Which would be the best for performance? And which would be the best with performance + comfort? More on the performance side...oh and with 18 inch rims.

I know most people have the TRDs but the Tein's seem very popular too. If I were to go in the direction of the Teins, what struts would I need? Would I need the sways too?

 

I wouldn't go for either of them if it were me...

I love my Hotchkis, but I hear good things about H&R, so probably H&R Sport (similar drop to TRD/HTech).

As for the struts... if you have the money, get a set of TRDs to mount with them... if not, you should be fine on your OEM ones for a while. How long? Don't know exactly. A while.

And you'll never "need" sways just b/c it's lowered. If you want to handle a little better though, I'd bet the H&R Sport springs will go pretty well with the H&R rear sway.

 

I have h-techs on 19" with low profile tires and the ride is much better than stock.

 

hotchkis FTW!

 

I have H techs, with 18" rims and 225/40 series tires. Tight fit and a good ride. However, if you really want performance, you will probably also want to the shocks, or if you can hold off a bit and save money, coilovers

 

I'd rather get springs.

Is the Tien S-Tech drop a bit much? would it cause grounding?

 

S tech on 18 may rub depending a lot on your offset. If you are at stock offset, you may be fine. But if you have 42mm or less, you'll probably rub

 

i have h techs with 18's and i love it! looks great, rides great.

'nuff said! :D

 

Haha "may be" isn't cool.

The H-tech seems to be popular. I want to go low as I can, but not insanely low...oh and not rub.

The reason why I'm shying away from the TRDs is because their drop isn't as much as I'd like.

I'd be getting the Struts, Rims, and Shocks at the same time...at least I'd like to.

I might get banned for this but...I'm still riding with steelies on the Spec since March (when I bought the car)...I was looking at all these power mods and I went outside to look at my car and damn...

 

the TRDs werea great combo of ride and perfromance. Not much performance, but the ride was like stock.
I switched to Hothckis and would have it no other way. But jacked up my front end and needed new shocks imidiately. Koni's a GREAT!
But if you want to stick to your choices, i'd go with Stechs. The Htechs are nice, but still a little mild for my taste. But they should be oK with stock shocks for ahwile
if you go as low as hothckis or stechs, i'd start saving for the konis (or TRD shocks, I guess) right now.

 

i have been on my hotchkis springs with the stock struts/shocks for almost 10,000 miles now and i still like it and my stock struts/shocks are still perfect. i expect many more miles out of them. i don't really drive over a lot of rough roads very often. but when i do i just go a lil slower and it's ok.

 

yeah, I rag the crap out of mine, so mine were starting to go anyway, but that accident I was in just blew one just like that. The stock shocks just could not handle that much of a sudden compression due to how much they were already compressed. The Koni's are awsome cause they adjust to whatever size spring you have on, unlick the stock that always try to fully extend.
But not that I'm used to it, my rear end seems bouncy, so I will probably have to replace the rear stocks with Konis, even though they aren't blown.

 

Mr Meaty, thanks for all your help.

You've had Hothckis for how long? From the pics in your pofile it looks like you still have stock (17) rims. I'd be on 18's...I wouldn't want rubbing.

I've actually added Hothckis to my choices because of the strong support for them.

 

Is having the front of the car lower than the rear better for performance at all?

 

Yeah, I had 18x8.5 35 offset and they rubbed like crazy (the way I drive!)
If you go with an 18x8 with a 42-45 offset, you will be fine.
Personally, I think haveing the front lower is better because we have front wheel drive cars and most the weight is in the front. others may argue that having the car flatter is better for cornering. But yeah, the hotchkis are lower in front then in back.
The H-techs sit like that as well. But I think the S.Techs are even all the way around. Have not ridden in one dropped on S.Techs so I can't speak to how it rides. But my buddy syas his H.techs are kinda soft.

 

H-tech's.....i love'em ridin 18's no problems at all...the ride is great, not bouncey, i say better then stock and the drop was just enuf to take away the fender gap....

 

i have h techs with 18's and i love it! looks great, rides great.

'nuff said! :D

 

I just got the Htechs..........

the Manager of the shop that is installing them has a tC with the TRD and he loves the way they ride........he also strongly recomended the Htechs..........for Stechs and Hotchkis he said I will need a differant strut that can handle the differant ride height and spring rate.........but even without that he said it may go 20,000 miles before it gets sloppy on normal driving........not track driving.

Also the rake look of the Htechs really looks good.....it is not much,but enough to notice especially with a lip.

 

According to the Buyers Guide at the top, it says that the Hotchkis drop the rear more than the front?

And say I were to add a lip kit in the future or a body kit, or anything of that nature...doing a 2+ inch drop on 18's would probably make that real low?

 

I know what the numbers say, and I dont' know why they say that, because the front on every single hothckis drop I have ever seen is slighlty lower then the rear. I still think the unit Hothckis tested on had a messed up rear end with a larger then normal gap, but who knows.
the 18s would actually bring your entire ride hight up slighly. Even if you go with a 40 series tire, it will actually give you slightly more ground clearance, so that would help.
Some body kits change the style but not the hight, but the lip kit would deffinatley drop it some more.
Right now, as it is, I can't clear a parking block very well, so with a lip kit, you would totally snap it off a curb. It's up to you.
If you were planning on a body kit or lip kit later on, I would stick with something a little milder, like the H.Techs or TRDs.