Advice needed for my 2005 Corolla Sportivo

[Cee_Sportivo]

Firstly I would like to say hi to all of the members on the site and the people who run it; I think you are all doing a great job and have excellent set up here :)

I am new to the site and have just bought myself a 2005 Corolla Sportivo which is very clean mechanically (serviced every interval, 60K on the clock) and body wise is very straight with the exception of some minor cosmetic scratches which I hope to have fixed soon. I previously owned a Honda Integra which had been very good to me but was getting a bit dated hence the upgrade to something more practical and modern.

I have been reading through a lot of posts so not to ask questions which may already of been answered and have checked the previously covered items as I am after some clarification as to a couple mods I would like to do to the car.

My first mod will be to have the suspension lowered and get a nice set of Rims for it which I feel makes the car look and feel like a different car altogether (in a good way). My purpose for these mods will be the would be for better handling/respinsiveness and to have the car look nicer (find the stock height of the sportivo a little too high and after having 17's on the honda dont want to stick with 16's) I won’t be using the car on the track and will be mainly used for city/freeway driving.

Through my previous experience I was thinking of putting on a set of springs and putting a set of 18’s on it (assuming that 18’s will fit on without having to lip the guards etc..) but looking through the previous forums I am now a little confused as to how to approach this.

Would it really be necessary to have the shocks changed as well as springs? Or will a spring change be sufficient?

And will 18’s fit the car ok with a spring change (or are other mods required?) or will I need to downsize to 17’s?

Just a little worried as I admittedly don’t know a lot about the make technically and I have seen a lot of posts saying that by changing only the springs the shocks wear out very rapidly, which is not what I am used to as I had original shocks on my Integra and had the springs lowered about 3 inches and did not have any problems with my shocks wearing out.. (was lowered about 4 years ago)

So I would really appreciate any feedback from fellow Sportivo owners who have made these mods and can contribute through their own experiences, and apologies if this topic has been covered and i have missed it. (I have been looking for days and have not been able to find anything) :)

Your feedback and advice is very much appreciated.. Cheers

[-JC-]

Firstly, Welcome to TOCAU.

In relation to your questions re: Shocks. The general consensus here is that if you lower the car at all, the stock shocks will wear out alot faster. My stock ones were still ok after 15,000k with lowered springs (Whiteline, 30mm drop) but I can't comment from personal experience after 15,000k as that was when I upgraded to Koni's. I may have just gotten lucky with the shocks, but the car was still very new at the time too, which could explain why they lasted that long.

I seem to recall one or two people having issues with 18's rubbing, but once again, I run 17's, so I will let someone else comment there. These issues could be offset/tyre size related too, so once again, someone who runs 18's should be able to point you in the right direction.

JC

[Cee_Sportivo]

Thanks for the advice JC, and thanks for the welcome :)

mBy the sounds of things I might have to wait a bit and save enough cash for the suspension/springs combo, how much are you looking at roughy for a "not awesome (and really expensive) but do the job well enough" set up?? would really appreciate opinions from guys running on 18's or like yourself 17's.

Cheers :D

[sinan]

welcome to the club mate.

i own a 2005 model sportivo aswell and am running king super lows with some 17's.i do get some scrubbing at the front and that is cause i have 215/40 tyres. so the tyres are a little thick. and with 18s on the setup i have u will definately get scrubbing. i have been using my stock shocks with the lowered srpings for about 20,000kmz and can say they are on there way out pretty soon though i will have to stretch it out a lil more till i can afford some new shocks/coilovers. and this will set you back roughly $1000 to $2000 depending on what kind of suspension you want.

[SQU-47N]

Im running 18z on my wagon with super low suspension (super low king springs, reset another 60mm lower), and i genrally dont scrub at all, running a 35 profile rubber. Still have stock shockies - very bumpy but will be upgrading soon. Hope this helps you with your decision. Welcome to TOCAU.

[-JC-]

welcome to the club mate.

i own a 2005 model sportivo aswell and am running king super lows with some 17's.i do get some scrubbing at the front and that is cause i have 215/40 tyres. so the tyres are a little thick. and with 18s on the setup i have u will definately get scrubbing. i have been using my stock shocks with the lowered srpings for about 20,000kmz and can say they are on there way out pretty soon though i will have to stretch it out a lil more till i can afford some new shocks/coilovers. and this will set you back roughly $1000 to $2000 depending on what kind of suspension you want.

Thats actually interesting to hear. Do you know what offset/width your rims are? I am running 215/40's on a 17x7 rim with an offset of +42 and I dont have any issues at all, from memory Northy was running the same rim/tyre size with his Cusco's and had no scrubbing issues as far as I am aware. Maybe your scrubbing is an offset/wheel width issue?

