lowering Impreza

[imprezive]

Since I'm a riceboy I'm interested in lowering my car(well my future
car)And I got this leter from spd about how much the eibach springs lower the car here are some exerps:
We have the Eibach PRO kit that lowers the car 3/4 front and 1/2 rear. This
amount is ideal in that you keep the suspensoin travel and the shocks
operate in the proper range. The big question for many is how much does it
lower the car. (And more on this at the end of the article.) The chassis is
lowered by only about 18mm or 3/4 inch. There is a very good reason for
this, so please read on. The stock strut length does not permit the ride to
go any lower, if the car is going to have great handling. If the spring were
to set to any lower ride height, the car would always be hitting the bump
stops of the strut, upsetting the balance of the chassis. Not Good!
Unless the struts are shorter, the springs will never work
properly. In fact, the Prodrive kit's struts are 20mm and the LEDA struts
35mm shorter than the standard strut for just this reason.

I don't think 3/4 and 1/2 will be enough so who sells shortened struts for about $400-500 ????

Also has anyone lowered their car enough to have problems with scraping?
And I heard there are thingymajigs that you can put under your car to protect the paint from scaping off if you bottom out.
does anyone have any Info on this??
Also does anyone know how much the GReddy front lip lowers the car??
Thanx in advance

Chase "imprezive" Smith
I'll have a car oneday
"The rice Protector"

[This message has been edited by imprezive (edited May 24, 2000).]

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[John2.5RS]

Lowering the car to much has a negative effect on the handling as it moves the center of gravity. There isn't a large enough market for parts that don't make an improvement in performance, looks or safety. That's why you don't see too many sube's with cut springs and clear rear lenses.

[Opie]

The KYB/AGX struts state in the instructions that you can use a lowering spring with them that will lower the cars height up to 1.5" without adverse effects. I believe Mike Sheilds letter was describing the stock RS struts and their limitations.

[Subie Gal]

i have the H&R springs - which w/the stock struts lowered the car about 1.5 in. in rear and 1 in. in front...

now i have them w/the KYB/AGX struts and the car corners like u wouldn't believe!!

AND it's toooo low for what I want and need to do with the car - so if low is what you want, this is a good combo.

you can get the springs here: http://www.autob1.com/Html/Subaru_Ex...Experience.htm
for around $200

Mind you, I have a Legacy GT, but the chassis is very similar to that of the RS - the lowering effect should be about the same.

j.

[Corey]

Is that a special "I know so-and-so" price? It says on that web page $279.

[Subie Gal]

huh! well i bought them well over a year ago and i believe i paid $230 w/the shipping...

dang!! maybe their costs have gone up... still, SPO sells them for over $300!!! but you can hunt around, maybe you'll find a better price...

if i find my rally springs, i'll sell you mine for $100!!!

[Gambit]

Subie gal,
get legacy outback springs. now off you go!

[Subie Gal]

ok, but...

will i lose any of the stiffness?

i mean my car is bad a$$ right now... i can corner like you would not believe!!

and..

what about the spring size? are they compatible??? are we sure on this???

[8Complex]

I think you guys are missing the point... he said riceboy and scraping the ground. I think he's looking more towards a 3-4" lowering job.

If you were to go that low and still wanted to retain driveability (not buck around like nuts on every crack in the road), you'd pretty much need to change other parts of the suspension out so that you could lower it, still have a little suspension travel, and still not hit the bump stops.

Also, if you go that low, I suggest you invest in skid plates to protect all of the undercarriage from stuff that you encounter on the road. I forget where exactly sells nice front skid plates but ISR sells the rear diff protector ones.

No, there is no way of protecting your paint from scraping off if you scrape the ground where paint is.

[imprezive]

no 1 1/2 in is fine. because I'm gonna have the greddy front lip. But i just know about speed bumps.

