pros and cons of lowering the lude - Page 2 - Honda Prelude Forum

jimbo24 · 02-03-2009, 10:23 PM

thanks for the advice and hopefully the ice melts away soon lude4lifeh22. also, i heard that a camber kit isn't necessary unless you drop it more than 2 inches; can someone verify this please? thanks.

lude4lifeh22 · 02-03-2009, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo24

thanks for the advice and hopefully the ice melts away soon lude4lifeh22. also, i heard that a camber kit isn't necessary unless you drop it more than 2 inches; can someone verify this please? thanks.

generally that's the case. But get an alignment as soon as you drop. Make sure they get rid of all or as much toe as possible. There will be some negative camber they wont be able to adjust.

travon · 02-04-2009, 04:42 PM

i have tein flex coilovers, my tires are all tucked about half an inch(so id say 3 inch drop?), i dont really bottom out ever when its on full dampening.. loll but i have to raise it up bcuz of my 3 down pipe ;]

dudeIgotaLude · 02-04-2009, 09:03 PM

I would say a 1.5 drop is pretty moderate. I lowered my lude last weekend and got an alignment right after. As for the camber kit, you will need it in order to prevent inside wear on your tires.

ion_four · 02-08-2009, 10:52 PM

Lowering the Prelude does make it look even more rad, IMO.

However, correct me if I'm wrong, but it also lowers your roll center...meaning the car wants to make a bigger arc when it "rolls" while cornering. This makes it handle worse.

The benefits of lowering it a bit might outweigh this, in the form of a lower center of gravity, but the bigger handling difference you're noticing from lowering the car is probably just from the stiffer springs!

That being said, my car IS slightly lower than stock, but really only because that's where it sits with Neuspeeds and Konis...either slightly higher or slightly lower.

minilogoguy18 · 02-09-2009, 09:04 AM

i have the tein baisics, once you put the top hats on and tighten the lower spring seat up to meat the spring (which is kinda the default right height) you get a perfect drop, your not tucked and its not so soft that you bottom out easily, but it is a more rigid of a ride. id say go with those instead of something that your gonna have to put 2 things together and you may not even be able to adjust.

AMorgan · 02-09-2009, 12:06 PM

If I was lowering a street car again, i'd probably just get some springs that gave me about a 1" drop all around and a slightly stiffer ride. I lowered my prelude on Koni/GCs and took it to about a finger gap all around. I love the handling and honestly I get giggles every time I drive it now, but i've also retired it as a DD (got a DD about 4 months after lowering it) and am now focusing on making it trackable for NASA. Love driving that car, but roads around me are not in the best repair and I got tired of taking a slower lane to work everyday so I didn't hit the potholes. I actually had a line I took to get to work with specific lane changes to avoid potholes. For a DD, i'd probably just get a mild drop setup, maybe some slightly better shocks and be done with it. My Konis have 2 turns on them now (I believe I have up to 5) and it can be very harsh on the roads. My girlfriend started razzing me about this one crack in the road that I kept slowing down for. They're Konis with 2 turns in from loose on GCs base spring setup.

boymeetsfence · 02-09-2009, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Solid

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I don't buy the handling arguments. Simply lowering a car doesn't make it handle better.

Winnar!

If you research it you will find that:

The double wishbone suspension that the Prelude has is actually one of the best engineered setups. The way it is engineered (this applies to preludes, and other "sporty" cars) the whole system is "balanced" based on the stock setting. In most cases, lowering the ride height without adjusting all other aspects of the setup can actually have a negative effect on handling.

I agree that lowering the lude slightly is much more aesthetically appealing but if you're strictly looking for handling, I would start with stiffening the suspension. This can be easily done to stock springs by just getting aftermarket strut replacements like Konis or KYBs

premanent37 · 02-09-2009, 07:17 PM

my car is slammed out and it gives it a really clean look and lowers your center of gravity. but watch out for speed bumps