Any lowering springs for 1/2 in frt and 1 inch rear?
Thread Starter
Bullitt Member
Joined: October 3, 2012
Posts: 499
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From: Near Chattanooga, TN
Any lowering springs for 1/2 in frt and 1 inch rear?
This Spring lowering thing has got me a little confused, on one hand companies are marketing full blown springs with drops of up to 2 inches and saying no other mods needed. On the other hand, companies are selling springs of 1 in drop saying any more drop than that requires further extensive modification. The 55d spring lauds a 1/2 inch drop in rear only saying any more drop needs more mods.
Then I have also read in this forum that a 7/8 drop in the rear is the max possible without adding adj panhard bar etc.
So which is it and who is right, I understand that track cars are modified to suit track needs, I am talking about daily drivers who want to have better handling without be forced to buy additional mods because we dropped the car too low.
Which leads to the question, does any manufacturer of springs have a kit that lowers the front by 1/2 inch and the rear by1 inch or less?
Seems like that would be a great system and would not require additional mods.
Inquiring minds want to know
Then I have also read in this forum that a 7/8 drop in the rear is the max possible without adding adj panhard bar etc.
So which is it and who is right, I understand that track cars are modified to suit track needs, I am talking about daily drivers who want to have better handling without be forced to buy additional mods because we dropped the car too low.
Which leads to the question, does any manufacturer of springs have a kit that lowers the front by 1/2 inch and the rear by1 inch or less?
Seems like that would be a great system and would not require additional mods.
Inquiring minds want to know
Thread Starter
Bullitt Member
Joined: October 3, 2012
Posts: 499
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From: Near Chattanooga, TN
The H&R set sounds reasonably close, does anyone know if their quality is as good as or better than Steeda or Hotchkis or FRPP or Eibach?
The reason I ask is springs are subject to metal fatigue and sometimes settle more than the advertised drop.
I am a novice when it comes to which brand is better than the other.
The reason I ask is springs are subject to metal fatigue and sometimes settle more than the advertised drop.
I am a novice when it comes to which brand is better than the other.
Legacy TMS Member
Joined: May 19, 2010
Posts: 1,927
Likes: 567
From: Clinton TN
I was running Vogtland .8/1.2 on my 2010, I was using Camber bolts in the front and had to do nothing in the rear, it was about and eighth off was all. Pinion angle was OK and the Stance was perfect for me. Thinking about doing the same set up on the 2013 to get a little better in the handling end but more for the rear setting up so high.
My old 2010
My old 2010
Thread Starter
Bullitt Member
Joined: October 3, 2012
Posts: 499
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From: Near Chattanooga, TN
Siber Express
Thanks for the info.
Tried to find part number listing for the Vogtland springs for a 13 Vert and there is no such animal yet. Will keep looking though.
Thanks for the info.
Tried to find part number listing for the Vogtland springs for a 13 Vert and there is no such animal yet. Will keep looking though.
Thread Starter
Bullitt Member
Joined: October 3, 2012
Posts: 499
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From: Near Chattanooga, TN
Jason
Thank you also for the info, in looking at the H&R site, I see a listing for OE Sport springs which reflect the drop you listed, is that the reference you made?
I am leaning toward Hotchkis TVS 1 if I can't find what I like, do you have any first hand experience with that set up?
Thank you also for the info, in looking at the H&R site, I see a listing for OE Sport springs which reflect the drop you listed, is that the reference you made?
I am leaning toward Hotchkis TVS 1 if I can't find what I like, do you have any first hand experience with that set up?
Former Vendor
Joined: October 8, 2012
Posts: 759
Likes: 1
I just had the Hotchkis springs on the shop car and they handle great. I push out a lot of hotchkis, they make some quality parts. Any package you get from them will be well worth it however with those packages I would recommend struts and shocks if you haven't done so already.
Mach 1 Member
Joined: March 23, 2008
Posts: 538
Likes: 5
From: San Diego
Meanwhile, back at the OP's question:
I haven't done what you would call a thorough investigation of all the spring options out there, but the sense I take away from six years of messing around with S197 Mustangs (now on my fourth) and the forums that treat them as worthwhile objects of use and modification, I believe:
Everyone's sense of what's good and right is enough different that in the end, unless you can borrow a string of vehicles that differ only in the part you are interested in, you'll never know until you try each solution yourself.
