FocusCanada Forums

hey guys, what do you think is a decent drop, i also plan to get the SVT front lip after christmas.

On a serious note, what's more important, the look of the car after the drop or better handling of the car and continue to be able to drive it very well in the snow.
The reason i ask is dropping the car 2" will give a great look to the car, will certainly go further toward better handling, but it will also stiffen up the ride and at times on a rough road you will feel every bump. You'll have to be very careful coming in and out of driveways, over speed bumps, over railroad tracks. I think you see where I am going.
Get the SVT suspension, IMO. It only drops the car about 1/2", doesn't cost an arm and a leg, really tightens up the handling of the car, still handles well in winter driving conditions and you don't have to worry about every bump in the road. But don't take my opinion of hte SVT suspension.
I have a very lowered car and at times it is great fun, but at times it is a PITA.
Ask AnthonyD or dBlast or 2001ZTS what they think of their SVT suspension.
But truthfully, if your doing it for show, then a 2" drop is beautiful with 17's and you get a nice "tucked" wheel.

if you do it yourself. the rear bolts are a bitch!!! to the point where you may have to bring it to a shop to get the bolts out. i attempted and had problems to the extent that i needed to replace hte rear control arm and bolts(johnson bars dont always loosen things, even if it is turning and seems like its moving out.) i needed to return the springs to pay for the work to fix it.

Get the eibach prokit springs..they are 1.6" in the rear, 1.4" in the front and provide a great look and far improved handling, without losing all your ground clearance and driveability!

I've got FK coilovers, a little bit more expensive, but they are adjustable. My car is dropped about an 1" right now, and its been pretty good in the snow. Depending on where you live, 2" might cause some real issues in the snow. But a 2" drop really gives the car a nice stance.

Not sure what year your car is, maybe a good idea to pickup some new struts/shocks at the same time if you've got a few miles on it.....

I think sportlines are too low in my opinion, look nice yes but ride quality isn't the best.

Pro-kit is what i'd recommend for ride quality and a nice drop.

thanks alot guys, i picked up the coilovers from bigmandan i was going to do 2" but i want to get the svt front lip, im just wodering if im gonna have enough clearance for driving, and as for the rims i got em picked out :D thats not a problem.

Tom

ZTS_DJ,Dec 11 2005, 01:14 AM Wrote:thanks alot guys, i picked up the coilovers from bigmandan i was going to do 2" but i want to get the svt front lip, im just wodering if im gonna have enough clearance for driving, and as for the rims i got em picked out  :D  thats not a problem.

Tom
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Seeing that we are on the topic..so i plan to drop mine as well...now after looking at the rear suspension on my car Zx5...i'm a little weary on the rears. um, is there a link that can show me how to remove the springs ....

ZTS_DJ,Dec 11 2005, 02:14 AM Wrote:thanks alot guys, i picked up the coilovers from bigmandan i was going to do 2" but i want to get the svt front lip, im just wodering if im gonna have enough clearance for driving, and as for the rims i got em picked out  :D  thats not a problem.

Tom
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Yes they have enough clearance. I have a 2'' drop (h&r race) and a body kit without any problem, even during winter.

Myself and Darkpuppet and a couple others have either the complete SHM kit, or parts of it. I've not had any issues in the snow with the car being lowered. Only thing I find is that the suspension is more taught/heavier duty than the SVT, so when the car is cold, the car rides rough. As in it lets you feel everything possible in the road, and the car bobbles a bit too. Anyways, my car lowered about 1.5" in the front, and 1.75" in the rear. Stance looks awesome, even with stock rims for now, and I've had like no clearance issues at all. Like the others said, leave the coilovers at less than a 2" drop and you'll be good to go, even with an SVT lip or skirt package.

BTW, the easiest way to remove the rear springs on the car is to disconnect ALL of the wishbones/control arms....you'll have more clearance to get the old spring out. Of course I would say you HAVE to get a 4-wheel alignment with any suspension mods.

There's a couple good how-to's steedafocus.com did for springs here:

FRONT: http://www.steedafocus.com/installs/Spring...lFocusFront.htm
REAR: http://www.steedafocus.com/installs/Spri...lFocus.htm

The rears are actually a lot easier to do since you dont need spring compressors or anything.. the hardest part of mine was getting the rear sway bar to move out of the way to let the arms drop and release the springs.

I got the B&G springs for the Svt 2.25" drop alround I like them.
The FK's not a big fan they are very bouncey, well on my friends GTI but who cares its a golf Haha sorry just jokes.
The suspension Easy to do I think there was a post on how to do it, If not I can help you I have done it on many cars.

I have the Apex kit with an SVT lip and have ripped it off twice now on the same driveway. Other than that single one driveway, no probs for clearance etc.
The kit is 1.5 or something, not huge.

j3rt,Dec 11 2005, 06:24 PM Wrote:I have the Apex kit with an SVT lip and have ripped it off twice now on the same driveway.  Other than that single one driveway, no probs for clearance etc.
The kit is 1.5 or something, not huge.
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Oh I scrap too! Its not a good sound, but just got to be careful.

i swear by the SHM kit and it's 1.5" drop...

and you while a spring compressor is recommended, you can do the swap without losing an eye without it. Me and bluetoy had no problem swapping springs... of course we both clock in at over 200lbs each.

darkpuppet,Dec 13 2005, 09:16 AM Wrote:we both clock in at over 200lbs each.
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just a little :lol:

i have the FK coilover and have a little more than 2" drop all around, no problem at all, and i'm now driving it everyday in winter as well! i have a rieger front bumper so that's lower than stock bumper, don't have a problem! (didn't scratch the bottom since i've got it , is about a year now, and even with 2" drop, i still have about 4" of ground clearance at the front)


i have the apex 1.5" kit before with a lip body kit, it was a little more trouble compared to my 2" drop with FK coilover...
i'm pretty sure that's because the FK kit is stiffer so that is not that easy for the front lip to touch the ground with the FK kit! (and also, the rieger bumper is shorter than stock bumper + lip so that's another reason why it has less chance to scratch)

for alignment, i did it and i didn't need camber adjustments because they were still within the factory recommanded range!

as for comfort, even tho the FK kit is a lot more stiffer, it is more comfortable because it handles the rebounds better! the apex kit was very uncomfortable when driving downtown area!


a side note, a 2" drop for a focus isn't much becuase the car has a lot of ground clearance, about 6.5" - 7" if i remember correctly. But if u don't drive careful, u can scratch with the SVT suspension or even the stock suspension.

I've got about 1.5" drop at both ends and I like the looks and handling. Even that, though, requires camber adjustment in my opinion (which I have done). No problems in the snow, yet.

EO.Masiv_tiketzcervinisvt,Dec 11 2005, 08:13 PM Wrote:The FK's not a big fan they are very bouncey
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Maybe the golf's FK is bouncy, buy my FK coilovers are pretty stiff. I don't think i'd use bouny in anyway to describe them. You do feel the bumps in the road alot more but i wouldn't call it harsh either. Just alot firmer than stock.

I have FK also, and 'bouncy' shouldnt be used to describe them.

Eibach pro-kit, now thats a bouncy setup. I went from Pro-kit to FK and dont regret the move at all. B)

EDIT: A lot of people talk s**t about FK but I think I've read 1 bad review where some guy broke a strut on FJ, thats it. Everybody else, praises & loves the setup.