1.5 inches till the front end settles again...it may drop as much as 2 inches....I had a set of IPD lowering coils on my wagon and it was 1.5 inches when it was first put on the ground...over the course of 2 years, its dropped at least 2 inches! Unfortunatly since Los Angeles streets suck, I had to take them out as I could not drive the car without hitting the exaust, long story...Also If you lower the car, you need to loosen all the bolts in the front end (strut rod, lower control arm, rear torque rods, panhard rod) if you dont, the bushings will be tristed because the arms are now in a different location, so you basically want the car on the wheels (ramps is a good way to do it) so the weight of the car is on the wheels, loosen the bolts, bounce the car a few times, or you can lift the weight off the wheels, and then put it back down and tighten all the bolts. this way you wont be replacing bushings in 20k miles. Im glad to hear though that someone cut the spings without negative results, seeing as the desil springs I now have in the front, are too tall. And YES, you absoulty align the front end, as with lowering it, can change the suspension geometry...If you notice, the tie rods may be pointing up rather than be paralell to the ground which means the toe has changes, and if you took the mounting bolts out of the strut at the top and moved it, even if you marked it, ALIGN IT! Good luck, a lowered brick is quite the eye catcher.
Mark