Lowering for Irish roads

[Myfeckin FTO]

Guys,

I'd like to lower the FTO - there is just too much of a gap between tyre and arch on standard suspension and 215/40 17's - and I don't want to fork out big money for adjustable coilovers - but I have to keep in mind that my top mix front splitter is already rubbing in car parks and speed bumps.

Heres the plan - change tyres to 215/45 profile so that I have more tyre profile in the arch and an extra 11mm ground clearance (I think) to play with - and put a set of Eibach (25-30mm drop) springs so that I have a total drop of 14-19mm thereby keeping most of my road clearance and having a car that looks more planted and less of that nasty gap in the wheel arch.

Will this work or am I missing something

[CJ]

Each model will drop more than the other (GPX=>GR=>GS) so you would want to find out from Eibach which model their stats are based on. I'm running 215/45/17's on the front and rear, the tyre wall is taller alright by about 1cm, they also fill the arches a lot better but you may find that you'll have scrubbage on full lock. his can be rectifed handy enough with a head gun and a few screw to push back the whell arches. If I remember, I'll get you some measurments from mine (on AVO springs) if thats any help.

CJ

[Myfeckin FTO]

Each model will drop more than the other (GPX=>GR=>GS) so you would want to find out from Eibach which model their stats are based on. I'm running 215/45/17's on the front and rear, the tyre wall is taller alright by about 1cm, they also fill the arches a lot better but you may find that you'll have scrubbage on full lock. his can be rectifed handy enough with a head gun and a few screw to push back the whell arches. If I remember, I'll get you some measurments from mine (on AVO springs) if thats any help.CJ

Thanks CJ

Surprised to hear you were getting scrubbing on full lock with 45 profile - how much of a drop did you get on AVO springs? 215/45 17 is only 2% off the original 205/50 16's radius so they must be quite low. I got the bodyshop to sort out the wheelarches when it was in for the top mix splitter so I don't think I need to worry too much on scrubbing especially if I steer clear of Tein or Apex springs which could drop the car up to 49mm according to Camskill website. Camskill give the Eibach drop as 25-30mm so I will presume that a GPX would be 30mm.

My mate who owns a tyre center has offered me a set of 215/45 17 Bridgestone S03's for €400 inc fitting and alignment so I think I'll be taking him up on that. Haven't tried the S03's yet so it will be nice to compare to the F1 Eagles (GSD3) and P Zero Nero's.