Idiot's guide to lowering...

I am toying with the idea of changing the stock springs on my 197 to H&R's to gain a slight drop as the car sits too high IMO.

I've never lowered any of my previous cars before and was just wondering if it'd be more effective/I'd have less problems if I were to just buy the coilover set?

Also if anyone could let me know what handling characteristics people noticed after fitting the springs, that'd be great!

Cheers
 
Coilovers will give you much better handling than springs that's a given but they are more expensive. I've just fitted Cooksport springs which have given me a 30mm drop all round and so far the handling around corners is considerably better but I won't be able to tell how much better until on track.

As for fitting I know that the rears are a 30min job but the fronts are a real pig as I think you have to drop the subframe to gain access. Not 100% sure on that though if someone wants to correct me or clarify.
 
Coilovers will give better handling track wise, if your not going to track the clio i wouldnt bother, real world the clio set up is spot on

H&r seem to be a popular choice, the ride may be a tad harsher
 
Thanks guys.

What would I be looking ballpark for fitting on the springs? Also, did you find there was a negative effect on handling fitting the springs? Just thinking if this will alter any of the geometry on the car? I'm having it done more so for the looks but don't want to lose any of the sharpness on the road.
 
I would say say around 3-4 hours total for the springs. First impressions of mine are that they have increased handling when cornering but like I said that's just with road driving won't know until on track. Can't recall anyone complaining of worse handling after having it done but I might be wrong.
 
Will be buying them in a couple of weeks, just booked the car in for a wheel refurb with acid dip as the previous guy who did my wheels left runs everywhere, looks horrendous! Going for BMW sparkling graphite on a black 197, what you think?
 
I wouldn't say all coilovers will give better handling, if you do consider coilovers avoid the cheap budget brands as it's likely to be worse than factory handling, unless you are purely after a low look.

Never knew you had to drop the subframe to get the front legs out, I manage to do mine easy enough without doing so and I'd say it only took me two hours to do the full car set of springs, but that obviously depends on what tools and ramps you have access to.
 
In the german cliors.de the opinion/experience about the available springs is,
the H&R spring (-30mm/-40mm) come very deep, but are also very stiff and sometimes uncomfortable.
the Eibach springs (-20mm/-25mm) are a good bit stiffer (without being more sensitive to shock) than CUP and the handling gets much better when breaking/cornering without being uncomfortable.

The overall conclusion is, that the CUP suspension with the Eibach springs is the best non-coilover solution for daily and sometimes track use.
The H&R springs look great and drive much stiffer, but are not that comfy and very sensitive to shock and although they are that stiff, they deflect too much for some cornes around the ring.

Sorry, but my bad english doesn't allow me to explain this further... :smiley:
I hope you get the idea. :wink:
 
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I've got H&Rs on mine and I personally think it drives better than when it had the Cup springs.

It's only felt crashy once on a shocking bit of road otherwise it's fine
 
In the german cliors.de the opinion/experience about the available springs is,
the H&R spring (-30mm/-40mm) come very deep, but are also very stiff and sometimes uncomfortable.
the Eibach springs (-20mm/-25mm) are a good bit stiffer (without being more sensitive to shock) than CUP and the handling gets much better when breaking/cornering without being uncomfortable.

The overall conclusion is, that the CUP suspension with the Eibach springs is the best non-coilover solution for daily and sometimes track use.
The H&R springs look great and drive much stiffer, but are not that comfy and very sensitive to shock and although they are that stiff, they deflect too much for some cornes around the ring.

Sorry, but my bad english doesn't allow me to explain this further... :smiley:
I hope you get the idea. :wink:

No your Englush is very good

I think this applies for most cars. The H&R for lowering, Eibach for lowering and comfort.

It is a shame KW won't do a road style spring for the KW V3 as that would be the perfect setup in my world.
 
Just fitted 30 mm springs on mine at the weekend took me 30 mins to do the back two,
1 jack it up support both sides with axle stands on the rear but no resting on the rear beam as u need that to swing freely
2 undo the bolts from your dampeners, rear axle just swings down pop your springs out, put the new ones back in check you have them the right way round and re use the rubber top mounts for them put the axle back up bolts back through dampeners drop the car.
backs are easy but how ever the front two took 2 half hours each I struggled on both sides to get the dampener out of the Hub even after releasing the pinch bolt , but how ever after som persuasion with a hammer and piece of wood to protect your Hub and a s##t load of wd40 they just pop out I did take of the anti roll bar link loosen top mount and when u pop the dampener and spring out of the Hub you then release and undo the 3 top mount bolts and then it just drops out sorry for the essay but it simple if you know how 2 guys 6 hours no ramp just 2 axle stands and pump jack
 
For got to mention you'll need spring clamps to take the old springs off or 3 small roof rack straps ( not bunjee straps) to take the weight of the spring when un doing the top mount bolt and reverse this to put the new springs back on