3rd Gen Protege/MazdaSpeed/P5/MP3 General/Maintenance Discussion for 1999-2003.5 Models Only (BJ Chassis)

lowering springs

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Old November-4th-2006, 09:24 PM
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lowering springs

Hey guys I am going to lower my car soon. My question is if I lower my car with springs with out struts/shocks, will it ride to bumpy? I can only afford springs now so would it be better to hold off until I can afford springs and struts? By the way I was going to buy Tein S springs with a 1.8 front drop, 1.5 rear drop.
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Old November-4th-2006, 10:04 PM
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It depends how many km's/miles you have on your stock struts. I would say if you have more than 50,000 km's then you might want to save up for struts. You would only have to install the springs/struts once and only pay for one alignment.

The ride can be bouncy if the drop is really low and if you are riding on the bumpstops. If you mean bumpy as in stiff, then yes it will be as most aftermarket springs are stiffer than the soft stockers. Tokico HP's are great aftermarket struts that perform well in most situations.

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Old November-6th-2006, 07:25 AM
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I have the Eibach ProKit - not uncomfortable at all (they're progressive - soft rate until you really start leaning and then they tighten up). It only helped handling and didn't compromise ride quality (to me).
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Old November-6th-2006, 08:33 AM
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If you can't upgrade the struts at the same time, then my recommendation is to not lower any more than 1.5" all around. The Eibach Pro-Kit work really good with stock suspension, but really most (not all) progressive rate springs will do the job for you. If you're not sure about the difference between progressive and linear springs, use this chart as a guide.




Also, when buying springs compression rate is most important in determining ride quality and strut wear. Anything that has crazy high compression rates will not be very comfortable. You wanna try finding something that's close to your stock springs (try not to go over 200 in the front, 100 in the rear). I personally have the Falken Factory Tuned springs on mine and they work like a charm. The drop is great, 1.5" all around and the ride quality is almost comparable to stock.

Last edited by KrayzieFox; November-6th-2006 at 08:37 AM.
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Old November-6th-2006, 08:47 AM
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I like my Eibachs. I've had them on my car for over 40k and have had no issues with the stock struts.
K-Fox, are they the springs you got from what's his-name over at msprotege? 'Cuz they are were pretty good deal iirc. He may have some left.
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Old November-6th-2006, 09:00 AM
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Yep .. that one guy. KYRMP5 or something like that was his username, and the springs were $100 shipped. I'm pretty sure I got the last set of his P5 ones, he might still have some sedan ones left. But according to what he was saying it was a discontinued product so the only way to get them anymore is gonna be used ...

Last edited by KrayzieFox; November-6th-2006 at 09:07 AM.
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