List of aero mods

[GasSavers_irsa]

DO NOT CUT THE SPRINGS! It is dangerous as the spring will no longer be captive in the strut, or spring perch. Also proper lowered springs have a different spring rate so while lower, they have a similar real travel to standard springs. Cut springs, especially if cut with an oxy, tend to be weaker due to heat stress which means they will bottom out quicker. Spend money on proper lowered springs, which will also benefit in that your car will handle better so less throttle useage may result around corners.

[ma4t]

That's it. I'm taking off the luggage rack. I have never used it since I got the thing, and it makes washing and waxing more difficult.

MA4T

[GasSavers_BluEyes]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Baloney!

Actually, Irsa has a few good points. Cutting springs with a torch is the worst way to do it. Unless you are very good and can keep the heat to a minimum you do run a very real risk of ruining the springs temper and making it lose its springy qualities. If at all possible, use a cutoff wheel.

Personally, I would not want to cut stock springs for anything more than a mild drop. While cutting springs does increase the springrate somewhat (if you avoid heat issues) it usually does not increase the rate enough to match the lowering. The result is a very bad ride due to the suspension bottoming out on the bumpstops because the springs are not stiff enough. Besides being hard on the chassis, bottoming out the suspension can lead to a loss of controll which really sucks. I can't say that I've seen any stock springs where you would run the risk of them falling out if you cut a reasonable amount off though.

[GasSavers_irsa]

Yes alot of people have cut springs with no ill effects. However, I personally know people who have had serious issues with cut springs. Like every modification you have to be prepared to accept the risk. Naturally if you attempt to cut worn out springs you will have more problems then with newer springs. I stand by my statement that is not a good idea.

[slurp812]

Old school low rider guys would jack the car up, and heat the springs cherry red, then drop car, and it would be lower. How much? not sure, but it would be lower!

[GasSavers_BluEyes]

The springs also lose alot of their properties as, well, springs. Not only is the car lower, but the spring rate is drastically reduced because the careful heat treating that goes into making springs has been ruined. The result is typically a car that bottoms out often, leading to reduced control in emergency situations. Definately not a safe way to lower a car.

[Danronian]

For my VX would removing the mudflaps be a good thing to do?

[lunarhighway]

i noticed both an increase in FE and dirt accumulation on the car. i'm considdering makeing some small flaps to cure the later again, but big mudflaps should definately be removed if you go for FE. it's hard to tell how much it helped as i can only compare tank to tank fillups.

[Danronian]

They're not too big, but I agree, without them, the car gets dirtier a lot faster. The main reason I went with them is to keep the dirt, and air from going into my side skirt.

On my VX I installed some thicker sideskirts from a 96-00 civic, and the front of the sideskirt was not covered completely by the factory front inner fender lining. I was afraid air might flow into that opening, making some type of whistling noise, and I was afraid snow and dirt would get packed into the hole. The mudflaps seemed to cure all of these problems, but I was wondering if they drastically affected the flow of the air along the bottom of the car or not.

[wireless0ne]

Originally Posted by skewbe

I'm just about there myself peakster. I read many ideas about it on teamswift.net and even picked up a couple cutoff wheels for my angle grinder just yesterday for this purpose.

I'm going to go with cutting down the stock coils since that will accomplish the result and several people have taken that route. I've got a spring compressor and will try and do it on the car (without taking everything apart). How many coils, and from which end? I havent sorted that out yet, sorry. I need to take a closer look at things first.

there is a bouncing problem with cutting factory springs, after market springs increase their rate pressure under load, many coils at the bottom few at top, factory springs dont, 1 link cut is approximately 1" drop, the more links you cut the more dangerous the bounce.