I've read a ton of posts, but I'd like to see some reasons to lower or not to lower.

JamesC

 

Lowering is usually a positive thing...

It seems to give a more aggressive stance to the car, as well as slightly better handling since it sits lower to the ground.

I don't think I see any real downside to it other than personal taste, and scraping the ground effects can also become a problem.. but takin it slow will usually take care of that.

As far as it being worth the price... I don't know any real ballpark figures for having a car lowerd 1/2''-1'', so that I couldn't say...

I myself am planning on having my car lowered a little, I'll get back to you.

-ONE2

 

Lower it!
Since I've started driving lowered cars, I wouldn't want it any other way.
Benefits:
1)Lowering your center of gravity makes the car handle better.
2)Chopping the springs (or installing most lowering springs)increases the spring rate, which helps the car handle better.
3)All cars look better lowered.
4)shorter springs causes camber to go more negative,which makes the car handle better
Drawbacks:
1)Speedbumps,Potholes,Roadkill,Etc..
2)Bouncy Bouncy Bouncy,Not a bad thing if you like the feel of driving a go-kart.
3)Negative Camber wears out the inside edge of the front tires before the rest of the tire.
......It's a trade-off, but I prefer it lowered.
P.S. My car is lowered almost 3",Eibach springs, which I cut 3/4 coil off,Sure goes around corners good!
-Rich-

 

Personally, I LOVE the look of lowered cars....BUT if you look closely, our cars are pretty close to the ground in stock form. Look at the lowered trucks we see cruisin', underneath you'll notice the frame is as much as a foot above the lower body line. Makes it easy to get "the look" right? Well, below our cars many components are lower than the body's ground effects which makes it an iffy situation to say the least.
Personally, I think what many of us really want is to close up that fender-to-tire gap and get a full wheel well. You can see the differance between the models that came with 15" wheels versus the 16". Many times simply eyeballin' the tire maker's size charts can get you closer. One or two sizes larger tire gives more width plus a little more diameter and fills up the well a little. A lot of guys are runnin' 275/40/17s all around, look at a chart and check out the diff in that and a stock 245/50/16, might help you.

 

i've heard that lowering messes up suspension geometry on the thirdgen if not corrected. not sure how to fix it tho. i say leave it if it's a street car. you may not like the hard ride and scraping your suspension components.

 

not only would i lower my car,i did.if you do or when you do, make sure you get an adjustable pan hard bar to adjust your rear end back to its proper place.

 

Like racereno said, if you don't like gap between the tire and the fender, get bigger wheels/tires. If it's a daily driver and you live somewhere that requires going up inclined entrances/driveways/parking lots or going over speed bumps, if you ever have to drive on a bumpy gravel road in your thridgen (heaven forbid ), you may regret it. Personally, I think a thirdgen with 16" / 17" wheels looks much sweeter than a lowered one with 15 inchers... jmo.