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Welcome to our suspension section
We stock a wide range of lowering springs, full suspension kits, and coil-over kits all at low prices. Now's the time to improve looks and handling. Lowering for looks
A car straight from the factory has an unsightly wheel-arch gap. A wheel arch gap is the space between the top of the tyre and the inside edge at the top of the wheel-arch.
Lowering a car to reduce (or even eliminate) this gap can improve looks no end. 35mm may not seem like much, but this is all that it takes to give most cars a whole new look. There's something about a lowered car - even when no other modifications are made - that looks so much more aggressive!
Lowering for handling
This is the real reason for lowering a car. Look at any track motorsport car and you'll see that they are low - very low. Lower than you could probably get away with for normal street use. There's a good reason for this (Here comes the science bit...)
Lowering a car lowers its centre of gravity. The amount of body roll (the amount a car leans over) that a car is subject to in hard cornering is directly proportional to the height of the centre of gravity from the road surface. So, if you reduce the height, you reduce the body roll. Reduced body roll keeps the tyres square on the road and improves grip and this in-turn improves cornering speeds. Take a look at a Formula one car. The speeds they corner at are phenomenal, but you'll hardly see any body roll. That's because of a combination of an extremely low centre of gravity and stiff springs.
What are lowering springs?
Modern car suspension usually employs coil springs to support the car's weight and allow the wheel to move up and down relative to the cars chassis. It is these springs alone that govern the ride height of the car. Fitting shorter springs reduces the ride height of the car - it's as simple as that!
What are dampers?
Dampers (also called shocks or shock absorbers) work hand-in-hand with a cars springs. They reduce oscillation of the suspension. Without them the springs would allow the vehicle to keep bouncing up and down after hitting a bump. If you were to push down on the corner of a stationary vehicle you will notice that the suspension will compress slightly. When you let go the vehicle will rise back to its original state and come to rest very quickly at its original height. If you tried the same thing on a vehicle without dampers fitted you would notice that the vehicle would keep on bouncing up and down, coming to rest eventually, but having taken a lot longer to do so.
Do I need to change dampers?
Car manufacturers engineer dampers to mach the springs they use. The length of the spring and its stiffness are factors which are taken in to account. When you change either characteristic of a spring the original dampers are no longer 100% compatible.
As with many things a little give and take is perfectly acceptable. When lowering a car by 30mm or 40mm by changing springs alone, the compromises imposed on the damper will make very little difference. A vehicle may be lowered by more than this, but shortened dampers should really be considered. A car lowered by 60mm using shortened springs, but standard dampers is really a bit of a compromise. You couldn't expect the dampers to last as long under these conditions.
Why use sports dampers with sports springs?
No matter how much you lower a car (even if it were just 20mm) fitting them with matching dampers will give the best results. Matching dampers are deigned to perfectly complement the stiffness and length of the springs they are intended for. You wouldn't find a motorsport vehicle with mismatched springs and dampers!
There's one more important benefit of matching spring and damper height. When a vehicle is lifted off the ground, or when the weight is taken off the inside wheels during hard cornering it is possible for short springs on standard length dampers to become unseated. If the lengths were matched properly this would not happen. If a spring becomes unseated during hard cornering and does not reseat correctly the affects could be very dangerous.
To achieve the best in handling and to get the longest life from dampers a matching spring/damper combination should always be used.
What about tyre clearance?
Lowering a car will of course reduce wheel arch clearance. Keep your lowering sensible (30mm to 40mm) and you'll be fine. If you go for an extra low suspension (50mm or more) than you could be asking for trouble.
Remember, the standard wheel-arch gap is designed to work with standard soft springs. Sports springs are generally harder and therefore require less clearance. Touring cars barely have enough clearance for fingers!
In general lowering a car more that about 50mm is more about looks that about handling. For trouble free lowering stick to a drop of no more that about 40mm.
No matter what you do to improve the suspension, if you lower your car, you will have to avoid going fast over large bumps.
What about tyre wear?
Lowering your car will change the angle that the wheels are positioned at. Depending on your suspension design, most commonly this will affect your camber angle (the angle the wheel/tyres are to vertical when viewed head-on). Car manufacturers usually design a little camber angle in to their suspension as standard. Lowering you car will increase this angle. The more you lower your car the more you increase the camber angle.
If you keep things sensible with a 30-40mm drop the increased camber angle will hardly be noticeable. The benefits of a lower ride height will far out weigh the disadvantage of increased camber. The affects of a larger camber angle is most likely to show itself as increased tyre wear on the inside edge of the tyre. It's a small price to pay for the good looks and improved handling that you'll get.
Will I get a harsh ride?
Car manufacturers have to worry about the comfort of all types of car buyers. From mum's on the school run to granny's driving to the shops. Standard springs are designed as a compromise between handling and comfort. A set of performance shortened springs will usually be stiffer than standard and yes; this will mean that you'll feel more of the road's surface. As a performance enthusiast you probably wouldn't want it any other way!
A good quality set of lowered, uprated springs from a reputable brand will have been designed and extensively tested on the car they were intended for. Engineers will have increased stiffness by just the right amount to improve handling and feel without loosing ride quality.
What's available
Reputable aftermarket suspension suppliers such as Avo, Bilstien, Chassis Dynamics, Eibach (with their Pro kits and Pro suspension), G-Max or Gmax, Gaz, H&R, KW, Leda and Spax can offer lowering springs, full suspension kits, dampers, shock absorbers, struts, coil-over kits (with adjustable ride heights) for most popular road cars. |
