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2005 Corolla XRS Lowering Springs

25K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  silver04rollas 
#1 ·
So I want to lower my 05 xrs but have never done this on a car before. Anyone know any good springs that will lower it to a nice clean look and will keep the tires from rubbing? I think it is all stock now. I am looking at Tiens that drop it like 2.5 inches but this might be too much if it will rub. I also noticed sites say fits all trim of corolla so i was wondering if it is a 2.5 drop on others but maybe only a 1 inch drop on mine as xrs is already lower.

Bottom line I want it as low as it will go without rubbing and without needing a camber kit if possible. Thanks guys!
 
#2 ·
I used to have tein springs. Don't get them. The stock XRS springs have much higher spring rates (stiffer) than the tein S-tech and H-tech springs. I was impressed by the drop and then bough them. However, I regret buying them because they were too soft.

If you want to lower the car and retain the sporty handling, I have the Megan race springs and they are quite stiff (250 lbs/inch front and 250 lbs/inch on the rear) and they will lower 2 inches both front and back.

If you want to go with extremely stiff springs for serious auto crossing then H&R race springs are a good choice. Personally, I did not want to have my teeth chatter so I settled for the Megan race springs.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks 04rollas!

That was great info for a new to modding guy like myself! I had done some search and settled on the H&R until you explained it to me. Teeth shattering does not sound fun hehe. I like that the Megan have a 2 inch drop like the others but are more street friendly but not as soft as Tiens. Do you have any pics of your xrs so I can see how it looks dropped?

Thanks again
 
#4 ·
No problem.

By the way, I also have adjustable Koni Yellow shocks (front stiffness set to 100% and rear stiffness set to 85%). I played with various settings from full soft to full stiff and eventually settled for this setting.

Remember, I have wider/lower profile tire combo (205/50) so the wheel gaps are only because my tires are lower profile than stock.

So my Koni shock settings are a bit stiffer than the stock XRS KYB shocks so if you get Megan race on stock shocks, your car will sit a bit lower than mine.

Megan race springs should be fine with the stock shocks (since the shocks are supposed to control the spring movement). Since it will require taking off the shock tower assembly, if you want to swap out the shocks as well, I would highly recommend Koni yellow shocks
.

Hope these pictures help.






 
#5 ·
I also had Megan Racing springs. I loved them, then I wanted to go lower, so I upped the ante to coilovers :)
Springs:

Coils


The good thing about coilovers is they are fully height adjustable and it's direct swap with the old worn out shocks and springs. If I wanna slam it I can if I wanna raise it higher than stock I can.
 
#6 ·
Tein S Techs on my 03 Corolla S with stock shocks was a decent ride. I'm running the same setup on my 05 XRS but cut the back springs a little (this is a nono but i wanted it to drop a little more). The ride is ok but on poor roads it can be rough. My stereo bezel popped out a little on a bump when I was in LA. Not sure what direction to go next but thank you silver04rollas for the info also. Gives me some options to think about. Also I'm jelly your XRS came with a sunroof. That is the single most piece I miss from my S. Then again, I would trade the sunroof in for lift anyday. :)

dmsyr
Your XRS rocks!!!! Keep up the good work. Your Megans available?
 
#7 ·
Yes, my XRS came with moonroof (in Canada, you could only get XRS with all of the options)

I had the same issue with Tein springs the way you described and they were never built for the XRS anyway, They were for the 1ZZ models so the spring rating was much softer than the stock XRS springs.

I would highly recommend Megan race springs. Great quality springs and have very good spring rating (250 lbs/ft). However, the ride height would go up a bit since the drop is 2 inches on Megan race as opposed to 2.25 inches for Tein s-tech.
 
#14 ·
When I park next to a regular Corolla, my car is significantly lower despite the illusion in the picture. My car should be about 1.5 inches lower than a normal XRS since they used a 1ZZ Corolla to measure the 2 inch drop.

My shocks are also close to the stiffest so they don't let the car drop too much on to the spring. My car used to be much lower with the saggy, POS Tein S-tech springs that blew my stock shocks (which also lowered it by 2 inches).

The gap in this picture in real life is very minimal. Not sure how it looks next to stock. My tires are also much lower profile than stock (205/45/17).

 
#16 ·
Another angle for my car that shows clearance relative to the ground. My car has a bit more fender gap than the other cars with Megan, because of the overall shorter circumference. The 205/45 tires are really wide (especially on 8 inch wide wheels, they are stretched pretty wide), but they are "skinny" and not "meaty" like some other cars so to speak because I like to keep the overall circumference shorter than stock in order to keep the gear ratios the same or shorter so that car can rev to redline as quick as possible.

 
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