vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,123
Club RR Member Number: 146
|
|
Sept 18, 2016 17:54:16 GMT
|
Reduced ride height can be a good thing. The SAAB looks just right where you've got it now compared to standard, the sort of right where it's not immediately obvious that you've done anything. That's the sweet spot for me, when a car sits so that the wheels and arches interact perfectly. The same formula of ratios doesn't apply to all cars, some look great slammed, some look just as great tweaked, some look excellent on small wheels and others on massive ones. It's a very strange thing, the difference between right and not-right, but you know it when you see it.
Lowering a car tends to be one of those jobs where the challenge is balanced with the satisfaction of the end result, usually, and that's probably why it's so nice. You can spend ages on things like paint and then end up feeling a bit meh about the end result because it's taken so long. You can very quickly change a gearknob, but it doesn't light your world on fire (unless it's an amazing gearknob). The labour:satisfaction ratio just isn't there on those jobs like it is on lowering. Plus, just making a car lower generally always improves how it looks even if you change nothing else at all, especially if it came with factory arch gaps big enough to accommodate your head/family pet/small child.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 18, 2016 18:03:31 GMT
|
Very true! and drives like complete sh1t ... home.retro-rides.org/?page_id=17014Point 2. No idea what your problem is. No one on here is the new Senna, missing an apex or cornering 10mph slower really isn't that big of a deal. So is driving just about speed & handling? No it's not & I wasn't referring to that, they just drive sh1t, like I said. Pot holes, speed bumps, steep drives, comfort, usability you name it, horrid
|
|
|
|
vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,123
Club RR Member Number: 146
|
|
Sept 18, 2016 18:32:33 GMT
|
Perhaps you've been doing it wrong? Can't say I've experienced any issues with lowered cars I've used over standard ones, the only compromise has really been a bit of ground clearance but never so much that speed bumps were an issue. I've always been able to lug loads and people and use the car every day for anything I would have asked it to do in stock trim without damaging my spine or losing fillings. If anything, losing a few mm makes putting things on the roof rack easier, I can't very well put 6' ladders inside the car and having to lift them that little bit less higher to put them on the roofrack to transport them several miles down the motorway is certainly a lot better.
As blanket statements go, "lowered cars drive like poop" is a pretty hopeless.
|
|
|
|
FOAD
Scotland
Posts: 1,335
|
|
Sept 18, 2016 18:32:58 GMT
|
I think my Proton looks pretty good on cut springs Proton mpi by srblythe, on Flickr Here's a standard height one for comparison Proton MPI by Dave R, on Flickr Malaysians seem to go crazy with lowering these, welding in rounder arches on the rear and adding crazy camber. Most of them just look a bit too over the top but this one is pretty cool. Proton Iswara by Fuelgarden Malaysia, on Flickr
|
|
1981 Vauxhall Chevette 1984 Mercedes S123 230TE 1988 Peugeot 305 GR 1988 Hyundai Stellar 1992 Subaru MV BRAT 1992 Peugeot 205 D-turbo 2004 Ford Ranger retroshite.wordpress.com/
|
|
Ryannn
Posted a lot
Posts: 2,421
|
|
Sept 18, 2016 21:16:24 GMT
|
My old golf wasn't excessively low, but it was leaving fuel tank tracks in the snow! Still didn't get stuck... until I beached it on a bridge lollll
|
|
|
|
J1MMY
Part of things
Posts: 953
|
|
Sept 19, 2016 17:41:15 GMT
|
This thread sums up the agony of my current dilemma - to lower the daily or not lower the daily? I hate how it looks but love how it wafts along (W202 C250 td). It is a sign of getting old - a couple of years ago this dilemma didn't exist in my world.
|
|
Your opinion is invalid, I've seen your wife.
|
|
BT
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,772
|
|
Sept 19, 2016 19:30:53 GMT
|
I'm never happy, everything has to be lower, unless it's some form of 4x4, then it's got to be lifted.
Never happy with manufacturer ride heights
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 19, 2016 19:47:54 GMT
|
OP, if you want to get rid of that saggy rear/reverse rake get yourself some poly spring spacers from SAS. Keep a check on the classified on UKS and the like. I've used spring spacers on both of my Eibach and B4 9000s. Although today I took delivery of two sets of custom Eibach springs that are that little bit longer so spacers aren't required. Was very excited, like a sad act.
|
|
Project Diary1975 Viva / 1988 T25 Camper / 1989 Mini / 1991 MX5 / 1992 Mini / 1994 Saab 9000 / 1997 Saab 9000 / 2008 Saab 9-5
|
|
|
|
Sept 19, 2016 20:09:50 GMT
|
I think the best mods are those that make you smile more when driving. Sometimes lowering does that, sometimes not. A change of wheels for me is normally more satisfying.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 19, 2016 20:11:30 GMT
|
... home.retro-rides.org/?page_id=17014Point 2. No idea what your problem is. No one on here is the new Senna, missing an apex or cornering 10mph slower really isn't that big of a deal. So is driving just about speed & handling? No it's not & I wasn't referring to that, they just drive sh1t, like I said. Pot holes, speed bumps, steep drives, comfort, usability you name it, horrid I think i've found your problem, i think you're in the wrong thread! You see, if you read the modus operandi of this forum, you'll learn that in here, we talk about things we like, and if we find a thread or topic about something we do not like, we simply refrain from commenting, i know its hard to believe, but its actually THAT EASY I started ownership of this E46 thinking it was low as hell and pretty cool, but now every day as i leave work i cant help but think that i got at least 3cm more i can screw it down on the coilovers...
