The US spec. S40 T5 sits like a Subaru Outback. Want to lower it to more of a Euro spec., and am considering a couple options of wheel/tire/lowering springs and would greatly appreciate any advice. I see my options as being: H&R or Eibach lowering springs, (yeah, I did find Eibach's : https://www.vivaperformance.com/eiba...s-s40-v50-fwd/ (both claim to lower approx. 1.4")), with either of the following wheel tire combinations:

1. Volvo Medusa 18x7.5 wheels with 52.5mm offset with 215/45 tires
2. Aftermarket Bremmer Kraft Br09 18x8" wheels (very similar looking to the Medusa) with 45mm offset with 225/40 tires.

My concern is the fender-well clearance, particularly in the front.

Anyone have experience with similar setups? Any problems or suggestions? Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

This is what I'm shooting for (shown with Voxx Este):

 

a few thoughts - Your choice of rims/tires are not overly wide so I wouldn't expect any clearance issues. Check out wheel-size.com to see what rim sizes/tire/offsets are found on the various factory models for a guide. As to the lowering springs, the key will be to match the springs to the shocks. Lowering spings come in either straight (typically stiffer) designs or "progressive" where the end of the coils have a slight taper to allow a softer spring rate on the initial travel then firm up as the wheel moves farther. You'll want to research vendor recommendations for the struts. Bilstein B8s are designed for lowering springs so that's a good starting point. Coilovers are designed with a matching shock/spring and are adjustable but may not last as long and are typically more expensive. Love the look you are going for - post a pic when you get done.

 

The springs I'm looking at are progressive, and I'll look into the Bilsteins; that's something I hadn't considered. The coilovers are pricey - it's my daily driver and I don't want to mess with the suspension geometry too much. And, I have no illusions about it being a high performance sports sedan; although it has good torque and gets out of it's own way pretty well (and that works for me- it actually has more hp than my '93 300ZX, which was a good performer in it's day). Thanks for the link, it's much appreciated.

 

Keep in mind that you will seriously alter the geometry of the suspension dropping it that much, so will need to have it realigned when you're done. Also, it's kind of hit-and-miss as far as the new springs giving you exactly the ride height you're looking for - one end might be a little higher or lower than you want (one of the advantages of the coil-overs, since you can fine-tune them). And of course, the engineers at Volvo designed the suspension system to work at a given ride height, and changing that is going to change the way it all works - and most likely not for the better. Probably won't be enough to make it really awful, but you may or may not like the results entirely.

FWIW, I just put some newer V60 wheels (and wider tires) on my V50, along with spacers to move the wheels out closer to the fenderwells. Looked really nice, even at "normal" ride height.

 

Thanks habbyguy, those are my concerns.

 

To me, the biggest issue with changing the ride height is that the CV axles will no longer be in the "right position" so will wear out quicker, and could possibly induce some vibrations. When I first set up the V50, I calculated that I could use 32mm spacers, but the arc of the wheel movement brought the tire into contact with the fender lip / liner (carved a few chunks out of my tire sidewalls). I swapped them out for 25mm spacers and that seemed to do it, and looked pretty aggressive. FWIW, I also put in some camber adjustment bolts to counter (what I felt was) excessive negative camber. Doing that also brought the sidewalls out closer to the fender lips, so if you need to adjust the camber (can't be done without mods) you might want to do it before lowering the car.

And of course. lowering the car means it's more susceptible to speed bump / curb bites, and will handle less snow. But it CAN look cool... ;-)

FWIW, here's a photo of my (non-lowered) V50 with the 25mm rear spacers...