lowered on 19's?

[nealjohns]

recently had some 19's fitted to my lcr but found that its raised the car slightly.was wanting to lower it so it sits back to its original stance.awesome didnt recommend the koni fsd's cos they are a bigger shock and with the eiback springs may not actually lower the car much if at all so they recommended coilovers which would obviously give me the lowered look but these would be a harsh ride and on 35 profile tyres its borderline now.also just springs would be harsh too.
has anyone out there had theirs lowered on 19's if so what is the ride like and what set up do u have.
dont know whether to just leave it or attempt to lower it.i need advice!

 

[warren_cox]

I have exactly the same question - because you can't really try before you buy I am worried that if/when I buy 19's will it kill the ride quality.

I'm going to leave the spring / shocks as OE, but would also very much appreciate feedback from anyone running 19's as its a big price to pay.

 

[panholio]

Have you increased the rolling radius then?

 

[Andi]

If you get a decent Coilover over kit then they should be damping adjustable, so you can then set the damping to suit the ride quality your after.

 

[RobM]

Unless the 19's are very, very lightweight there will be a noticeable difference in ride quality as you'll have increased the unsprung weight by a fair amount.

I'm surprised that Awesome didn't recommend the Koni / Eibach combo as to me that would seem ideal. It will lower the car by around 15mm in reality but wont affect the ride quality, if anything it would improve it.

 

[nealjohns]

well i'm running 19's on my lcr with 35 profile tyres.so far the ride isnt that much worse .only ride height has changed slighlty.rolling radius shoudnt have changed too much i wouldnt have thought.
awsome did recommend the koni/eibach combo but because of the shocks being bigger to start with and only a small drop it may not be noticable.they said it wont be any higher but may not be noticably lower either.maybe a damping adjustable coilover kit is the best way but gonna be pricey.just seein if anyone else has had this done on their lcr with 19's.

 

[RobM]

How low do you want to go?

 

[DPJ]

well i'm running 19's on my lcr with 35 profile tyres.so far the ride isnt that much worse .only ride height has changed slighlty.rolling radius shoudnt have changed too much i wouldnt have thought.
awsome did recommend the koni/eibach combo but because of the shocks being bigger to start with and only a small drop it may not be noticable.they said it wont be any higher but may not be noticably lower either.maybe a damping adjustable coilover kit is the best way but gonna be pricey.just seein if anyone else has had this done on their lcr with 19's.

What width of tyre are you running?

 

[nealjohns]

just want around 20mm nothing major just so it sits right.

i'm running 225/35/19's

 

[DPJ]

225/35/19 tyres will be 9mm taller than 225/40/18s....

 

[nealjohns]

10mm? right so just a small drop i need then.hm dont really know if its worth it.could take a gamble with the koni fsd's and some eibach springs.if nothing else i''l have some decent suspension and it might drop it 5 or 10 mm.by all accounts the standard oe's dont last that long anyway so might be worth it...

 

[RobM]

The Koni FSD/Eibach combo usually lower by around 15mm. The Eibachs claim to lower 30mm, but as the LCR is already lower it's not quite that much. Plus the FSD's limit how much it can be lowered by.

IMO it's just enough to make a subtle difference without looking too low. Very stock looking, but still lower

 

[DPJ]

10mm? right so just a small drop i need then.hm dont really know if its worth it.could take a gamble with the koni fsd's and some eibach springs.if nothing else i''l have some decent suspension and it might drop it 5 or 10 mm.by all accounts the standard oe's dont last that long anyway so might be worth it...

Wheels are 9mm taller so they will have raised the car 5mm (plus allow for treadwear).

 

[nealjohns]

yeah sorry u said 9mm not 10.i cant read! oh yeah forgot about treadwear.ok so that combo might be ok then.not neccessarily wanting it to look lowered just not too high which at the moment i think it does.might give awesome a call again then. just worries me that the shocks are bigger than standard to start with and people running them on standard springs have noticed a slight raise in height so if the springs only offer a 15mm drop it may just be exactly the same as it is now.depending on how much bigger the shocks are to start with of course.

 

[nealjohns]

but then that doesnt make sense cos a 15mm drop is whats claimed so it must be.just got confused cos the guy i spoke to at awesome wasnt syre if it would lower it at all.

 

[RobM]

The Koni FSD's on their own wont lower it at all. They can be used with stock suspension springs and you'll end up with exactly the same ride height. But they can be used with lowering springs up to a 30mm drop without problems.

Now the best springs IMO are the Eibach. They claim to lower a Leon by 30mm, but since the LCR is already lower than the rest of the Leon range (14mm lower I think?) you don't get that full 30mm, you just get the difference, which is roughly 15mm.

 

[Ruddmeister]

Lowering 15-20mm doesn't look hugely different on 18's........picture is a little dark but you get the idea I hope
Before

After

Never tried 19's though

 

[RobM]

To me that second pic looks spot on. It looks lowered, but not OTT. There is a sensible gap between the arches and still a good distance off the ground. Perfick

 

[Ruddmeister]

To me that second pic looks spot on. It looks lowered, but not OTT. There is a sensible gap between the arches and still a good distance off the ground. Perfick

For me the biggest relief was a car that looked level not @rse end heavy like a few I've seen

 

[RobM]

Very true, good point. Also, every Leon I've seen that's been lowered a lot (40mm+) tends to have the rear wheel pushed really far back, which looks quite odd to me.