative camber will occur. In other words, the top of your tire will lean inward towards the center of your car. The tires will ride on the inside edge of your tires and cause them to wear significantly faster. I was changing tires once a year on my integra with a 2 1/2" drop until I put on a camber kit. I believe there are only rear camber kits right now for the tC, I'm not that up to date. But anyway, my car before the integra had only a 1.5" drop without a camber kit and was able to maintain tire levels that wouldn't leave me broke. Remember that super slammed low looks cool and all but it's hard to live with at times, especially on long drives, bumpy surfaces, and ramps.

Like you said, you like the way your car handles already, so I suggest just adding TRD springs or something else with similar increase in spring rate and lowering height. H techs are similar to TRD spring characteristics I believe. Stock shocks are fine for those.

I would give you more precise answers but I'm not sure with your exact goals. But I think you're looking for just slight increases in handling without sacraficing the quality ride of your tc while getting a much cleaner look by filling the tire wells. If this is the case, then go with the recommendation of TRD springs, H Techs, or something similar.

Hope this helps. I usually don't talk about this stuff THAT much on forums, but I just finished my finals so I'm chillin.
PS: stay away from coil-over sleeve kits. They benefit show cars more than street cars.

[#] Dec 06, 2005 12:12pm
Squishface
  • Detailer
 Wow thankyou so much. I definately have a good idea now.
I probably will go with the TRD springs, with 18" rims it will fill the gap nicely and I wont sacrafice as much of a ride quality and improve handling at the same time.

Thanks everyone for helping me out.

[#] Dec 06, 2005 09:43pm

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