One of the things I am looking forward to when going back home to Australia for Christmas is getting back behind the wheel of my pride & joy.

Although, looking back through various pictures I have a gained a strong desire to lower the front of the car even further than it already is. The problem however, is that the current tyres on all four corners of the car are 235/45ZR17. As it is, the current front tyres rub slightly on full lock, so much so that I have already cut and removed parts of the inside guards at the front.

I have a strong suspicion (via my memory of the inside wheel arch bodywork) that this particular section bodywork has a slight positive camber, hence the wheels will rub more the further the car is lowered. This effect is exacerbated by the the fact that whenever you lower a car (without altering other parts of the suspension) the wheels of the section being lowered automatically gain negative camber. I can counter this effect slightly as I have a Whiteline adjustable camber kit on the car.

Another possible problem is that lowering the front of the car with super-low springs also increases the likelihood that the stock dampers will start bumping. This has two effects; the first being that it generates heat, making the dampers less effective, hence altering its rebound characteristics. The second is that whenever the damper knocks it is effectively destroying its self. The general way around this problem is to fit a proper adjustable coil-over kit (in fact in Japan they would never just put in lowered springs with standard dampers). I am not sure if my budget will stretch to a full coil-over kit, so I may just get a set of super-low springs and replace the dampers with a shorter set sometime in the future (when I move back to Australia permanently).

So, who makes super-low springs for the FTO. The car currently has King Springs on each corner, however unfortunately they do not provide a set of super low springs for the FTO. Whiteline does have a set in their flat-out range however I have a sneaky suspicion that their springs are no lower than the Kings that are already in the front. Jumboz have a bad rep (I couldn’t even find an official Jumboz website…), so that rules them out. The only Australian company that offers the possibility of lowering further is H&R Springs who make custom springs designed to the specifications you provide. Does anyone know anyone else that makes super-low springs for the FTO in Australia perferrably 50mm-60mm lower than standard? If so, email me.