This article aims to answer any questions you may have about the best way to lower your Civic.
What It Looks Like:
Just so you know what I'm talking about below, this image illustrates the various parts of a simple suspension system.
misc/img/spring.jpg
Why Lower Your Car?
It's all about your centre of gravity. The higher your centre of gravity, the easier it is for your car to slide on a bend or even roll over. The higher your car, the worse the road holding. Needless to say, you don't want to end up like this:
misc/img/roll.jpg
But lets not all forget the other reason. Lowering your car is one of the best looking things you can do. Here is a nice lowered Civic:
misc/img/lowered.jpg
OK! Let's Slam It!
No, no and no. Just because your friend managed to drop his car 40mm without any problems, does not mean you can. The amount you can lower your car depends on so many different factors including the weight of your engine, size of your wheels and tyres and even your own body weight.
The only way you can find the optimum lowering height for your vehicle is with trial and error. Lower it slightly, drive it for a while and lower it again until you find a good compromise.
So What Are My Options?
Let's have a look at all the different options available then.
Cut Your Springs
Why can't I just cut my springs a bit to lower my ride height?
OK this is just one big no. Springs on car are "progressive". It basically means the more you compress it, the harder it becomes to compress further. If it takes 30lbs to compress the spring half an inch, it would take 100lbs to compress it another half an inch. Why is this important? When you hit a bump, the springs compress allowing the wheel to move smoothly over it. If you cut the springs, suddenly that small bump isn't enough to compress the spring, so the car will jump over the bump. As you can imagine this is extremely dangerous since your wheels will have less contact with the road (not to mention you'll have a broken back from the jolt).
Buy Lowering Springs
OK I won't cut my springs, I'll buy shorter springs and leave the original dampers.
Better, but sorry still a no. By lowering your car, you are compressing the damper and forcing it to travel a shorter distance, but at a higher frequency. Dampers are made to dampen the bounce, and each one has a certain operating range. Your original dampers are not meant to be compressed for long periods of time, while at the same time travelling short distances very quickly, which is what would happen with shorter springs. It might feel fine to start with, but you will quickly boil the oil inside the piston housing (having the damper travel really quickly) and thus blow it out and render it useless. If you're going along at any speed when this happens, you're screwed.
Buy Both New Springs and Dampers
OK fine I'll buy new springs and new dampers.
Now we're talking
the only way to guarantee your comfort and safety in a lowered vehicle is by installing new springs and dampers, preferably together from the same manufacturer. It's costly, but always worth while in the end.
Final Thoughts:
- The lower your car, the stiffer the ride becomes. Why? Simply because there's less room for the suspension to travel.
- You can buy adjustable and non-adjustable systems. The adjustable ones are more expensive, but you have full control over your ride height.
I hope this cleared up most questions. If you have any regarding this article, just reply below.
What It Looks Like:
Just so you know what I'm talking about below, this image illustrates the various parts of a simple suspension system.
misc/img/spring.jpg
Why Lower Your Car?
It's all about your centre of gravity. The higher your centre of gravity, the easier it is for your car to slide on a bend or even roll over. The higher your car, the worse the road holding. Needless to say, you don't want to end up like this:
misc/img/roll.jpg
But lets not all forget the other reason. Lowering your car is one of the best looking things you can do. Here is a nice lowered Civic:
misc/img/lowered.jpg
OK! Let's Slam It!
No, no and no. Just because your friend managed to drop his car 40mm without any problems, does not mean you can. The amount you can lower your car depends on so many different factors including the weight of your engine, size of your wheels and tyres and even your own body weight.
The only way you can find the optimum lowering height for your vehicle is with trial and error. Lower it slightly, drive it for a while and lower it again until you find a good compromise.
So What Are My Options?
Let's have a look at all the different options available then.
Cut Your Springs
Why can't I just cut my springs a bit to lower my ride height?
OK this is just one big no. Springs on car are "progressive". It basically means the more you compress it, the harder it becomes to compress further. If it takes 30lbs to compress the spring half an inch, it would take 100lbs to compress it another half an inch. Why is this important? When you hit a bump, the springs compress allowing the wheel to move smoothly over it. If you cut the springs, suddenly that small bump isn't enough to compress the spring, so the car will jump over the bump. As you can imagine this is extremely dangerous since your wheels will have less contact with the road (not to mention you'll have a broken back from the jolt).
Buy Lowering Springs
OK I won't cut my springs, I'll buy shorter springs and leave the original dampers.
Better, but sorry still a no. By lowering your car, you are compressing the damper and forcing it to travel a shorter distance, but at a higher frequency. Dampers are made to dampen the bounce, and each one has a certain operating range. Your original dampers are not meant to be compressed for long periods of time, while at the same time travelling short distances very quickly, which is what would happen with shorter springs. It might feel fine to start with, but you will quickly boil the oil inside the piston housing (having the damper travel really quickly) and thus blow it out and render it useless. If you're going along at any speed when this happens, you're screwed.
Buy Both New Springs and Dampers
OK fine I'll buy new springs and new dampers.
Now we're talking
the only way to guarantee your comfort and safety in a lowered vehicle is by installing new springs and dampers, preferably together from the same manufacturer. It's costly, but always worth while in the end.Final Thoughts:
- The lower your car, the stiffer the ride becomes. Why? Simply because there's less room for the suspension to travel.
- You can buy adjustable and non-adjustable systems. The adjustable ones are more expensive, but you have full control over your ride height.
I hope this cleared up most questions. If you have any regarding this article, just reply below.
