Do you have a "before" pic?

I think it looks a bit 4x4ish now. But, if it drives better, that counts for something.

 

Yeah, I thought the first pic was a "Before". Then realized they were all like that. I really think you should lower it more.
Clean car though (Minus the tailiights).

 

Here are a couple "before" pics:

Notice the bad alignment in the rear.

I guess I can't satisfy everyone. In the before pics I got comments like "I can't stop staring at that wheel gap" and "The alignment looks waaaay out of whack".

Now I get comments like "I really think you should lower it more" and "It looks a bit 4x4ish". *sigh*

The fact is, the alignment is way better now (perfect) and it's still 1" lower than stock. It may not look as aggressive but what good is an aggresive look when you can't drive it aggressively because every bump, pothole, and driveway could cause you to bottom out?

I tell you, the DSM crowd is hard to satisfy. I get compliments from people in public (gas stations, grocery stores, best buy, etc) almost every day, even on the taillights (that's right, non-DSMers actually like them). I don't particularly like them myself but I didn't like the stock ones either because it was a mismatched shade of red against the body... like a person wearing dark red sweat pants with a bright red sweatshirt, it just looked bad. They looked a lot blacker on ebay but they are CF so kind of gray and cheap looking, I plan on painting them though. I will not go back to stock tails before I try every other option, they just look bad, no matter what just about everybody on here seems to think.

 

Shoot a little nightshade on them to darken them up a little and it will look much better.
Either way its a very clean car.

Thomas
90 TSI AWD

 

It looked better before. Turn those collars all the way down

 

It looked better before. Turn those collars all the way down

Like I said man, it's too much of a pain to drive it that low. There are places I literally couldn't go because of speed bumps that were too high and driveways that were too steep. One time I was forced to go over a speedbump (that I knew was too high) because it was a one way road and there was a ton of traffic right behind me. It was a route that I had never driven. Well anyway it scraped the whole bottom of my car and tore the flex pipe open. I won't be having that anymore regardless of whether the car looked better then. I don't know though, I still kind of like how it looks now better because the wheel gap is symmetrical.

 

ewwwwwwwwwww!!! it needs to come down atleast another half inch!!!! it looked killer before. what kind of wheels are those?

 

what kind of wheels are those?

They are Buddy Club P1 Racing 17x7.5.

I really don't want to lower it more, maybe a half inch, but what if next time I get tires I buy some with a larger sidewall? The car would be raised a little so I could lower it more, and the wheel gap would be better filled by the tire. But would more tire look worse? I think it might.

 

If you had a happy medium between what height the car was at, and what height the car is currently at, personally, I think that would look best. Did you do the DIY rear camber kit, or get an alternate form of a rear camber kit? Once you get the height finally figured out, and go get an alignment. Aim for zero toe.

What size are your mismatched tires? 215/45 17?

 

Lol, you are hands down the weirdest DSMer I've ever met. You do realize that when you make ANY change in a car's ride height you change every aspect being toe, caster, camber, the cars roll center and so forth? Dropping a car without making changes to correct the camber and then bitching is just ignorant. Suspension systems have 'supporting mods' too. You can still have that car pretty down in the weeds and it'll do just fine if you set it up right....

blah...your car

nice combo sans tails

 

I understand what you mean my friend. Lowering a car is great in all but if it's lowered too much to where you have to drive like a bitch everywhere then that I can do without. My previous car i lowered 2'' and pot holes,speed bumps,Drive ways and parking lots that have Hills would hurt. Never again. It cost me $620 to fix an oil leak from it being too low. Everywhere I went I had to Drive up or pull in on an angle. But I loved the look and the performance.








- Dii -

 

Lol, you are hands down the weirdest DSMer I've ever met. You do realize that when you make ANY change in a car's ride height you change every aspect being toe, caster, camber, the cars roll center and so forth? Dropping a car without making changes to correct the camber and then bitching is just ignorant. Suspension systems have 'supporting mods' too. You can still have that car pretty down in the weeds and it'll do just fine if you set it up right....

blah...your car

nice combo sans tails

Thanks for the negative feedback... YES I DO REALIZE...I KNOW HOW THE F---ING SUSPENSION WORKS. I installed the ksports myself also. The PREVIOUS OWNER had lowered the car without any camber kit or alignment, it wasn't me. I thought I had already mentioned that but it may have been another thread so I won't blame you. But really, why reply if you're just going to lecture me and say "blah" to my car. Maybe I have misunderstood your tone? It doesn't really matter, the point is the previous owner had it setup as seen in the "before" pics and it was barely driveable and the tire wear was really uneven, so I have fixed it. Apparently it doesn't look as good but oh well.

 

How the hell do I change my spyders tailights? I have a 96 spyder and can't figure out how to remove them.

 

I like that lift kit!!!! Jk.

 

Yes your car does look a little "lifted", but I totally understand your reasoning.

 

Looks much better lower. Camber kit is a solution for the alignment. Learning to not drive like an ass with a lowered car is a solution for bottoming out.

Clean car either way.

 

Definately like the before pics better.

 

I think the smaller overall diameter of the wheel and tire combo is what is hurting you looks wise. You say you are set lower then stock but still have all of that wheel gap. I can only chalk that up to the incorrect tire sizing.

Were it me I would have found a nice happy medium in ride heights and then corrected the alignment. The car was definately too low for a DD before but the alignment problems could have been fixed even in that way too low state.