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2016 Focus ST1
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I'm a person who dailies my ST, about 18 miles a day. I live in PA obviously it's winter, so we have potholes that are more like craters.

That being said, I'm trying to find a good looking way to lower my car -- on a budget. I know form over function isn't a good way to build a car, but I was very curious what everyone else uses. I've been told the Eibach Pro-Kit spring set isn't the worst but that it also ruins stock struts and shocks.

Does anyone daily lowering springs only? How comfortable is it? Does that destroy the stock shocks? Or is there a comfortable pair of coilovers out there that isn't as expensive as some Miatas?
 

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I have the Eibach Pro-kit on my ‘18, I’ve put around 25k miles on the springs so far. My daily round trip is 130 miles, almost all Hiway and some mountain switch backs. The ride is stiffer than stock for sure, if you catch ruts just right with the length of the car being so short it is a bounce... but not as bad as some Honda’s you see out there. Now that being said the roads on my travel are very decent, only a couple potholes that I avoid at all costs.
As far as damage to the shocks and struts I’ve had no issues yet.
 

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@jwuonog This is one thing I failed to mention to @ihave458ducks ... I recently installed Niche wheels on this car and I’m running 1 oversized tires. The Niche wheels do have a little wider offset than the Snowflakes. There was one instance where I sailed it deep into a roundabout on a hard brake hard right turn, the LF tire did make contact with the inner fender lip.

You’re right the Mountune springs were advertised just a little drop, more leveling the way it sounded. The stock Snowflakes had no issues with clearance on the Eibachs no matter what I did. Just a heads up to anyone that look into this.
388594
 

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2013 ST2, AGP BWS turbo, long block
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Running Eibach Sportlines with 25mm spacers on aboslutely DEAD dampers.

previous owner just tossed the springs in and called it a day. no camber correction.
Looking like a -1.5° ~ -2.0° of camber in the rear and It really doesn't eat up tires which is impressive. Good toe alignment goes a long way.
90% of the time it cruises fine.

The dead OEM dampers make it less than Ideal for high performance handling. Becomes very unpredictable when exiting turns. or trying to engage turns.
and of course the pot holes with stock dampers at 110k miles and Sportline springs are nightmarish.

I'm of the opinion that new shocks would really help my case. (probably can tell from my emphasis above)

point is. you can throw eibach springs in anything and it will ride relatively fine. Great street springs.
 

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2013 ST2, AGP BWS turbo, long block
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Actually im going to jump on this train and ask for advice here as well.

Would I be better off going with the ST-X coilovers or paring Koni Yellow shocks with my Eibach springs?
I like the Eibach Sportline ride height. but could see how the ST-X adjustability would allow corner balancing other fine tuning.
But it doesn't look like the ST-X has rear adjustability or damper adjustability.

Also the ST-X has a very stiff 400 in*lb rating

where as the sportlines have much softer ratings:
SPORTLINE—2013 FORD FOCUS ST DATA:

FRONT:
OE rate:
29 N/mm (167 lbs/in)
SLK rate: 23 - 40 N/mm (131 - 228 lbs/in )
Tubing: 1x UB0205-3
Bump-stop: BS770015
Dust Boot: OE
Damper: OE

REAR:
OE rate:
31 N/mm (177 lbs/in)
SLK rate: 25 - 44 N/mm (143 - 251 lbs/in)
Tubing: 2x UB0205-1
Bump-stop: BS770037
Damper: BS770043
 

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I would rather go decent springs like the Eibach Pro Kit (which I have on my ST), than cheap coilovers...

There is a reason cheap coilovers cost as much as decent springs...

That's my 2c
 

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Also the ST-X has a very stiff 400 in*lb rating
400 lb/in is not particularly stiff. It will still ride fine and, depending on rear spring rate, may ride better than stock, particularly if they've done their homework on the shocks. I'm currently running 525 lb/in in the front and 750 lb/in in the rear (because autocross) on Konis. Generally my ride is at least as good as stock and often better, though big dips give a roller coaster feel when exiting them. Remember that rear spring rates are twice as high as what the wheel sees due to the 0.7 motion ratio. If someone is wanting to copy my spring rates, they need to know I have an Eibach front swaybar and an ST rear adjustable swaybar set on soft... this setup will oversteer if you just use the stock swaybars (or oversteer even worse, if you upgraded the rear swaybar to something stiffer than the ST or Strano).

In your situation with the Eibach springs, I'd probably choose Bilsteins over Konis (provided you can find a set) and pair them with both Eibach swaybars. Nothing wrong with the Konis, but too many people turn the knobs without knowing what they're doing, so the Bilsteins are more idiot-proof.
 

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2016 Ford Focus ST 2006 Pontiac GTO 2018 Yamaha MT09
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I had an SVT focus back in the day and bought it with cut coils so I bought cheap ebay springs and it rode really good, Better than my GTO with ebachi springs. It’s not gonna be slammed as you can get with coil overs but there less than 200$. I will say coil overs are more $ but since I have them on my ST it makes me want to put them on my GTO now cause they ride soooo much better.
 

