Originally Posted by
Dram3000
Ok, this post is going to be really long, but hopefully anyone else experiencing the same situation as me, might be able to get something from it.
I have a 2001 Galant I-4. I wanted to lower it, so I started doing my homework on what things to consider. I chose not to go the coil-over route (money is my reason). So from there I started looking into different brands of lowering springs, how much drop, prices, pics of other Galants with certain brand springs, etc. I took into consideration as much info as I could get my hands on.
For my Galant, and my scenario, I only want a drop of essentially 1.5" all around. I did not want to have the type of worries I have had with other cars I have owned/own. I didn't want to worry about having 4 people in the car, creeping over and up speedbumps/driveways, excessive tire rubbing, etc. Also, I plan to use the factory struts (as long as I can anyways), so staying about 1.5" and under seemed to be the safer bet.
After looking into many different companies and spring applications, I learned that the drop heights offered went from very subtle like an Eibach pro-kit (1.2" front 1.0" rear) to more than what I want (like 1.7"-2.2" all around). I don't recall seeing any spring with a cool 1.5" drop.
Moving on - I have used Eibachs before on other cars. They have always treated me great. Naturally, I looked into Eibach springs first. As I mentioned, the drop was the least amount, but it appeared to be closer to the amount I desired, than any other springs. My choice was made, I bought the Pro-kit.
Then I learned that since my car is only an I-4 Galant, that I would lose over a 1/4" (give or take) based on the I-4 being lighter than a V-6 (which the Pro-kit was designed for the V-6 only).
Considering the drop is only subtle to begin with, I figured if I install the Pro-kit, my cars drop could very possibly be as little as about 0.8" front and maybe 0.6" rear. In my eyes, considering how high the Galants sit to start with, my ride wouldn't look lowered at all. And I wasn't about to drop $200-300 and have it not even appear to be lowered.
As you all know, Galants have exceptionally big front wheel wells, as well, as wheel well gap. Being that I will get less drop with my I-4, the way I see it is, if I go with some springs with equal drop front and rear, the rear end may very well look like its dragging. I would rather have the rear a tad higher if anything - definitely not lower.
I then started looking into other options, and listening to other ideas (This board absolutely helped me out a lot by the way...thanks everyone!). Anyways, I started looking more and more into the Eclipse lowering spring applications. Once again, I started with Eibach, and sure enough the Pro-kit for the Eclipse 3G seemed to be my solution.
It has a listed drop of 1.6" in the front and 1.4" in the rear. My dreams have been answered. Only now I have to check into if they will fit and if I would or wouldn't be getting myself into trouble later down the line for using them.
The first responses I got from various sources was the weight issue. "The Galant is a heavier car" is what I heard many times. But after making some comparisons between the two, I learned some models are heavier, some aren't...and vice versa from the Eclipse to the Galant.
Below are some factors I felt the need to compare between the two cars.
Galant 8G
ES model (I-4) - Curb weight = 3075lbs. Weight distribution (front/rear %) = 60.6/39.4
GTZ model (V-6) - Curb weight = 3296lbs. Weight distribution (front/rear %) = 62.2/37.7
Curb weight average = 3185.5lbs.
Curb weight difference - The I-4 is 221lbs lighter than the GTZ
Weight distribution average (front/rear %) = 61.4/38.5
Weight distribution difference - The I-4 is (front/rear %) = -1.6/+1.7
Eclipse 3G
GT model (V-6) - Curb weight (w/AT) = 3120lbs. Weight distribution (w/AT) (front/rear %) = 64/36
Spyder GT (V-6) - Curb weight (w/AT) = 3307lbs. Weight distribution (w/AT) (front/rear %) = 64/36
Curb weight average = 3213.5lbs.
Curb weight difference - The Spyder GT is 187lbs. heavier
Weight distribution average (front/rear %) = 64/36
Weight distribution difference - None
(Note - I used specs from 2001 listings.)
Now what does all those specs mean, you ask.
Well, most lowering springs for the Eclipse are also made for the V-6 models only. I took the average curb weight of the lightest and heaviest V-6 Eclipse models...and applied that directly to the I-4 Galant and here's what I come up with.
The I-4 Galant is only 138lbs. lighter than the V-6 Eclipse curb weight average. But it is 221lbs lighter than a V-6 Galant (GTZ).
The I-4 Galant weight distribution difference is only (front/rear %) -3.4/+3.4 in comparison to the Eclipse.
To put a bottomline on all this mumble jumble, the differences between the Galant I-4 and Eclipse V-6 are more minimal than the differences between the I-4 Galant versus a V-6 Galant.
Therefore, I feel if I go with a lowering spring for an Eclipse V-6 (ideally the Eibach Pro-kit), I would get pretty damn close to the actual drop listing. Which for me, would be perfect on my I-4 Galant.
The listing for the Eclipse pro-kit is (1.6" front, 1.4" rear). I'm thinking those springs on my I-4 Galant would put me in the neighborhood of around 1.4" front and 1.2" rear. Plus the car should look even since the springs are made for different drop heights.
As far as how they perform - of course each spring is specifically made for a certain car, so the way it reacts on a different car will come into play. But considering how minimal even the weight distribution difference is between the Galant and Eclipse, I don't see any major issues. I'm thinking the overall ride quality and how it reacts overall, will be very similar.
I know, I know, this was a long way to get to what I wanted to say. But I figured if I put out all my thoughts and facts up front, hopefully following posts' and questions might be already answered within.
By the way, from the help of this board, I got my info that the Eclipse springs will fit. Thanks to Tiller, RedGalant2k1, and Pinoyesv6 for verifying this.
All of the above is only my thought process. If anyone catches any errors in my thinking, please respond. After all this board is about building.
Well, let me shut up now haha.
Bookmarks