First,
I want to lower my car about an inch, but not more than 1.5"
Will I need shocks with the springs, or just the springs?

Second.
after the car is lowered, what maintenance do I need?
Have the car re-aligned?
New Rotate and Balance?
Do i have to rotate and balance and align more often?

 

If you are going to lower it that little, then your stock shocks should be just fine. You may have a slight problem with it being bouncy, if that is the case then go ahead and do replace the shocks. I would reccomend neuspeed, h&r, and eibach. I was looking at the eibach myself, and going with the springs that lower about 1.25 in i believe, i can't remember which set they were.

As for Maintance:
1) after about 5 k miles start checking for camber wear, make sure the inside of your tires are not wearing more quickly then the outsides, if that is the case, well time for one of the happy camber kits.

2) also look for wheel well rubbing, with size 15" tires you should not have any problem, but if you go bigger, then at least check them out.

3) If you get them installed at a shop (which you should if you do not have a spring compressor) then getting the tires rotated at the same time will not be a problem. balancing should stay good from when you got the tires mounted.

alignments, i am not sure on, maybe some of the other folks out there can help you

 

Well, im staying with stock wheels, and just getting new tires.. basically trying to keep the car as stock as possible.

thanks for the info..

 

just get an alignment to be sure nothing worst than spending money on some tires to have them half eaten away due to a bad alingment

 

Do what slain said. Get an alignment.

Lowering the car will not require more maintenance.

Getting shocks as well as springs will pretty much guarantee not having to replace the stock shocks down-the-road.

I have Eibach Pro-kits ( ~1.3" drop) and KYB AGXs. The ride is awesome. The adjustability is nice as well.

HTH.