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400 lb/in is not particularly stiff. It will still ride fine and, depending on rear spring rate, may ride better than stock, particularly if they've done their homework on the shocks. I'm currently running 525 lb/in in the front and 750 lb/in in the rear (because autocross) on Konis. Generally my ride is at least as good as stock and often better, though big dips give a roller coaster feel when exiting them. Remember that rear spring rates are twice as high as what the wheel sees due to the 0.7 motion ratio. If someone is wanting to copy my spring rates, they need to know I have an Eibach front swaybar and an ST rear adjustable swaybar set on soft... this setup will oversteer if you just use the stock swaybars (or oversteer even worse, if you upgraded the rear swaybar to something stiffer than the ST or Strano).

In your situation with the Eibach springs, I'd probably choose Bilsteins over Konis (provided you can find a set) and pair them with both Eibach swaybars. Nothing wrong with the Konis, but too many people turn the knobs without knowing what they're doing, so the Bilsteins are more idiot-proof.
Thank you for the detailed reply.
I'm actually really interested in the adjustability of these koni's. Not boldly saying I'm an expert in suspension set up, but I do know enough (for someone who is yet to fully enter the autocross stage of their life $$$). I'm aware of the 0.7 motion ratio and it has me quite surprised to see that on the Eibach pro kit, the rear springs are actually softer. On the Sportline, they are at least a little stiffer than the front.
In terms of swaybars, I was thinking to go with just a slightly stiffer rear with several setting options to find what I like (like the whiteline 24mm rear sway bar) I prefer oversteer, but My last build had way too much (05 focus, with a PHAT rear sway). Was kind of deterred from the eibach swaybars since they size their front bar larger than the rear. Am I thinking of this the wrong way?

ST-X does have rear height adjustability.
I see. My b
 

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Was kind of deterred from the eibach swaybars since they size their front bar larger than the rear. Am I thinking of this the wrong way?
If you put both Eibach swaybars on a car with stock springs, it will corner nice & flat, but have trouble putting the power down due to the soft stock springs. If you put just the rear bar on and leave it on soft setting, then you get a mildly oversteering car with tripoding happening at about 0.5G vs. 0.6G with the ST bar on soft or the Strano bar on medium. So the Whiteline rear bar on soft is nearly as stiff as the ST on hard or the Eibach on soft... pretty much unnoticeable difference.

I've not experienced the Eibach springs, but I thought they were progressive? All-in-all, though, Eibach knows what they're doing and they intend on the bars & springs to be working together even though we piecemeal them.

388608
 

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I have not had them on my focus, but I had Sportlines on my Civic and they rode awesome. Not sure if it is still the same now, but they did drop it a little more than advertised.
 

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@gemery wow thats incredibly useful. Did you put that together?
Definitely makes sway decision much easier. I was just going off of which bar has the larger OD lol. From looking at your info, that's definitely not the best way to do it.

I know tripoding is undesirable for maximum lateral G, but I really prefer A touch of oversteering just in the way I bring the car into and out of turns. (again, street driver, limited experience pushing this platform to its max). To the best of my feel, the car is pretty well balanced from the factory, just very soft. It seems like I can make it over or under steer depending on heel/toe, speed, and steering wheel order. Tough to really know on blown out dampers.

But I'm gathering that Eibach bars really retain the stock balance, just at a much stiffer rate.
And that If I don't like the factory softness, even if i want a little oversteer, I'll need to upgrade the front to make it worth while.

How hard is it to get the front bar out?

@jasonwilliams10
yeah all things considered they're probably the best bang per buck to get a lowered stance that rides somewhat normal.
 

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wow thats incredibly useful. Did you put that together?
Most of it is scattered throughout focusst.org, so I collated it and added missing pieces where I could. It's part of my suspension spreadsheet that I used to design my autocross suspension which incorporates ride quality in addition to static cornering balance.

I know tripoding is undesirable for maximum lateral G, but I really prefer A touch of oversteering just in the way I bring the car into and out of turns. (again, street driver, limited experience pushing this platform to its max). To the best of my feel, the car is pretty well balanced from the factory, just very soft. It seems like I can make it over or under steer depending on heel/toe, speed, and steering wheel order. Tough to really know on blown out dampers.
In stock trim, it understeers a little until the rear swaybar binds and/or the funky square swaybar bushings start oscillating. Tucking into a decreasing radius turn, it will oversteer, particularly if you abruptly lift the throttle, so driving the FoST nimbly is very much all about weight transfer. Swapping out the rear swaybar for slightly stiffer with better endlinks and most of the evil nature of the stock rear swaybar disappears. You can still get a nasty surprise if the rear tires are cold and/or overinflated, but most likely you will never notice such misbehavior on the street. Unless it's wet/slick/steel plate.

