Modifying your car is one of the more satisfying things you can do with it. Adding power can be tricky as it messes with many different functions and systems, but your vehicle's ride height is much less critical. Lowering a car and installing a cool set of wheels is a straightforward way to make your car your own without breaking the bank or the vehicle, as long as you do it right. Depending on your car, there are a few different ways to do that, so read on and find out which of those might be the best choice for you.
The Basics of Lowering Your Vehicle
The manufacturer has chosen the overall ride height somewhat carefully. A large part of the decision comes from what the vehicle is designed to be, but another part comes from the region it’ll be in. In several cases, American-spec vehicles sit higher than their Japanese or European-spec counterparts because of DOT laws and the general poor road quality in many states. But as long as you own your vehicle, there’s no reason you can’t close that fender gap.
Dampers and springs are the two main components that give our vehicles their ride height. Dampers are a blanket term for struts or shocks, which are technically different things, although they both do the same job in controlling the up-and-down body motion. The springs are mainly responsible for determining ride height, supporting the vehicle’s weight, and providing mechanical lift to the body. Reducing spring height is the goal for lowering any car, but you must consider damper travel.
Reducing the spring length or height reduces suspension travel, which engineers are careful to determine. While not advertised for stock struts, many lowering springs will work just fine with them. However, that’s not to say the suspension will last as if it were stock. The reduced suspension travel makes the damper far more likely to bottom out. The more that happens, the quicker it is to wear and the more likely it is to wear out. That’ll leave you with a bouncy, crashy ride which isn’t very comfortable or composed. It’ll also be paired with some not-so-nice noises from the worn-out dampers.
At the very least, pairing a lowering spring with a slightly firmer damper is a good choice. Lowering springs are generally stiffer than those they replace to compensate for the reduced travel. A damper with firmer control will work better with the upped spring rate. But, if possible, you should pair the lowering spring with a damper designed for reduced travel. Many large and prominent aftermarket suspension manufacturers will have a product that fits, if not something more serious.
Understand that lowering your vehicle will change some of its characteristics. As mentioned, lowering springs are generally stiffer than those they’re replacing, so the OE comfort won’t remain. That said, reduced body roll and more composure in the corners may be what you're after. If not, it’ll be a byproduct of improving the looks of whatever you’re lowering. There are some exceptions to that, though, which are covered below.
How To Lower Your Vehicle
Do you want to improve the look of your vehicle or make a larger, more impactful change? You’ll get both, no matter which you choose, but specific options give you adjustability, while others allow you to choose your suspension rates. Mild and wild, here are your options.
Dampers & Springs - Cup Kits
This is the simplest way of effectively lowering your vehicle, and it’ll be the right choice for most prospective wrenchers. Lowering springs are a common aftermarket item for nearly every chassis; chances are, there’s at least a stiffer damper to go with them. Performing this upgrade also gives you the perfect opportunity to refresh your strut or shock mounts.
Before buying anything, use the benefits of the internet and find out what springs your vehicle’s community likes to run; chances are others have done thousands of miles on the parts you’re looking at. There will be all sorts of reputable companies to choose from, like Eibach and H&R for most any vehicle, and more specialized companies like Dinan for BMW and 034Motorsport for VAG. Each spring set will differ in rate, rate type, and height drop, so know what you want from your springs. The average spring drop will be between an inch and an inch and a half. Lower doesn’t always mean sportier, and poor roads can cause severe damage to the underside of your car; keep that in mind.
If you’re on a budget, springs are fine, but your best option is waiting until you can pair it with a new set of dampers. Yes, it’ll cost a bit more upfront, but it eliminates worn items that will be put through more aggressive movements if not replaced with something fit to handle them. It often means the difference between pulling your suspension apart once vs. twice if you do all the struts together. Arguably, the best time to make this mod is when the dampers on your car have worn out and need replacement, but you don’t need to wait for that.
European car owners are lucky that there’s a good assortment of aftermarket struts and shocks for their vehicles. Bilstein and Koni are the two most prominent in the space, and their years of supplying automakers and supporting grassroots races have helped produce great products that we can benefit from using. The Koni Sports and Bilstein B8 are the two that have reduced travel for lowering springs and will likely be your best bet for the lowest or stiffest aftermarket springs. However, you can get away with a B6 or FSD, with a milder drop and rate.
If you’d rather combine the two, check out our Cup Kits. They pair all four dampers with each of the offered lowering springs for an easy one-click shopping experience. Grab some new upper mounts with the kit, and you’ll be ready to hit the road lowered the right way.
Coilovers
Coilovers are certainly the flashiest option, but they’re not always necessary; they may be too much in many cases.
Coilover refers to a single-unit spring and damper combination that offers easily replaceable springs and damping rate adjustment to tune them to a given road or course. The unit uses a smaller diameter spring that rides on a collar threaded around the damper body. The threaded body allows the collar to be adjusted up and down, changing ride height and pre-load. Most coilovers are single adjustable, but those going after pure track performance or the ultimate comfortable low may want to look into that. If that sounds like a bit much, consider one of the cup kits, as they take all the complexity out of setup. If not, then you’re in the right place.
