Realistic lowering range (R)

[snapey]

I've been toying with replacing the suspension on the R for the past few months now and I'm in a bit of a pickle. On one hand, I'd prefer to sack off the OE dampers and springs and get a set of Bilstein B16's or KW V3's. However, on the other hand the ACC works for me on a real-world basis (soft on the way to work, tighten it up one the way back/B roads). Given that I'd loose this functionality unless I spend >£2k, a reputable set of springs seems like a logical option (tied in with the ARB's, TT arms etc).

Now the issue is ride height. I've got some pretty crap ramps, drives etc to get the car up and I'm already at around 1.5"s worth of clearance (possibly worse in some cases) getting onto the drive (ignore the haggard paint film):



Most of the spring manufactures seem to quote a nominal drop across the range and don't account for the R's stock drop. I guess my actual question to R owners is how much of a drop have you ended up with (for your spring type) and have you had any additional issues with the front end catching?

Cheers all!

Luke

[samdehaan]

have you had a look at the KW coilovers with adjustable digital damping like the OEM setup in the R?

[snapey]

Yep, the only issue is that they cost >£2k.

[wigit]

i'd be tempted to go for a set of H&R or VWR springs, end of the day if you have some issues you haven't busted the budget

on the coilover front if you go that route and ditch the ACC if you go KW i'd go V2 rather than V3, you need to know what you are doing on V3s if you change set up V2s it is sorted for you, not the easiest to adjust with wheels on, B16s are a great suspension set up and dampening settings can be adjusted with car on the deck within a couple of minutes

B16s have a damping range of 1-10, just to put it into perspective 2 is daily sporting on UK roads, 8 is for track use

you are looking at £1,500 fitted for the coil overs as apposed to £300ish for springs

[snapey]

I've ended up going for the VWR springs with the APR current discount.

A lot of the guys in Australia seem to be running these and the height seems pretty compliant from the photos I've seen.

It needs a full geometry set up again so it's booked in with AKS on the 10th to get it all done.