lowering your car

[ChineseBoi]

just hoping you guys can clear this up for me

what i wanted to know is how do you figure out how much to lower your car to achieve best performance? and who does it? eg. Pedders?

because people say the lower the car the better handling, but i read somewhere on the forums that it isn't necessarily true that the lower it is the better the handling

[xtat1k]

performance aint gonna really matter unless you hook corners everywhere.
just lower it to make it a good looking daily driving height.

[Kiz_EG6]

performance aint gonna really matter unless you hook corners everywhere.
just lower it to make it a good looking daily driving height.

Are you kidding me, you can infact make your car more dangerous if you lower it wrongly!!
Seriously dude, if that is the case we mite as well all just chop our springs!!

[CB7_OWNER]

Yep its true, lowering your car does not mean that you will definately benefit in handling. Although this is the general idea, most people think that lowering car = lower centre of gravity, thus better handling... But this is not the case... there is an optimum height for every car's full potential, too low = no good, too high = no good.

Most car's optimum range of lowering is around 1.5"-2.5", to gain better handling.. is what i have read , correct me if i'm wrong please.

Don't forget lowering your car usually means that the springs have higher springs rate's, which help the handling and actually play a bigger role then the "lower centre of gravity" concept.


Many people can lower your car, yes pedders are one of them, of course you can also choose to DIY... any competent mechanic should be able to do it for you.

depending on how much you are willing to spend, you can opt for just springs (not recommended), springs +shock combo(great for daily drive + occasional track), or adjustable coil-overs (great for tracking, waste if it just a street driven car). Prices can range from 300(for springs) - 3K for coil-overs.


performance aint gonna really matter unless you hook corners everywhere.
just lower it to make it a good looking daily driving height.


This is false, because performance does matter, any half decent spring+shock combo would = greater handling ability in bend's, corners, straight line stability, acceleration, and braking ( probably even a couple benefits that i can't think of atm). Soo, just because you don't "hook" corners does not mean you don't benefit from a properly lowered car. ---- No intentional flame to xtak1k

[Lukey]

Chop em!

Lols.

[blk_shadow]

just hoping you guys can clear this up for me

what i wanted to know is how do you figure out how much to lower your car to achieve best performance? and who does it? eg. Pedders?

because people say the lower the car the better handling, but i read somewhere on the forums that it isn't necessarily true that the lower it is the better the handling

to lower it to perform, it can't be too low. and secondly, the method you're using to lower it will have the biggest effect (ie. lowered springs only, or coilover upgrade)

depending on the size of your wheels, that will determine how low you can lower the car for good handling, camber as well.

and as everyone said, chopped springs or dodgy lowering method WILL only make it more dangerous to drive around, and will not improve the performance at all.

but coilover is definitely worth the money, both for look and performance

[xtat1k]

Are you kidding me, you can infact make your car more dangerous if you lower it wrongly!!
Seriously dude, if that is the case we mite as well all just chop our springs!!

you must not get what i mean. lowering it with aftermarket springs isnt going to upgrade the perfomance wise very much. where as he stated whats the best height to lower it for better handling.

[aowwllan]

lowering your car on after market springs like xtat1k mentioned doesnt increase ur handling and i agree with what he said.

get coils!

[T-onedc2]

As said many times before, coilovers are not the answer to everyones suspension issues yes they are great but a good quality spring and shock combo has potential to be just as good, the downsides being you can't adjust the settings as you please, ie. stiffness, damper & height.

[ChineseBoi]

ahh i see, hmm its mainly for daily street driving, and hopefully track it just for a bit of fun and to test its abilities

i was thinking of getting a rear swaybar too, not 100% sure if it makes a huge difference or not, but i guess it would all add up

[blk_shadow]

rear swaybar will definitely make a difference.

if you gonna thick afyermarket swaybar, don't forget to install subframe brace as well. you dont want your subframe to crack.

