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Springs for a lightened car?

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Old 07-22-2007, 09:41 AM
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iceburns288
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Default Springs for a lightened car?

If my car has been lightened by a decent amount (more than 100 lbs less than stock) and now rides a fair bit higher than stock, would buying lowering springs really do anything? I was thinking about going with springs instead of coilovers, but considering they would be stiffer than stock anyways, I don't think my car would ride that much lower. They might bring it down to stock height, if just a little bit lower.

I'm just wondering if springs would really do anything for my car, drop-wise. Thanks.
Old 07-22-2007, 09:47 AM
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vaughn1576
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100lbs or anywhere near that is not going to noticably alter your ride height on a car with a stiff suspension such as the Z. If you get springs it will end up lower than stock.
Old 07-22-2007, 10:02 AM
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iceburns288
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Originally Posted by vaughn1576
100lbs or anywhere near that is not going to noticably alter your ride height on a car with a stiff suspension such as the Z. If you get springs it will end up lower than stock.
You'd be surprised. I'm not even at 100lbs (still waiting on flywheel+seats) but my car rides pretty high as it is.
Old 07-22-2007, 10:08 AM
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vaughn1576
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Strange. I had to measure the clearance on my car when I had it shipped
(I was stock back then). I wasn't paying attention and did it with someone in the car the first attempt. Realizing my mistake I measured again. No difference. The person weighed 180 or so.
Old 07-22-2007, 07:57 PM
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black06z
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If you're concerned about the ride height not being enough, then coilovers would be the ideal choice. 100lbs off a Z shouldn't affect the ride height, if at all, a few mm, which isn't noticeable.
Old 07-24-2007, 07:46 AM
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iceburns288
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I must have unusually soft springs or something. When I fill up my car, I can literally see the rear end drop as the gas goes in. I'll take pictures of my car this afternoon and post them up.
Old 07-24-2007, 07:56 AM
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marques1
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what i would do if your worried about this problem is first do the free suspension mod to the rear it lowers the car a whole inch in the rear. All you do is take your rear springs out and then cut that plastic boot a inch and then you car will drop a inch and its free if you do it yourself. Ive done this mod and i love it no suspension noises or anything and im on stock suspension still the drop is very noticable when done also. If your still not happy with the inch drop then buy springs also to get where you are trying to be at.
Old 07-24-2007, 08:00 AM
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fast kiwi
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Originally Posted by iceburns288
I must have unusually soft springs or something. When I fill up my car, I can literally see the rear end drop as the gas goes in. I'll take pictures of my car this afternoon and post them up.

WTF?? for real??? i wouldnt say unusually soft... id say more like blowen shocks.. or worse.. that cant happen with out there being a problem.. a big problem no doubt.
Old 07-24-2007, 08:05 AM
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jtabraham
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Through some real ROUGH calculation, estimates and assumptions, I'm estimating that your 100lb weight reduction will result in a 1/16th of an inch height increase (~1.5 mm). This is really not noticeable.

My calculations are probably way off, but this number seems reasonable.
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