how low is too low?

[nieko]

is there a certain height where they perform the best? or does it not matter because of their design or something? like could you possible go to low to where the shock isnt really doing anything and your pretty much getting no suspension travel at all? or just riding on springs? sorry if its a dumb question.... thanks you guys

[Slappy]

Lowering a car to much is only for looks. If you drop a car to far , you will ruin the way the suspension was originally intended to work. A lowered car will have its control arms pointing towards the sky (broken record i know) wich will cause positive camber under compression while cornering wich you dont want. Unless your ready to spend the money for roll center adjusters and every part you need to "reset" you suspensions geometry , and willing to spend alot more then normal for alignments i wouldnt drop your car on the ground , but most people follow the "cool trend" so....

It all depends what you what your car to do. You want it to "look" good , drop it on the ground. You want to handle good , research optimum drop height , learn about suspension settings ect.

Think about it , do you think this car will handle good , and be able to handle all the bumps and angulations of a race track if the suspension is set to super low and super stiff?



Once again , i wanna preach that your suspension should not be stiff. It has to be able to work , thats why suspension parts are all able to move , and when they move , they work.

The japanese know this , thats why they have the "Dampening Test Camera" on each of thier Touge runs. To show how well each cars suspension performs under compression.

[nieko]

ya i know about the tie rods and stuff shooting towards the sky and all that stuff that screws up handling pretty much but ya i had my gr + pros and i had the 9/7 springs on but i think im gunna put the 8/6's on it doesnt seem like i have any suspension travel whatsoever. probably because of preload + too low + 9/7... im gunna try taking the preload out, raising it up a little, and putting 8/6 on and see how it feels after that. eventually im going to get the spl tie rod ends so i could correct the stupid tie rod angle of lowering the car and rucas to adjut the camber in the rear and pretty much everything else i need i guess... but the MAIN question i guess is at what height to the Stance GR + Pros work the best? ive tried researchnig and searched everywhere but the only thing anynoe says about them is "there good coils" lol theres never realy any technical info on them. but thanks again slappy, i learned some more useful info

[nieko]

anyone else??

[Cameron]

My cars pretty damn low, and it can go lower, the Tension Rod is about 3 inches off the ground.

lol.



slammed with these.



before it was lowered and wheels spaced out.

[nieko]

ya i know coils can go low dude... my front lip was less than 3 fingers off the ground... hahah but im starting to get smarter maybe? LOL i just want to know if coilovers perform better in certain heights high or low

[Slappy]

nieko - Here , i will give you Tanabes spec sheet. You can use this as a reference. It list their high , medium and low ride height specs. I have mine set at their medium setting , and my car handles great.



ZenkiCam - How does your post answer his question at all???..lol.

[Cameron]

idk i was feeling like a whore. but i know my car is too low right now, i cant see the pic but ill look at it when i get home. i just put these coils on and that was the height they were set at when they went on LOL.

[nieko]

ahahah slappy ya i didnt want to be mean to zenkicam but seriously LOL thanks for the little fact sheet thing! i wonder why stance doesnt have one? or ive yet to find one and i bought mine brand new. the "manual" then gave me was so basic..

[smocan]

slappys got the information on lock, but the other posts make me chuckle... total thread jack, wow.

My perfect low would be about the lowest you can go without rubbing, whether over bumps or sharp turns, and minimal scrapping of exhaust and front lip... I'm almost there on my car.

So to answer your question, I THINK your too low when it starts to hinder safety. Everything should clear, even on hard compression turning, even though depending on your dampening settings, this might not be an issue.

[nieko]

ya i had my car pretty much as low as it could go without rubbing lol it was safe and everything but i want to use the coil to its fullest potential i guess and i feel like slamming it to the ground which i think looks good is only hindering the performance? but maybe the coils still do actuallly perform just as good no matter the height? or maybe most coils are designed for slammed cars now? ive said it before but just incase. i have Stance GR +pros ill show pics tonght

[nieko]

i also have ONE more question ok... some people lower the front more than the rear, some raise the front a little more than the rear, some make both even. what is the purpose for each?

[smocan]

i'm not sure exactly, most times it can be for wheel fitment, but others their are legit reasons, i have some ideas like oversteer and understeer correction, but i'm not gonna say and be proved wrong, so hopefully someone else can answer that. i would honestly try to even it out, but thats just me, seems logical.
Modified by smocan at 5:03 PM 3/25/2008

[nieko]

thats how low... lol thanks smocan, ya i think its for those reasons too but i want to see exactly why

[smocan]

thats how low... lol thanks smocan, ya i think its for those reasons too but i want to see exactly why

yo, thats looks really good my man... i think your right around the lowest you can go, haha.

