omniphil

Hi folks,

I am looking at a used 2011 Evo MR. (19000 miles) Can you guys think of anything that might be a sticking point that I would want to check out?

It appears to be stock with the exception of lowering springs, I noticed a noise when turning the wheels near full lock and that's what I assume is the tires rubbing on the fenders. I am concerned with the Eibach springs being replaced, i'm not sure if what was put in there was just for looks or if they were decent springs. Do you think lowering the car would hurt anything handling wise?

A quick check under the car shows yellow shocks, so I assume those are the factory Bilstein units.

The car drove very smooth, transmission seems to be flawless.

TrogdorWBL

Eibachs are a good middle of the road brand. They're not the worst, but also not the best. A lot of people use them because they're a good value for what they cost. I have a set on mine. And I didn't notice any rubbing on the stock tire size (245/40/18). Is it possible the wheel well lining was loose? That happened to me, one of those plastic screws got out and it started to rub as a result (simple fix). It's also possible the car just needs to be aligned. And no, lowering a car shouldn't negatively affect handling. If anything it lowers the center of gravity to improve handling.

If the struts are yellow, it's a good bet they are the OEM Bilstiens.

omniphil

The car definitely sits lower than normal, that's the first thing I noticed. What's odd is that its the only thing that appears modded, I would think there were other things you would mod first, unless the previous owner removed the other mods.

I'm not sure I would be able to tell if a cobb access port was in use or not.

But thank you for the feed back, I just wanted to make sure the lowering springs weren't going to hurt performance in any way..

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

Over-lowering can and does hurt handling, along with ride quality if you end up banging the bumpstops. Are we talking about a car so low that the tops of the tires are already tucked behind the fenders?

TrogdorWBL

On a typical set of Eibachs, that's unlikely. The Prokit s 1-1.5'' lower. It's enough that you can still get pinky finger in there... unless you're fat. You would need coil overs or to actually cut the springs to get it low enough to negatively affect handling.

The things I would look at for mods would be bolts. Check bolts in connecting areas to see if the bolts have pink/red-ish markings on them. The manufacturer does this for 2 reasons. 1) They use this to note that a bolt has been torqued down. 2) The red-ish/pink pain rubs off very easily. Makes it easy to tell if a car has been modded.

- I would look at things like where the upper intercooler piping connects to the turbo. There will be 2 bolts there.
- Look at where the hard piping for the upper intercooler goes to that cheap rubber. There should be a pink marking on the metal, and the rubber. Those dots should line up.
-Also look at the bolt on clamps for the intake box. Those should be marked with the red ink too.

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

Hm. I believe that both Cobb and H&R springs will drop you enough to make the lower front LCA level or worse. That, to me, is too low. But that's subjective and quibbling.

omniphil

I don't think its that low, but it is lower, maybe 1.5 inches...

Here's a couple of pictures so you can see... What do you think?

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

I think it will need a RCK.