Welcome to Oz Volvo!
Woo springs, they're a fun subject and many people misunderstand how they work.
You can cut your springs - I would recommend not cutting out more than say one coil of the spring. Here's what happens:
1. Your
spring rate increases. The amount of weight needed to compress the spring by a certain amount increases.
2. Your
spring load decreases. The amount of weight needed to compress the spring from its
free height to its
solid height is reduced.
Free height is the height of your spring unloaded. Solid height is the maximum compressed height of the spring, the point at which all the coils crash into each other.
So the car will sit lower and the springs will feel stiffer. Bear in mind though that the increase in spring rate probably isn't enough to make up for the decrease in spring load (I'll have to check that one with
maths), which means you might find you bottom out the springs. This will get more likely as you take out more spring.
My other advice is:
- Lowering springs are fairly cheap, I'd go with them as a first choice if you have the means
- Take it slow. You'll want to sneak up on your desired ride height. Take a bit off, throw the car around a bit to see how it handles (and to bed in the springs again) then decide if you want to go further.
- Cutting springs is a topic that divides enthusiasts intensely.
