Lowering: Is this normal

[theICEman]

Ive just had my Clio lowered 40mm on Apex springs, however it looks and drives exactly as it did before! The guy at the garage said itll take a week for the suspension to settle down, Ive never heard anyone mention a settling in period for lowering springs, is this correct or is my car going to continue to look standard ride height??!

 

[MaLicE]

it should be lower



have you just lowered the front and was it just springs u did or was it a full kit ???



did he lower the back



and yeh it does take a while for the springs to be in.



MaLicE

 

[pete bann]

i doubt very much that that is normal mate. id have thought fitting lowering springs would instantly lower the car.

someone tell me different?......

pete

 

[MaLicE]

it will lower it straight away



but after a while once bedded in it will go even lower



but if u just had front done u wont notice a difference.



MaLicE

 

[theICEman]

It was front and back on springs, new shape Clio. Standard shocks, but I know a lot of people have lowered on std shocks, up to 60mm, and had no hassle. I mean, it probably does look a little lower, but its hardly noticeable, and I would have expected it to be noticeable, especially on the standard 14in rims!!

 

[wongy008]

spring do need to set in

but you should notice its lower and the ride should be firmer too

wongy

 

[theICEman]

Cool. Think Ill go and get the 4 fattest people I can find and offer them a lift in my car with a bootful of ICE so I can try and bed in the springs and get it lower!!

 

[Rob_johnst69]

Well it might be the bodyshop fitted them upside down, I know it may sound stupid but if they did it then the car wouldnt come down at all.

 

[Captain Slarty]

How do you work that one out Rob ??



Joe..

 

[MaLicE]

cos they are wound tighter 1 way so towards the top the coils should be far apart and at the bottom they should be close to gether or the other way round.



MaLicE

 

[MaLicE]

dont spose u measured from the arch to the top of the tyer before u had it lowered then measured afterwards did u ???



if u arnt happy i would take it back to where u got it from and ask them to fix it as u rnt happy with what u got from the sale



MaLicE

 

[Captain Slarty]

malice m8.. the wound tighter bit is for variable rate.. not static height...

the spring fits between 2 points.. its laden length is the same dood.. whether up or down !!!!!!!!!

J.

 

[cliocup]

Yep agree with Captain!

You should notice the difference straight away. You may find they sink a few millimeters after a good few runs but nothing to shout about.

Have a look at your springs and see if they are nice and shiney. They may have not even changed them, I have heard of this happening before. Scary eh...

 

[JonL]

When i lowered my cinqy, it lowered a really tiny bit (35mm springs) and then over the next 500 miles it sorted itself and looked much lower, therefore they do need a settling in period. Also after 500miles check all the bolts are tight etc, just to be on the safe side

 

[theICEman]

Cheers for the advice people. Im relieved by what Jon says, hopefully itll be the same for me. Ive spent to day ragging it up and down, driving over speedbumps, tearing round roundabouts to apply centrifugal forces, etc. etc.! I think its already made a small difference. Ive also noticed its not as rock hard as it was at first so I think theres more travel on the springs and shocks might have loosened up a bit to accomodate the shorter springs. I checked and theyve definitely fitted the springs - theyre bright yellow and say Apex! (Theyre also the correct way up as the logos readable!) Gues Ill just need to give it some time and get some bigger rims to fill the arches.

 

[SoLow]

this is what mine looked like after 35mm springs, 1 day after, now you cant see the top of the back wheel! (more a 45mm drop than 35mm, think its just a guess irl)

<A target=_blank href= "http://hometown.aol.co.uk/karlcdawson/cliodynamique.htmlhttp://hometown.aol.co.uk/karlcdawson/cliodynamique.html

pics take a long time to load cos they are a it better quality than I normally upload but easier to see the effect



theres this pic too but cant see the extreme in this pic

 

[Fred@BTM]

I did the same as you ICE, but the Apex 40mm springs just werent enough for me, so i got Pi 60mm springs

 

[theICEman]

I think it has come down more over the last few days. Today I was parked behind a Clio the exact same model as mine but with standard ride height, and I take it all back! It looks much more than 40mm lower up against a car that hasnt been lowered! I think the problem is my tiny 14in wheels, they still leave too much space in the arches. The handling has improved beyond my wildest dreams though, cant believe the stablility. So much less lean and roll on corners, the steerings much more precise with less understeer, its less unsettled by minor bumps in the road - an incredible transformation for a few mils. And yet the ride is only slgihtly firmer, not anywhere near as harsh as I thought it might. Anyone with an un-lowered car, my advice to you is to slam it ASAP!!