451 smart fortwo Lowering Springs / Racing Springs

While it took awhile for the factory in Europe to produce the springs we did get one of the first sets of racing/lowering springs for the 451 smart fortwo. The install was a little tricky but well worth it as the outcome is simply amazing. The smart not only looks amazing with the lower stance it drives like a completely different car.

Yes a completely different car as the once very annoying shifts that bobbed the ca front and back is virtually eliminated. The shifts are a lot more stable and feel even quicker as there is no body movement with the stiff racing springs. While these stiff springs does mean you feel the road a lot more, my passengers haven’t been to thrilled with the change but for a the driver its so much more fun to be able to control the car even more.

Installing the lowering springs was hard as we were doing it without the shop manual, but for you it is going to be easy as we’ve spent the hours figuring out how to disable the smart and put everything back together so you don’t have to.

It took us just over 2 hours to do the smart install but to repeat what we did would probably only take an hour as the tricky front part is explained below.

Here is the process how to install the new springs:

The springs are labeled front/back so you know which goes where, they are also labeled up and down. If in doubt you can also tell by looking at the factory springs as they share the same patterns.

1) Hoist the car up so that all 4 wheels are off the ground.

2) Remove all 4 wheels

3) Remove the front hood flap

4) Remove the top part of the cowl, this will require you to remove the side corner triangles and the cowl will clip off.

(step #4 is what was the hold up for us as if you don’t remove the top of the cowl you will not get at the holes to remove the strut tower nut)

5) Remove the nut from the top of the strut tower, best to use impact wrench as the struts tend to slip.

6) Disconnect the brake line and tire pressure sensor as well as the other suspension bolts.

7) Remove the strut tower and then put the strut tower in a vice to remove the factory springs.

8) Replace the factory springs with the new racing springs, but leave the bump stop in as factory.

9) Do the same for the other side of the front and then reverse the process to reattach the front suspension.

10) The rear springs are a lot easier as you just need to remove the bolt holding the bottom of the rear strut which frees up the springs.

11) Using a crowbar release the pressure on the springs and remove them.

12) Using the crowbar again release pressure and insert the new racing springs.

13) Replace the lower strut tower bolt and then repeat steps 10 – 13 for the other side.

14) Replace the 4 tires and then lower the smart back to the ground, torque up the nuts on the wheels and stand back and admire the results.

The springs that I bought came directly from the factory in Europe as lucky me/us the factory is owned by someone who’s son is a smart fan and is why I was able to get the springs even before they officially hit the market.

My contact is willing to sell springs direct to smart fans and the cost is $100 per set, yes that’s right $100 as they come directly from the factory. Drop me a message is you are interested and as soon as my contact is able and willing to I’ll post his details directly here.