charje

Just a few questions, I am a newbie here so dont flame me, I always wondered why you would want to lower your car. I like the look of a lowered car, especially with a nice set of rims, but are there any other benifits to slamming your car? So can yall tell me your reasoning for lowering your ride? does it make the handling/performance better, is it a car that you could drive daily? can you drive long highway miles?


Since I bought my car my driving habits have change, I dont have to crush anybody at light, or hit turns on 2 wheels. I like the luxury feel, and smoothness of the ride. It just seems to me when your car is lowered, it will take away the way your car was design to drive.

Thanks for the input

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

How does it take away the way your car was designed to drive?

BinaryJay

It's going to be a bumpier, stiffer ride, shorter springs need to be stiffer. Less travel in the suspension, need to be more careful with road obstacles, pot holes and inclines. AWD GS gets vibrations from the suspension angles. More risk of faster/more uneven tire wear and general suspension wear... there's a long list of negatives.

Lower center of gravity may contribute to better turning behavior but for the most part it's probably placebo... the only real reason to lower is for looks. For some people, the looks outweigh the negatives and for some people not.

It's really a form over function modification. I think my car looks great even with it's big old wheel gap. Even the slight cold weather awd vibes I get from the car bother me enough that even if there weren't any other considerations I am already scared away from experimenting with other springs, it might be something I'll consider looking at when the factory springs/shocks go south and need replacing anyway but chances are our crappy weather, and pot-hole laden roads here will keep me thinking otherwise.

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

It is definitely not just form over function if you do it the right way.

Less travel in the suspension also leads to better cornering and handling.

whlkev

couple things really

1) it's almost a sin to not lower the car if you get bigger rims
2) a lot better handling if you do it right (coilovers)
3) for show
4) for track
5) just because

remember, avg lexus buyers are around 50+, so it's designed for comfort more than anything, some people just like to spice it up

when you have tried to dodge a piece of furniture on the freeway at 80mph, you'll understand why people turn to bmw for their handling

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i look at it from two directions, cosmetic and performance

cosmetic wise, stock wheels are small, i want larger and "better" (in my eyes). with larger wheels, lowering is a must. they go hand in hand in my opinion.

for performance, this is a sport sedan so i intend to drive it the way it's supposed to be. lowering the car with coilovers, i got much better rebounce and suspension response than stock. so now i can take corners faster and harder

i drive my car every day, a bit over 2 yrs and i have abotu 44k miles. my daily driver and we go everywhere with it. as long as driven correctly and carefully, i don't have any issues with the car being lowered (and body kits as well).

whlkev

holy .. henry.. stop driving! 44k in a bit over 2 years??

and i thought i drove a lot at 31k now for 2 yrs

twylie

iTrader: (3)

appearance-wise, I'd love a 1-1.5" drop, but am not willing to put up with the hassles of ride quality sacrifices, tire wear, etc. that go along with it. Car doesn't handle like a sports car, but it's not, so I'm OK with it. Handling is more than adequate for the times I want to push it on twisties.

Stock and loving it.

Chancellor

iTrader: (2)

Lowering your car is the most important mod you will ever do. I do this mod first on every car I have ever had.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

remember for 9 months i was driving 120 miles every day, so....

all my cars are modded and lowered, all of them are daily driver

CBRA928

iTrader: (3)

ive got you both i drive about 28-30k a year... i just picked up a GS350 and im loving the ride and comfort compared to my lowered 2GS with 20s

patricksr5

I recently lowered mine with F Sport springs and shocks which I believe in a little less than an inch and I have 19" wheels. Yes the ride was harsher but I got use to it in a week or 2. I do believe the car handles much better than stock and it is more fun to drive. I too drive about 20K miles a year.

Yang1815

iTrader: (1)

I drive about 40k miles a year between the vehicles. Nothing wrong with lowering. Actually I am appalled that someone thinks that. Obviously doesn't understand how the suspension and maybe even how a car works in general...

passnu2

iTrader: (33)

I used to drive 40k+ per year.....I have less mileage then everyone so far and put all of 3k miles on my car in one year as my DD

Only thing I dont like about being lowered is these next few months with snow/chunks of ice/HUGE pot holes... But it sure does look good

1STLXS

iTrader: (4)

My $.02

Why in the heck would anyone want to lower their car especially a $50,000+ vehicle. This is the most ridiculous thing to do to such a machine......................................

Now that I have your attention.

Most high end performance cars are lowered so there is a performance value to having a lower center of gravity as stated by someone else, if done correctly. I recall taking an 84 camaro and heating the springs to lower it (man did it look sic) but the ride was crap. Got alot of attention though. I was young and I didn't mind it.

Now I'm in my early forties and a lot wiser, so now I know to do it the right way. I love the look of a lowered vehicle with big wheels, I'm a little more conservative now and won't overdue it because I do want to maintain some level of ride quality and believe IMO I have achieved it with lowering springs. I am dropped 1.25" front and 1" rear and am considering switching to coilovers to get maybe a little bit lower. I can tell you I love the ride

I would recommend lowering your car. You'll love it (or not)

Go Low or Go Home!!!!!!!