I have an '06 S-Type R. Does anyone have the H&R sport springs. H&R claims it will lower the front 1.4", rear 1.3" and provide improved handling. I like to hear your thoughts. Thank You...

 

I wouldn't want the car lower! And the handling is superb - if yours isn't then I would be looking at what is worn/wrong.

 

Superb compared to what?
I will agree they do not need to be any lower ride height.

mine just scrapes over top of cubes in most carparks.

My STR has stock CATS suspension. handles okay ~ it has no suspension issues . Good shocks . Mostly new bushes and it rides like a dream.
But it’s far from a good handling car .
I’ve got 70s and 90s cars that will drive around this thing in a corner.
I get it . it’s a luxury car! It does okay for a size and weight.
but it is a bit of a sled .
I was going to lower mine years ago too.
but due to it only just fitting over concrete curbs as it is ,
I felt it’s not worth wiping paint off every time I park ,
for what might not even be any improvement in handling..
it just didn’t seem worth spending the money.
I put one of those 25mm rubber lips on the front bumper .
it helps make the car look a little bit lower. And I like the look.
but it gets folded under the car all the time and eventually is going to wear through it..
if I had of lowered the car it would’ve worn 25 mm off the bumper by now.
if you park without the bumper over top of the curb it sticks out on the road in our stupid little shoe box carparks.

 

I always thought that a slightly stiffer spring with about a .5" drop would be the ticket. I have a 2005 STR.

 

I agree. The S-type is already quite low, a stiffer spring could improve the handling a bit, but it will be at the expense of comfort.
As for the handling being poor… It isn’t a Maclaren, but my x200 has excellent handling. I can only assume if your S-type handles poorly that something is wrong (e.g. Wheel alignment, worn bushes, shocks or balljoints).

 

Well I have the exact same kit that you just asked about. In a box sitting in my garage. Waiting for me to install it. I actually went to O’Reillys and got the spring compressor to do the spring swap over Christmas but looking at the H in our Springs they are progressive. And have a tighter wound clothes section at one end of the spring and I don’t think this generic O’Reilly rent a tool spring compressor is gonna fit between the coils so now the springs sit in my garage in the box and the spring compressor sits in my garage next to it in a box. Which one of us is gonna be brave enough to try it

 

So my curiosity got the best of me and I walked out to the shop to see what it looked like and to assess the situation and I may have found a solution. I unscrewed the bolt from the two spring grabbing thingamajigs and inserted them into a wide section of the spring that was wide enough for them to fit and then rotated them around towards the top and bottom of the springs to get maximum extension and then screw the stud back through it. Looks like I’ll have enough spring to compress. But of course once I put it on the shock I bet you I’m gonna find out that the Spring is going to compress down on top of these spring grabbing finger thingamajigs making it not only impossible to rotate them to a wider spring section to remove them but it’ll probably scratch the crap out of my springs which will really **** me off but I’m gonna give it a try. Can’t just sit here looking at the box springs the rest of my life

 

I have similar cheap spring compressors. They worked fine on the rear springs on my S-type when I fitted new shocks. Use both compressors at the same time, to avoid potential injury (one each side of the spring).

 

So I just remembered that my spring compressors I’m not single sided so here are two pictures of both the front and the rear with both spring compressors on. The front spring actually looks easier to manage. I would’ve thought the rear spring would have more spacing between the coils but it looks like the front shock will be the easier of


the two

 

Actually, I notice your compressors have pins to stop them popping off the spring. Thats a good safety feature. Mine don’t have those.

 

kind of important safety feature. Maybe you could mock something up. Maybe wrap a chain around it?? I’ve heard too many horror stories about springs flying out from spring compressors and killing people

 

That’s a fair point. Although, I use them so rarely, I may not bother modifying them. But perhaps a ratchet strap around them in future might be wise.