I don't want to lower the car because I don't want to pay to have it done LOL. I got stock rims now and thinking of upgrading since the car is 5 years old. I don't want super expensive rims, but something different, fresh, etc. But do I have to lower it? I have seen some cars on here that are lowered and look good, but some on here have their car lowered too much and the wheel is up in the wheel well too much. To me it makes the car look dumb hehe.

Thanks.

 

There's nothing that says you have to lower your car to get new wheels. There are varying degrees of all of these things.

Like lowering - some people really like to go as low as possible. They like the look. Others (myself included) would like to be low enough to make it look a little better (less wheel gap, less 4x4 look) and get a little better performance in handling. You don't have to be slammed to go lower and get a better look.

And also with regard to wheels - you don't have to go huge with the size or anything either. IMO, 18s usually look the best on the tC with regard to size - but it also depends on the style of the wheel. But there's nothing saying you can't go find a set of 17" wheels (like OEM size) that look better than OEM. You'll just still have that wheel gap/4x4 look like I mentioned.

Oh... and as for lowering your car and paying for it... all you need to do is hit up your regional forum and find a couple people that have done it before and supply them with pizza/beer/soda/whatever and spend a few hours getting it done. It is not an impossible job. I've done it myself 3 times with a little help here and there. Can definitely be done without shelling out tons of $$ - except for the springs though - you're looking at maybe $200 there.

 

Well the reason I would not lower it is because to me as an engineer it is just going half-azz (not making fun of anyone here lol). If I were to lower it, I'd in the process upgrade the entire suspension system with new struts, shocks, and springs. That cost some decent money. I'm just not a fan of the "lowering springs only" upgrade. To me, it is like getting new shoe laces instead of buying a new shoe - if that makes sense hehe.

Also I wasn't sure if lowering it is needed because I know about the gap. Right now if people laugh, I can say "it's stock hehe". I thought about 18" and saw packages are $1200 on direct discount tire. But 17" packages are $790. Not sure why the big difference. Hate to see what SUV's 24's go for haha.

Part of me wants new tires, part of me wants new tires and rims, part of me wants to get the cheapest tire possible which are the PZ900's to match the ones on the front.

Buying tires is hard haha.

 

Stay away from the pz900's. You get what you pay for with tires. I found that out the hard way with the pz900's. I replaced 3 of them within 6000 miles and they are some the the worst tires I've ever had

 

Why you need to replace them? I have them on the front right now and all-season's on the rear. I wanted to get them on the front, move the current fronts to the rear and have all 4 PZ900's! :D

After 75,000 I still haven't had a flat tire. Better yet, I haven't had a flat tire since I started driving and that was like 11 years ago HAHA. Maybe I am lucky?

 

I got two flats and two bubbles on them and when I got them replaced I had another flat so I just didn't have any Luke with them and didn't really like them at all. The grip sucked IMO and they made alot of noise. So mich that I thought there was something wrong with my suspension. After I got tires of them and got new tires all the problems I thought I had went away and my ride is much smoother now and alot quiter. But this is just my experience with them if you are not haveing anyproblems with them then go ahead and get them. Just trying to save you some headach down the road

 

Have you thought about just painting your stockies? It can make a dramatic difference if done right. Very cost effective. You could even get them to look like 18's with the right paint scheme.

And replacing tires on two of the stock 17's would be more affordable than getting new rims and tires on all fours.

If you're thinking about it from an engineer's view, then you already know that 17's are more performance oriented than 18's... and if you're after performance, then I would recommend that you take the money you saved on rims and get some higher performing tires.

 

tires are what connect u to the road! you dont wanna cheap out. check out sumitoma they are on the cheaper side but are very good.

 

please, dont do anything to your car. it seems like you don't know what you're doing. first, you say you don't like it when other people "half-azz" the suspension. then, you say you want "the cheapest tire possible".

 

lower it!

 

Sumitomo

And yes, I bought those for my wifes 2000 GT Mustang as replacements for her old Michelin's...they are great tires.

Link for our OEM size:

All Season: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....num=14WR7HTRPL

Fun Season:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....num=14WR7HTRZ2


And to the OP...nothing wrong with going with "spring only" installs. TRD makes very good factory springs that drop it maybe 1.25 to 1.5" that will still work with the spring rates your stock struts provide. Anything more than that and you will blow your struts out. But I bought some TRD springs for $120 shipped. That's not a bad price to get rid of some wheel gap like mentioned above.

 

im with thekevin on this one.. lol

but if you're going to get wheels, it'll look better lowered.. also, there's no point in getting upgraded suspension i.e. shocks/springs if you're not going to make something out of it. (track use etc.)

people get springs because they just want to drop the car to make it look better and have a little stiffer suspension than stock. nothign wrong with it. (nothing "half azz" about it..)

 

How much does TRD springs with install at dealership cost? Is 1" really that noticeable?

 

im not sure on price, but you can easily check our classifieds section for people always selling springs/shocks.

install usually runs around $100 for all 4 corners. (at least in socal it is.. i think.. idk i do it myself..)

annnd yes, the 1" is noticeable, but i'd rather prefer a car that's not 1" lower than stock height. (personal preference)

 

I was thinking just now at work at thought it would be cool to lower the car for free! Don't call me dumb if possible but asking. Is it possible to take some tool that can cut springs, and cut 1" of compressed spring height away from the stock springs? Maybe this can be done when the car is jacked up so you don't hurt yourself.

Any thought?

 

oh my lord

 

wow.... thats all i can say.
please dont cut your springs, you could kill yourself.
IBTL lolz

 

I won't call you dumb (while others around here might go ahead and call you a noob) but cutting springs is going to compromise the strength of your suspension. You would be taking a huge safety risk by cutting the springs. The integrity of the spring is seriously affected and you could cause more harm than it's worth. We would suggest that you don't do it if you value your car and your life.

 

I wish installing lowering springs was easier. I was reading a guide on here how they do it and I didn't know you have to go under the hood for the front and rip the back out for the rear. I thought you just take the tire off and the brake rotor off and shuve it in. Man. No wonder people charge so much to install. I read the Tein install on here and it was like 50 pictures. And that was just 1 tire!!! LOL.

I've been thinking of all these ideas but I guess they aren't reasonable. I even thought of squishing the car down from the top but that is not really realistic.

 

even if you wanted to cut the springs you would have to take them out. if you tried to cut them on the car they would be liable to shoot out and hit you.

stop thinking other ways to do it because their arent, you either have to do it yourself, take it to a shop or not lower it at all