Looks very good 19s, hope the cut springs hold up....you did what I was chicken to do to my Tanabes.

 

It looks very nice, but...

I'm NOT a big fan of cutting springs. I've never seen anything good come out of it (esp. WRT suspension wear-and-tear on street-driven cars).

IMO, SDFLY, I'd say you were "smarter" versus "chicken" :D

 

The big problem with cutting the springs on the RX-8 (besides the usual issues of de-tempering due to heat from cutting and loss of spring rate at one extreme or the other of spring performance) is that the seats at both ends of the spring are tapered. That means that if you remove a turn of the coil, the seated end will be the wrong diameter for the mounting point and wont line up.
This ruins your suspension geometery and can end up puncturing the rubber mounts or worse.

 

The other problem is simply that of suspension travel. When you install lowering springs, the rate has to be higher to prevent the car from bottoming out the suspension (using up the restricted travel). The lower you go, the stiffer spring you need. Cutting springs doesn't provide nearly enough increase in spring rate to compensate for the reduced suspension travel (Many lowering springs don't, either). If you hit the limits of suspension travel, the ride gets extremely rough, but more importantly, while cornering, the effective spring rate goes to infinity when you bottom out, and your handling goes to crap. Staying off the bump stops is critical to good handling - that won't happen with cut lowering springs.

Regards,
Gordon

 

Uh, that is what I already said in words 23 through 35 in my statement above.

 

Guys,

So far, no problems. I live in Miami and go over bumps and pot holes everyday.

 

Nice, thanks for the update.

 

RX8on19s,
I just ordered the same width/offset on the rears but with TSW rims. When they arrive will I need to "roll the fenders"? I also have Tanabes but the GF210's.

Any issues w/rubbing?

Nice car!

 

cant really see the pics.. but im gonna go ahead and cut my lowering springs.... if u say no issues then im gonna go ahead and do it too.. cuz i have nothing to lose since im getting coilovers in the summer

 

first .. congrats on reviving a 8yrold thread ...

second ... cutting springs is for honda civics

third ... search for a thread by monchie

fourth ... you have a lot to lose once you start understanding how suspension works and it's value when it is properly functioning in a vehicle.

 

annoying, i presume im the only one that cant see the pics? :\

 

its an 8 year old thread... no one can see the pics.