Handling/Lowering
Introduction
One of the first things that comes to mind in car tuning is lowering. Lowering your car improves handling, and looks nice. At about 120$ to 200$ for a complete set of springs, it isn't an expensive upgrade if you want to make your car handle a lot better. Lowering springs, unlike most stock springs, are designed to be progressive, this means that the first part of the spring is relatively soft to retain a bit of comfort, when further compressed, the spring becomes stiffer, causing your car to roll less than it normally would. The lowering springs on my own car were actually longer than the stock springs but on the car they were 3.5cm shorter and noticeably stronger.
A lowering spring with progressive strength
The lower the better?
On a flat, smooth, racetrack: yes. On the road: no. Lowering your car too much can make areas inaccessible because you can't get over speedbumps or other objects. Rough surfaces (anything not a smooth as -almost- perfectly flat tarmac) can cause poor handling when the suspension is set up too stiff. And the occasional bump or dent in the road will make you feel like you've just broken every single bone in your body. Another thing to keep in mind is that lowering springs do their job best when combined with stiffer and shorter shock absorbers and that lowering your car by more than 4cm (1.5") requires new shocks because the stock ones will wear out very soon. It is also advised to get your wheels realigned as (depending on your suspension type) lowering slightly changes toe-in/toe-out and camber, which might negate the effect of lowering. Going lower than 3 or 4cm below stock height is usually not suitable for road going cars. (Plus going too low just makes your car, and yourself, look stupid)Why does the cars grip improve by lowering?
It doesn't, grip is determined by your tires and wheel alignment, what lowering does is make your car handle more consistent. The lower centre of gravity (Cg for short) combined with the fact that the springs are stiffer causes the car body to roll less and therefore handling characteristics will change less while cornering, accelerating, and braking. Most accidents that involve a car going sideways on slippery roads (or just by going to fast) are usually caused by to much countersteering. A car with a normal ride height will respond less directly and accurately to steering input and the springs are loaded up in a way that they will push the car all around the other way when the tires finally get their grip back. This effect is much smaller on a lower car, which just slides and doesn't amplify the pendulum effect because of energy stored in the suspension components. Being able to control the car better while you're on the edge of what the tires can handle allows for faster cornering and easier recovery if things go wrong.
A Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, lowered by about 4cm which is normally the best trade off for road cars