[Subie Gal]

believe me, the car is plenty low enough...
especially if you're lookin at a new front end kit...

and as low as mine currently is, i have invested in the skid plate and rear diff protector from Primitive Racing...
www.get-primitive.com

very nice stuff, but i will be in 3-4 rally's this summer and the car is just too low... i need more ride height w/o losin the handling abilities of the car...

[imprezive]

My car is gonna be a street/touring style no rally for my car. I know I know . that is kinda a sin against the subie gods but I is what I'm want.
you can't have your cake and eat it too.

[imprezive]

do you think I would still need those protectors if it wasn't used for rally??

[Subie Gal]

no - at least i wouldn't think so.

they won't help you with speed bumps and the like... i've driven lowered (slammed!) cars before... you just have to go slow, take it easy and stay on the road!!

[Gambit]

I'm almost certain that it will fit. Go ask the dealer.After all the Outbacks are Legacys anyways. U will definteily lose a little bit of stiffness. But that's how off road rally is. Too stiff your car will easily flip over. The roll is to absord some of the uneven gravel so that it will not flip that easily at high speeds. Did you check patrick richard's impreza RS?? He is useing OBS springs! I say that's the cheapest alternative - use the Outbacks' taller springs instead of investing on expensive coilovers. Problem is, u will have to switch back and forth in b/t rallys. So coilovers that lets' you lift up might be a good option.

[PaulN]

Jamie

Go for Coillovers - then you can raise (or drop) it to whatever height you want whenever you want - took me 20 mins to lower all 4 corners last night.

I've just converted my Bilsteins to adjsutable coilovers cos was gonna have to wait 3 months for the teins.

It took me the whole day to remove the suspension, disasemble the struts, remove spring seats and weld on adjustable spring seats.

Also you can choose whatever spring rate you want from short and floppy to as stiff and long as you like

Have a look at my website for the conversion

Paul

[Keiho]

Patrick Richard is now using DMS coilovers by the way. GREAT coilovers...STIFF!! But apparently works great for him (I guess he just turned up the stiffness for the Vancouver meet?)

[Overtime]

I know it's *your* car, Chase (or it will be ). But you should seriously consider not lowering the car any further. I already scratch up the bottom of my front lip in normal (occasionally spirited) driving...and I don't even have the SPD springs slapped on!

If you really want to "slam" a car, you shouldn't worry about so many performance mods and body kits, because the low ride will smash up the kits and make the performance much more limp.

Just MO. I do know that NOPI was offering some sort of 1.25" lowering kit or something and that seems like the maximum "smart" lowering.

[Subie Gal]

i know Patrick is using DMS....

and if i had the $$$$ i'd be usin it too!
good stuff that is!!!!

Paul... i'll check it out... i'll drop u a line... is it $$$$$????? geez...

need a second job to fund my mods!!

[Rick Buckner]

If the car was lowered more than a couple of inches, wouldn't the tires rub in the fender wells? Don't many members on this board roll the fenders for bigger wheels, with modified suspensions. That is what I was understanding before I bought my Eibachs back in December. You could always go with a smaller tire and it will lower the car more. Of course then your spedo is off.

Rick
http://roads.to/ricksrides

[PaulN]

Rick

I run a Legacy and seem to be OK with lowering and 215/45zr17s, of course the more negative camber you run the better the grip in hard cornering (upto a point) and the less likely you are to rub the fenders - seriously though the suspension bottoming out will be the same for standard suspension as for lowered (just happens more often with lowered) and so will run with both

Jamie

Cost were (all in GBP) £32 per corner for conversion kit, labour free , springs approx £17 per spring

I will be adding additional helper springs per corner and this adds to the cost - you can have single springs at one rate, or single springs + helper springs, or two springs to achieve the progressive spring effect - it works brilliantly though - only downside is noise (no rubber, so its not safe suspension )

Paul

[imprezive]

Thank you all.
1 1/2 inches is fine.
with bodykit, nobodyy has heard of thingymajig to put on the bottom of bodykit so it doesn't scrape?

[imprezive]

What is the stock ride hieght I coudn't find it at SOA's site???