MR2 Roadster Owners Club

The Workshop => Performance Related => Topic started by: Anonymous on September 5, 2003, 23:09

Title: help with lowering springs please????
Post by: Anonymous on September 5, 2003, 23:09
 s:idea: :idea: s:idea:  what are your thoughts on the best lowering springs.
there are so many different types i dont wanna spend the cash and get crappy results.
i want a drop of about 30/40mm and have 17" wheels.
also what price should i be looking at to supply and fit,my local toyota dealer in wolves wanted more in labour charges than for the springs themselves.
many thanxs.  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
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Post by: Anonymous on September 6, 2003, 02:04
If you do not wish to face potential warranty issues, your best bet would be the TTE springs (I think they are made by Biltstein; everyone correct me if I am wrong) fitted at your local Toyota .  The drop is around 30mm.

As for reviews, EVO had them fitted on their Fast Fleet MR2 a couple of issues ago and they rated them quite highly.

You are right about the price though, my local dealer sells them for £165 but they come close to £350 fitted!!!
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Post by: markiii on September 6, 2003, 09:50
Ok then I will.

TTE are made by Eibach.
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Post by: Anonymous on September 6, 2003, 12:53
Has anyone fitted their own springs. Whats the degree of difficulty on a scale of 1-10? I have in the past fitted springs to a BMW & never had any bits left over, unusual that, they always put far too many bits on cars.
Title: Re: help with lowering springs please????
Post by: Slacey on September 6, 2003, 13:28
Quote from: "jonboy"i want a drop of about 30/40mm and have 17" wheels
I too would like to lower the car, but I have concerns with 17"s rubbing - on the very odd occasion (usually on fast off-camber bends) I get the wheel rubbing on a funny sticky-out bit of the plastic wheel arch cover, which I can only assume is to indicate rubbing problems. See the pic below, you will notice the light grey area of the lump where my tyre has rubbed....

(http://www.spydermagazine.com/files/wheelrub.jpg)
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Post by: Anonymous on September 6, 2003, 13:49
Good pic  s;) ;) s;)
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Post by: DaSpyda on September 7, 2003, 02:57
I had H&R Springs installed on 16" and they rubbed crazy - especially in spirited driving situations.  It seems the wheel well will be filled with 17's, no?
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Post by: Anonymous on September 7, 2003, 20:25
@Slacey
Take a Hot air gun, heat the plastik Part and push it away outside.
Be carefull the part will be hot after heating.
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Post by: Anonymous on September 7, 2003, 20:30
Quote from: "DaSpyda"I had H&R Springs installed on 16" and they rubbed crazy - especially in spirited driving situations.  It seems the wheel well will be filled with 17's, no?

Surely this is dependent not on rim size, but overall wheel size.  If you pick suitable profile tyres, then you shouldn't get any rubbing   s:? :? s:?
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Post by: Anonymous on September 7, 2003, 20:34
slacey what size tyres are you running????
i have no rubbing whatsoever on mine.
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Post by: Slacey on September 7, 2003, 20:50
Quote from: "jonboy"slacey what size tyres are you running????
i have no rubbing whatsoever on mine.
205/40/ZR17 front;
215/40/ZR17 rear,
what are you running?

BTW Jonboy, are you able to make the Mids meet next Sunday?
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Post by: Anonymous on September 7, 2003, 21:09
same as you on the front but 225/35/zr17 on the back.
i had a real loss of power and acceleration with 215/40's on the back.
hopefully yes,give people a chance to take the p@.s in person about my spoiler.  s:P :P s:P
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Post by: markiii on September 7, 2003, 23:56
Quote from: "phil4"
Quote from: "DaSpyda"I had H&R Springs installed on 16" and they rubbed crazy - especially in spirited driving situations.  It seems the wheel well will be filled with 17's, no?

Surely this is dependent not on rim size, but overall wheel size.  If you pick suitable profile tyres, then you shouldn't get any rubbing   s:? :? s:?

also the offset of the wheel which is key.

I had 215/40/17 and the sportivo and no rubbing at all.
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Post by: markiii on September 7, 2003, 23:58
Quote from: "jonboy"same as you on the front but 225/35/zr17 on the back.
i had a real loss of power and acceleration with 215/40's on the back.
hopefully yes,give people a chance to take the p@.s in person about my spoiler.  s:P :P s:P

Jonboy,

thats interesting, so your saying you had a drop in power with 215/40, but now your unning 225/35 the power is back?

I've been pondering wether weight or diameter is more important in this scenario, your answer may answer that for me.
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Post by: Anonymous on September 8, 2003, 19:20
when i had the 17" fitted i noticed the lack of acceleration and crappy top end speed so i asked for some help on spyderchat and was directed to a site for calculating upsizing your tyres in relation to stock tyres.
i was told that the diameter of the 215's where 2 inches bigger than stock thats why i had loss of power and the rotation of the wheel was completly different to the original 15's,where as 225/35 where a closer match.
i couldnt believe the difference after i had them changed.
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Post by: markiii on September 8, 2003, 19:28
thanks,

I was hoping the weight was more relevant, but thats good to know. looks like I just talked myself out of those Yoko Neovas then  :-) :-) :-)
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Post by: Anonymous on September 9, 2003, 14:37
Quote from: "markiii"thanks,

I was hoping the weight was more relevant, but thats good to know. looks like I just talked myself out of those Yoko Neovas then  :-) :-) :-)

Its all relevant, Mark.  The unsprung mass, the diameter and the width of tyre.

more weight, further from the centre of rotation = less acceleration.
larger overall diameter = slower acceleration, but higher top speed due to gearing effect.

Choose super lightweight 17s with rubber bands  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

edit.  just read this again and it sounds a little condesnding.  It was not meant to - I know Mark knows this stuff., I just felt it was worth repeating.
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Post by: juansolo on September 11, 2003, 09:02
A smaller light wheel and tyre will almost always be lighter than a larger one.  To a point, large wheels are almost always a cosmetic choice as there will always be compromises to ride and handling.
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Post by: Anonymous on September 11, 2003, 10:52
Quote from: "juansolo"A smaller light wheel and tyre will almost always be lighter than a larger one.  To a point, large wheels are almost always a cosmetic choice as there will always be compromises to ride and handling.

I am predisposed to agree with that but it is not strictly true.  Mostly the weight of the wheel depends on the materials used and the manufacturing technique (forged, etc.).  Regarding larger wheels, it depends on the set up of the car but for the MR2, bigger wheels will compromise handling and ride.
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Post by: juansolo on September 11, 2003, 12:07
Ah yes but a wheel of the same construction.  A 18" mag wheel will always be heavier than a 15" one.  Then we get onto relative tyre weights though...
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Post by: markiii on September 11, 2003, 22:59
do you have any tyre weights for the Noeva?

Come to that could you weigh one of your rears with tyre in place for comparison?
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Post by: juansolo on September 12, 2003, 07:40
Will do when I CBA to take one off.
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Post by: SteveJ on September 12, 2003, 08:22
**Admin Request**

Can we keep on topic please - tyre discussion in the current tyre thread please.
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Post by: Anonymous on September 16, 2003, 10:56
jonboy, have you decided on springs yet?  

I am considering the TTE ones, subject to insurance quotation.
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Post by: Anonymous on September 17, 2003, 13:22
probably not till after winter.
i have just ordered a set of 03 chrome air intakes,besides my insurance is due in november so i will wait for my policy to go down and then ask if it will cost anything extra if i have it lowered.