[JC]

Thanks for the compliments guys (oops, and girls - just in case) - remind me never to show it to you in the flesh though - black just shows up too many scratches/marks, etc.

Anyway, Alan.....Why 40mm and not 60mm - because at 60mm lower than standard, the car scrapes getting out of our driveway (it's a gentle slope). At 40mm lower than standard, I don't think it would, though with the new exhaust, it doesn't scrape as badly as with the old one. I had the fronts done ages ago, and it never scraped, so it's only since the back was done. I also use the car to tow a boat occasionally, and I think now that I have dropped it this low, when I put the boat on, it will be resting on the bump stops. Also, the missus reckons it's a bit too low as she has to bend down further when putting our 19 month old twins in/out of the car. It's funny the little things women complain about. On the flip side, she does concede that it is now easier to put the stroller in the cargo area.

The handling is really good. I reckon it corners better than my XR8. It sits flatter through corners, and has virtually no body roll - easy enough to achieve in a sedan, but a pretty mean feat in a wagon, I reckon. I also have nolathane bushes on the front sway bar, which did not a noticeable difference to the handling at the front. The tradeoff, of course, is that small ripples/bumps in the road give you a (small) hit in the kidneys. But that's probably because I am running Monroe GT Gas shocks - I'm sure with Konis, or bilsteins etc, the bump absorption would be better. When I got the Monroes, I asked for shocks for lowered/sports suspension, and the guy at Repco showed me the catalogue - they are all the same part number!

Sorry about the essay, but you asked!

Oh, bugger - forgot about cost. Don't quote me on these figures as I can't find the receipt, but I think Pedders stage 1 leaf springs were around $480 fitted, plus bushes if you needed them. The next best quote I had was $600, so Pedders were actually OK in this instance. I went for resetting my current springs, as the Pedders stage 1 only drops the car 30/35mm, and the resetting was "only" $350 - it's all labour, so there is no extra labour on top of this (if that makes sense). New front nolathene bushes added $70, making a total of $420, and my rear bushes were fine (the fronts were buggered though). This is the front and rear bushes of the rear leaf springs, not to be confused with the front bushes in the front suspension.

Man, I need to take a shorthand course! Hope all that helps.