Installed but not done





Gotta get my spacers on, give it a week to settle, and then pick my final heights. Adjusting height is actually not bad; I am able to adjust the fronts without taking the wheel off.

Gonna have to do my commute before I can give a full assessment but I will definitely do a full review. Just tooling around though, it feels almost stock but with much tighter damping. I do have a new rattle in the right rear corner.... everything seems torqued so I'm afraid it might be the damn shaft nut For <$500 shipped on some websites though, if you want to be dropped at a reasonable height these things seem to be an effing steal. Everything seems pretty quality and the instructions are straightforward.

Oh yea, for reference the rear springs are 5" OD top to bottom.

 

Looks like a decent balance front to rear from the pics, coilovers settle quicker than lowering springs, 3-4 days would be enough. Hopefully that noise is a simple fix, should be
Did you get some aftermarket camber/toe adjusters?

Looks like you're just a bit higher than me (26.25") looks to be about 26.5" all around???

 

These pics are after I raised the front and got some gas, so no new measurements yet. Hopefully will have it all together tomorrow.

 

From the looks of it, that driveway isn't going to provide the kind of level stance and weight to all four corners to satisfy any sense of accuracy. Find yourself a nice flat section of poured cement, like a parking garage.

Spacers if you drop on duckfeet... definitely.

 

My garage floor is level; I take my measurements in there. I will see if I can use my ultra wide angle lens and get a photo of it in there.

I did snap some at a gas station... this should be level




I think I lowered the front after this though I definitely need to get the spacers on, as well as a wash. I just need to find a brushless wash

 

What the heck is wrong with your wheels? Looks like 5 years of rail dust. Man, that's painful to look at.

 

They are OK, just really dirty. The paint is in less than great shape, so I haven't bothered with a car wash. I wanted to get it detailed. If you look at the before photos they have a nice even coat of brake dust.... but after I worked on it it looks a lot worse. Once I get the spacers on I'll get it washed, then just get it detailed later.

 

I would throw those wheels away and get some coupe 19s at least

 

No way, coupe 19s are boring and overdone to me. I have some 19s in mind that nobody has done before and will look sick.

 

Final form... very happy






@26.75" at all 4 corners (rear sleeves at the top of adjustment range, front sleeves at ~1.75" from bottom)

Overall impressions... good for the price. Low speed body motions are very well controlled, which makes the car feel planted and confidence instilling. Higher speed stuff like bumps and ripples is not so well controlled. Rides a little "busy". I could see this being awful if you live in an area with crappy roads. Something else to note is I'm pretty sure the spacers lowered the effective wheel rate. Ride just seems that little bit more plush. Going to wider wheels with the centerline further out than stock will have the same effect. Could also just be the shocks breaking in. Anyways a really good deal. All the components are quality and I see these working nicely for a long time. Just make sure you torque everything! I had a rattle in the RR corner that turned out to be a loose shock shaft nut.

 

Nice initial review, and good reference for how high you can run these. So 26.75" is the mildest drop you can get while still retaining enough threads in the collar for the spring.
Good to know for those asking if you do a minimal drop. I guess that equates to about 1.25" down from OEM???

 

That's where my rear install is at, 26 3/4" floor to fender. I'll take this as corroboration. GTK

I don't know the RWD Sedan height off the top of my head, but I think it's 28", like you're saying. IIRC, it differs from the AWD by 1/4". Or the floor-to-fender height is the same, but the ground clearance on the AWD is different. Don't feel like finding the info just now. Anyone?

 

My sedan was 28" up front and 27.5" in the back. I will have to double check where I am tonight. Might still be settling.

 

That sounds right. The Sedan's rear fender line is 1/2" lower then the front. It's what contributes to the whole droopy bum look, exasperated when you drop the car. If you match floor-to-fender in the back and the front, you actually introduce an imperceptible 1/2" rake.

 

Some further impressions...

I'm starting to wonder if the G can take some more spring rate. As is the Tein Basis' are great; I'm continually impressed by them. But the more I push on them, the more they feel a hair soft. I'm gonna continue to roll with these, but now I'm curious about the Flex Zs. Those seem pretty polarizing- people either love or hate them. But roads are smooth by me, so I think they will be OK for me. I'm also wondering if bigger sways out back would help. The front is OK.

Otherwise I'm really loving them. Back when I had the stock suspension I was set on doing a 275 square setup, because my Nexen 5000 225/245s gave up the ghost with any kind of aggression. They were downright scary in the wet. Now, same exact tires, I find it hard to break traction. And when it does break it's a lot more progressive and controllable. I want to see how 19s look on the car before I decide on wheels but I honestly feel like a set of decent 245/45-18s all around would be enough. I just need to see what the camber situation is.... running without anything now.