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LJ_GQV

Lowering My Mito

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Been thinking about doing this for a couple of weeks now but im not sure whether to do it or not. Will changing the springs to eibach's (or any other decent set of lowering springs) have any effect on the active suspension which comes with the QV? if it means i have to change all that or it will ruin the car then i will leave it, i know lowering the car will have some effect on the car but i done it to my GTA and didn't find it was a problem :)

 

Apart from ovbviously being lower and having to watch for speed humps etc is there anything else which could become a problem?

 

(Alfa warranty ran out a couple of weeks ago so nothing to worry about there)

 

Any help is much appreciated :thumbs:

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Not sure it will work with the active dampers. But then as they are adaptive, they should (theoretically) adapt to work with the new springs

 

Give it a go, if it works, all well and good. If it doesnt, sell the active dampers and fit some decent sports ones :thumbs:

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I done a search on google and got lead to another forum where every thread seemed to just end up in bitching about it will look shit and why bother etc :rolleyes: so not really a lot of help :(.

 

im guessing it 'should' be ok because all i would be doing is fitting the new springs and leaving everything else as it is but what i dont want to do is take out the active suspension because then id have to get a 'plug' to make the car think it still has that suspension fitted otherwise wouldn't it come up as a fault? then D mode wont work :(

 

if i bought the lowering kit and it doesn't work it should fit any other MiTo id have thought anyway so i can always sell them on but its just the hassle of it tbh, i can't be bothered to buy them, fit them, unfit them and then sell them on if i don't need to :LOL:

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Wouldn't have thought lowering would have any diverse effect on the active suspension apart from

maybe being stiffer as there's less flex to be had in a shorter spring surely ?

 

One thing though ....They're a bastard to change on the front :nonono:

You'll get a few skinned knuckles for sure :LOL:

Edited by northernbstard

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The thing with the active dampers is that they are made for those springs, but then they adapt to all conditions and driving style when in Dynamic, so should take the new springs.

 

I think you will be alright mate, get it done. Every Mito is a good inch too high anyway, at least. They all need lowering :LOL:

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They do sit high at the back especially don't they :LOL: the front isn't 'too' bad but i had a look at the eibach pro springs with a 30mm drop and think that should look near as perfect :)

 

 

Havin the smaller wheels can't help much either, shame they don't do these in 18's....

 

4picsofMito.jpg

 

I really like the wheels i've got but i really like the QV multispokes too so may even end up changing to this if/when it gets lowered. Can't decide which 1's i prefer though :Confused:

 

I know eibachs are good but are there any other 'makes' i should give a go? I'd forgotten about needing to get the tracking/alignment done though, not that it's a problem getting it done though

 

thanks for the help so far chaps :thumbs:

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Fuck me, theres a face on that dashboard!

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I told you they are everywhere :)

 

Move the vents round & it can go from happy to sad :LOL:

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Cool, I was hoping you would be able to say yay or nay :thumbs:

 

 

Is this something i could do at home relatively easily? Or best to get it done at a garage where they have all the right tools, ramps etc?

 

(Most i've ever done myself on my cars is change the brake pads & paint up/clean the calipers btw :LOL:)

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Cool, I was hoping you would be able to say yay or nay :thumbs:

 

 

Is this something i could do at home relatively easily? Or best to get it done at a garage where they have all the right tools, ramps etc?

 

(Most i've ever done myself on my cars is change the brake pads & paint up/clean the calipers btw :LOL:)

 

The rears are a doddle to do on your own ...The fronts are different kettle of fish altogether and I'd get them done in a garage tbh

took me and my lad all day to do the fronts and had to jack the springs up under my van to compress them .. :nonono:

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The rears are a doddle to do on your own ...The fronts are different kettle of fish altogether and I'd get them done in a garage tbh

took me and my lad all day to do the fronts and had to jack the springs up under my van to compress them .. :nonono:

 

No wonder it took you all day, you were supposed to be doin the MiTo not the van :facepalm:

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Losuspension were the ones I fitted LJ 95 quid on flea bay... German made 2 yr guarantee cheap as chips :cool:

 

No point buying the expensive ones if you've the active suspension struts :thumbs:

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Oops, missed that :facepalm: i'll have a look at those too.

 

Also, anyone got any opinions on H&R stuff? Seen some which give a 35mm drop so not sure if it could be a problem (even though its only a 5mm difrence) as i don't want to be scraping the bottom of the bumper/car over everything :)

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Oops, missed that :facepalm: i'll have a look at those too.

 

Also, anyone got any opinions on H&R stuff? Seen some which give a 35mm drop so not sure if it could be a problem (even though its only a 5mm difrence) as i don't want to be scraping the bottom of the bumper/car over everything :)

 

30mm drop on mine still catches speed humps ...

The underside of my front end is ditched, the foam deflector parted company long ago and the belly pan has been

refitted twice :nonono:

You maybe OK having the active suspension though !

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Still risky. Its only adaptive damping, wont affect ride height.

 

Depends how much you value the underside of your car LJ :thumbs:

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30mm drop on mine still catches speed humps ...

The underside of my front end is ditched, the foam deflector parted company long ago and the belly pan has been

refitted twice :nonono:

You maybe OK having the active suspension though !

 

On standard stuff mine catches a few speed humps when its in D but i know it does so drive more carefully over them, if you say 30mm catches aswell (i thought it would but i know it is more likely with a lowered car so wouldn't put me off doing it) but im not too keen on the idea of going lower than that. The 35mm H&R springs say 35-40 mm & i dont want it slammed :LOL:

 

I had a look though & found some 30mm H&R's so id be happier with that as they are slightly cheaper than the eibach set. As long as they are good i don't mind :)

 

Still risky. Its only adaptive damping, wont affect ride height.

 

Depends how much you value the underside of your car LJ :thumbs:

 

I quite like the bottom of my car where it is, not spread all over the road :LOL: don't want to lower it anymore than 30mm really, even if it is cheaper. Id rather pay more & not be worrying as much about damaging anything :). I might end up changing the wheels to some 18's so dont want to have possible problems with that (don't know if it might catch the wheel arches type thing :))

 

 

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18s probably use a lot lower profiles so the overall diameter wont be much different, maybe a little bigger. Is 30mm the minimum drop or are there some 20/25mm drops out there?

 

Check the 18" rim and tyre width, i seem to remember standard Mito 18" turbines run 185 section tyres, cant remember profile though but i cant see you having many issues on arch catching. Not unless you fit wide tyres

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Im not sure tbh, i haven't looked as i think it looks pretty good lowered 30mm & thats what i wanted :thumbs:

 

That makes sense about the wheels & tyre profiles, hadn't thought of that so nothing to worry about anyway :)

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1 other thing i have seen people have needed to do was change the top bearing mounts :Confused: is this something i can check to see the condition of before i get it done? or something you can only see once you start the job?

 

I have seen they are a 'weak point' on MiTo's as water gets in (apparently) and they can rust, its 3 years old if that makes any difrence? :)

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No idea on them, unless you mean the top strut mounts? Its a common problem, used to see it a lot at the dealership. Not sure what they used to do apart from replace them. Think you can get chromed/stainless covers for it :thumbs:

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Found this pic of 1 off a 2 year old car :o

 

7aduty5y.jpg

 

Doesn't look too good :LOL: i think it is the top strut mount, maybe someone else just called it something difrent?

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