[Cameron]

Yo chill out, why do you act like a little kid?? well actually, you are but thats not the point, i said nothing to insult you. I know what they are and they are the same as all the other Japanese coilovers... maybe just not made in japan or taiwan, haha. I don't dislike junk coilovers, i use them too.

Relax, i've seen reviews on them and its nothing new and i could care less how you rate them. I have nothing against them, i just meant i hope you didnt pay alot for them thats all. I have megans, and a set of kts, i dont even really like stance, used to have tein flex, so i'm on no side. Think before you speak, i don't know what you mean by unreliable information. You havent told me anything new. nice to bring up lame arguuments like bandwagon, shows your true self. If i am mistaken, werent you the one a thread awhile ago bitching how going low is stupid, because you had springs and they were low enough for you? Dont contradict yourself too much, Just let it go.

What does nico have to do with this??

Edit: Seriously, i don't have anything against you at all, why do have to make it seem like it. I dont care, this is the internet and its for discussions.

Modified by smocan at 1:39 PM 3/25/2008

Modified by smocan at 1:40 PM 3/25/2008

Modified by smocan at 1:41 PM 3/25/2008

nah your good, i was just telling you there not knockoffs, plus im bored, plus, i thought you were an *******, so i sorta got on a highhorse. muhbad, and yea i was, i contradict myself all teh time, its who i am. sorry man, i thought you were gunna start calling them worthless product.

[smocan]

no they arent worthless, i run megans on my dd, whatever i dont give a ****, its not my track car or anything. But the footwerks arent anything much better than megans, but everythings better than ksports at the moment. I mean maybe knockoffs wasn't the right word because, they pretty much all are, but they are comparable to most of them out there in the same price range.

I mean honestly, the people who make footwerks probably use similar dampening, or even the same as megan and the others, thats why their price is close to the others. When you get into better struts/shocks and dampening technology, thats what really increases the prices.

Just relax, i'm not trying to call you out, i'm trying to discuss it, because who knows, you could tell me something i dont know about them.

[smocan]

Heres some good troubleshooting tips if you want to run you car....

http://www.wtrscca.org/tech.htm

its not really about height, but its good info.

[nieko]

woah what happened up there for alittle bit haha but seems like everythings ok again thanks for the help you guys im gunna check out that link right now

[Slappy]

You guys need to hit your edit button , and look down and click the delete button , and delete all your useless post. You guys killed this thread.

i also have ONE more question ok... some people lower the front more than the rear, some raise the front a little more than the rear, some make both even. what is the purpose for each?

Some people raise or lower the front of their cars to correct over or understeer , and some people like to lower the front more then the rear to create that "rake" look. You have purpose , and you have just for looks.

[nieko]

thanks again slappy. so raise probably reduces understeer or creates oversteer and lowering the front more increases understeer and reduces oversteer? or do i have it backwards... lol

[koukicody]

Haha, I've seen your car at Boomers before. Maybe it was the same day you took that pic. Lookin good

[bloodsport]

in my sig i have old school z whells with 205/50/15s and they are tucking

[nieko]

did u read the thread at all? hahah wow

[Slappy]

thanks again slappy. so raise probably reduces understeer or creates oversteer and lowering the front more increases understeer and reduces oversteer? or do i have it backwards... lol

That your gonna have to research.

[nieko]

ok, well thanks for the info slappy

[Slappy]

ok, well thanks for the info slappy

No problem.

[Nismo_Freak]

thanks again slappy. so raise probably reduces understeer or creates oversteer and lowering the front more increases understeer and reduces oversteer? or do i have it backwards... lol

It's complex, but basically raising part of the car relative to the other will alter the static weight distribution, and thus the dynamic balance of the car.

Here's what I would suggest.

1. Zip tie the shock shaft at the base of the shock. Go drive the car hard, and if you notice the zip tie at the top of the shaft then it has insufficient travel. You need to raise the car.

2. Once you've established your approximate ride height based on this variable you will want to have the car corner balanced. Corner balancing adjusts the ride height to correct the cross weights.

3. Align the vehicle, and begin to shim out any dynamic geometry problems as best as you can.

[Neejay]

nieko - Here , i will give you Tanabes spec sheet. You can use this as a reference. It list their high , medium and low ride height specs. I have mine set at their medium setting , and my car handles great.



ZenkiCam - How does your post answer his question at all???..lol.

Front: 641Rear: 637

What unit of measure?

[Slappy]

mm