ericdwong

...and I dont mean because of no money, or havent gotten around to it, but I was just reading a few posts and a number of people HAD drops before and then UNLOWERED their car and then said "never again"....whats going on here?

Please enlighten me as I cannot picture myself driving an unlowered car for any reason. I have the Sprint and KYB AGX on the max settings which is arguably the stiffest combination. I have yet to scrap once on any road around here cause the car was so high to begin with. And its not like we cant drop the car cause our wheel wells are so big, anything short of 20's will fit fine. Its also not like we have any alignment issues as the rear beam wont change camber and the mcpherson in the front doesnt change its camber too bad even with the sprint drop. I feel lowering the car tastefully (no 4" slams, etc) has everything positive, and almost nothing negative short of hurting the pocket book. The car handles better, looks better, brakes better, accelerates better, feels better...

The only thing I can think of is you don't like the resulting ride quality. Anyone care to enlighten me?

SLC I30t

iTrader: (1)

my suspension is twice as loud as before. I don't know how long I'll keep my lowering springs on my car.

Str8ridin

You just answered...ride quality. People pay ALOT of money and companies invest large amounts of money into R&D for better ride quality. Simply put, people aren't always about performance....there are other things, you know.

ejj

iTrader: (5)

I think that's the reason you'll hear most often. Last summer I took a trip to Baltimore, and if I had to drive in and out of a city with roads like that every day, I'd go back to stock height.

Me, driving on the NYS Thruway everyday, the lowered ride is prefect. Not that floaty highway nonsense you get with the stock suspension.

deezo

iTrader: (3)

And this is the reason I'm going to drop mine soon. I'm tired of the floaty feel at highway speeds and the ride can be worse than my 86 Toyota Pickup.

Sprint

iTrader: (10)

because i don't want my car to handle better

Bags

iTrader: (3)

I thought everyone liked the way the car seems to "drift" at hiway speeds


REASON #1 I have eibach's/agx's.. smooth highway ride. I also live in atlanta and the roads suck.

Funny thing about that, pay attention to the road and you can avoid most stuff there

breaux124

iTrader: (1)

Also, people with SE suspensions are more used to a little harsher ride. Going to different springs isn't too big of a step.

People with the GXE and GLE are ususally making a huge jump, and it's a lot to get used to at once. My friend with his GLE thinks my SE rides harsh, and that's with stock springs and struts.

craaaazzy

try driving in new orleans...worst roads i've been on so far.

pawn

I feel lowering the car tastefully (no 4" slams, etc) [/B][/QUOTE]

and what's wrong w/that

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Much harder to get under the car to do oil changes.

DW

Max4Speed

iTrader: (20)

The first thing one needs to do to a maxima after the purchase is to LOWER IT! its the MOST ugliest car on this world if its not lowered! look at bimmers! damn they look sweet stock lowered! If roads are the reason then MOVE TO DAMN atlanta! lol

VeeQueue

iTrader: (1)

I have the benefit of having 3 relatives who own Maximas (a 95 GXE, a 97 SE, and a 99 SE). They lowered their cars with KYB AGX dampers coupled with various springs. I've rode in the 99SE when it only had the AGXs and found it to be more than what I need in terms of handling. It rode better than stock and the car felt more planted on the road during freeway speeds. With lowering springs all ride a bit harsh for my tastes; worse than my old lowered Integra with 340F/230R spring rates, swaybar set, and various ES suspension bushings. So my first reason is the diminished ride quality.

I have different expectations for my car. If I wanted more cornering precision out of the Maxima I would consider lowering the car. Of course trade-offs are expected and I would live with the harsher ride. But I want to tighten up my car's behavior on the highway without sacrificing the ride on rough LA roads. So lowering springs are not going to be on my list anytime soon. I've installed FSTB, RSTB, Addco rear stabilizer bar and ES front stabilizer bar polyurethane bushings. The car does not feel floaty at all; the latter 2 actually improved the ride quality over stock. The only mod left for me is a set of AGX.