[Kiz_EG6]

you must not get what i mean. lowering it with aftermarket springs isnt going to upgrade the perfomance wise very much. where as he stated whats the best height to lower it for better handling.

It still can, a nice set of progressive rate springs can make all the difference in the world, but yeah, i understand, i just won't recommend someone makes there car handle worse than oe!!

[hooyn]

hijack. how does camber improve / decrease handling? im noob


i always thought it was for looks and it would simple cause accelerated wear of the inside tread of the tyre.

[aimre]

hijack. how does camber improve / decrease handling? im noob


i always thought it was for looks and it would simple cause accelerated wear of the inside tread of the tyre.

Google


Camber angle alters the handling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_handling) qualities of a particular suspension design; in particular, negative camber improves grip when cornering. This is because it places the tire (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire) at a more optimal angle to the road, transmitting the forces through the vertical plane of the tire, rather than through a shear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shear) force across it. Another reason for negative camber is that a rubber tire tends to roll on itself while cornering. If the tire had zero camber, the inside edge of the contact patch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contact_patch) would begin to lift off of the ground, thereby reducing the area of the contact patch. By applying negative camber, this effect is reduced, thereby maximizing the contact patch area. Note that this is only true for the outside tire during the turn; the inside tire would benefit most from positive camber.



No offence, but your car aint a race car. Probably wont ever see a track. Just get sum king springs. Tempe tyres will lower ur car with em for $300.

[hooyn]

thanks for that ! :D

[blk_shadow]

thanks for that ! :D

yea, there are also 2 types of camber, positive and negative camber.

positive is bad while negative can improve handling. but both will wear the tyres unevenly.

[hooyn]

what if you only have negative camber on the rear?

[blk_shadow]

what if you only have negative camber on the rear?

you can do that, but it will look a bit odd. furthermore, the front will need it too, if you're going to lower it and track it. cos it will help during cornering

[CB7_OWNER]

if you have approx 1-1.5 degress of negative camber then you probably no need to worry about it. Chances are if your driving a pre-2000 honda model you can adjust the camber at the rear with a simple washer trick.

negative camber is like this ---/----\---, and when cornering, the negative sort of compensates and turns out like this ---\----\--- which means more surface contact > traction> better handling

[T-onedc2]

.....negative camber is like this ---/----\---, and when cornering, the negative sort of compensates and turns out like this ---\----\--- which means more surface contact > traction> better handling

Actually turning the wheels or during hard cornering it will still be ---/----\---

Altering castor can give a similar effect like you showed.

[Hullabaloo]

Coilovers are better than spring and shocks for adjustability (changing ride height, stiffness, dampening, etc) but for a street driven car that might be tracked, how often do you think you would change these settings?

[hondavti25]

I lowered my EJ8 on kings nothing over the top and i would aggree with every one here when yeah ok it made it "handle" better but only to a certain degree. Springs only was a bad move you need shocks aswell.. if i could do it again coilovers for the win man save up and get a decent set!

[EK9]

it comes down to your needs and your budget... these are just estimates as a guideline...

1. < $500: decent set of springs to lower your ride, won't do a lot for handling, but will definitely feel different
2. $500-$1000: set of springs with matched shocks, will give you lower ride and shocks will be matched to suit the new height and improve handling
3. $1000+ : coilovers let you adjust height and tweak your suspension

seriously, you should be able to determine what you're after from those 3 options... if you're considering to track your car, at least option 2 or 3. if you're serious about tracking, 3 is a no brainer.

[DC4Integra98]

I lowered my EJ8 on kings nothing over the top and i would aggree with every one here when yeah ok it made it "handle" better but only to a certain degree. Springs only was a bad move you need shocks aswell.. if i could do it again coilovers for the win man save up and get a decent set!

Wasn't worth it even for the stark price difference?

[Kiz_EG6]

yea, there are also 2 types of camber, positive and negative camber.

positive is bad while negative can improve handling. but both will wear the tyres unevenly.


Who's going to be the first to ask bout caster? :p