I’ll keep this as straight forward and clear as I can. I’m trying to see what my best option is in regard to lowering my car without compromising the feel of it. I own a 2011 IPL.

Ideally this is how low I want the car to look:


So here are my questions:

1) How many inches would the drop be to achieve the pictured look? I was trying to find the ground clearance for an IPL online but was having trouble finding the numbers. I know that an S sits at 5.1” of ground clearance but not sure about the IPL. I’m guessing somewhere around 4.5”?

2) Should I go with springs or coilovers? I understand the basics of springs and that springs will decrease the life of your struts, as the struts will be in compression more and so forth and that coilovers give you many forms of adjustability and so forth...I am asking this question in hopes to get answers from people who have experience with lowering their IPLs. The feel of the car is primary here. If I end up only “needing” to drop an inch or so, should I go with springs and maybe save some money? Would I compromise the stock IPL feel (which I love)? Is it absolutely necessary to go with coilovers to keep as close as I can to the stock feel?

I appreciate any help from you guys - I’ve spent many hours reading through threads but feel as though my thoughts get thrown to and fro and I’m not able to hone in and find my answers I figured I’d throw together a post and hopefully help future IPL owners find direct answers to these questions.

Help a brutha out! Thanks

 

Step 1: Forget your car is an IPL, it is completely irrelevant to the topic of lowering your car and you will find much more information on lowering the coupe in general.

Step 2: If this is for appearance and minor handling improvements (not track use), buy Eibach Pro Kit or Swift springs. They will provide you with this modest amount of lowering while maintaining a great ride. I prefer Eibach personally.

Step 3: Buy alignment kits for your car to save your expensive tires and headaches down the road. The most common choice is SPC.

Step 4: Have the parts installed by a quality technician and have an alignment performed. The car may settle, so consider getting a follow-up alignment in 2-4 weeks.

Step 5: Appreciate the new look of your lowered car and still enjoy the smooth ride accompanied by this lowering method. No need to worry about corner balancing, rusting collars and threads, bottoming out, mysterious noises or clunking sounds, or other minor issues that may arise from coil overs. You will also save money.


Here is my car with Eibach springs, front and rear SPC alignment kits, factory alignment specs, Forgestar CF10 wheels 20x9 +28 front and 20x10.5 +20 rear, and Continental DWS tires 255/35R20 all around.

 

Cant go wrong with swift sport springs.

1'5 in the front, 1'3 in the back.

I have them and love them, drive is better then stock also.

My 5 star reputable shop did an alignment immediately after, didnt need to adjust the camber at all, said they were good to go and the increased tread wear would be minimal at best.

 

Do you have your alignment print out?

 

That story doesn't add up. If there was no need to adjust camber, then why were you told to expect even a minimal increase in tire wear?

The car will settle a a few weeks and you will need to revisit the alignment shop to be sure that you are in spec, which you won't be.

Realistically, after these springs settle, every lowering spring option needs one or both alignment kits to keep the tire wear from being an issue. The front has ZERO adjustability and the rear doesn't have much. Tires don't lie, so time will tell.

 

Thank you for the reply I'm doing my research with your post as my guide - how do I know how far the springs will lower the car by? Is there a standard drop or are their springs that offer different inches of drop?

 

Unfortunately the drops that spring companies advertise is often not accurate, and some are way off. As a general rule the following springs listed in order from mildest drop to deep/slammed drops~

Tanabe
Swift (these are only for sedans right now, coupe applications coming soon)
Tein H Tech
ARK
Eibach
Tein S Tech
B&G
H&R

There's a few others like Megan but can't recall their specific drop.

 

I have the ARK springs, I'd say after they settled they're about 1.3 in the front and 1.0 in the rear. Imo the rear needs to be a tad lower with them but that's just my preference.

 

So that would put them in about the same range as H Techs, thanks for the info.

 

Since the IPL comes a bit lowered from the factory, I should be conservative and not consider anything past ARK springs? What are your thoughts?

The trouble I'm having here is everyone has pictures with specific springs and how their cars look on them but they are starting out about 1" higher than my IPL. I still can't find how much lower the IPL is than a stock coupe. That would solve some of my uncertainty and help me narrow down what springs to buy. Anyone have an answer to the drop difference between a stock coupe and an IPL?

 

This is why I said forget about the IPL part. An IPL and a RWD base coupe will end up at the exact same height with a given set of lowering springs.

You do not subtract the lowering amount from where your car is currently at, but rather what they have found on their test car.

 

Thanks for taking me to school
Everything makes sense! I'll be sure to post a picture of the car before and after the drop. I'll probably get around to it next month. Are used springs a bad idea?

 

Sounds good! I'd recommend new springs personally, they are reasonably priced.

 

For a coupe I'd say just go w/ the tried & true Eibach setup, the drop is nice & even and not overly firm. They're a progressive spring so a bit more compliant than a linear spring for daily driving (potholes, uneven road surfaces, poor road repairs, etc). Here's a good read on that topic if you're interested
Linear vs progressive rate springs | Automotive Thinker - Discussing the finer points of automobiles
Be sure to budget for camber kits, they'll pay for themselves compared to the tire wear that you'll get without them.
Here's a new thread just posted showing some Eibachs (and went w/ Koni dampers).
https://www.myg37.com/forums/brakes-...and-konis.html