[HenkkaWRC]

Hello!

I have couple of questions regarding lowering i30 FD hatch with lowering springs.

1. I was looking for Eibach Pro-Kit springs and there are two kits available for my car. One is for cars manufactured between 10.07-02.09 (October 2007 to February 2009?) and the other one for cars between 03.09-11.11 (March 2009 to November 2011?). My car is 2009 model and I have no idea when it has been manufactured. I tried to use different kind of VIN-decoders but they didn't tell me the date of manufacturing. Should I buy the springs for the "older" FD or the ones for the "newer" FD? The only difference seems to be that the springs for the older FD drop front by 30mm and the ones for the newer car 25mm. Does anyone have any pro-tips for Hyundai noob how he could find out the manufacturing date?

2. I guess lowering the car even 30mm will mess up the steering geometry. Can you actually get those wheels aligned back to stock with the springs? I wouldn't want to ruin my tires with too much camber or make the car handle awfully. I also wouldn't want to buy any "camber kits" or extra parts that allow me to restore the steering geometry.

3. Any other pro-tips or recommendations? Are Eibach-springs good or would you rather buy some other brand springs?

Thanks!

[Dazzler]

Hello!

I have couple of questions regarding lowering i30 FD hatch with lowering springs.

1. I was looking for Eibach Pro-Kit springs and there are two kits available for my car. One is for cars manufactured between 10.07-02.09 (October 2007 to February 2009?) and the other one for cars between 03.09-11.11 (March 2009 to November 2011?). My car is 2009 model and I have no idea when it has been manufactured. I tried to use different kind of VIN-decoders but they didn't tell me the date of manufacturing. Should I buy the springs for the "older" FD or the ones for the "newer" FD? The only difference seems to be that the springs for the older FD drop front by 30mm and the ones for the newer car 25mm. Does anyone have any pro-tips for Hyundai noob how he could find out the manufacturing date?

2. I guess lowering the car even 30mm will mess up the steering geometry. Can you actually get those wheels aligned back to stock with the springs? I wouldn't want to ruin my tires with too much camber or make the car handle awfully. I also wouldn't want to buy any "camber kits" or extra parts that allow me to restore the steering geometry.

3. Any other pro-tips or recommendations? Are Eibach-springs good or would you rather buy some other brand springs?

Thanks!

Welcome!

I believe Eibach Springs have a pretty good reputation, but google Eibach problems or similar seaarch to see if anything comes up.

There should be a build date on your car somewhere. I thought on the FD it was on the passenger (LH) side door jamb?

Lastly, why wouldn't you want to buy a camber kit? I don't think they are very expensive and adjustments done the right way can apparently help even up tyre wear in some situations. 

Oh and I lied. One last thing... have you played with our search site options for threads on lowering the FD? They will be back a bit, but I'm sure there are some there!

[CraigB]

The different versions/years are related to HP/KW, pick what HP/KW your engine is 116hp-85kw or 122hp-90kw or 126hp-93kw and there is your answer, note that the answer is the same for all power versions since the same product code is used for all FD petrol 1.6ltr petrol hatch's so essentially all you need to decide is what drop you want on the front, 25mm or 30mm because they all have the same rear drop at 20mm.

http://web2.carparts-cat.com/default.aspx?11=279&10=D9CD80056C8F42EF9BD9573576879A0F279001&14=4&12=102&52=1&30=183&1250=1&1230=9997&1231=&31=6442&330=531&1260=1

You will also likely require adjustable rear trailing arms which any good suspension shop can order for you or possibly manufacture on site.

King Springs do kits for the FD i30's and are also a reputable brand.

[Surferdude]

Excellent information @CraigB .
Only I thought King Springs was an Aussie company. The OP is in Finland.
Am I mistaken about their country of origin?

[CraigB]

Excellent information @CraigB .
Only I thought King Springs was an Aussie company. The OP is in Finland.
Am I mistaken about their country of origin?

I believe they're an Aussie company, not sure if they have distributors around the world I know they definitely have a US market as I've used them for the drag cars.

Can still order from Australia though, when I got the Eibachs they were ordered from Germany

[CraigB]

Shark Racing also have an assortment of suspension packages too, though I think the Eibach and King's kits would be better quality Hyundai i30 - i30 2007-2010 - Brakes-Suspension - Shark Racing

[HenkkaWRC]

Thank's a lot for the answers! I really appreciate your effort!

So, I guess I have to buy one pair of adjustable trailing arms also. I was actually looking for those pink Shark Racing trailing arms this morning. 190USD with shipping, not actually that bad price. Shark Racing seems to have other kind of parts for sale also. ~300USD for front and rear member braces. Not too expensive and also seem to be easy to install. That's bad combination for my wallet... Not sure how much they would improve the handling since I'm going to run stock shocks.

Am I right that you can adjust the front camber without any mods? Or do you need to buy set of camber bolts to get that alignment also correct?

I guess it's time to email my local Hyundai dealer for a quote on how much for installing lowering springs and rear control arms + wheel alignment.

[CraigB]

The front end might have enough adjustment but if not some bolts or pins maybe required, I'd suggest taking the car to a suspension specialist, Hyundai wouldn't carry aftermarket products that might be required for adjustments and talking to a suspension specialist will help in making a decision on what parts you actually need to order and what they have in stock, eg trailing arms.

[HenkkaWRC]

Yeah, you're right. Taking the car to suspension shop would be the best option. The sad thing is that the population of our country is like 2,5 time the population of the city you live at. I'm pretty sure there are only handful of suspension shops in the whole country and they are all probably in Helsinki, 300km away...

Doing mod's like this is impossible for me to do by myself because I live in apartment house and I don't have a garage. I really need to think about stuff and make a plan on how I should mod the car.