Soldato
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- 19 Oct 2002
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It will be air suspension.
Lowering - Why??
- Thread starter scousegit
- Start date
Ruining an everyday car like in the OP is terrible, but meh, leave em too it. But when you take one of the best handling sports cars in the world and ruin that, I openly weep...
Yes that's about 10 degrees camber on the rear tyres
And yes, only about half the rear tyre tread width actually touches the ground
And yes, those are Nankangs
This makes me sad
Yes that's about 10 degrees camber on the rear tyres
And yes, only about half the rear tyre tread width actually touches the ground
And yes, those are Nankangs
This makes me sad
It's electronically controlled air suspension.
Ruining an everyday car like in the OP is terrible, but meh, leave em too it. But when you take one of the best handling sports cars in the world and ruin that, I openly weep...
Yes that's about 10 degrees camber on the rear tyres
And yes, only about half the rear tyre tread width actually touches the ground
And yes, those are Nankangs
This makes me sad
Ruined!
I think even the Porsche CUP 911's only run about -2.5 on the rear and around -4.0 on the front with slicks.
Ideal camber for the road on a 911 is -1.5 rear and about -1.75 on the front.
That is simply ruined and the right height, well how does it get over speed bumps?
My stock 911 C2S scrapes on speed bumps, being an aero-kit car and its suspension is stock. That is why the 911 GT3's have the optional front lift kit so you can raise the front to get over speed bumps as they are even lower from factory. BUT STILL NOT THAT LOW!
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Oct 2006
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Yep. I quite like a lowered car, if it suits the car, but adjusting camber to allow for a lower stance = wrong.
Had those on my previous made by TEIN IIRC. I just found the rears to be very soft, would have liked them stiffer. I might go for the Eibach pro's, going to get the suspension looked at before hand. I just find the arch gap annoying like I said. On another note, I have noticed (in the damp), the mondeo does seem to have a frisky back end, when cornering. Doesn't take a lot to make the car slide. Can this be down to the height at the rear/tyres? Seems to be a lot lighter, I also run 38psi at the rear tyres, so is that also a consequence of it wanting to spin on me?
I think it has been covered, however.
For a track car, I get doing suspension adjustment. The standard road car will have its suspension set by manufacturers taking into account road use as a primary purpose, even for something as 'focused' as a 911 GT3 or a M3 CSL.
Adjustment could be anything of course, from as 'simple' as a geometry change to change over/understeer tendencies to driver preference, through to shock rate changes, through to ARB adjustment... the list goes on.
The big thing you get from better coil over kits is standardisation and quality across the product. I saw a great video of a suspension dynometer comparing kits of varying values.
The usual suspects of KW, Bilstein, Ohlins, Nitrons etc etc was right up there with comparability for spring rate and damper rating.
There was then a middle band, mainly filled with Jap tuner products, which weren't far off, but simply weren't quite as good with regards damper rating, but spring rates were comparable to the top.
Then there was everything else, which covers the £200 eBay ****.
For a track car, I get doing suspension adjustment. The standard road car will have its suspension set by manufacturers taking into account road use as a primary purpose, even for something as 'focused' as a 911 GT3 or a M3 CSL.
Adjustment could be anything of course, from as 'simple' as a geometry change to change over/understeer tendencies to driver preference, through to shock rate changes, through to ARB adjustment... the list goes on.
The big thing you get from better coil over kits is standardisation and quality across the product. I saw a great video of a suspension dynometer comparing kits of varying values.
The usual suspects of KW, Bilstein, Ohlins, Nitrons etc etc was right up there with comparability for spring rate and damper rating.
There was then a middle band, mainly filled with Jap tuner products, which weren't far off, but simply weren't quite as good with regards damper rating, but spring rates were comparable to the top.
Then there was everything else, which covers the £200 eBay ****.
Soldato
- Joined
- 27 Mar 2013
- Posts
- 9,450
Ruining an everyday car like in the OP is terrible, but meh, leave em too it. But when you take one of the best handling sports cars in the world and ruin that, I openly weep...
Yes that's about 10 degrees camber on the rear tyres
And yes, only about half the rear tyre tread width actually touches the ground
And yes, those are Nankangs
This makes me sad
Should ban owners from destroying cars like that.
Had my Mk3 MX5 lowered about 30mm by Wheels in Motion, to correct the high stock ride height. The result was a transformation in handling - grip, turn in, body roll were all much improved. On a nice drive, it was great fun.
However, there were negatives. The ride became very hard and on a bumpy road, the car didn't really inspire confidence, and never felt settled between bumps. It was quite uncomfortable on poorly maintained roads, and speed bumps and cushions had to be negotiated at a crawl.
If the car had been a weekend toy, it would have been fine. But it also had to double as my daily driver and in the end I spent more time getting annoyed with the negatives than enjoying the positives.
However, there were negatives. The ride became very hard and on a bumpy road, the car didn't really inspire confidence, and never felt settled between bumps. It was quite uncomfortable on poorly maintained roads, and speed bumps and cushions had to be negotiated at a crawl.
If the car had been a weekend toy, it would have been fine. But it also had to double as my daily driver and in the end I spent more time getting annoyed with the negatives than enjoying the positives.
Surely a 20mm would have being a better compromise as obviously 30mm was too low.
I have Eibach springs to lower my MX-5 (fitted by WIM and done by the previous owner before I got the car) but will be getting some coilovers fitted over the coming months, lowered is better than stock but the damping is not at all well matched, like you say it feels slightly unsettled and bouncy and doesn't always give the confidence you might want. The match between dampers and springs is most important for handling, if its just about the looks then springs will do the trick but its much more of a compromise than getting decent dampers as well.
I've driven a few cars with lowering springs and stock/OEM fitted dampers and its never as good as a matched spring/damper setup, or coilovers (I speak from experience - on my Fiesta ST it started out with the stock suspension, then I changed Bilstein B12s on my Fiesta ST, then replaced with H&R monotube coilovers, then on my Civic I had the Mugen Sport suspension which was a matched spring/damper setup and way better than just lowering springs on my mates Type R, it transformed the handling of the FN2 which was otherwise a huge disappointment to me).
As for the coilovers I am going for on the MX5, I will be going for Meister R Zeta S - these are optimised for fast road use above track use, as such the spring rates and valving on the dampers are designed to be sympathetic for use on our rough roads. This is not the case with all coilovers! The H&Rs on my Fiesta were a bit too harsh for road use, it didn't scrape but it would bounce you all over the place. A combination of too high a spring rate and damping set up more for track than road I feel...I'll definitely be much more careful about getting any coilovers again, but I've been in a Mk3 MX5 with the Meister Rs and they are fine for the road.
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I know I'm talking about the mk1 here but I was very surprised just how much additional dampening my friends Meister-R fitted car had over my one running relatively fresh OEM suspension.
While it doesn't look as good as the numerous lowered mk1's I see my one is going to remain stock I think. Yes I could get more grip and less roll by going down the coil over route but for me the car is just about fun not how quick I can get it from A to B.