COACH430

hey guys,

First i just wanted to say hi, I am new to this board, i recently picked up a black 2003 SC430 ( 12K miles on it) with the cinamon interior, I live in VA and I am 22 years old, I also own a 2005 yellow vette, 2001 S2000, 2003 700HP Cobra and 2003 Evolution8 with 550HP, i just bought the lexus and was looking to mod immediatly,

I already ordered 20 inch staggered wheels and they ll be here in 2 weeks...i need to lower this car fast and had three questions...

1.Would the car look bad with 20's not lowered?

2. Which springs to retain ride quality?( I dont want Tein Coilovers)
Just springs( H &R, tein, eibach and how low should I be looking for?

3.Anyone with pics of sc430with 20's NOT lowered?

Thank you

aquanuke

"1.Would the car look bad with 20's not lowered?"

Ive got 20" and not lowered, its ok and does look nice. But yep lowered would be a plus in the looks factor but I think it would be a nightmare where I live in London with all the road bumps we have to deal with.

Also Im having the Wald kit fitted in the next week or so (waiting for it to arrive in the country) and I think that would be out of the question for me here with it lowered also.

COACH430

thanks for the pics... we have the exact same color combo

anyone else with comments or pics?

herragge

Wow at 22 years old you have quite the stable of cars I must say!

I would certainly lower the car with 20's because they are a cheap investment for a nice look. That is if you don't want to go coilover. I have the Tein coilovers on my SC430, so I would certainly recommend the springs. Try the Tein luxury master springs; they are suppose to gracefully lower the car while having near stock luxury with some added handling. I know my car with 19's looked funny when it wasn't lowered...

welcome to the club

COACH430

thanks dude...I love cars to death..I buy a new one every 6 months to a year
So I guess it does look funny if not lowered...Are they very hard to install? the springs that is

rominl

iTrader: (4)

well, that's just personal taste, but i think without lowering the car it looks very funny. so i would lower it for sure. and personally i would only get coilover.

not sure about the sprtings though and how much it will lower the car. with 20s your wheels are out of spec and you dont' need to drop the car that uch to get the "no gap" look

COACH430

i am not looking for the full"no gap look" but rather the same gap the SL 55 or some factory exotics have...my 20's are very stock looking thats why i want it to remain that way

bt430

Hey Coach

Why not the Tein coilovers? I've been really happy with mine and I think they will retain the ride quality better than just springs. If you're in VA close to Tysons let me know and I'll let you take a look my setup.

BT

rominl

iTrader: (4)

plus i think with springs, it's going to hurt the shocks big time?

herragge

Yeah It'll definetly take a toll on the shocks if only the springs are replaced. Coilovers are my suggestion too but its not always the most affordable option. If you absolutley need immediate dropping, get springs, but in my opinion save up for a set of coilovers and you'll be much more happy! Plus they are ride height adjustable, another added benefit of coilovers which means you can adjust the drop to your liking whenever you desire.

COACH430

I have coilovers from tein on my evo and s2000 but since I bought the sc430 as kind of my work car, i didnt want to sink cash in it, but it seems as though everyone agrees that the coilovers are the way to go. Do you guy know any shops that have installed suspension on sc430 in VA, DC or MD...My rims get installed on friday so I ll see if it really need a drop and then will get coilovers i guess...thanks for the comments guys

rsa supra

I'm having the same questions. I want to lower the car, but I really want to keep the ride quality totally uncompromised as the car is my Mom's and my parent still have nightmares of their E430 with I lowered 2" on Eihachs and Bilsteins. I would consider the CS's, but since it's going to be out of my pocket, I'd rather throw on some springs. I alway recommend shocks (when doing springs), to anyone who asks me... but I'm wondering if the stock shocks may be up to the job on some really conservative springs. When I bought my Supra, it had stock shocks and Eibachs on it, and though the ride improved with addition of Koni's, the stockers held up for well over 80k miles.

I'm trying to find out the stock spring rates, but haven't found any info yet. Eibach says theirs are about 15-20% stiffer (whatever that means) and the Teins are as follows:

CS 559/336
H Tech 291/274
S Tech 313/296

So the H Tech seem pretty soft and might be perfect.

Anyone run springs with stock shocks and have input?

TIA!

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i have no clue on just the springs setup of course. i have the tein cs and seriously i don't really notice any degrade in the ride. it's just like stock. and now i have no wheel gap.

other than that, in terms of the shocks, i am not sure about the sc430 ones, but if it's anything close to that of the gs ones, then they will probably go pretty fast coz' they are pretty soft

rsa supra

Hmmmm...... I'm probably being over optimistic, but in searching for the spring rates I came across a lot of negative comments on the SC suspension for having to stiff of spring rates and dampning, and that the '05+ have softer shocks and springs....

I think I really need to compare the stock spring rates to the options out there. I know coilovers would be the way to go (assuming they aren't too stiff) but I don't really care to spend the $$. But the car definifely needs to close the wheel gap a little without making it a ***** for a somewhat "careless" driver to get around without destroying the car.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yes that's correct, the previous sc has stiffer springs/shocks, and the 05 have softer ones (not that they really help though). but i have no idea what the stock spring rates are

did you try to call up tein and see how the s tech springs is? what should you combo it with