TTR

Anybody have a lowered W203 (2001 C240) that they drive in the winter as well? Preferable opinions from people that experience 6 months of winter throughout the year with endless snow. Just want to to know what coils I should get without becoming a snow plow.

jcnash

Not recommended.

I installed 05+ sport oem suspension on my car which lowered it a bit, but not enough for it to start scraping.

TTR

How much of a drop did you get with that? I take it aftermarket would make my front end scrape then?

jcnash

With the 05+ Sport suspension I got a drop of 1 inch all around.

The aftermarket stuff lowers the car by 1.5-2 inches at the front based on which brand you pick and about 1 inch at the rear. Depending on the amount of snow on the roads, you will scrape. Either way, even with a little snow, youll hit curbs, driveways, sidewalks.....not worth it if youre driving in the winter IMHO.

Digital K

tell me more about these springs. What model in specific? where to buy? 4matic?

Song

I used to live in Edmonton. Scraping will be common especially in a residential area where they don't clear the snow as often. My car has the factory sport suspension. so +1 not recommended. slipping an sliding is fun though.

jcnash

The MY05+ sport model springs. They are slightly lower than the regular springs off a non-sport model.

I dont think there were sport 4matic models...but I could be wrong.

contact148

I have the 4matic wagon which i believe has the sport springs?

anyways i dont plow the snow seems to go thru everything just fine but i dont get as much snow and you would (im in Ont)

TTR

So if I am able to find an aftermarket alternative with 1 inch drop in the front I should be good to go then?

jcnash

Yeah...because on the 01's the fender gap is huge! Same as in my 02 coupe.

So yeah a 1 inch drop should be OK, as long as you dont have a front lip or lowered side skirts or anything like that.

TTR

i think im gonna keep the stock body for a while (starving student lol) so that won't be a worry. probably gonna go with some 17s or 18s for the coming summer. i was looking at tire rack for these two spring sets instead of going through the whole suspension swap with a later sport model w203: http://www.tirerack.com/suspension/S...1&autoModClar=

opinions? price and ride wise?

jcnash

That link just take me to the tirerack home page.

But a set of sport springs will do the trick. Quite a few forum members who have upgraded to aftermarket stuff are looking to sell their stock OEM sport springs. Check that out if youre interested.

amanonfire

If you drop it on the cheap, you'll probably cheap out on correcting the camber too. Plus you've probably already cheaped out on winter tires (I did too when I was a student). Both of these will make winter driving less than pleasurable in these cars.

I drove my 2" lowered coupe through many Canadian winters without issue, I should've sent the city a bill for all the plowing I did.

TTR

Didn't cheap out on tires. Edmonton winters are a death sentence. Got pilot alpines. I take it aftermarket springs is considered cheap then in your opinion?

TTR

Lol looking back on this two years later. Ended up lowering my car 1.4" on H&R springs all around. The awkward raised front end on the 01-04 non sports provides enough clearance to reasonably drive through a half foot of snow. I'm on Blizzak WS70s now and managing pretty well. Driven on the highway and in the mountains in blizzard conditions and was able to manage just fine.