That was one thing I forgot to mention to you Cee, if you are careful with your width/tyre etc choice, you shouldn't have any issues, but once again, I will leave it for the guys that run 18's to comment as I haven't had anything that big on the car before.

[RXSeven]

The difference between scrubbing and not scrubbing is offset.

+40 18's (I'm sure it's 40) w. 225/35 profile rubber should not scrub with superlows. I know this from experience.

[TRIPPER]

Get a set of King Super Lows and some 17" wheels with the following tyre - 17/40/205 and you wont have any problems at all and your car will sit perfectly on the rim.

As for the shocks, the stock ones will wear out eventually.... as for every other car.

Thats my two cents.

[-JC-]

Get a set of King Super Lows and some 17" wheels with the following tyre - 17/40/205 and you wont have any problems at all and your car will sit perfectly on the rim.

As for the shocks, the stock ones will wear out eventually.... as for every other car.

Thats my two cents.

Agreed, but I reckon you'll find you can get away with a 215 tyre if you choose an offset of +42 or +43. What you will also find with a sportivo is that it will fill the rear guards out slightly more than the stock wheel, so you get rid of the anaemic rear wheel look.

Edit: Sorry mate, just read your post properly, you said superlows, and Im only running the equivalent of Lows, so you would know more about what your talking about than I would. Dont mind me, I have one eye on the footy. . .

Edited September 19, 2008 by -JC-

[SILVABULLIT]

Lowered springs will kill stock shocks over a period of time. Seeing as you are not going to be a track warrior I'd replace the stock shocks with some KYB's and add the king springs. You can get 18's under the car without issues but your tyre sidewall profile is very small so things like potholes, rough roads and driveway lips become an issue as far as bending rims is concerned.

All comes down to your personal choice but I would stick with 17's and a 40 series tyre which will be more comfortable for every day driving. If you need any prices on suspension stuff PM as I'd be only too happy to help you out. :)

[TRIPPER]

Get a set of King Super Lows and some 17" wheels with the following tyre - 17/40/205 and you wont have any problems at all and your car will sit perfectly on the rim.

As for the shocks, the stock ones will wear out eventually.... as for every other car.

Thats my two cents.

Agreed, but I reckon you'll find you can get away with a 215 tyre if you choose an offset of +42 or +43. What you will also find with a sportivo is that it will fill the rear guards out slightly more than the stock wheel, so you get rid of the anaemic rear wheel look.

Edit: Sorry mate, just read your post properly, you said superlows, and Im only running the equivalent of Lows, so you would know more about what your talking about than I would. Dont mind me, I have one eye on the footy. . .

You could also fit a 17/40/215 on King Super Lows as Sinan did and you may experience a little scrubbing when the car gets abit bumpy and when taking corners pretty fast....

But I would say the best combo on Sportivo's is King Super Lows with 17/40/205.

Cheers.

[Cee_Sportivo]

Thanks guys for the helpful tips much appreciated,

My reasoning behind getting the 18's was that the corolla has pretty big wheel arches and I am after a more "filled out look" with the rims looking in proportionate to the body of the car (no offense to anyone running on 16's I just think they look too small on the car), so if you can achieve the same type of look with 17's I would prob be better off with those, that way I don't have to worry too much about bending rims or chewing too much rubber...

Regarding to the king springs I have a few questions which I would appreciate some advice on

1) how much does the car drop on the super lows? Do you have much of a gap between the rubber and the wheel arch?

2) How is the ride? My mate had a set of super lows on a SSS pulsar and its annoyingly bumpy and stiff , this was about 5-6 years ago maybe they have improved (and was running on stock shocks)

3)do you find rubbing problems on the super lows with heavier loads in the car?

Cheers and Thanks for the offer on the suspension prices Silva Bullet will definitely keep that in mind :)

[TRIPPER]

Thanks guys for the helpful tips much appreciated,

My reasoning behind getting the 18's was that the corolla has pretty big wheel arches and I am after a more "filled out look" with the rims looking in proportionate to the body of the car (no offense to anyone running on 16's I just think they look too small on the car), so if you can achieve the same type of look with 17's I would prob be better off with those, that way I don't have to worry too much about bending rims or chewing too much rubber...

Regarding to the king springs I have a few questions which I would appreciate some advice on

1) how much does the car drop on the super lows? Do you have much of a gap between the rubber and the wheel arch?

2) How is the ride? My mate had a set of super lows on a SSS pulsar and its annoyingly bumpy and stiff , this was about 5-6 years ago maybe they have improved (and was running on stock shocks)

3)do you find rubbing problems on the super lows with heavier loads in the car?

