Put H&R's on the fronts
 

Lowered the fronts. Granted I need to give a couple weeks of settle...it didn't seem to help my cause much. I haven't done the rears yet because I rounded the bolt on the passenger side that connects the strut to the multi-link beam.
These are H&R's on Tokico blues. Keep in mind I'm running tires that are to small (225/40/18). So tell me, something look wrong with this? The car did get a little lower. Instead of being about to put a fist in, I can put 3 fingers. :(

Before:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...a/IMG_0510.jpg

With 235/40/18 tires
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...a/IMG_0294.jpg

After:
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...a/IMG_0514.jpg

Doesn't look like it lowered at all.

Give it time to settle. BUT H&Rs do not typically look lowered. However, your handling will be tightened. Its not all about looks. :-)

Eibachs would have been a better choice. IMHO.

hmmm. i was thinking about doing this too.. Not too sure i wanna do that anyone. lol

H&R's usually drops 1.4" on the front. Very little difference between the last two pics. Did you take before and after measurements?

not that noticeable

Clean ride you got there, but it doesn't appear to be lowered. Hopefully you'll notice a difference once the springs settle.

i have H&Rs on the front (ONLY) now on stocks rims and it looks alot better than that with illuminas. it handles better on the freeway it doesnt feel so much like a boat. i have pics on my cardomain page with my 20s on check it out. PM if you have any questions.

I didn't think springs really settled significantly lower over time (maybe slightly, but it shouldn't be noticeable), but only settled in place with respect to other components so as to eliminate the little squeaks and clunks caused by components not completely seated properly. Over time and with the full weight of the car, components in the suspension assembly shift slightly into "permanent" positions, for lack of a better description.

or maybe there fake springs!

i cant tell a difference......where did u get the springs from?

Ive got H&R's and even without my 19's on the car, i can tell its been lowered, and so can others

You will notice a difference when you do the rears. I did with my H&Rs

What you should have done was gotten some Eibach's.

Should have gotten S-Techs (They have the lowest drop rate IIRC). Other than that looks good. I Need some G35 lol.

I don't think he wanted that much of a drop, thats why he went with H&R's.

Doesn't look as low as mine, but then I think the tires (being too small) are exaggerating the appearance of the gap. I think if you had a set of 245/40/18 on there you'd be much happier.

I was thinking about doing this. Have you noticed a difference in the handling? Specifically when cornering?

Thanks guys. For those who said I should of gotten something else, the reason I went with H&R's was mainly ride and comfort. Even since I totaled my 4th gen (which also sat on H&R/Tokico Blues), I got a really sensitive back now. I had Eibach's in my 2nd gen, they rode sort of stiff for my tastes. S-Tech would be murder on me. I did want to eliminate some of the gap, but it really is not helping with running smaller tires than I should be running. The wheels came off my 4th gen, so I was incline not to spend more money when swapping to this car.

As for the ride, the front firmed up nicely without being harsh. So the ride quality will be where I want it once everything is done. I just wanted to verify there wasn't a problem with my install...(no squeaks, steering is perfectly centered, no noises) because it sure didn't look like anything happened. I've done a lot of suspension installs, and I was a little surprised by the result. However as I mentioned the gap is less. I wish I measured before I started and after.

S

Yes, the front is firmer and I can be a little more aggressive in cornering, but with the stockers in the back, I don't have a final verdict because of the mismatch.

S

i have h&r on front only and when first installed i had 245/45/18 and it made a huge difference in appearence and much less noticable gap. now i have 235/40/18 and it looks even better. maybe your tire size is really throwing them off or you got fake springs or h&r but for another vechicle?

not sure what the deal is but i went outside and looked after seeing yours and i have much less gap in mine then you without a doubt

I doubt they are fakes. I compared them to my 4th gen H&R springs, labels are the same springs look similar albeit one was for a 4th gen and the other for a 5th gen. They are a bit shorter than the stock GLE springs. The front rides just like my 4th gen did. I'm thinking the tires are really what is affecting the look.

