I'm interested in finally having my '03 Lancer lowered. I want at least an inch, maybe an inch in a half. I have 17" rims, so does anyone know the best way of doing this?

 

progress springs for the dd if your in a budget. rrm is selling it for 100 dollars and their a guy on the forum selling it for 50.

if you have money bc coilovers.

 

Coilovers is the best way for performance. Real coilovers, not sleeves. Springs are springs IMO. The only reason to really have springs is for the drop. Of course that wouldnt stop me from buying a name brand company just because. But Im one of those people who doesnt care about ride quality and thinks its cool to have the stiffest motor mounts possible that rattle my car to death upon startup. Alot of people want an almost stock driving lowered stance. Springs are a good way to get that. I want super stiffness and future back problems. Coilovers are a great way to get that lol. And my car handles like a formula 1. Not literally but I like to pretend.

 

I'm not looking for my car to drag across every speed bump and pothole. I want the car to sit a little lower, and not feel every crack in the road when I'm driving. Is this even possible? Or should I just stick with the factory setup?

 

Well the factory setup is the only way your going to avoid most inconveniences. A 1.8 inch drop is nothing on a car. I literally slammed my car down like 3-4 in. maybe more with my coilovers not to mention getting 2 series smaller tires from what it was stock and the only thing i really had a problem with other than having to go up steeper grades at an angle was my aftermarket h brace drug on everything. The bottom of the car didnt though. Thats for where i live though. Im just saying, the only thing you should really need to worry about is those ol shocks blowing if your gonna go the spring route. Oh and BTW, you dont even have to drop your car if you dont want to with coilovers if that was what your implying. You could leave it stock ride height. Your not gonna be able to drop it much with those 17's on there anyways. The offset is all wrong. I was able to tuck my stock OZ's up into the fender well which is the only reason I was able to slam mine.

 

I'm lowered on Tein S-Tech springs, and I really like the drop. I also have 17" rims for the summer and they work quite well. I do have to get smaller tires though, as they do rub... I'm currently running 215/45/17s. I'll probably have to run 40s instead, but I'll worry about that for next year. I have my snow tires on my stock OZ rims and I have no rubbing problems there at all.

Here's a pic of the car gap with the 17s:

 

Mwahaha. 15 in with 50 series on coilovers. I really dont have as many problems as youd think I would.

 

must be hell when going over speed bumps or bumpy terrain.

 

Was when I had my H brace. Now it doesnt seem to scrape on anything.

 

so what did you do to make it stop scraping the ground?

 

Well, the H brace broke when my engine blew up cause it bucked and snapped the brace. So after that, I raised my car 1/2 Inch and took off the broken brace. Voila! no more scraping lol. Dont get me wrong, its a pain to go up steeper grades and stuff but Im not too worried.

 

how the hell did your engine blow up?

 

Ummm cold air intakes and flash floods dont mix. Lol. Its been hell getting it running again. Bought a block, put it all together, found out it was bad. Now Im waiting to save up some more money and buy another engine. Ugh **** my life.

 

well good luck with that.

 

Well common sense will tell you, the lower you go the rougher you ride. If you have the money, then full coilovers are the way to go because at least the shocks are calibrated to run at a lowered height. If your on a budget, than springs are the way but only if it's a name brand company. No eBay springs, and no cut springs.