To Lower, or Not To Lower
August-15th-2002, 07:54 PM
#1
Protege Newbie
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Seattle
Posts: 18
To Lower, or Not To Lower
I've been considering lowering my P5 but my friend said that it'll ruin the already awsome suspension and handling. his reasoning is that mazda engineers designed the car using the current ride height, stiffness, and all that good stuff. the physics used to design our suspension will be wasted, basically, and make our ride less sporty. what do you all think??
August-15th-2002, 08:26 PM
#3
Juggalo
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 763
Tell your friend he's full of crap. I put the H&R springs on my p5 and the handling only improved. Yeah the ride got a little stiffer, but I like to "feel" the road anyway. And with the MP3 setup you will spend a lotta chedda, and you will hardly get a notcieable drop. I mean like fractions of an inch of a drop (I don't know the specific height off the top of my head, but its not much). Go with the lowering springs.
August-15th-2002, 08:34 PM
#4
I Can Be Teh W1N!!!!
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1,870
if i get eibach springs installed (1.4"F and 1.2"R lowering) should i get new struts too? will it be too hard on the stockers?
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Ford aod transmission specifications
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Ford aod transmission specifications
Last edited by pr5owner; March-10th-2011 at 09:38 AM.
August-15th-2002, 09:08 PM
#5
Juggalo
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 763
No, my stock struts have done just fine, and have been paired with my H&R's for over 7 months now. Shoot I even lowered it more with a little "ghetto" modification, and it now sits about 2 inches lower with the stock struts. I only plan on upgrading when, and if my stocks blow out.
August-15th-2002, 10:03 PM
#6
I Can Be Teh W1N!!!!
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1,870
when your shocks die does your car
a) bottom out (wheels hitting wheelwell or bottom of car scrap ground)
b) has no resistance so its like ridding on jello and your bouncing everywhere
c) ???
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Digital scales
a) bottom out (wheels hitting wheelwell or bottom of car scrap ground)
b) has no resistance so its like ridding on jello and your bouncing everywhere
c) ???
________
Digital scales
Last edited by pr5owner; March-10th-2011 at 09:38 AM.
August-15th-2002, 10:47 PM
#7
OWNZ A P5
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ca
Posts: 477
Your friend is wrong on this one. You have to remember that Mazda designs cars to appeal to a large range of people. The components that they choose to put into the cars offer a balance between good ride quality and performance.
he put up a convincing agruement that got me thinkin, tho. i was lookin at the eibach setup and now i think i'll buy them. thanks!
August-16th-2002, 12:35 AM
#9
Juggalo
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 763
Originally posted by pr5owner
when your shocks die does your car
a) bottom out (wheels hitting wheelwell or bottom of car scrap ground)
b) has no resistance so its like ridding on jello and your bouncing everywhere
c) ???
when your shocks die does your car
a) bottom out (wheels hitting wheelwell or bottom of car scrap ground)
b) has no resistance so its like ridding on jello and your bouncing everywhere
c) ???
b). It bounces like a ****. Its actually pretty funny, a friend of mine had this old POS civic that he took the struts discharged all the gas from them. It was hillarious when he pumped the brakes while driving it looked like he had hydros or something.
See the springs in your car offer the resistance to keep the car at a certain height, and compress to allow the car to absorb the bumps in the road. Its the struts job to make it smooth and all on the rebound so the spring doesn't just sit there and bounce all over the fricken place when its compressed, and released. I know someon can get way more technical about what the struts do, but, it gets no simplier than the explination I just gave.
August-16th-2002, 06:43 AM
#10
Master of All Things :{D
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: southeast texas, near houston
Posts: 4,118
Originally posted by pr5owner
if i get eibach springs installed (1.4"F and 1.2"R lowering) should i get new struts too? will it be too hard on the stockers?
if i get eibach springs installed (1.4"F and 1.2"R lowering) should i get new struts too? will it be too hard on the stockers?
it depends on your wallet....
you CAN put the springs on your stock struts and they will be fine for a while.....they will last you about a year, depending on how much you drive your car......
OR you could spend another $500 on the struts that came on the MP3 and they will get more like normal life out of them....
PLUS...if you really wanted to you could also get the front and rear sway bars that came on the MP3 and add them to your P-5 as well....that will be about a nother $350 .... these are approximate prices just for the parts.
YES your ride will be come a little stiffer....that goes with the territory....it just depends on what YOU want.
