Please advise if lower the car is better for turns?

[sam03]

How is the performance of the ML320 after lowered 1.5" by changing the Eibach rear pro springs or H&R springs?

I know a lot of discussion has been discussed how to do it but what is the result?

I am using a yr 2000 W163 with the AMG 18" rim and NEVER ride my car on the country rough road. The most is driving it on the road with a lot of turns, one after the others, that is why I am thinking to lower it in order to have better controls for the turns.

Please advise will that be much improvment if I lower the car for the turns and is it worth it?

Thanks in advance!

[CQRT]

Sam-
Certainly a lower center of gravity should result in greater stability "at speed". But on paved roadways and a normal combination of highway and in town driving, I would think at most- that you'd get a change in appearance -lower, more aggressive stance- but not much change in handling.
You don't indicate what part of the world you're located - -but for normal US urban/suburban driving, I doubt you'd see any performance/handling advantage.
Regards-

[sam03]

CORT,

Thank you for your advise.

I am living in Hong Kong and the road are narrow here. From my office to my home, there are a lot of snake turns (one turn after another), I need to be very careful to make sure I won't pass the centre line of the road in order to make sure the car from the opposite direction is safe. This is why I am thinking to lower the car and try to improve the control of the car.

In conclusion, I may just drive slower in stead of lowering the car for safety.

Cort, thanks again for your advise.

Sam.[:)]

[ML Matt]

Sam,

I also live in Hong Kong like and I did think of lowering my ML320 truck but people in the forum said, it will affect the drive quality as the road in our city is a bit too bumpy especially you always ride with passengers in your truck.

Would you want go first and tell me how it is and I'll follow if it isn't too bad at all in terms of ride quality.

[GOAT]

I just put my set of Eibach's on my truck about a month ago and as I have mentioned in previous posts the ride quality suffers a bit in city but on the highway I don't notice it too much. As far as city driving goes you will not notice too much in the way of handling... you will notice it more when you're on the highway goin 80mph. Hope this helps.

PS... I did it more so to reduce the Gap in my wheel wells for the spring/summer and for winter I will go back to my stock set up. (helps to have a friend willing to swap springs for free as it is a time consuming project)

[sam03]

ML Matt,
I am not going to change the spring unless I am sure that is what I am looking for, that is a lot of works and money! As the advise from CQRT & GOAT, I believed that I am not going to change the spring for my car.

GOAT,
Thank you so much for your reply, this has been help me to find out the answer. If lower the car will not have big difference for handling, but make the car more stable when driving in high speed, I am not going to change the springs.

Thanks again![:)]

[dakat]

sam03: a better solution would be to install the larger ML55 sway bars front and rear along with a good set of shocks like Bilstein. Sway bars only come into play during body roll and have nothing to do with ride height, or ride quality. Lowering any vehicle just opens a lot of alignment problems you don't need. The reduction in center of gravity would give you a very minimal increase in cornering! [8D]

[ML Matt]

Sam,

Actually, the H&R or Eibach rear spring is not much but merely $200 per set. The most important part is the ride quality after it changed. In the meantime, I'm still puzzling whether I should upgrade the rims to 19" or even 20". However, I'm also concerning the ride quality with a set of thinner tires after rims upgraded. Once again, we all do mostly city drive in our country.

[sam03]

Dakat,

Thanks! I never think about this before, and it may be the solution for me. I will check with my mechanic today. [:D]

[ML Matt]

Sam,

Could you please let me know how much is it cost for the ML55 sway bar once checked with your garage ?? Please let me know the update and I'm anxious to know more.