IXIVI

Just after

TSW Nurburgrings are anywhere from $1200-1500 depending on where you buy them. Discount Tire Direct is selling the 295/40/20 453CC for $150 each right now, so $600 on those. $1800 before mount and balance, and not counting the springs or the alignment...

Installed the H&R lowering springs on Thursday. Took me just over 3 hours. Hardest part was the upper strut mounts under the hood, until I realized that the plastic windshield cowling comes off and the upper strut bolts then take about 10 seconds to remove. The lower bolts come off and the strut just slides right out past the rotor. Surprisingly little compression was needed to get the mount unbolted and swap the H&R springs in. Two man job reinstalling the struts - fit the bolts in their holes from the bottom and have a helper thread the nuts on from above to hold the unit in place while you line the bottom up and install the H&R triple C camber bolts! The rear springs are where I really made up time. The service manual would have you unbolt 8 or 9 things and remove the caliper, rotor, hub, and knuckle. I've attached pictures that prove that process unnecessary. Basically, just put enough pressure on the arm and spring to relieve the tension on the rear camber bolt and slowly remove the nut locking the adjuster in place , then move to the other side of the arm and spin the adjuster bolt all the way out of its hole. As long as pressure is maintained on the arm just under the spring, the bolt slides out and you slowly lower the jack and then swing the arm down, swap springs and reinstall the bolt and nut. Total time on BOTH rears was less that 40 minutes. Picture shows the rear camber bolt being backed out (after locking nut was removed from the opposite side) and the arm swinging down for the spring swap. Easy stuff...

They are a little wide, sure. But that was the idea. If I went with 20s, they had to be meaty and have a taller sidewall than the 265/40 of the factory so they would still the fill out the wheel well. The 295/40 brings the overall diameter right up to the size of the factory wheels as well, so the speedo isn't affected much. I'll take a closeup when I get a chance, but they only stick out about a .25" further than the OEM sport wheels/tires. They look great.

Finally got around to installing the Gunmetal TSW Nurburgrings (24.5 lbs!!). 295/40/20 Falken Azenis 453CC weigh in at 36. Factory Sport 22s tip the scales at 84 lbs.... Total weight savings of 24 lbs on each corner. For the wheel weight savings naysayers? +3 MPG. Butt dyno is marginal. The suspension however, is phenomenal. The ultra light weight wheels coupled with the H&R springs act x10 out on the road. The Edge litteraly glides around now. The reduced weight seems to go a long way in helping the shocks keep the wheels and tires planted to the road.... Edit: can't post from photo bucket on my nexus. Uploading now.