I have new Eibach 350's installed recently about 400 miles ago (these have the conservative 1"/.8" drop). I did the upgrade to 19's w/Toyo T1R's a few weeks earlier so that I could feel the incremental difference. My car had the sport suspension. What I've noticed is a little less impact harshness, but some extra firmness on bumpy roads. On big bumps at high speeds I can feel the OEM sport suspension stocks strain to control rebound. Overall cornering flatness is improved and high speed stability is excellent (I realize those are not ride quality traits).

Overall I'm pleased with the ride/handling/look combination. I have no interest in going lower when I know the result will be a rougher ride. So far 2 different passengers who had been in the car before lowering, have not commented on any ride change.

 

btw, what tires and what sizes (front/rear) are you using?

 

Wow, this is cute thread! <33333

 

F - 225/35/19
R - 265/30/19
on a set of AMEs

 

First issue:

We all don’t live in neighborhoods with smooth paved roads. Since this forum stretches around the world, modifications won’t work for everyone.

Second Issue:

Lowering a car will never yield to a smoother ride, unless you can compensate for the lost travel distance of the strut / shock.

If you live in an area where the roads are less than perfect, don’t expect the ride to get smoother once you lower it.

 

And how will that (above) yield a smoother ride? Typically the spring and shock rates are firmer to compensate for lost travel.

 

How much do your wheels and then tires weigh? If you're using a heavier/wider diameter combo, you're already outside the parameters for what the suspension was designed for, much less the springs.

Depending on how expensive you want to get, eliminating some of the unsprung weight can help reduce the work your suspension has to do, and then how much the road irregularities transmit to you as the occupant.

Otherwise, its tough to really gauge how much a 'ton' of ride quality is, or by relation, how your handling as held up, since some people equate 'ride quality' with the greater lateral force they feel after changes in springs and sways, for example.

 

Good discussion on lowered cars and ride quality. Chances are the OP's wheels are very close in weight to the heavy 18" OEM wheels. I assume the car originally had the soft standard (not sport suspension) which makes the difference more obvious. But if I recall the Eibach 250 springs lower the car about 1.4"/1.0", so overall spring rates are considerably higher than stock setup to minimize bottoming.

Not sure how the specific Falken tire used rates for ride quality. But when you can "feel every crack in the road", that seems to be more of a tire harshness factor rather than springs.

 

You have any before and after pics? I plan on lowering my gf's IS350 but not sure whether to go with the 250 or 350 spring; I think the 350s are good to preserve some ride quality, but the 250s might look better...

 

Check on my Eibachs for IS350-your opinion thread below, I posted a couple of pics there. No doubt the 250's will look better with the lower drop especially in front, but the front is probably where the additional suspension travel is needed.

 

Not sure how relevant this is, but I had Eibach pro-kit on my previous car and it rode like crap, like I was in a pickup truck. So I went with Teins this time around and it rides extremely close to stock. In fact, there is less bounce and handling is tighter. My passengers could not tell any difference in ride quality.

 

Might not be relevant, what was the other car?

btw - I have heard good things about the Tiens on the ISx50's

 

S-Techs? I was debating between s-techs and pro-kit but thought the drop in front would have been a little too low with the Teins

 

"feel every crack in the road" was also felt with my Bridgestone Turanza tires and OEM rims. I had those on for about six or seven weeks prior to the 19s and Falkens upgrade

 

Uhh.. you put harsher springs on and you are complaining? I don't get it.

Either put the stockers back on or go buy an ES350.....