August-18th-2002, 07:51 PM
#11
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally posted by Sweedenhouse
No, my stock struts have done just fine, and have been paired with my H&R's for over 7 months now. Shoot I even lowered it more with a little "ghetto" modification, and it now sits about 2 inches lower with the stock struts. I only plan on upgrading when, and if my stocks blow out.
No, my stock struts have done just fine, and have been paired with my H&R's for over 7 months now. Shoot I even lowered it more with a little "ghetto" modification, and it now sits about 2 inches lower with the stock struts. I only plan on upgrading when, and if my stocks blow out.
August-18th-2002, 10:17 PM
#12
Juggalo
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 763
Well I did what many people like to call the "ghetto dump". I just couldn't take the way my car sat anymore, and now that I finshed my subs in the trunk I knew how the car was gonna sit. The car always sat a little high in the front with just the H&R's installed. And I got a smokin deal on the package of my wheels, springs, and tires, so I went with the H&R's instead of coilovers. Plus I've not so great things about the coilovers for our cars so far. ANd I could not justify spending anymore money when I could go down to Ace hardware, and pickup every auto tuner's must have tool. THE ALMIGHTY GRINDER!!!!
I took 3/4's of a coil out of both the front and back, and now it sits perfect (in my eyes), its right on the tires, and the ride quality has not been sacrificed. the back doesn't rub either thanks to some handy fender work. I mean the ride is stiff, but it was stiff when I put the lowering springs on it. And when I say stiff, I don't mean bouncy. I am well aware of the differnece. I have been in cars with the stock springs cut down to just a couple of coils, so I know what the "ghetto bounce" is all about.
So anyway, that's what I did, I hacked my H&R's.
I took 3/4's of a coil out of both the front and back, and now it sits perfect (in my eyes), its right on the tires, and the ride quality has not been sacrificed. the back doesn't rub either thanks to some handy fender work. I mean the ride is stiff, but it was stiff when I put the lowering springs on it. And when I say stiff, I don't mean bouncy. I am well aware of the differnece. I have been in cars with the stock springs cut down to just a couple of coils, so I know what the "ghetto bounce" is all about.
So anyway, that's what I did, I hacked my H&R's.
August-19th-2002, 06:42 AM
#13
Guest
Posts: n/a
I understand your pain. I was unhappy with my Eibachs. The front was perfect (~1.8" due to the heavier auto tranny), but the back sat too high ( only ~1.5" down) so I thought about cutting the springs, but I did not want to do all that labor by myself and be unhappy with a bouncy car un putup with my wife complaining so I bought rear GC coilovers and installed them in the rear only so I was happy with the front. With the GC coilovers I was able to lower the car another 1/2" and make it leveled. I hate the squated look! Anyways, thanks for your response and I see that there are several people besides me that are unhppy after inatalling aftermarket springs even when they are from renowed companies like H&R and Eibachs. Maybe they are too make about Hondas, VW's and BMW's do not give a monkey's a** about Mazda Proteges?
August-21st-2002, 10:27 PM
#15
I Can Be Teh W1N!!!!
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Calgary
Posts: 1,870
Originally posted by ProtegeES
I understand your pain. I was unhappy with my Eibachs. The front was perfect (~1.8" due to the heavier auto tranny), but the back sat too high ( only ~1.5" down) so I thought about cutting the springs, but I did not want to do all that labor by myself and be unhappy with a bouncy car un putup with my wife complaining so I bought rear GC coilovers and installed them in the rear only so I was happy with the front. With the GC coilovers I was able to lower the car another 1/2" and make it leveled. I hate the squated look! Anyways, thanks for your response and I see that there are several people besides me that are unhppy after inatalling aftermarket springs even when they are from renowed companies like H&R and Eibachs. Maybe they are too make about Hondas, VW's and BMW's do not give a monkey's a** about Mazda Proteges?
I understand your pain. I was unhappy with my Eibachs. The front was perfect (~1.8" due to the heavier auto tranny), but the back sat too high ( only ~1.5" down) so I thought about cutting the springs, but I did not want to do all that labor by myself and be unhappy with a bouncy car un putup with my wife complaining so I bought rear GC coilovers and installed them in the rear only so I was happy with the front. With the GC coilovers I was able to lower the car another 1/2" and make it leveled. I hate the squated look! Anyways, thanks for your response and I see that there are several people besides me that are unhppy after inatalling aftermarket springs even when they are from renowed companies like H&R and Eibachs. Maybe they are too make about Hondas, VW's and BMW's do not give a monkey's a** about Mazda Proteges?
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MERCEDES-BENZ F700
Last edited by pr5owner; March-10th-2011 at 09:51 AM.