I know this might have been beaten to death....

[Gut Check]

The one thing that has always grated on me with the PT, especially the 04 GT that I have, is the "butt-in-the-air", DC-seems-to-put-on-every-car rear end (along with the oil tanker turning radius, and unforgivable gas mileage).

I put new tires on the car, and had to go slightly larger because nothing in 205/50-17 really looked satisfying (I really don't want to get crunched and vibrated all the time with "sports" tires). So I have the new Goodyear ResponsEdge 215/50-17 mounted. I do not know when I have loved a tire more. Handling is equal to the RSA's and the reduction in ride harshness and especially road noise is remarkable.

The car did get pushed slightly higher because of the slight increase in tire size, but not uniformly. I know I risk getting branded a rookie, but the front end did NOT go up at all, and the rear went up almost 3/4" (I know, I know, but I measured, from the ground to the top of TDC on the wheel well). So now the unsightly DC rake is even more pronounced.

Here's the question: Can I safely, and without ruining any of the driving characteristics, lower ONLY the rear end? The front already scrapes too much, and it actually looks good with the new beefier rubber. I just want to squat that butt down. I'm thinking that with the butt lower, the center of gravity might improve the steering and response. True?

Thanks so much for any insight.

[SR-PT4]

First off, yes, it is safe to put a pair of lowering springs on the back only. This will help to "level" the car, but keep in mind that almost all lowering springs on the market are of a higher spring rate than stock, meaning the stock shocks will not be up to the task of controlling them and you really should upgrade rear shocks at the same time. The good news is you do not need a spring compressor to change all these parts on the rear, so anyone with a couple of wrenches can do it. Tricky part is finding JUST the rear springs!!

What I'm really struggling to understand here is how you could replace one set of tires, all four of which were the same size, with another set of tires all of matching size (though different from the originals) and only impact the ride height on the rear. That's sort of like saying "my car was sitting on 2" blocks at all four corners and I changed them all to 4" blocks. now the car sits 2" higher in the back but no different up front" Just doesn't make sense.

As for the improvements you've seen with these new tires (ride harshness, road noise, etc) all I can say is - handling comparable to the RSA's ain't sayin' much!!! Those tires are terrible!!!

[Mean Green]

With a bigger tire I wonder how much your speedometer is off? If I remember correctly from our '01 PT you are actually going faster than your speedometer says.

[sca037]

I have lowered just the rear on our '03GT using the Eibach pro kit, and it's great. I bought the complete spring set, but after mounting the rears have decided to leave it this way. The Eibachs aren't much greater in rate than the stock GT springs, so they work just fine with the stock shocks.
I don't know why the rear is now higher in the air relative to the front after the tire change. Have you removed the rear seats or something? [:I]

Brian

[SteelBlueGT]

My experience is to put on a qualaity shock with any type of lowering spring. As the shocks wear they will loose whatever control they may have when new. I just loved my Tokicos cause the have a nice smooth ride and far better control especially on rebound. I think my 03 had a better ride overall than my 06 GT does. [8)]

[quicksilverdon]

I lowered the rear only on both my '02 and '05 PTs, and never regretted it.
My '02 springs I bought off a forum memebr who wanted MORE rake, on the '05 I bought a set & just put on the rear - they're cheap enough.
I, too don't like the "butt in the air", also: the front already scrapes sometimes at stock height; the wheel gap is larger in the rear; the rears are far easier to do - no spring compressor, alignment, etc.
If you only drop 2" or less, the stock shocks are fine. I went 87,000 miles on my '02 with the stock shocks, and ride was fine - I dropped 1.5".

[SteelBlueGT]

And two inches is a pretty good drop too! On my unmodded 06GT I think the shocks are weak on rebound as I can hear, but not feel, big bumps in the rear of my car.

[2step]

quote:Originally posted by Gut Check

The car did get pushed slightly higher because of the slight increase in tire size, but not uniformly. I know I risk getting branded a rookie, but the front end did NOT go up at all, and the rear went up almost 3/4" (I know, I know, but I measured, from the ground to the top of TDC on the wheel well). So now the unsightly DC rake is even more pronounced.

Here's the question: Can I safely, and without ruining any of the driving characteristics, lower ONLY the rear end? The front already scrapes too much, and it actually looks good with the new beefier rubber. I just want to squat that butt down. I'm thinking that with the butt lower, the center of gravity might improve the steering and response. True?

First just a note on how to properly measure a before and after stance. Measure from the lower center of the rim, not the ground, to the center of the wheelwell when switching springs. It's OK to measure wheelwell to ground when just changing tires, though.

Yes, many have changed only the rear springs to level the look. Most (all?) have reported an improvement in ride, too.