:sprint:

235/40s are too thin still, but 245/40s would be perfect, IMO.

The current ones on the rims now are 225/40/18 which makes it even worst. I definately want 245/40/18 at least. I'm really tempted with 245/45/18 as well.

S

245/45s will be pretty far out of spec. According to the tire calcs, it will read 3.2% slower. 245/40s will read 0.5% fast and that's actually pretty damn close to stock. As a point of comparison, 235/40s will be 1.8% fast.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I have h techs all around and they are 1.5 up front yours are 1.4 and mine looks way lower.

So the tire definately has most of the effect. I used the tire calculator to get my overall diameter. My stock tire size is actually 215/55/17 (GLE, dunno why they got different size tires...). Stock diameter size is 26.3 inches. With the 225/40/18's I have now, the diameter 25.1 inches. That would definately make a big difference. Since my stock tires are different than SE's, 245/45/18 would actually be a closer fit, making the speedo 1.4% slower vs. 2.3% faster with 245/40/18's.

Pretty wierd huh?

S

That's about how my car look with 225/45/17 and H&R/Tokico Illumina. Switched to 235/45/17 and it looked a little bit better, but still gap. Switched to h-tech and looks perfect to me, not too dropped. And to nismowolfe, it's about the spring's rating (or whatever the correct term is) that determine the actual drop rate. But I do miss the comfort from H&R springs.

Interesting. Yeah, I plugged in 225/50/17 because I assumed that's what they all were. Didn't know SEs and GLEs were different. Well, the 245/45s will fill up more of that wheel well that's for sure so that's a good thing probably.

Once little side note, the stance of my car is definitely lower in the front. I also started to scrap on places that I've never had that problem before.

S

Stock:

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...2/DSC01653.jpg

H&R on front,maxspeed out back.

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...15-08_1041.jpg

I finally got the H&R's in the back. The car looks definately lower now. The front gap is still a little excessive, but I think getting the right tires will fix that:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...9/IMG_0712.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...9/IMG_0657.jpg

looks much better than before. How many fingers are you at now. I have H&rs as well debating if i wanna install them. lol

still could go lower! but looks much better than before.. i shouldn't say anything about getting low since im still at stock suspension with springs sitting in the garage lol

barely 2 in the back, about 3 in the front. Again if I changed the tires to the correct size, that'd probably resolve that problem. :)

I would like to, but this my main family car, and daily driver. Ever since I had my accident with my S/C'er, my back hasn't been the same since. I think any lower will just add to my already bad back problems. The H&R's offer a nice compromise. A moderate lower, but still preserves a nice ride quality.

S

i am on 235/40/18 ive seen tthat size to be the most popular on this forum for 18s. hows the handling with all 4 h&rS?

:sprint: i'm also interested to know how composed the car feels going over bumps and uneven surfaces compared to stock

it looks good too

Springs = wheel gap no matter what brand you go with. The only way to kill that gap is to get coils. Your car still looks good and it will even look better when you get a different tire size. I have dropzone springs that are 2.2 in the front and 2.0 in the rear and I still have a little gap with my 235/40/18.

That I understand, but a 3 finger gap was a bit ridiculous for me. I had H&R's on the S/C'er and it wasn't that bad. However again, tire size is really the attributing factor here.

The handling is certainly better than with the stock GLE suspension and the ride is much firmer. However if the road gets really really bad, there are times where it feels like the car is a little more unstable on excessively bumpy roads....probably because it's not as soft as the GLE ride (The GLE felt more like it would 'float' over the bumps) and you feel more. Also there is more tendency for the suspension to bottom out on big bumps/speed bumps if you don't watch your speed. Either way I'm satisfied with the ride outcome.

S

^^^^^ yeah that does seem kinda high. i think when i had them on minethey dropped more than that. not alot but noticeable. but compared to all the other springs these definitly have the best ride.