RIDE HEIGHT

[harleytrike]

Just fitted a gaz coilover kit on my car. I was just wondering on how is the best way to find the ideal ride height or is it a case of trial & error

[Duracel79]

All depends on what you want from the car:

Best handling Performance
or
Looks with the low stance

Also do you encounter many speed bumps on your journeys etc.

Ben

[harleytrike]

bit of looks with a lowish stance but mainly handling & performance few speed bumps on my estate

[LeeLee]

Best ride height in my opinion is not to low as car still drives nice,some people may be like" whatever I want it real low" ,but I enjoy my car enough with it being drivable aswel as when it's low

[Duracel79]

If you want it to handle well:

Lower the rear until the rear camber is no more than 2° negative (maybe 2.5° at the worst).
then lower the front so the car has a small amount of rake (front ~10-15mm lower between front and rear of sill).
Then reset your front toe to ~parallel maybe touch of toe-in.

If you want the lows for looks:

Trial and error, lower the car all round and drive around.
Keep lowering and testing untill you can't cope with the scraping on speed bumps and the harsh ride.
Then rasie back up a bit to where it was ok.

My car is setup for handling and the front subframe is ~125mm from the ground and I can get over almost any speed bumps.
Although I do have adjustable rear camber so am able to go lower than the std beam allows to keep -2° camber.

Cheers

Ben

[croma_man]

do you have any printouts of your settings? Would like to compare it with mine as you are a pro in the racing.

[Duracel79]

No I don't have printouts.

Just notes of settings I have tried.

On track with R888 tyres I use different settings:

Front - toe out ~2°, -3.75° camber
Rear - toe in ~2°, -3.5° camber

I would like to run the car lower than I currently do on track but the rear arches are not big enough for the 225/50/15 on my 8" rims.

When the car is setup like this it is not fun on the road, tramlines and pulls around badly. But on the track its great.
80mph corner and front tyres are nicely perpendicular to the road surface, rears maybe a touch too much camber:



Ben

[nas80]

I have my ride height set so that there is only just enough room for a finger to go past the front wheel arch and tyre the rear tyre is just slightly tucked in the arch.

Rear
250lbs springs
-1 degree toe
-2.4 degrees camber

15 clicks on the damper setting

Front
300lbs springs
-1 degrees camber
-7 degrees caster
0 degree toe

one full rotation of the damper setting

This make the car handle pretty damn epic and the ride is tolerable even on longer journeys. When I take bends the car is very nicely balanced and I suffer no understeer some of this maybe because decent tyres.

[mcjjordan]

Ny lowered suspension is starting to become an issue...
Just took on a lock up garage near my house and there is a small ramp up to it and you guessed it i cant get up it as exhaust grounds out..
Speed bumps are a no go

The front im fine with but the rear just seems too soft/low
I got a 60mm spax kit and the sills are level but it looks like the rear is sagging
Also rear camber is a little extreme.


The driveshafts are not parellel with the ground ie they are closer to the ground at diff end so are pointing upward at wheel end.

Is this still acceptable or am i asking for trouble?
Whats everyone elses do? Are they level?

[mcjjordan]

So with the 60mm rear springs i had 3" gap from driveshaft to chassic rail and i worked out 2 1/2" suspension travel until bumpstop.i worked this out by measuring the distances from the cups that hokd the coil spring before & after removal.

I then fitted the 40mm sorings and straight away noticed them to be alot firmer- on the floor i could push the 60mm up and down adjusting the damping settings easy- cant move it with the 40mm even on softest no matter how hard i press on it.

So back fitted on the ground it now has 4" gap from driveshaft to chassic rail which has given me an extra inch of suspension travel and shafts now lay parellel and sits an inch higher aswell.

Had to replace the bumpstops as i must of been constantly riding on them, they were really crusty and hard ( what was left of them any way).

I was bottoming out everytime i accelerated!

Also camber is much more sensible now- im hoping the suspension geometry will be alot better and it used to tramline like mad before.


Hope this helps anyone