Lastly, is aesthetics. I don't think a stock 4th gen Maxima looks good lowered. The body height is too short and the wheel wheel openings are too big. IMO the 4th gen's profile looks flattened. It doesn't help the rear end styling either. A body kit lessens the flat-look somewhat. But I don't know of any co's that manufacture bodykits that looks "factory" so I'm not going to buy a kit. The car looks more "formal" stock, with the stock height. I would like to pull up to a nice restaurant and have the Valet greet me with "Welcome to *****, Sir," instead of "What's up, yo?".

However I do like the looks of the 5th gen Max lowered. The body is taller, the front fender/hood profile isn't as flat as the 4th gen's, etc. I'm just getting used to all the tall sedans out there (Camry, Altima, Accord, etc.).

Cliff's notes: I wont install lowering springs because trade-offs are not acceptable to me.

Washington DC Maxima

DC Potholes!

speedtrip

You are being to kind. DC craters is a more accurate description !

SLC I30t

iTrader: (1)

Smooth-I understand your statement about the stigma involved with a lowered car. I lowered mine with intrax, and other than the ride, I don't think its obvious to the average joe that the car has been lowered. My girlfriend did notice till she sat down in the car and noticed she had to sit further down than she was used too. I think that if you want to avoid the "Yo what up" stigma we might want to start a thread on avoiding aftermarket head turning rims.

pawn

i got that w/my sprints...noone ever noticed it was lowered...NOT ANYMORE THOUGH :d

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

With thousands of registered members, you actually think ALL of them are going to enjoy a lowered car? It's probably because they did the mod on a whim w/o researching how it's gonna ride. Or they didn't have a chance to ride in a lowered maxima before.

If you think the people switching to stock springs is a lot of people, check out how many are dumping their funky dunky straight though mufflers. :0

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

3rd gens respond VERY well to lowering. 4th gen owners don't seem to be as overwhelmingly satisfied.




Yet another reason why the 3rd gen ownz joo.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

It's the driver Bill, it's the driver! muhahahaha. Jeff's car + Bill + rainy day = entertainment

bill99gxe

iTrader: (1)

Mustang1999

Does Jeff need new brakes now??

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Brakes? What are those?

ericdwong

Well that part is obvious. Straight throughs are loud as ***** and flat out annoying. They also attract attention and gives everybody the "race me" notion. I guess the same can be said for a lowered car for being annoying, but I dont think its THAT bad. My car now feels like what a F body or a Corvette would feel like in terms of bumpiness. I have to say the hardest riding car I've ever been in has gotta be a CRX with air rod suspension. Dear lord that thing has no shocks and no springs so you feel EVERY bump in the road. Also, many modded (raised) Jeeps have very tight suspension and zero refinement.

I also have another theory. The people who unlowered their car are of the older generation. Thus that is why the true boats such as Lincolns and Caddies have soft soft suspension. I guess I'm not that sophisticated yet, I like my stiff and jarring ride.

As for the 4th gen not responding too well for being lowered, I think you're right. On a scale of 1-10 for satisfaction of lowering this car I give mine a 5. The car still doesnt corner that well. It understeers, plows ahead, the front end breaking before the back end. My only other recourse now are the energy suspension sway bar and control arm bushings. Hopefully that'll cure it.

Over bumps the rear axle beam really shows its flaws now as the entire rear of the car is jiggly all over the place. As for looks, the front of my car looks lowered to me, but there is STILL wheel gap there, so to the average person, they wont know its lowered unless when they see me jiggling after I go over a bump.

I know the 3rd gen has a suspension setup very similar to my old 90 Camry lowerd with GR2 and Intrax. The rear was a IRS strut system, front was mcpherson. THat car also responded very well to lowering. I still think it can out handle the maxima.

SLC I30t

iTrader: (1)

Oh DEAR LORD another hidden Camry plug...

Lime

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Odd comment considering you have never had a chance to ride in a modded 3-gen correct? But if your Camry was a 4 cylinder, it actually have a chance at handling better. But if it was a V6, it's too hard to tell. I really doubt your car would out handle Matt93se's eibach/tokico/st sways, Warpspeed SFC car w/ the skyline brakes

You ever notice alot of the camry mods are from the maxima origin? ie.. SFC/Y pipes/ etc..?

