I have H&Rs on my DB9 and the ride is definitely stiffer, not horrible stiffer but more firm then the sport pack springs my car came with. The trade off is a much improved stance and better handling. I would do them again....

 

Wow DR. C, that offset really is to the max. Another couple of mm out and it would have been too much! Is there any wheelarch rubbing when traversing over large bumps/dips in the road?

Nice job.

FF

 

Duane, your car looks seriously good, the wheel finish along with the color of your car. I know you said you're not going to lower it but, it would really be over the top if you did. Looks a little up in the air? Maybe it affects the ride more in a V8V but my ride is not terrible and I went from sport pack springs to H&R. Are there any options for a softer ride?

From another thread:

 

No rubbing as it is now...but boy - maybe if lowered. Then that's a real PITA when that happens as its either get the fender roller out, go back to stock springs, or change the wheels. And while I've rolled a lot of fenders in years gone by, I don't think I could do that to this car! I might try it if I can pick up some used springs, I'll keep an eye out for some that are for sale like the H&R's, they're only 3/4" drop and I can put them on myself - think I can still find my spring compressor.

 

^^^ No need for a spring compressor, these cars have coilovers from the factory just replace the springs and re-install and re-align. The only issue is camber gain, but that's a known thing. I think you can adjust the wheel spacing with spacers if needed to resolve any rubbing issues, just a guess as I have the sport pack on my DB and have not lowered it, I think it sits perfect with the sport pack which is lower and more aggresive then standard and handles just right so didn't really see a need to lower it at this time if at all.

 

That dog is about to get its hair lit on fire by the exhaust

 

That's not true. I'm in the middle of this exact process now on my Vantage (writeup to follow). The stock springs have pre-load dialed in front and rear and the fronts required more cranks with the spring compressor than any BMW spring I've dealt with in my past. I really needed to grab the WHOLE spring with the compressors effectively get them unloaded from the upper perch. The rears didn't need nearly as much compression, but they did require quite a few more cranks than this image implies. The H&R springs do NOT require spring compressors to get on, which is great. The front actually needed about 10mm of compression to get on, but your impact wrench will do that just putting the top bolt on. The rear had about 10mm of flop. So to give you an idea of how much you need to effectively compress the springs, on the outsides of this photo are the H&R springs. The inner springs are stock. The Left two are front, and right two are rear.

 

Perhaps the Vantage but, I didn't need a spring compressor to remove or reinstall H&Rs on my DB9

 

^^^ What LR said. I dunno about the Vantage but doesn't appear so on DB9/DBS which are threaded coilvers from the factory, at least the sport pack is... the suspension looks like something right off the racing circuit

 

Don't mean to state the obvious here, but Duane does have a Vantage, so that's what we're talking about here. I just didn't want someone to get impaled by a spring when he removed the top bolt without compressing the spring. :-) The workshop manual is clear about the use of spring compressors though.

David

 

^^^ Excellent point David. You are right. We do not want any of our members hurt. Thank you for you valuable information and continued help

 

The rims look great, and they're quite a bargain. I'm tempted to buy a set for my Onyx black Vantage...maybe in this finish:

 

^^^ Not a fan of that color scheme at all. Have never seen it look good on any car let a,one an AM....

 

Thanks for the input. It would be good to see them on a car first. I don't like all-black wheels, but the two-tone somehow appeals to me.

 

Your wish was granted a few weeks ago. See the thread here:

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...n-vantage.html



I thought it would look good when I saw just the wheel, but on the car it looks horrible (the 20" size doesn't help, but the color alone looks wrong). I was thinking perhaps the Titanium finish would look good on darker colored cars, but I looked at that finish on some cars (there's photos online... none on an Aston, though) and even the Titanium doesn't look all that good.

David