You'll hear "FTW" about whatever solution a particular poster has chosen, regardless of whether or not it is actually the "best"; it's called "Cognitive Dissonance", the tendency to ignore evidence that would deprecate a decision already taken.
The "best" all-around compromise for street/performance use is a superior set of shocks/struts and something in the range of the Steeda "Sport" springs: on my first Mustang they lowered the front by about eight tenths of an inch and the back by about an inch and two tenths. Required no other hardware, took a little learning to cope with the lower body position, and introduced what I think was "a little" harshness to the ride. With the Tokico adjustable shocks on absolute softest, the ride was not objectionable; adding stiffness made it an autocross monster. Relatively speaking.
My last Mustang suspension (before the 2013) was also a great compromise: Koni Sport (adjustable) shocks/struts and Ford Racing Performance Parts "P" springs. Lowered the body half an inch in front and three-quarters in the rear. A little stiffer, and as with the previous scheme, only a little learning about driveways and speed-bumps, and a whole lot better at autocross when the shocks were adjusted to "stiff".
I would not tolerate some of the low, lowering springs' stiffness in a street car. Everything suffers from the beating, from your eyeball and kidney suspension systems to the internals of your radio and PCM. Over time you lose.
My favorite owned vehicle of all time is the 1966 Lotus Elan. It was a soft-suspended, long wheel-travel, creative suspension-geometry marvel on the autocross course. Consistently the fastest street-tired car at autocross events when they were called "slaloms", usually leaving even Corvettes with five or six times the contact patch (135x13 originals on the Lotus!) in the dust, so to speak.
All this to say that you can't expect to fully appreciate the compromises you have to make to reach whatever goal you set, until you start making the compromises and living with the consequences. For my part, I believe the Ford folks have done a pretty good job of making the 2013 GT Brembo Mustang a good performer out of the box. Seems to me the Koni Sports is just about all anyone needs to bring it to a place where it works very, very good. If you need more than that, you're going to have to find out on your own.
Cheers!
This Spring lowering thing has got me a little confused, on one hand companies are marketing full blown springs with drops of up to 2 inches and saying no other mods needed. On the other hand, companies are selling springs of 1 in drop saying any more drop than that requires further extensive modification. The 55d spring lauds a 1/2 inch drop in rear only saying any more drop needs more mods.
Then I have also read in this forum that a 7/8 drop in the rear is the max possible without adding adj panhard bar etc.
So which is it and who is right, I understand that track cars are modified to suit track needs, I am talking about daily drivers who want to have better handling without be forced to buy additional mods because we dropped the car too low.
Which leads to the question, does any manufacturer of springs have a kit that lowers the front by 1/2 inch and the rear by1 inch or less?
Seems like that would be a great system and would not require additional mods.
Inquiring minds want to know
Then I have also read in this forum that a 7/8 drop in the rear is the max possible without adding adj panhard bar etc.
So which is it and who is right, I understand that track cars are modified to suit track needs, I am talking about daily drivers who want to have better handling without be forced to buy additional mods because we dropped the car too low.
Which leads to the question, does any manufacturer of springs have a kit that lowers the front by 1/2 inch and the rear by1 inch or less?
Seems like that would be a great system and would not require additional mods.
Inquiring minds want to know
Everyone's sense of what's good and right is enough different that in the end, unless you can borrow a string of vehicles that differ only in the part you are interested in, you'll never know until you try each solution yourself.
You'll hear "FTW" about whatever solution a particular poster has chosen, regardless of whether or not it is actually the "best"; it's called "Cognitive Dissonance", the tendency to ignore evidence that would deprecate a decision already taken.
The "best" all-around compromise for street/performance use is a superior set of shocks/struts and something in the range of the Steeda "Sport" springs: on my first Mustang they lowered the front by about eight tenths of an inch and the back by about an inch and two tenths. Required no other hardware, took a little learning to cope with the lower body position, and introduced what I think was "a little" harshness to the ride. With the Tokico adjustable shocks on absolute softest, the ride was not objectionable; adding stiffness made it an autocross monster. Relatively speaking.
My last Mustang suspension (before the 2013) was also a great compromise: Koni Sport (adjustable) shocks/struts and Ford Racing Performance Parts "P" springs. Lowered the body half an inch in front and three-quarters in the rear. A little stiffer, and as with the previous scheme, only a little learning about driveways and speed-bumps, and a whole lot better at autocross when the shocks were adjusted to "stiff".
