D1984
forum member
Let me preface this by saying that I'm comparing this to Steeda Ultralites with stock dampers I had on before, so I'm sure just swapping to the Konis would make a big difference in the car's stability. I use my car for daily driving, road trips, and some weekend canyon carving.
Yesterday I had the Ford store that's a part of the auto group I work for install Koni STR.Ts all around, H&R Super Sport springs, OEM strut mounts (180 degrees rotated), and BMR rear lower control arms. I'm running the stock sway bars and no strut tower brace, with an adjustable panhard bar and some lower control arm relocation brackets.
When I first installed my Ultralites last year, it wasn't quite low enough for me and they were very soft, although the ride quality was almost as good as stock. With the stock dampers it was a little bouncy but nothing too crazy, but the car just felt "soft" both in a straight line (squat and nose diving) and around turns. Don't get me wrong, it was 100% better than stock, but still didn't feel like a sports car (911 and Corvette are my benchmarks for handling and steering).
Well, it was time for new shocks and struts for the new year, and I bought the lower priced BMR $80 rear lower control arms as well since it's a great deal. I went back and forth on going lower because I didn't want to scrape anywhere, and reading reviews on forums made me think the H&Rs would rattle my teeth out. Eventually I decided to just order some Super Sports, because by my measurements they would eliminate all wheel gap and the ride quality couldn't be TOO bad. I had the shop install everything, and I'm not running camber bolts so I have about 2 degrees negative in the front which I actually prefer. I had them zero out my toe angle so I'm not worried about increased tire wear.
Long story short, THIS is how I wanted my car to drive and look when I first lowered it.
Stance:
Perfect, mean, sick, whatever you want to call it, I finally don't get asked "so is it lowered?" and I never have the sometimes it looks good and sometimes it has too much wheel gap thoughts.
Ride quality:
Definitely harsher, and more firm. You can feel more of the road obviously, but it is much better controlled especially over large undulations in the road. I would say it rides like a sports car now, maybe 25% harsher than the Ultralites. It does NOT ride as rough as a lowered Honda. It feels 100% like a factory sports car on 19" wheels and thin sidewalls would feel. If I wanted a couch on wheels, I would buy a Lexus. I do have a premium with the standard seats, not Recaros, so it probably feels more comfortable than a car with Recaros.
Practicality:
I have very large speed bumps at work and in my apartment complex, no scraping, and I don't do the ricer diagonal approach thing either. I drive over railroad tracks and on bumpy roads on a regular basis and so far haven't scraped or bottomed out anywhere.
Performance:
Night and day. No dive, no squat, extremely flat in corners, extremely well controlled in both smooth and bumpy corners. My steering is also quite a bit more responsive but that's probably mainly from going to 2 degrees negative camber from about 1.3 degrees negative.
And a bit about the BMR control arms. Very nice pieces, and the grease fitting is easy to get to which is great. I wish they had a provision for the parking brake cable though. I do feel better straight line traction.
I'm going to do the Steeda Boss competition control arms and bump steer kit next, but for now I'm extremely satisfied. If you have chronic back pain or are really old (I'm 32) then these might not be for you, but they certainly aren't the spine crushing tooth shattering springs the internet makes them out to be. The car is not slammed by any means.
I'll get better pictures some point in the future when we get more than a couple days break from the rain.
Yesterday I had the Ford store that's a part of the auto group I work for install Koni STR.Ts all around, H&R Super Sport springs, OEM strut mounts (180 degrees rotated), and BMR rear lower control arms. I'm running the stock sway bars and no strut tower brace, with an adjustable panhard bar and some lower control arm relocation brackets.
When I first installed my Ultralites last year, it wasn't quite low enough for me and they were very soft, although the ride quality was almost as good as stock. With the stock dampers it was a little bouncy but nothing too crazy, but the car just felt "soft" both in a straight line (squat and nose diving) and around turns. Don't get me wrong, it was 100% better than stock, but still didn't feel like a sports car (911 and Corvette are my benchmarks for handling and steering).
Well, it was time for new shocks and struts for the new year, and I bought the lower priced BMR $80 rear lower control arms as well since it's a great deal. I went back and forth on going lower because I didn't want to scrape anywhere, and reading reviews on forums made me think the H&Rs would rattle my teeth out. Eventually I decided to just order some Super Sports, because by my measurements they would eliminate all wheel gap and the ride quality couldn't be TOO bad. I had the shop install everything, and I'm not running camber bolts so I have about 2 degrees negative in the front which I actually prefer. I had them zero out my toe angle so I'm not worried about increased tire wear.
Long story short, THIS is how I wanted my car to drive and look when I first lowered it.
Stance:
Perfect, mean, sick, whatever you want to call it, I finally don't get asked "so is it lowered?" and I never have the sometimes it looks good and sometimes it has too much wheel gap thoughts.
Ride quality:
Definitely harsher, and more firm. You can feel more of the road obviously, but it is much better controlled especially over large undulations in the road. I would say it rides like a sports car now, maybe 25% harsher than the Ultralites. It does NOT ride as rough as a lowered Honda. It feels 100% like a factory sports car on 19" wheels and thin sidewalls would feel. If I wanted a couch on wheels, I would buy a Lexus. I do have a premium with the standard seats, not Recaros, so it probably feels more comfortable than a car with Recaros.
Practicality:
I have very large speed bumps at work and in my apartment complex, no scraping, and I don't do the ricer diagonal approach thing either. I drive over railroad tracks and on bumpy roads on a regular basis and so far haven't scraped or bottomed out anywhere.
Performance:
Night and day. No dive, no squat, extremely flat in corners, extremely well controlled in both smooth and bumpy corners. My steering is also quite a bit more responsive but that's probably mainly from going to 2 degrees negative camber from about 1.3 degrees negative.
And a bit about the BMR control arms. Very nice pieces, and the grease fitting is easy to get to which is great. I wish they had a provision for the parking brake cable though. I do feel better straight line traction.
I'm going to do the Steeda Boss competition control arms and bump steer kit next, but for now I'm extremely satisfied. If you have chronic back pain or are really old (I'm 32) then these might not be for you, but they certainly aren't the spine crushing tooth shattering springs the internet makes them out to be. The car is not slammed by any means.
I'll get better pictures some point in the future when we get more than a couple days break from the rain.
