Thread: Raised my coilovers - better handling

Because I went from 215/35/18 with a lil' bit of stretch to 225/35/18 without stretch, and the fact that Kumho tires always are a tiny bit wider then normal it started rubbing in my front wheel wells.
Therefore I had to raise the car all around.

The front to prevent rubbing, the rear for the looks to match the front.

After a lot of cursing, swearing, sweating and bleeding hands because the adjustment rings were seized I managed to raise the car about 0.78 inch. The car is noticeable higher but without having the tractor look. Wheel well <-> tire size is still low enough but without rubbing.

After that I went for a testdrive and I discovered the car was much more comfortable, with a little bit of extra roll but not getting worse in handling. I can drive much faster over cobblestones without bouncing to the outside of the corner.

Also, at high speeds (125 mph) the car feels much more stable, probably because of no more bumpsteer.
That's something you notice when you raise the car, not so much when driving more lowered.

So all in all, for the more performance minded people I can recommend raising your car a bit of you are really low at the moment (or almos overlowered, suspension geometry all funked up) for a much much better ride!

Intrax RS are my coilovers, only height adjustable. Mounted on a Primera P11.

Correct me if I am wrong, but you say that actually lifting the car up is what made that great difference. And 'stepping' on this additional 4cm (215 ---> 225) has nothing to do with it (plus 35% of 225 > 35% of 215, meaning higher sidewalls)?

That's true. Because I also drove the car on the new tires before I raised it. I absolutley feel a positive difference. Probably because the geometry is better now.

Oh OK then, I thought you didn't drove the car lowered with the new tires.

18" on P11? Thats a lot of unsprung weight.. get some lightweight 16" with good tires...

the size of the rims are not relative to weight.


I have 17 x 7 Racing Harts that are 13 pounds, I have a friend who has 17 x 7 that are 18 pounds. The average 17 x 7 rims is 17 pounds. Just knwing the size of the rim will not tell you if the package is heavy.

He could have Racing Hart, SSR Competions or Volks which are some of the more lightweight brands.

I'm driving on Team Dynamics wheels which deffo are not one of the heaviest wheels in it's price range. Not saying it's lightweight either ofcourse. But that's not what this topic is about tbh...

which Team dynamics wheel are you running and what offset is it. Thanks for the info in advance.

I'm running the Drifz, 7.5J and ET37. The Pro Race are the lightweight racing wheels.