Droppin the Base
Droppin the Base
Been awhile since I posted or gave an update on the Fit so here ya go.
I waited for a few months to do my drop for the Ground Control guys to get their stuff ready and finally they did. I wanted a pretty lo drop so I really wasnt sure how things where gonna look with just a drop spring setup so the coilover route seemed like a good idea. So when the springs arrived they looked like so.....

Pretty cool but Ill tell you I was a bit concerned at how small they seemed , I mean these things are little like very small and just glancing under the car I could tell the stock springs looked much bigger so I was hoping there was no mistake.
I looked around on the forums for some quick DIY guides and found a few good ones of basic removal and so on of the stock stuff. The Ground Control kit did provide a page of instructions and a diagram of the slight mod needed to the front strut. They didnt however make it clear about the exact parts that needed to be removed from the strut so I actually installed it all sat it on the ground and then realized I didnt remove a part that was needed to be removed from the stock assembly. So all the front came back apart as I then removed the little metal ring bracket thing from the strut. Again this could have been a lot clearer in the installation diagram that it needed to be removed but O well. here is a shot of one of the springs compared to the GC spring.

And when I said little I mean like its the size of a coke can. Other than the little mishap with the front bracket peice the install went pretty well. I did it all solo with no fancy tools but it did take a bit of time, probly like 5 hours. But that included the redo of the front end and also a bit of time modding the front struts with care. The comparison of before and after .

So there ya have it. If you saw my post awhile back it actually ended up about where I wanted it to sit, lower than any spring kits Ive seen.
I measured the care before the install and here is how it came out.measuring fron tthe ground to the center arch of the wheel wells to the fender.
before:
Front 25"
Rear 24 1/2"
after
Front 22 1/2"
Rear 22 1/2"
I have these dialed down pretty lo on the coilovers. Like you could get a bit lower in the front maybe but you will really pay for it. They both have lots of adjustment to go back up if needed so you dont have to go this extreme with the kit if you dont want to.
In conclusion I have to say for 425.$ Im moderatly satisfied with the outcome. I wanted a really lo drop but Ill tell you the ride kinda sucks when you hit a bump, its pretty bouncey and harsh over any blemish in the road. In the curves its nice and stiff, feels really good as long as the roads are smooth. Unlike my dropped S2k this car still has tons of ground clearence and never bottoms out on the ground but does hit the bumpstops in the suspension. My S2k always hit the ground but still drove really smooth and not harsh at all. I think its just a factor of the suspension geometry of the Fit and there is just no way to slam it and have it ride good without bags. Im pretty sure my struts are taking a beating with this aggressive a drop but o well. I may raise it at some point but Ill probly just keep it how it is for now. Ive gotten used to the bumps and it just looks so much better to me lo to the ground.
I waited for a few months to do my drop for the Ground Control guys to get their stuff ready and finally they did. I wanted a pretty lo drop so I really wasnt sure how things where gonna look with just a drop spring setup so the coilover route seemed like a good idea. So when the springs arrived they looked like so.....

Pretty cool but Ill tell you I was a bit concerned at how small they seemed , I mean these things are little like very small and just glancing under the car I could tell the stock springs looked much bigger so I was hoping there was no mistake.
I looked around on the forums for some quick DIY guides and found a few good ones of basic removal and so on of the stock stuff. The Ground Control kit did provide a page of instructions and a diagram of the slight mod needed to the front strut. They didnt however make it clear about the exact parts that needed to be removed from the strut so I actually installed it all sat it on the ground and then realized I didnt remove a part that was needed to be removed from the stock assembly. So all the front came back apart as I then removed the little metal ring bracket thing from the strut. Again this could have been a lot clearer in the installation diagram that it needed to be removed but O well. here is a shot of one of the springs compared to the GC spring.

And when I said little I mean like its the size of a coke can. Other than the little mishap with the front bracket peice the install went pretty well. I did it all solo with no fancy tools but it did take a bit of time, probly like 5 hours. But that included the redo of the front end and also a bit of time modding the front struts with care. The comparison of before and after .

So there ya have it. If you saw my post awhile back it actually ended up about where I wanted it to sit, lower than any spring kits Ive seen.
I measured the care before the install and here is how it came out.measuring fron tthe ground to the center arch of the wheel wells to the fender.
before:
Front 25"
Rear 24 1/2"
after
Front 22 1/2"
Rear 22 1/2"
I have these dialed down pretty lo on the coilovers. Like you could get a bit lower in the front maybe but you will really pay for it. They both have lots of adjustment to go back up if needed so you dont have to go this extreme with the kit if you dont want to.
In conclusion I have to say for 425.$ Im moderatly satisfied with the outcome. I wanted a really lo drop but Ill tell you the ride kinda sucks when you hit a bump, its pretty bouncey and harsh over any blemish in the road. In the curves its nice and stiff, feels really good as long as the roads are smooth. Unlike my dropped S2k this car still has tons of ground clearence and never bottoms out on the ground but does hit the bumpstops in the suspension. My S2k always hit the ground but still drove really smooth and not harsh at all. I think its just a factor of the suspension geometry of the Fit and there is just no way to slam it and have it ride good without bags. Im pretty sure my struts are taking a beating with this aggressive a drop but o well. I may raise it at some point but Ill probly just keep it how it is for now. Ive gotten used to the bumps and it just looks so much better to me lo to the ground.
you have to cut the bump stops on the struts or order the race bump stops from ground control to fix the bumpy ride. ground control installed a set of race bump stops that are shorter and my ride is very nice and smooth. the reason that the ride is bouncy with stock lengths of the bump stops is effectvely the spring rate goes to infinity when the struts hit the bump stops. I hope that will help you with your bump problem.
The car looks very sexy when slammed.
However, I noticed that for the enhanced slammed look...the Fit/Jazz's with ground effects kits; OEM or aftermarket complete the look visually without completely slamming the car.
However, I noticed that for the enhanced slammed look...the Fit/Jazz's with ground effects kits; OEM or aftermarket complete the look visually without completely slamming the car.
I did cut the bumpstops like the instructions said, basicly cut them in half. No bumpstop in the world is going to make a difference when the car is this lo. The springs are just very stiff and there just isnt much travel. Plus the stock struts cant really provide enough dampening for this aggressive drop. If I raised the front it would give the strut more area to work with and might smooth things out a bit but the bumpstop is not going to affect it at this point.
I did not mean to assume that you did anything wrong. I was just going of my experiance with the privious lowering springs I had on the car that had noncut or shorter bump stops. I had a bumpy ride with the lowering springs and when I swiched to the coilovers with shorter bump stops my ride was much better. the people at ground control explained to me why I had such a bumpy ride befor. I am ignorent to assume that you had the same problem I had.
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