|
|
|
|
|
Colonelk
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,740
Club RR Member Number: 83
|
|
Sept 19, 2016 22:26:01 GMT
|
Saab looks sweet and also practical at that height. I'm firmly of the opinion if your car is horrid to drive after lowering then either a) you've gone dickhead low or b) you've done it wrong. This still rides nicely, handles nicely (and predictably) and can still take engines in the back / full up with passengers etc.
|
|
|
|
hak074
Part of things
Posts: 446
|
|
Sept 20, 2016 6:39:58 GMT
|
Lower is most definitely better, I reckon. Sure it can result in a rougher ride, but if you do it right how much better is the driving experience! Before: After:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sept 20, 2016 10:06:13 GMT
|
Anyone can lower a car. It takes a real man to lift one.
|
|
Last Edit: Sept 20, 2016 10:06:32 GMT by mrabody
1995 Range Rover 4.0 1995 BMW 320i Saloon 1989 BMW 325i Touring 1991 Mercedes 300TE-24 1991 Mercedes 190e 1970 Sunbeam Imp Sport
1966 Valiant 200 Custom 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 Station Wagon
|
|
|
|
Sept 20, 2016 21:18:26 GMT
|
Anyone can lower a car. It takes a real man to lift one. Yup, I get a real testosterone rush and the girls go all gooey eyed when I press that button on the dash!
|
|
|
|
rude
Part of things
Posts: 537
|
|
Sept 22, 2016 13:48:28 GMT
|
I think it's predominantly an age thing.
15/16 = wishing for a lowered car 17/18 = have a car but can't afford anything else 19/21 = fed up with being skint so hack springs 22 = regretted hacking springs and lie saying it's spax all round 23/24 = take out 2946% APR loan for lowering kit 25 = wreck car 26/28 = lower every car you own 29/32 = get fed up with impracticality 33/35 = seriously considering doing 'the right thing' and telling insurance 36/38 = back pain worsens from that time you lifted a hammer incorrectly 39/40 = consider returning to normal height and/or buy 4X4
* edit: 41/45 = midlife crisis
|
|
Last Edit: Sept 22, 2016 19:31:37 GMT by rude
1986 Haunted BMW E24 635CSi 1999 Povo spec BMW E36 1.8i Touring Work Hack 2001 Petrol annihilating Discovery V8 2000 Jaguar S Type 3.0 V6 ~NEW~
|
|
|
|
Sept 22, 2016 18:50:57 GMT
|
Here's me almost exactly 25 years ago with the first car I lowered, which even though the rear tyres rubbed the arches on fast corners, I went everywhere in that thing. It was followed by a lowish Dolomite and then a Spitfire, which I only lowered the front of, as 1. I wanted rake and 2. I couldn't work out how to lower the rear transverse spring ! At 21 I bought my first sensible car, a Rover 214SLi mainly due to me getting a proper job and needing to commute but I soon hankered for something low, so bought this ; Many cars have come and gone since and the only other one lower than standard was a 73 VW Wizard Roadster and now at the ripe old age of 43 I'm ready for another, and in true midlife crisis fashion I want an MK1 MX5, especially if I can recreate what I still think is the nicest one I've seen, The Teenage Dirtbag.
|
|
|
|
boyd
Part of things
Posts: 23
|
|
Sept 23, 2016 17:09:25 GMT
|
My W124 just lowered 40mm on Autostyle Springs and the Team Dynamics 17's in place of 15's As said a satisfying moment ! Rides well, Might space the wheels out 10mm got to check the clearances first tho
|
|
Committed Mercedes Man
W124 In Intensive Care
W202 1997 C240 Hers
W210T 2001 The Daily Bus
w208 1999 CLK430 V8 for the weekend
|
|
vulgalour
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 7,123
Club RR Member Number: 146
|
|
Sept 24, 2016 12:45:19 GMT
|
I wouldn't change the fitment on that Merc, in that picture at least you've got it sitting just nice. To the untrained eye it looks like you've done nothing at all, it hits that sweet spot just right. Sneaky modification I like, making a car look like nothing's been done to it and working with the car's design rather than against it.
Short version: nice car m8.
|
|
|
|
Foxy
Posted a lot
Making pink manly in the north!
Posts: 1,913
|
|
Sept 24, 2016 13:13:14 GMT
|
Lower all the things!
|
|
I'm the handsome fella with the cheesy white specs or is that the cheesy fella with the handsome white specs?
|
|
|
|
|
Imagine my face when I did this to my old bluebird to Total initial guesswork height. I had to raise it because when I went over the speedbump in my street I could feel it lifting the drivers seat up.
|
|
|
|
|