More companies offer coilovers than aftermarket struts, so you’ll have more choices with this option. There are also different levels of involvement depending on the model. Something like the ST XA or KW V1 will have adjustable spring perches and fixed dampers. Conversely, Bilstein Clubsports or KW V5s offer a motorsport-level coilover. The differences between the two extremes are pretty significant, as one is meant for casual road use and spirited driving, and the other is intended to eat the curbing on an FIA-rated track without much of a fuss. More expensive doesn’t always equal better here, so research the spec you’re looking at.
Ensure the spring rates each option comes with are what you’re looking for, as each is tuned differently. Also, consider who’s around you and who is qualified to set them up. The more adjustments there are, the more complicated the suspension tuning will be. Oftentimes, it may require a running series of adjustments and driving to find the correct settings.
The average drop for a coilover begins around an inch and a half, and can take off more than that without a struggle. Some even offer coilovers designed to drop the car as much as possible instead of improving cornering performance. Either way, you’ll need to think about tire and wheel fitment against the body.
You may also need to find a strut mount that works with your chosen brand. Some will come with camber-adjustable strut mounts, but many don't come with any upper mounts at all. The adjustable mounts will likely be necessary, as lowering the vehicle without adjusting the control arms will result in some funky suspension characteristics. That’s why you’ll need a competent alignment shop post-install.
Generally speaking, their service life will also be shorter than an aftermarket Bilstein or Konis damper. Expect a stated service interval of around 40,000 miles for any of the major brands. Many have gotten away with doubling that figure, but not everyone lives in an area with smooth roads. The worse they are around you, the shorter their service life will be.
Ultimately, these make sense if you’re doing lots of spirited or performance driving and want your car lower. If you’re just cruising around, there are likely better options.
Air Suspension Modules & Lowering Links
Air suspension is far more involved and complicated than an adjustable spring and damper set-up. However, there are still options for getting it to sit lower regularly.
Lowering links are the simplest mod option in this article. Air suspension determines its height via height sensors on each strut. A lowering link repositions the sensor, tricking it into thinking the car is higher than it is. That effectively reduces the suspension in all settings without any significant modification. When you want to change it back to stock, just remove the links, and you’re all set.
While far more expensive, something like H&R’s ETS Electronic Lowering System is also a solid option. The ETS replaces the factory air suspension computer in models like the Porsche Panamera, completely retuning how the air suspension system functions. Damper and air spring characteristics will likely differ much from what Porsche engineered. Like the links, the ETS is also easily removable, as it simply unplugs from the wiring harness.
Running your air suspension lower than it was primarily designed for may cause accelerated wear, but the visual improvements may be so significant that you won’t mind.
Lowering Your Vehicle The Right Way
There’s much more to lowering a vehicle than shortening the springs. A vehicle's suspension is a complex system featuring many parts designed to work in tandem to deliver results within a specific range. Altering the suspension height and travel significantly changes the equation, and you may need supporting parts to compensate for that.
Suspension Control Arms & Links
Every arm and link within the suspension is meant to be positioned at a specific angle or within a tight range of what the engineers deem acceptable. This is for performance and durability reasons. Lowering your car changes the angle of most, if not all, of them, putting undue strain on bushings and altering critical settings like toe and camber. That could be a significant issue as toe and camber settings that are too far out of place will cause unsafe driving conditions and quickly destroy parts.
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Even with stock components, the slight adjustment you have likely won’t be enough to cover anything more than a light drop. Working around that drop means acquiring adjustable aftermarket components, which shouldn’t be a significant issue for most vehicles. Most sedans, coupes, and wagons have been lowered or share parts with a more performance-oriented model, so there are available toe arms, control arms, and thrust arms to fix the funky tire alignment. You can find these from brand-specific aftermarket companies like 034Motorsport and universal supporters like SPL and SPC.
However, be aware that adding adjustable suspension arms adds another piece to be solved for while setting alignment, making the process longer, more costly, and more critical for the desired performance.
A Proper Alignment
You don’t need to have lowered your vehicle for a proper alignment to be a smart idea. Our tires are the only thing connecting us to the road, and it’s a sketchy connection at best if all four are pointing in a different direction while you hold the wheel straight forward. Altering the stock suspension settings and throwing in adjustable components only further pushes it out of whack, and you’ll need to account for that.
Luckily, a proper alignment is something you can do at home. It takes a bit of crafting and a handful of tools, but using string and plumb bobs, you can do it like every major professional race team. Simply get out the ruler and go to work. However, it’s much simpler to find a competent track-focused shop with an alignment rack and have them do it. Professionals carry that title for a reason, and while not cheap, they’ll likely be able to set you straight, figuratively and literally.
That said, not every shop with a rack can handle low cars with multiple adjustment points. Those that advertise a specialty in motorsports are your best bet, even if you’re not taking your car to the track. They’ll have the tools and skills to manage something very low with many adjustments.
With that, you should be all set to start modifying your car by lowering it. Speaking from experience, you’ll want that cool set of wheels the moment you see your wheel gap has disappeared, so get to looking if you haven’t found the proper set yet! Then, keep your eyes on the DIY Blog and both of our YouTube channels so you can stay up to date on our DIYs and entertaining content.
