The way my car felt when carrying passengers, GOOD

[mareakin]

Full title: So, I like the way my car felt when I'm driving while carrying passengers. Am I a good candidate for a set of lowering springs?

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When I'm carrying 3 passengers in my car, I'm adding several hundred pounds of sprung weight to the car and it's concentrated right in the middle (which is good, I think.) I also notice that the car sags as the spring is compressed. The car feels more planted and turns feel a bit flatter, I think. Of course, with this extra pound-age, the engine struggles a bit, noticeable but nothing major.

I usually drive alone. Do you think this good-feeling can be replicated by lowering the car an inch or so, with slightly stiffer coil springs? Or do you think that this effect is mostly due to the increase in sprung weight?

 

[L_Sludger]

If you really, really, REALLY like it, then you can throw some sand bags around the interior and enjoy all of the road-hugging weight you crave.

 

[semaj281]

I know exactly what that feels like.

You can lower the car by 1"-1.5", but you'll want to replace the shocks to go along with the springs. There is not enough rebound in stock shocks to compensate for the lowered ride height, so you will need some aftermarket shocks with increased stiffness. Bilstein, Tokico, or Koni are good places to start.

Adding weight to the car will theoretically have the same effect but your maximum cornering speed will decrease because of the extra weight.

And don't forget to get your wheels aligned after this is done. Depending on the results you may need to buy a camber/caster compensation kit, but most cars do fine without them as long as they don't get lowered more than 1.5"

 

[mechtech2]

Lowering with shorter springs may not have the effect that you desire. It is NOT the height that changes the ride, but the spring loading.
Shorter replacement springs are stiffer.
To get the same ride with one person, you need softer regular length springs, but then they may not be good enough for extra load.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: mechtech2
Lowering with shorter springs may not have the effect that you desire. It is NOT the height that changes the ride, but the spring loading.
Shorter replacement springs are stiffer.
To get the same ride with one person, you need softer regular length springs, but then they may not be good enough for extra load.


This is correct. Maybe you need to load sandbags like L SLudger said or get some heavy friends,LOL.