So heres my situation:

I want to lower my car, enough to look cool and to fit the gap. I hear eibach kits are good for dropping, but from what ive seen, there still "looks" like theres a lot of space.
I hear coilovers are better, but they cost a ton. And I hear if I just get the kit (springs), more weight will be on the stock struts, which will then wear them out, also in relation, brake pad wear.

I have the stock 15" steelies, which will be replaced with either 17" or 18" rims depending on what looks better. What would you do if you wanted my lowering preference, yet coilovers are very expensive?

 

the eibach pro kit is the ones your talking about that dont look like they are dropped much. but if you were to get the eibach sportline you will deffintly notice the diffrence. pics page 3 for ya.

click here to see pic of wheel gap before and after lowering w/ sportline.

 

I would go with something that has a drop similar to the Sportlines if you are looking for a nice drop. Or something with 1.5" to 2" drop. Your ride quality will suffer but that comes with all vehicle lowering. Any good coilovers will be in the $1K price range and they can be kinda stiff for street use. It really depends on your tolerance. Some can stand the ride and some can't...Despite what some people hear might tell you, YES you need struts. Your stock struts cannot operate properly with a spring that has such a significant drop. Although your car may be new your struts will eventually wear out. Its always best to do it right the first time, especially if you are paying someone to put these in for you. You don't wanna have to do the job twice. The only problem is that for whatever reason (which I don't really understand) no company has released any struts for these cars yet. Alot of people here have put lowering springs on stock struts and are taking the chance but personally I don't think its wise and I would rather wait for struts.

So my advice is to go with some 17's w/ 215/45/17 tires or 225/45/17 tires and a nice drop like the Sportlines or something with a 1.5" or greater drop and some nice struts (that aren't similar to OEM spec) when they come out.

 

i have a silver cobalt with the 15" rims, and i just had the sportline put on my car. i was actually very suprised how much of the wheel gap is gone, there is virtually none left. the ride is a bit rougher, but i personally like the "feel of the road" kinda ride.

 

hi guys im new here and don't really know about that many after market parts for the cobalt and i was woundering what are good springs that will allow the car to be noticed that it droped but not coust a ton

 

Brian try Versus they are a local company here in the AZ on my Cavi I used Matrix coilovers the ride was stiff and my struts suffered no ill effects I put about 60k on the car with them before trading it in on my SS/SC just check to see if there is a camber kit or you'll wear out the inner tires quicker than ***** Swandee can help you out, good luck

 

one of my best friend's is swandee's nephew, so yea, i know about versus. heh.

my main plan was to buy RH evolution C5 wheels. 17 or 18, eh I think 17 is better.

so i am leaning towards the sportlines now, but like said above, im going to risk my struts. i dont want to waste money, so I might have to wait a lil bit before I buy the lowering kit, i want to make sure I do everything right in the same day.

 

Does anyone have a pic of a cobalt thats been dropped with the H&R Spings?