I would like to drop my car and keep the stock polished wheels on my Protege5. I'm looking at the Eibach Spring Kit. If I know nothing about working on cars is this an install I can do my self? If not how much should I expect to pay to have it done? Will I need anything more than the springs? And, I will need an alignment after install, right?

What would the difference in ride quality be between Eibach springs (1.4"f/1.2"r drop) and coil overs getting me about a 2" or 2.5" drop? (this is with stock 16" x 7" wheels)

 

for starters...the lower you go...the stiffer your ride is going to be...for the simple reason that you are limiting the amount of travel that is available for the wheel....

another thing...your stock wheels? they are 16 X 6....not 7.

 

Crap! another reason I should get new wheels! I can't though! I could NEVER justify the cost to my wife! What about the other questions I mentioned?

 

If you are totally new to working on cars, I would have to say get someone else to do it. They aren't all that difficult, but the rear requires some interior disassembly to get to the upper mounts. You should get an alignment after removing the struts to install the springs. Coil-overs lowering the car 2" to 2.5" will give you a worse ride than Eibach springs lowering the car 1.3" because the front of the Protege has limited suspension travel. The coil-over will contact the front bumpstop more often resulting in a worse ride and unpredicatable handling.

 

Yeah, coil overs just seem like too much of a pain and sacrifice everything for looks alone. Should I buy the Eibachs from a shop who will install them or order them from the net and them find a place to install? ANY idea how much the install will cost?

 

You could do the spring install yourself if you have basic technical knowedge of cars...but, if you are unsure...I would have a professional do it....there are things to be considered such as the use of a spring compressor, whether or not to cut the bump stops, etc...

I know of guys that dont use spring compressors when swapping springs...but in my opinion that is a safety hazard.

Most shops will charge about 2hs labor to do it...over here it is at around $60 hour for labor, so you do the math according to your location.

You should not need anything more that the springs...it is just a basic swap.

I would recommend getting an alignment done after any lowering job...but some decide not to and suffer no tire wear consequences...others decide not to and end up buying new tires after a couple months and then get an alignment....so you decide once again.

We dont have the Eibachs on any of our P5's ...but we have the GC's and the H&R's on a few and the ride is pretty close in quality between the two. Keep in mind that the GC's can be customized with a specific spring rate when you order them...so if you are gonna get high perf. struts you may want to order the spring rates accordingly if you go coil-over.

Hope this helps you out.

Peter

 

Don't mean to be a pain but can you explain the "high perf. struts" thing you mentioned? If I go with GC coil overs then do you have to get new struts? If not then how big a difference will new struts make on the MP5?

 

I meant high performance struts...ie...Koni,Tokico,Mazdaspeed, etc...

No, you can get the GC's setup for your stock struts...they actually come that way when you order them....they will only customize your spring rates if you ask them specifically for certain applications...are you gonna be racing your car autocross a lot??? If not, dont worry about it.

The diffrence will vary from strut type...but generally one could say that your car will feel quite stiffer on turns and bumps versus the stock struts.

 

IMHO you should get struts. The stock struts do not have enough damping to handle aftermarket springs. If you lower a car, you need stiffer springs to keep the car from running out of suspension travel and hitting the bumpstops. If you don't change the struts, your ride quality will get worse, the car will handle badly, and the stock struts will also wear out quickly, making all of this even worse.

As for which struts to get, the choices for the G3 Pro are limited right now. Mazdaspeed makes adjustable struts, but they cost $180 a corner and have no warranty. The stock MP3 Tokico struts cost less, but not by much, and they aren't adjustable. AWR makes a very high quality coilover suspension kit with custom-valved Bilstein struts, but the kit costs ~$1,450.

The best option IMHO is to wait until Tokico releases adjustable Illuminas for the Protege, which is supposed to happen this summer. They will probably be much cheaper than the Mazdaspeeds, and all Tokico products come with a lifetime warranty.

All IMHO of course

 

Although I know that it is hard to quantify . . . could someone out there give me an idea of how much stiffer the ride is w/Eibach's or H & R's v. stock? Rough estimates?

M

 

Can someone post the directions on how to change the springs? I'm also interested on how hard it is. If it's all nuts and bolts i think i can deal with that.

 

To iamacanadian: I just had a set of H & R Springs installed on my Protege5, and to answer your question: Yes, the ride is a bit "stiffer" than the "stock" mode. But it's not a radial ride or anything like that. After I mounted 17" wheels, the wheel gap was excessive, but after the H & R's......WOW! what a differnence, in looks, it's "just enough" , about 1 to 2 fingers from the body and the ride..... well the twisty test comes tommorow, I can't wait!

Try them, you'll LOVE 'em.

Later, Speedbump

2002 Protege5
vivid yellow/ 5speed
17x7.5 Rota Sub Zero Gun Metal
215/40HR17 kumho 711 BK Ecsta
H & R Springs
MoMo shifter/belt cover

 

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