To mediate the evil of cold rear tires, I had custom double adjustable Konis made for the front, where I increased compression (aka bump) to slow down nosedive. I also have 0.15-0.2 total rear toe-in so the rears get a little heat via friction. As an autocrosser, the front turn-in felt lazy, so set 0.30-0.35 toe out at that end and that's about at the limit of stability on the highway.

The thing to realize with tripoding is that the rear swaybar is no longer doing anything for cornering balance when the wheel lifts, so our impression of over/understeer is solely based on the few tenths of second before the wheel lifts. As such, the dynamics of inertia, how hard we tossed it into the corner, how much the brakes lowered the nose & reduced roll resistance, and whether we're onto the bump stops from braking influence that impression. Smooth drivers like the stock suspension on that soft rear ST or middle Strano position whereas those who pitch & catch their turns prefer the hard setting. Heavy trailbrakers will tend to say it understeers (because they're on the front bumpstops) and may want more rear bar when all they really need to do is trail off the brakes a bit earlier.

But I'm gathering that Eibach bars really retain the stock balance, just at a much stiffer rate.
And that If I don't like the factory softness, even if i want a little oversteer, I'll need to upgrade the front to make it worth while.
The Eibach rear bar is adjustable. My spreadsheet says when setting it on hard coupled with the Eibach front bar on the stock suspension, you get a mild understeer 0.49%. My preferred ST rear swaybar on soft with the stock suspension & stock front swaybar is moderate oversteer (1.8%) for the brief period before tripoding begins. So hopefully the Eibach springs increase the rear spring rate a bit so drivers have a choice between understeer & oversteer rather than between massive understeer & mild understeer.
 

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Most of it is scattered throughout focusst.org, so I collated it and added missing pieces where I could. It's part of my suspension spreadsheet that I used to design my autocross suspension which incorporates ride quality in addition to static cornering balance.



In stock trim, it understeers a little until the rear swaybar binds and/or the funky square swaybar bushings start oscillating. Tucking into a decreasing radius turn, it will oversteer, particularly if you abruptly lift the throttle, so driving the FoST nimbly is very much all about weight transfer. Swapping out the rear swaybar for slightly stiffer with better endlinks and most of the evil nature of the stock rear swaybar disappears. You can still get a nasty surprise if the rear tires are cold and/or overinflated, but most likely you will never notice such misbehavior on the street. Unless it's wet/slick/steel plate.

To mediate the evil of cold rear tires, I had custom double adjustable Konis made for the front, where I increased compression (aka bump) to slow down nosedive. I also have 0.15-0.2 total rear toe-in so the rears get a little heat via friction. As an autocrosser, the front turn-in felt lazy, so set 0.30-0.35 toe out at that end and that's about at the limit of stability on the highway.

The thing to realize with tripoding is that the rear swaybar is no longer doing anything for cornering balance when the wheel lifts, so our impression of over/understeer is solely based on the few tenths of second before the wheel lifts. As such, the dynamics of inertia, how hard we tossed it into the corner, how much the brakes lowered the nose & reduced roll resistance, and whether we're onto the bump stops from braking influence that impression. Smooth drivers like the stock suspension on that soft rear ST or middle Strano position whereas those who pitch & catch their turns prefer the hard setting. Heavy trailbrakers will tend to say it understeers (because they're on the front bumpstops) and may want more rear bar when all they really need to do is trail off the brakes a bit earlier.



The Eibach rear bar is adjustable. My spreadsheet says when setting it on hard coupled with the Eibach front bar on the stock suspension, you get a mild understeer 0.49%. My preferred ST rear swaybar on soft with the stock suspension & stock front swaybar is moderate oversteer (1.8%) for the brief period before tripoding begins. So hopefully the Eibach springs increase the rear spring rate a bit so drivers have a choice between understeer & oversteer rather than between massive understeer & mild understeer.
Lot to learn from this reply. thank you.
man I wonder what the price on those custom koni's was.

Both of the eibach options are a good bit stiffer than stock (sportlines are 37% stiffer front - 228lb/in, 42% stiffer rear- 251lb/in at progressive rate max)
I bet eibach keeps their springs relatively soft but couples them with very stiff sway bars to give the super anti sway feel of a track car without making it a harsh ride.
definitely more of a street approach as ideally you don't want sway bars doing all the heavy lifting (taking away from traction)
From your replies, I still think I might just upgrade the rear bar and put it on a soft setting - probably ST not whiteline. This is the lowering a daily (on a budget) thread after all. As long as I can continue to work with the vehicle's weight transfer habits, i can make good traction with a little increase in the rear sway.
It would be nice to expect a mild oversteer tendency more consistently. As mentioned, I can get it to do either if i'm really focusing on it. But a little more bias towards one outcome on the car's side of the equation would really help me out.
 
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