The point being is some do mods then switch back. ie.. intakes, exhaust etc.. suspension is the same.

ericdwong

I was referring to "the maxima" as "my maxima" as in, my 4th gen with Sprint/KYB AGX/Addco RSB, FSTB and Quaife differential. At 2600 or so pounds the Camry was lighter with less interia, and it was also lower. And at the time, it was running 205/55/15" V rated BFGoodrich Touring TA tires. I remember I had to set the wheels on bricks in order to get it off of my jack.

And the reason I brought the Camry into this, was because its setup is similar to the 3rd gen's suspension and the comment was made of how a 3 gen takes well to suspension mods. Its also the only other car I've modded the suspension on (that ive owned), so I didnt just bring it in to start a war.

Yes people do switch band and forth, but on the lowering mod, to me the +'s farrrrrr out weigh the -'s.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Your mom's V6 camry was only 2600lbs.?? You sure about that?? And just because it was lower doesn't mean it will handle better in all conditions. If it's super low/stiff, it will NOT have nearly enough suspension travel to handle well when the road get less than smooth. Coil bind is not a happy situation.

I don't quite understand your original question then. If you already came to the conclusion that the +'s outweighed the -'s, then why post the question in the first place?

SLC I30t

iTrader: (1)

If the world and I95 were flat they would. Or if I had a camry to drive to and from work

ericdwong

No no... my mom's camry is a 98 V6 LE. My old camry was a 1990 (you know the ones that get stolen alot) 4 cyl automatic. It was either 2600 or 2700 pounds, I dont remember. Tiny car by family sedan standards. Anyway that car just felt better taking hard turns.

My original question was why OTHER people unlower their car, as I cannot see what their reasoning was. To ME the + outweighed the -, but to others this wasnt the case, and I wanted to find their reasons why.

wope

iTrader: (1)

i'll lower mine when i get FWD 20s.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

My bro and I fixed a 89 Camry 4 cyl 5-sp w/ a blown tranny. Put an used 5-sp in there, changed the shocks and sold it for $3000. We got it free. lol.

Anyway, well of course it's gonna feel better, it has a tiny 4 banger in there vs a V6(at least the VQs are aluminum though)

My Datsun 510 w/ st springs, 280zx front struts, Quickor rear sway bar and camber corrected rear A-arms would eat my maxima for lunch. It's because it's probably 500-600lbs lighter than my maxima. And it was only riding on 185-60-14 1st gen maxima wheels.

jkratzer

According to TRIP, New Orleans has the second worst roads in the nation.

Top four for worst roads are Boston, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Detroit.

metallic97gxe

iTrader: (3)

scraping stuff on your undercarriage get's old...and having to "worry" about bumps and stuff I was lowered on Progress springs for over a year but been there done that not doing it again..it was cool a nice low look but...my "lowrider" days are over....

VeeQueue

iTrader: (1)

I don't like to attract that type of attention at all. There are quite a few people in LA that are car-enthusiasts who can spot the subtlest differences of any car.

A friend of mine bought a used TL-S "dirt-cheap" that was slightly modified by the previous owner (blue turnsignal bulbs, comptech springs, shiny exhaust tips, etc). He would get revved on by ricers at the stoplight or get chased down on the freeway by people who want to race. He returned everything to stock and he's been left alone by the HS ricer crowd.

Its weird how a one to one and a half inch reduction in ride-height plus a pair of stupid "high-intensity discharge" turnsignal bulbs will do to attract all the streetracing riceboys out there.

SLC I30t

iTrader: (1)

now come on, which do you think really attracted the attention? I'm telling you, unless your are tucking your tires. You can't really tell that a maxima is lowered. Of course an enthusiast is going to pick up on it earlier because they have an explicit interest. I'm sure the blue lights are the dead giveaway not the 1.5 inch drop.

pawn

can you tell im lowered?

SLC I30t

iTrader: (1)

your tuckin some rubber and your not on a 1.5 inch drop.

pawn

haha...i know, i was just jokin', but i hear what you originally said...w/my sprints...i had people come up to me all the time and ask me when i was gonna lower my car, i would just look at them and say, it is!...cuz the average joe schmo can't tell unless your parked next to a stock max...