I would not tolerate some of the low, lowering springs' stiffness in a street car. Everything suffers from the beating, from your eyeball and kidney suspension systems to the internals of your radio and PCM. Over time you lose.
My favorite owned vehicle of all time is the 1966 Lotus Elan. It was a soft-suspended, long wheel-travel, creative suspension-geometry marvel on the autocross course. Consistently the fastest street-tired car at autocross events when they were called "slaloms", usually leaving even Corvettes with five or six times the contact patch (135x13 originals on the Lotus!) in the dust, so to speak.
All this to say that you can't expect to fully appreciate the compromises you have to make to reach whatever goal you set, until you start making the compromises and living with the consequences. For my part, I believe the Ford folks have done a pretty good job of making the 2013 GT Brembo Mustang a good performer out of the box. Seems to me the Koni Sports is just about all anyone needs to bring it to a place where it works very, very good. If you need more than that, you're going to have to find out on your own.
Cheers!
Last edited by frank s; Dec 3, 2012 at 07:53 PM.
Thread Starter
Bullitt Member
Joined: October 3, 2012
Posts: 499
Likes: 0
From: Near Chattanooga, TN
Frank s
thanks for the plain truth, I agree you kinda have to dive in to find out what works, but, the subtle approach is what I am most interested in and analysis of the various spring set ups is very informative.
I appreciate your input and opinion, makes me think I should go fairly mild in my suspension mods and live with what I got and to be honest it is pretty darn good.
Thanks
thanks for the plain truth, I agree you kinda have to dive in to find out what works, but, the subtle approach is what I am most interested in and analysis of the various spring set ups is very informative.
I appreciate your input and opinion, makes me think I should go fairly mild in my suspension mods and live with what I got and to be honest it is pretty darn good.
Thanks
V6 Member
Joined: February 25, 2011
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
From: So-Cal
Originally Posted by frank s
For my part, I believe the Ford folks have done a pretty good job of making the 2013 GT Brembo Mustang a good performer out of the box. Seems to me the Koni Sports is just about all anyone needs to bring it to a place where it works very, very good.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Last edited by Bucephalus; Dec 5, 2012 at 06:39 PM.
V6 Member
Joined: November 8, 2010
Posts: 83
Likes: 0
From: Austin TX
I installed the Eibach Pro-Kit for the 2011+ (not the 2010, there are different part numbers, and have different drops). I did not use any other supporting mods except an adjustable panhard bar. After the install I took it to sears for an alignment, and everything but the toe on the passenger side was within factory specs.
Before
After
Before
After
GT Member
Joined: July 29, 2012
Posts: 162
Likes: 0
Meanwhile, back at the OP's question:
I haven't done what you would call a thorough investigation of all the spring options out there, but the sense I take away from six years of messing around with S197 Mustangs (now on my fourth) and the forums that treat them as worthwhile objects of use and modification, I believe:
Everyone's sense of what's good and right is enough different that in the end, unless you can borrow a string of vehicles that differ only in the part you are interested in, you'll never know until you try each solution yourself.
You'll hear "FTW" about whatever solution a particular poster has chosen, regardless of whether or not it is actually the "best"; it's called "Cognitive Dissonance", the tendency to ignore evidence that would deprecate a decision already taken.
The "best" all-around compromise for street/performance use is a superior set of shocks/struts and something in the range of the Steeda "Sport" springs: on my first Mustang they lowered the front by about eight tenths of an inch and the back by about an inch and two tenths. Required no other hardware, took a little learning to cope with the lower body position, and introduced what I think was "a little" harshness to the ride. With the Tokico adjustable shocks on absolute softest, the ride was not objectionable; adding stiffness made it an autocross monster. Relatively speaking.
My last Mustang suspension (before the 2013) was also a great compromise: Koni Sport (adjustable) shocks/struts and Ford Racing Performance Parts "P" springs. Lowered the body half an inch in front and three-quarters in the rear. A little stiffer, and as with the previous scheme, only a little learning about driveways and speed-bumps, and a whole lot better at autocross when the shocks were adjusted to "stiff".
I would not tolerate some of the low, lowering springs' stiffness in a street car. Everything suffers from the beating, from your eyeball and kidney suspension systems to the internals of your radio and PCM. Over time you lose.
