Lower suspension

[Ca11um43]

Does anybody have pictures with 50/40mm lowering springs fitted? I've found a set of Lowtec springs (from Germany) which say they lower the front by 50mm and the back by 40mm, but I'm not sure if that will be too much or not. I'm currently running the stock 17 inch wheels but I'm going to get some aftermarket 17 or 18 inch wheels later down the line. I've watched videos of other people fitting 35mm springs but the front normally sits higher and there is still too much of an arch gap for my liking. I'm going for more of a flush fitment ideally.

I have just purchased a 2006 Seat Leon FR (170hp 2.0 TDI) and the suspension was recently replaced by the previous owner, but I assume they fitted parts from a base model as it currently looks like a monster truck. From what I've read the FR should be lower from factory, but mine isn't at the moment.

Another option is air suspension. I already own a full air suspension kit from another car which should also fit this Seat Leon, but since I'll be daily driving this car and taking it on quite a few long journeys, I'm not sure that's the best option (never daily driven a car on air). I don't want to spend mega amounts so I think coilovers are out of the question, as I've heard some pretty bad things about the low-mid range options.

TIA.

 

[Armin Sohrabian]

Hey. I've got KW V1 coilovers on mine. The little sheet that came with them said not to lower it too much but I lowered them all the way and it's been fine, speed bumps are a problem but other than that it has been ok. I'm honestly not sure how many mm this is lowered by, I could go measure if needed - I think I have the measurements before I lowered it written somewhere. Here is a picture of how low it is on these coilovers (KW V1s aren't the type to go super low anyway so they might be comparable to what you could get with lowering springs).

These are on 16 inch wheels and the tyres are on their last legs so with new tyres they would probably be about 6mm wider.

This car's wheel and arch gap is quite large (especially on the rear) so trying to close that gap will mean you need to lower the car a lot. As you can see I have a decent amount of ground clearance but I still scrape on speed bumps (a lot in London) but sometimes in other places. The weird type of bumps that don't go fully across the road are the worst because you are supposed to take them in a way that minimises how tall they are but if I do that the underside scrapes really bad so I need to hit them with one side of the wheels to avoid scraping - even then sometimes it scrapes the pinch welds. For this reason I would recommend bags if you have them, I am pretty sure in America plenty of people daily bags but I'm also pretty sure they're more expensive than coilovers - the kits I saw were more than £3k but I got my KW V1s for £1200.

Anyway let me know if you want me to measure the amount it's lowered by. I will probably measure them and put it here anyway next time I'm outside if I remember in case someone else finds it useful later.

 

[Ca11um43]

Hey. I've got KW V1 coilovers on mine. The little sheet that came with them said not to lower it too much but I lowered them all the way and it's been fine, speed bumps are a problem but other than that it has been ok. I'm honestly not sure how many mm this is lowered by, I could go measure if needed - I think I have the measurements before I lowered it written somewhere. Here is a picture of how low it is on these coilovers (KW V1s aren't the type to go super low anyway so they might be comparable to what you could get with lowering springs).
View attachment 53450View attachment 53451
These are on 16 inch wheels and the tyres are on their last legs so with new tyres they would probably be about 6mm wider.

This car's wheel and arch gap is quite large (especially on the rear) so trying to close that gap will mean you need to lower the car a lot. As you can see I have a decent amount of ground clearance but I still scrape on speed bumps (a lot in London) but sometimes in other places. The weird type of bumps that don't go fully across the road are the worst because you are supposed to take them in a way that minimises how tall they are but if I do that the underside scrapes really bad so I need to hit them with one side of the wheels to avoid scraping - even then sometimes it scrapes the pinch welds. For this reason I would recommend bags if you have them, I am pretty sure in America plenty of people daily bags but I'm also pretty sure they're more expensive than coilovers - the kits I saw were more than £3k but I got my KW V1s for £1200.

Anyway let me know if you want me to measure the amount it's lowered by. I will probably measure them and put it here anyway next time I'm outside if I remember in case someone else finds it useful later.

I do have air suspension (currently fitted to another vehicle that I am stripping for parts) but decided to go for lowering springs in the end, so the air suspension will be going up for sale at some point. I really did like the idea of putting the air suspension on the Seat Leon and I have seen some really nice builds on air, but as a daily it would just be too high maintenance for me.

I went for Lowtec springs from Germany, which claim to lower the front by 50mm and the rear by 40mm for a level ride height. With shipping and import fees they came to around £250 in total, and I fitted them to the standard shocks (which are not that old). I'm not 100% happy with the fitment but I think that's because I'm still running the stock FR wheels with 225/45/17 tyre's. I'm after a completely flush fitment ideally, but with the current set up there is a 1-2 finger arch gap on both the front and rear, which is still a million times better than it was before so I guess I can't complain too much.

I'm looking to upgrade to a set of 18x8.5 ET35 wheels which I've read is the best fitment for a MK2 Seat Leon, and I'm hoping they will create the nice flush fitment that I'm looking for, with no arch gap. But trying to find a second hand set with the correct fitment, correct PCD, and in decent condition for a good price is near enough impossible. And I'd rather not pay more than what the whole car cost me, for a brand new set of rims (plus the cost of tyre's on top of that) just to get destroyed by the terrible UK roads. So for now I will just have to put up with the current fitment until I find a new set of wheels worth buying.