Lowering for performance

[toplad]

Hi all
I know in theory lowering your car has some benefits to C of G  and air flow under the car,  but suspension set up is such a black art that simply slapping on some lowering springs to standard shocks seems a bit hit and miss.
Has anyone installed lowering springs and seen an improvement in performance or track times?
There's a lot of information on forums about lowering, but it all seems to be cosmetic

[Damian @ DPM]

To get benefit and improvement you're going to need to do more than just change the springs really.

Damian @ DPM Performance

[pudding]

Agreed.  Suspension tuning for performance/handling is a very meaty subject.

Spring kits are primarily for road cars and are generally fine within road speed limits.   For the track, you'll need way stiffer springs/dampers to keep the car up round corners, and marrying the two disciplines into one package that does everything well is very difficult.  That's why I will never track my car.  It's better to have a Caterham for the track, and a Golf for the road 

[AJP]

Agreed.  Suspension tuning for performance/handling is a very meaty subject.

Spring kits are primarily for road cars and are generally fine within road speed limits.   For the track, you'll need way stiffer springs/dampers to keep the car up round corners, and marrying the two disciplines into one package that does everything well is very difficult.  That's why I will never track my car.  It's better to have a Caterham for the track, and a Golf for the road 

I'm with you on that. Even some modern coilovers are way too soft for track driving. Back in the day - as I'm sure you'll remember - coilovers were designed for the track. You really knew about it on the road. Horrible.

The suspension companies cottoned on to the market for a kit that achieved a big drop but without the harshness, and that's pretty much what we see today in a certain price range. It's what I'm on. My car is quite comfortable, and low, but I'd never expect it to manage on track.

Anyway, back on topic. OP, if you're going lower, you really want to be matching the springs to some uprated shocks, like VWR or Bilstein. Coilovers will do the same job, but obviously with the ability to tweak the ride height.

You can just stick some lowering springs on with your standard shocks, but what seems like a similar ride quality to standard for the first few thousand miles quickly degrades into a rough, fidgety ride. Plus you'll struggle to get much of a genuine performance increase without some uprated shocks.

[toplad]

I also have an m3 e46 and that has bilstein matched springs and dampers and it prefect on the road.
The general thought in bmw would seems similar, in that springs are just for looks and will ruin stock dampers quickly because they are mismatched.
I actually have a Scirocco R with adjustable suspension, which I find pretty good, but can areas for improvement.
The scirocco board is so slow I hang around here 

[ROH ECHT]

There are coilovers you can use for both track and street...just going to cost you. However, if you are not likely going to track it hard...go with a street performance. Lower priced C/O's are as you said, aesthetics and looks. They took what coil-overs are meant for and cheapened them for the cool factor and one can say "I have coil-overs". One may have paid $500usd for them rather than $3500usd, but hey...still got coil-overs!

Without getting an expensive and adjustable set, you will have to sacrifice comfort for performance. I have H&R SuperSport springs in front and H&R Street Performance C/O springs and adjusters in back with Bilstein B8 dampers...I also have H&R front and rear ARB's. The thing is a beast in the twisty's and at high speeds, but awful to ride in for a daily. Wife hates it!

I say if looking into C/O's for some performance value(C-of-G and all) because C/O's go lower than springs do, go middle of the road and consider the warranty. If you still need to remain flatter while cornering, add a rear ARB and begin at softest setting. Adding a front ARB is when it becomes near unbearable....but I like it.