My favorite owned vehicle of all time is the 1966 Lotus Elan. It was a soft-suspended, long wheel-travel, creative suspension-geometry marvel on the autocross course. Consistently the fastest street-tired car at autocross events when they were called "slaloms", usually leaving even Corvettes with five or six times the contact patch (135x13 originals on the Lotus!) in the dust, so to speak.
All this to say that you can't expect to fully appreciate the compromises you have to make to reach whatever goal you set, until you start making the compromises and living with the consequences. For my part, I believe the Ford folks have done a pretty good job of making the 2013 GT Brembo Mustang a good performer out of the box. Seems to me the Koni Sports is just about all anyone needs to bring it to a place where it works very, very good. If you need more than that, you're going to have to find out on your own.
Cheers!
I haven't done what you would call a thorough investigation of all the spring options out there, but the sense I take away from six years of messing around with S197 Mustangs (now on my fourth) and the forums that treat them as worthwhile objects of use and modification, I believe:
Everyone's sense of what's good and right is enough different that in the end, unless you can borrow a string of vehicles that differ only in the part you are interested in, you'll never know until you try each solution yourself.
You'll hear "FTW" about whatever solution a particular poster has chosen, regardless of whether or not it is actually the "best"; it's called "Cognitive Dissonance", the tendency to ignore evidence that would deprecate a decision already taken.
The "best" all-around compromise for street/performance use is a superior set of shocks/struts and something in the range of the Steeda "Sport" springs: on my first Mustang they lowered the front by about eight tenths of an inch and the back by about an inch and two tenths. Required no other hardware, took a little learning to cope with the lower body position, and introduced what I think was "a little" harshness to the ride. With the Tokico adjustable shocks on absolute softest, the ride was not objectionable; adding stiffness made it an autocross monster. Relatively speaking.
My last Mustang suspension (before the 2013) was also a great compromise: Koni Sport (adjustable) shocks/struts and Ford Racing Performance Parts "P" springs. Lowered the body half an inch in front and three-quarters in the rear. A little stiffer, and as with the previous scheme, only a little learning about driveways and speed-bumps, and a whole lot better at autocross when the shocks were adjusted to "stiff".
I would not tolerate some of the low, lowering springs' stiffness in a street car. Everything suffers from the beating, from your eyeball and kidney suspension systems to the internals of your radio and PCM. Over time you lose.
My favorite owned vehicle of all time is the 1966 Lotus Elan. It was a soft-suspended, long wheel-travel, creative suspension-geometry marvel on the autocross course. Consistently the fastest street-tired car at autocross events when they were called "slaloms", usually leaving even Corvettes with five or six times the contact patch (135x13 originals on the Lotus!) in the dust, so to speak.
All this to say that you can't expect to fully appreciate the compromises you have to make to reach whatever goal you set, until you start making the compromises and living with the consequences. For my part, I believe the Ford folks have done a pretty good job of making the 2013 GT Brembo Mustang a good performer out of the box. Seems to me the Koni Sports is just about all anyone needs to bring it to a place where it works very, very good. If you need more than that, you're going to have to find out on your own.
Cheers!
V6 Member
Joined: July 29, 2012
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
Frank, this is the setup I want for my '12 brembo gt daily driver. How much stiffer was it over the "stock" brembo setup. I was going to go w/ P springs in the front(w/ yellows) and 55d in the rear for the winter. Then in the spring put in the P springs in the rear as well. Also, I want to run 18x11 rear rims in the spring. I have Strano adjustable sways (25mm) rear. Do you think these are the right spring for a smooth ride, or should I get something else. I would stay w/ the stock brembo springs, but the 26.4" summer tires I have will look funny w/o a drop. Thanks
The 55Ds for the winter would probably give you enough clearance for chains or larger snow tires.
GT Member
Joined: July 29, 2012
Posts: 162
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Sounds like a good plan to me. I have a similar setup on my '11 Brembo GT. P springs, Boss shocks/struts. If I didn't find the take-off Boss parts, I would have gone with the Koni Yellows too. I have a set of 26.1" tall tires, and they would look ridiculous on the stock springs. The P springs do feel much stiffer than stock, but with proper damping, I think they are very comfortable for the street.
The 55Ds for the winter would probably give you enough clearance for chains or larger snow tires.
The 55Ds for the winter would probably give you enough clearance for chains or larger snow tires.
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