Would you lower your car for handling?

[Ghostie1]

Let me say up front- I don't care what my car looks like and I'm not a fan "slammed" cars. I daily drive my car, go to track days, and autocross. That said, does the lower CG of a lowered Terminator outweigh the bad things it does to suspension geometry?

It seems like as soon as you lower your car, you have to spend quite a bit of money to fix your suspension. I'm good with that as long as the end product is better. Any opinions?

 

[bubblehead93]

i auto-cross on H&R race springs and MM Bilsteins... the car is by no means slammed, I run full isolators on all the springs... loved it... that being said with a proper alignment and good tires, the factory coupe springs and Bilsteins can get the job done, especially if you upgrade all of the bushings, c/c plates, bump steer kits, and such... is there improvement with lowering the car about 1 1/2" all the way around, yes... I'm in the process of installing MM2 race dampers with 425#/650# coil-overs because I was ready for the next step... I'm going to keep it about 1 1/2" lowered...

 

[Ghostie1]

I read something that said lowering a Cobra between 1" and 1-1/2" was okay but more than 1-1/2" was bad mojo, roll centers underground, increased body roll, etc. There seems to be a mods domino effect of lowering, Steeda X2 ball joints, front and rear bump steering correction, etc. Is the net result faster or are we just fixing the problems created by lowering the car? I put FTBR bushings in the rear before last season and added MM c/c plates for this season. Those seemed like no-brainers although I'm wondering about the wisdom of increasing caster without bump steering the front. I've already got one foot on that slippery slope- I would order H&R race springs today if I was sure it would make for a measurably better handling car. That's why I'm hoping to learn something from the track guys experience. There's lots of appearance threads but not enough "I changed my spring rates and damper valving and took 3 seconds off my lap times".

 

[b_dike]

I'm not a track guy, and I don't have any "measured" proof. What I do have is a back to back comparison between stock and race springs on the street. From what I've noticed the race springs are definitely stiffer, but more importantly they nearly eliminate body roll. With stock springs I always felt like the back end wanted to come around in tight corners. Couldn't really put the power down either until both rear tires were loaded again upon exit. The race springs kept the car flat, and kept the inside rear tire from completely unloading. Which of coarse got me thru and out of the corners carrying more speed.

Hopefully this helps... Like I said these experiences are from aggressive street driving lol. NOT track driving...

Also I have mm c/c plates, which is it. Didn't need all the other suspension mods to run race springs without iso's.

 

[landonvan]

One of the main things everyone says about lowering is that if you just put race springs on. Your shocks will wear out faster. Which is true but it takes like 20k miles to do so. If you get the bump steer mod and purchase the right shocks with the springs. And then get an alignment done. There are no adverse effects. And the car will handle better with a lower CG.

 

[oldstv]

Op, while thinking about doing this don't forget the dd aspects of a lowered car. They can be somewhat aggravating to drive unless everywhere you go is flat. Not saying it can't be done but it does change the dynamics of normal street driving.
Just something to consider.

 

[weaselp1]

Op, while thinking about doing this don't forget the dd aspects of a lowered car. They can be somewhat aggravating to drive unless everywhere you go is flat. Not saying it can't be done but it does change the dynamics of normal street driving.
Just something to consider.

I have HR race with stock isos all the way around with bilstein HDs and I have no issues with driving it on the horrible milwaukee streets. I also have everything FTBR has to offer, front and rear bumpsteer, MM CC plates, Steeda X2 balljoints and front global west control arm bushings and it handles amazing on the track! I dont want to go Coilovers bc the ride would be to harsh on the street; for the 1 or 2 open track events i do a year my setup works great! I rode in a mach 1 with coilovers and K member and I could see it being way to harsh for street driving. Just my opinion of course.

 

[bubblehead93]

as far as coil-overs being harsh on the street, it is all about the shock spring combo that you want, in fact the opposite may be true, for example, the front H&R race spring is progressive but for simplicity lets call it an 850# spring which yields a wheel rate of about 212# or so... to get the same with a coil-over, you would need only 225# or 250# spring since the shock mount is so close to the spindle. While the coil-over will compress more, it will be less harsh over bumps and such... however, what most folks do when they get coil-overs is to run springs to get the wheel rates that you could never achieve with a spring in the stock location... since the price point is fairly substantial to do it right, I doubt many folks buy a coil-over setup and install #225 or #250 springs, at the very least they are going for something in the 300# range if not above 400#... again, because they buy the setup for handling vice ride quality and harshness... to match a 400# front coil-over spring you would need nearly a 1450# spring in the stock location, that would be a very harsh ride... hope that makes sense...

With respect to all of the bushings and stuff, while it is a lot of work, removing all of the compliance due to rubber bushings out of the suspension will drastically reduce body roll (as well as wheel hop). Combined with some FLSFCs and now you have a non-complaint body with a non-compliant suspension. Now you have a blank canvas to draw on with respect to shocks & springs... otherwise your car's body acts like a bit of a spring. I'm sure many can attest, that once you install FLSFCs, you can very easily lift 3 of 4 tires off the ground when jacking at one corner, without much jacking.

The look of a lowered car aside, I would go after a good set of tires, bushings, front and rear first (IRS, Diff, front and rear control arms), plus some FLSFCs... then I would have an honest and introspective conversation with yourself (hopefully not out loud, lol) about how much you track and how much you are willing to accept in a daily driver from a harshness perspective. I think once you remove all of the compliance from the body and suspension you will probably be happy with the race springs, isos, and some matched struts/shocks... car lowered about an 1 1/2" or so...

JMHO, I have traveled your path...