One of the simplest and least expensive ways you can lower your vehicle is to use lowering springs. When you are wanting to get a better handle on your car, they are often discussed as the first step that you should take. That is due to the fact that most lowering springs can be fit as a standalone upgrade, where nothing else is touched on the vehicle.
They can be one part of upgrade packages as well. Numerous handling improvements can be unlocked for a reasonable price. Check out Apex replacement springs for high-quality performance springs.
Why would I want to lower my vehicle?
As previously discussed in our car handling article, when your car is lowered, it lowers the centre of gravity. When the centre of gravity of your car is lower it rolls less whenever you corner. That means there will less weight transfer off of the inside tyres and onto your outside tyres. This will result in you getting additional grip from all four of the tyes to improve the connection of your tyres with the surface of the road.
If you are quickly changing directions (for example, in an S-bend), your vehicle will not need to settle back in between the changes of direction.
It improves the appearance of the car as well. Arch gaps rarely look good. If your car is dropped a little, the arch gaps will be reduced. Your wheels will appear larger and give your vehicle an aggressive and sporty stance.
How is the ride when Lowering Springs are used?
Whenever lowering a van or car is being considered, one of the most common questions that are asked is how it will ride afterwards. It is hard to provide an exact answer to this question since unless you have ridden a specific model of car with the exact lowering product fitted, it will always involve some guesswork.
In contrast to some “eBay special” cheaper springs that can be found on sale, we only sell lowering springs that are engineered very well for the specific car or van that is being fitted. That will be reflected in the quality of the ride. Some will even approach standard suspension-like comfort levels.
We expect that you will notice that your vehicle has lowering springs fitted on it (otherwise, there would be no point in having them fitted in the first place). However, we would not expect your vehicle to become uncomfortable or crashy.
For example, the Pro-Kit Lowering Springs from Eibach are renowned for riding nearly like a vehicle’s original springs.
When sportier lowering springs are used, it will most likely tip the balances towards the firm side. If stiffer springs are fitted it can also make a significant impact on the car’s secondary ride as well. That is how vehicles ride over rough road surfaces and small bumps.
To a certain extent, it will also depend on the rest of the suspension’s condition. Your car is equipped with rubber bushes and shock absorbers that have designed to help with buffering you from the surface of the road that you are driving on. When these other components are worn-out, you will notice that the springs are stiffer than usual.
How low can the springs go?
There are certain limits to what can be achieved when using a spring that needs to be paired with a standard shock absorb. In general, mild lowering springs provide about 30mm lowering, while sportier springs have a tendency of offering 45mm to 60mm. It will depend somewhat on the car as well. Newer vehicles have a tendency to have less travel in the suspension, to begin with. So there will be less lowering available. The best thing to do is to head to the right section on the website, enter your car’s details, and find out what is available for your vehicle.
What if my vehicle has a sports suspension already?
If you own a hot model (an AMG, RS, SE, or GTi), or the box for the sports suspension was checked (M-Technic, M-Sport, AMG-Line, R-Line, S-Line) when you first ordered your car, then it might be lowered already.
