(S) Lowered My GP - 40mm aint enough...

So, after getting my wheels I thought lowering shuld be the next thing on the agenda. After trailing through website after website looking for springs I eventually got some PI springs with a 40mm drop F/R. At the time i thought this would be a decent enough drop, oh how wrong i was....

The car doesnt look lowered at all really. (unless you look at it next to another standard active or dynamic) So needless to say im somewhat annoyed that i've sacrficed all ride comfort and gained pretty much nothing in looks.

So to sum up, anyone looking to lower their active or dynamic, do it properly with coilovers, imo, it needs a 60-70mm drop at the front, and a 50-60mm drop at the rear......hopefully come spring i will be doing just that.

Mark

this is what i have been thinking, been lookin at the huge gap inbetween my arches and tyres and thinking 35mm drop wouldnt do it and also, i wouldnt like 40mm springs, as anything over 35mm could wear other parts of the suspension without my dampers being adjusted. Hence why ive been thinkin of coilovers for a while now. worth spending 600 quid on.

Yeh, honeslty it is such a high riding car! 35mm really wouldnt make any difference at all lol.

Either wait untill someone releases some springs with a good drop, or save up some pennies for some coilovers, only way to go i thnk

I'm thinking thats where my next installment of my student loan goes.

When fiat designed the 3 door punto did they start from the back and work forwards and come 3.00pm they were only at the front doors so then rushed the rest before they went home at 5.00pm.When you look at it from side on its a great looking car at the back and down the sides but at the very front after the wheels it looks pants.

You havin a laugh??

The GP is without a doubt one of the best looking hatchbacks ever released, and im willing to bet nearly everyone on the forum agrees, its made Fiat cool again...

In all fairness, at 18 its very hard to buy a car which none of ya mates mock, but none, NONE dislike it. which i think is a pretty good feat. anyways, back to the topic..

yah, good plan lol

The GP is nice looking...

But I wouldn't go as far to say 'one of the best looking hatchbacks ever released'. I could pick many hatchbacks over the years that look alot better.

it is without a doubt the most stylish and classy hatchback you can buy at the moment however...

I must give a huge thanks for this thread, been tearing my hair out deciding what to do. I could probably get away with 80mm drop before the arches are anywhere near the top of the tyres lol Want to kill myself every time i walk over and see inside those arches Then fitted the mud flaps, thinking anything over 35mm they would be on the floor....somehow its about a 90mm gap :S

I know how you feel. My springs are novitecs imported directly from germany and they are 40mm drop.

The front is ok I can easily live with it, but the rear still looks very high, to be honest I'm glad of the handling difference more than anything. which really is my first concern rather than the drop.

Coilovers will make a big difference to handlling, and will definitely look good, just remember it will slightly affect straight line performance when you have a large drop but nothing too noticebale.This is due to the angle change of the driveshaft, this can also shorten driveshaft life but I wouldn't consider it a major issue as I haven't come across any incidents of this myself.

lol i will admit the front isn't as good as the sides or rear but i wouldn't say it looks pants.

lol you buy a car that you like not what your mates like, if they don't like then they won't be needing any lifts will they?

don't be silly

Whether you have coilovers or any other way of lowering the car, going lower than -40mm will put a lot of strain on the diff as well as other parts of the drive train, which will create problems. And PI springs are the last ones I would even look at.

Only reason I got PI springs was because they were the cheapest ones with the biggest drop, and i'm a wee bit thrifty lol.

How does lowering it more than 40mm have an effect on the diff? Like I say, i know nowt about cars really

Cheers,
Mark