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1985-1998 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
I can see if my daughter who presently has my '96 CSE with the Sachs Sport Chassis can do the measure for me. She's out in NM, so it may take a few days to get her attention.
Visually, my '96 doesn't look any different that it did with the standard struts and shocks. It's supposedly 10mm lower, but that small an amount isn't very noticeable unless the cars are side by side. When my daughter's '95 CS and my CSE are next to each other there really isn't much of a difference. Mine *is* lower, but not so most people would notice.
The 30mm drop the Eibachs will give you is over an inch, so it will be VERY obvious. Just like the harsher ride will be very obvious. I forget where in NH you live (I'm in Amherst) but be very careful about dropping the ride height on a 9K in these parts (these cars don't have a lot of ground clearance to start with!). I would only do it if the car was going to be summer-only and be used on the track a good bit, as well as a daily driver. Our climate--and NH road maintenance--just isn't up to providing smooth roads all the time!
Bill echoes my usual suggestion of putting on firmer shocks and SAS sway bars. Because the difference in spring height between an Aero and CS/CSE is so small, the shocks make the biggest difference in basic ride and handling. To raise the bar on handling (pardon the pun) the SAS bars give you the most bang for the buck. As I've said before, it transforms the car.
A couple other guys here who did lower springs but not bars drove my car at SOC a couple years back and thought it handled better than their cars. I drove theirs and agree. The bars give a sharpness and responsiveness you don't get otherwise.
Conventional wisdom on the street is that stiffer, lower springs and firmer shocks/struts make for better handling. Well, yes, in general they do. But they affect only part of the suspension's actions. The extent to which they help keep all four tires better planted on the pavement is limited. Because bars work both laterally and vertically, they help control dynamic weight distribution and help keep all four tires much better planted in a corner and don't have as much of an adverse effect on ride quality as stiffer springs/shocks.
Let me put it this way. Living in NH, if I had another 9K I was going to use the way do mine (daily driver, road trips and for 3-4 track days a year), and couldn't get lower springs, I'd put on Bilstein Touring shocks/struts and the SAS bars. If I wanted to do more track time I'd do springs like the Eibachs.
Suspension mods, like most other performance mods, are always a compromise. Pick your pain level. My car is MUCH firmer than my daughter's '95 CS, but it's also a LOT more fun to drive and I don't give up much in terms of comfort. But I know some people who think it rides too firm. But they all have Japanese or domestic cars. The ones with Bimmers think it's about right.
, Sun, 14 Nov 2010 10:14:32
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