Cheers and Thanks for the offer on the suspension prices Silva Bullet will definitely keep that in mind :)

1. King Super Lows = 50ml drop/ With these Super Lows, there is just about over 1 finger worth of space between tyre and wheel arch (with 17's on and a 40 profile.

2. Ride is good if your shocks are still going good... when shocks are on their way, you will feel it getting alot bumpier and uncomfortable. I also had a Pulsar SSS and the standard shocks on them are terrible so dont let your mates car get in the way of your decision.

3. The Super Lows will NEVER scrub with just yourself in the car, but with heavy load, you will find scrubbing only around hard bends at open throttle and I also forgot to mention, the car will be nicely lowered BUT you will have a bitch of a time going over speed humps....

I'll also like to tell you, there are also King Lows which are a 35ml drop, although they arent that popular with the Sportivo's as the car still sits abit too high for a lowered spring.

Cheers.

[kolourhero]

I had kings super lows, with 17x7 +40 offset rims on stock shocks with 215/40/17 tyres, and never experienced rubbing or scrubbing even in full load.. If you are just going lows, id recommend 215/45/17 as they are closest to the stock rolling diameter and they fill the guards more making it look even 'lower'.

Edited September 20, 2008 by kolourhero

[Cee_Sportivo]

Thanks for all your advice guys, this has been really helpful... much more clarity now on which direction to take. Will probably go the super lows with 17's as it seems to be the trick with ride comfort for city driving and less hassles regarding rims and offset etc... will hopefully post some pics once mods are complete (which could be a little while as I think I might save up that little bit extra and get the shocks from the start rather then running on stock shocks)

Cheers to everyone who posted in responses :)

[SILVABULLIT]

Thanks for all your advice guys, this has been really helpful... much more clarity now on which direction to take. Will probably go the super lows with 17's as it seems to be the trick with ride comfort for city driving and less hassles regarding rims and offset etc... will hopefully post some pics once mods are complete (which could be a little while as I think I might save up that little bit extra and get the shocks from the start rather then running on stock shocks)

Cheers to everyone who posted in responses :)

Best compromise is going lows in the front and super lows in the rear. Car sits dead level and the slightly heavier spring rate in the rear improves the car's handling characteristics out of sight. with super lows on the front and rear getting into and out of places is a biatch. Draggin your guts on speed bumps ain't my idea of having fun. Plus watch the front lip as it will cop a hiding as well.

super low and low set up with 215/40/17 with koni's is the best compromise for every day commuting and also wanting the performance handling for a track session/mountain/spirited driving.

[ADDZZ]

I have a question while this subject is about. I just got my D2's out and put my stock suspension in with King super lows in my sportivio. Now i think the stock shocks have had it! The rears just hop about and make lot's of noise when i look in the boot i can see the shaft from the shocks trying to come through the carpet. SHOULD my mechanic have let it out of the garage like this? it feels very unstable (and unsafe) on the road. Does this sound right? Could they have done something wrong? Has anyone else experienced this?

I'm going to fit some KONI's to it myself now (cos I just can't trust any mechanics anymore). I want to order the KONI's tomorrow. NOW is the KONI part number for the replacement struts (as listed in another thread) 86101416? will I be alright with these? You're friendly input will be much appreciated.

[Cee_Sportivo]

Thanks For the Advice Silva, will definitely take that into consideration.

Cheers

[Blind Kid Seeks]

Best compromise is going lows in the front and super lows in the rear. Car sits dead level and the slightly heavier spring rate in the rear improves the car's handling characteristics out of sight. with super lows on the front and rear getting into and out of places is a biatch. Draggin your guts on speed bumps ain't my idea of having fun. Plus watch the front lip as it will cop a hiding as well.

on stock shocks the back will sit lower..

i am on KYB's with the lows up front and super low rears

[jaderd]

yeah on stock shocks superlow rear and low front it will drag its *****.....with diff shocks like KYB the seating point of the spring is different height and therefore by putting the superlows in the back it makes it sit level......not the case with standard shocks

cheers mate

[dlift]

Best compromise is going lows in the front and super lows in the rear. Car sits dead level and the slightly heavier spring rate in the rear improves the car's handling characteristics out of sight. with super lows on the front and rear getting into and out of places is a biatch. Draggin your guts on speed bumps ain't my idea of having fun. Plus watch the front lip as it will cop a hiding as well.

on stock shocks the back will sit lower..

i am on KYB's with the lows up front and super low rears

Hey mate, just wondering how do the KYB shocks feel compared to your king lows/super lows+stock shocks?

I'm thinking about getting them and just wanted to know, was there any improved handling or comfort?

And do the KYB shocks come as a complete strut?

Cheers,

dlift