Relative Noob here... As I keep reading different threads on this forum I keep getting different info... Some say that lowering on springs only will improve handling, others say its only for looks, while some say it'll make it handle worse. I'm riding on 20s, staggered, my car is a 2008 G35S 5AT Sedan. I am about to pull the trigger on the Tiens but I want to be sure it'll add to handling as I drive... lets say spirited... ;-)

 

its definatly not just for looks. lowering will give u better handaling but depending on your tires if they are low pros it will be rougher. but its definatly not just for looks.

 

I love the way my G handles w/ my B&G springs, almost identical to H&R and S-tech drop, I'm also on 20s. The shorter spring travel will result in some harsh "bangs" if you catch a pothole or road bump but one thing for sure, you'll become much more aware of the road as you drive which is a good thing. Just be ready to plan ahead for steep driveways, speed bumps or the even more dreaded speed "hump", and small road debris becomes much larger if you're that low. Even my wife much prefers the way our G handles now.
Hotchkis swaybars will take the handling to another level too.
You will need camber arms & toe bolts w/ that drop although I'm sure you already knew that

 

If it's the right amount of drop, then yes, the car will improve, based soley on the fact alone that your center of gravity is lower.

If it's an excessive drop, however, it can decrease handling, because it pushes the suspension past its limitations and puts the suspension out of geometry.

One thing to remember with the Teins: These are progressive springs, which means that the ride will be smooth and comfortable. But that also means not as snappy of a response through corners. Better than OEM? Yes. But not as good as a linear set of springs would be.

 

Would the prokit or sportline be better? I also REALLY don't want to get camber kits!

 

S-Techs for the G have softer spring rates than stock in the rear. I didn't like the way they handled. The S-Techs for the Z are a better buy but they sit a little lower than the G version.

 

If you don't want camber kits your limited to a mild drop~ Eibachs, Tenabes, Swift and possibly Tein H Techs are about it. Any drop deeper than 1.4" you'll need the arms & toe bolts to get it in spec.

 

I loved my Tein S-Techs and thought they handled better than OEM for sure... but I only had them on for about 3 weeks. I took them out and did coilovers because i wanted to be lower.

PM me if you are interested in my S-Techs for sale. Less than 200 miles on them

 

I'm going to have to disagree with everyone else.

In short: lowering springs will worsen the handling of your car.


In long-winded:

It depends on what you mean by handling. What most people are talking about is subjectively how it feels driving around the street. Where what matters most are weight shift and responsiveness/turn in. Lowering springs will probably make your ride stiffer (couldn't find the stock spring rates to compare), and will lower the roll angle. And i am guessing they make the car more oversteer happy than the stock, which may make the car feel snappier and sportier.

But almost all these things will make your car handle worse in the objective sense; They will make your car slower. The big difference I think is you never drive around the tire limits on the street. Even with "spirited" driving. It just isn't possible. (and if you think it is, go sign up for an hpde event at your local track and come back and tell me you drove the same on the track as on the street). You can get to maybe one or two tires limit for a second, by shoddy steering input, braking when you're not supposed to, or poor throttle control, but you can't stay there and drive the car there.

First, weight shift and roll control. Lowering springs/coilovers actually lower the roll center of the car, so paradoxically, even though you have a lower cg, your roll angle actually wants to get larger. The roll angle is controlled though with the stiffer springs. So in effect, you sacrifice a lot of comfort for minimal improvement in roll control. If these are progressive springs, all that extra elastic weight shift energy gets stored in the springs, at weird rates and you will get unsteady non-linear handling in transitions.

Also, assuming the spring rates are larger than stock, your suspension is now seriously under-damped. This basically reduces road holding on all tires under all circumstances.

Also, your shocks are going to be seriously unhappy with the lower ride height. They will start failing quicker than normal, aggravating the under-damped problem. Progressive springs help somewhat, but without beefy bump-stops and without proper damping, you run the very real risk of bottoming out your suspension, a lot. Which can also kill your shocks and do other bad things to your chassis.

On the issue of alignment, a 1" drop won't be too bad. You will get some negative camber, which actually is what the car needs for track driving. More important is the toe out you will get in the rear if the toe bolts can't bring it back into spec. The car is hard enough to control with throttle, toe-out doesn't help this at all. The toe-out in rear is a bad thing unless you are a pro-driver and like rotating the car at the apex with throttle control. These will all eat your tires though on the street.

On car balance, again, I can't find the stock spring rates for your car, but I highly suspect the lowering springs makes the car more oversteer-happy. I'm not too sure about this one though, it might be opposite. Having the car more oversteer-happy is fine on the streets and feels more fun, but you have to realize it is getting there not by increasing front traction, but by giving up rear traction. It is also slower.

I guess in summary, if you don't drive your car at the limit (ie track/autocross), then you may be happier with how the car feels. But it will have less maximal available traction.

If anyone actually read down this far, here is a great basically online textbook on vehicle dynamics:

http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets.html

 

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Yes, I have S-techs and my car handles dramaticly better.

 

im not sure if the handling will be better but I'm pretty sure you can get better grip and more downforce potential as there is less air beneath the car that can lift the car up

 

And this is why people don't understand why their car handles like **** when they lower it improperly and bottom out the suspension.

Which really only applies if you plan on taking your G35 over 100 MPH, which I don't think too many of us do...

 

I don't know if these are trolls or are serious, but I guess i'll take the bait.

No, your car doesn't handle better.

First off, ground effects isn't a simple "how much air" is beneath the car. It is quite complicated, and as I don't have a degree in fluid dynamics, I don't understand it (my mind shuts down once someone says "vortices"). That being said, lowering a street car isn't going to noticibly change the aero properties of the car. You don't go fast enough and it isn't low enough.

 

That was a nice post totopo, quite informative and factual. I will say that although I prefer my car lowered as it is, I do realize that the suspension does have limitations that are compromised by lowering the suspension w/ a pretty aggressive drop. I do bottom out occasionally and now that I have to be more concerned w/ various road obstacles, I'm not able to just go flat out on unknown roads or roads w/ more hazardous conditions. I will say that I can drive it pretty much as I did before the drop on nice roads and those that I'm very familiar with, the car corners very well and maintains a very controlled ride. But realistically you won't be able to push your car as close to its' limits nearly as often w/ a deep drop, at least not safely on typical American roads.

 

It will change the aerodynamic properties somewhat at higher speeds (say highway speeds), because less air is allowed underneath the car...but like you said, not enough to notice unless you're doing actual aggressive track driving.

The thing with the G is that it's sort of a wedge shape to begin with, so most of the air is already flowing over the top. Same with the Z. Lowering would be more noticeable on a car with a tall stock suspension, or with a higher drag coefficient (such as a Mustang) that doesn't have the wedge shape to force air up and over the front of the car and push it down against the road.