Dom
Part of things
Limey
Posts: 617
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OK, been wondering for a while how easy it is to live with a slammed car. Maybe a dim question. Humour me.
What are the big day to day problems? Do you have to keep watching the road for small bumps, speedbumps... Turn back for a different route. Can you turn enough to parallel park it. How often do you hear scrape, clunk. Is the ride bad. Tyre damage.
What stuff might I not think of?
Cheers!
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go air ride then youve got the best of both worlds
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bdtd
Part of things
Foundered and Frozen.
Posts: 159
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You must suffer for your art.
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stuey
Posted a lot
ram thruster 4000
Posts: 1,010
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really depends how low you go and what car it is a little context might help..
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1987 fiat 126-nearly actually done! 1972 beetle - lawn art 2003 z4 daily-new wheels a comin! 2008 R56 Mini cooper "mental Mickey"
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depends how low you go and how its achieved, if its done on the cheap you'll have to slow down on bumpy roads, your stopping distances will be worse as will the cornering, you may have trouble getting into carparks with floor barriers or petrol stations with steepish kerbs etc etc, you wont be able to load the car with people and luggage either.
In my expriance its nothing thats not liveable with, but you'll have to make compromises in the same way as a supercar owner does, except that they usually can afford to run several sensible cars as well.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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I drove my lupo as a daily for about a year - You begin to subconciously eye up potholes, but its not so bad. If you drive mostly the same route every day its really not an issue.
There was scraping fairly often, but it never caused any real damage apart from wearing the backbox through.
Some cars can handle the lowlows better than others - some look high but have protrusions underneath/driveshafts that clout the chassis etc, and some can look slammed and drive fine.
Once you get used to it, its fine. My lupo had about 75mm ground clearance at the lowest bit of the front subframe, and my main route to my girlfriends took me over half a dozen huge speedbumps.
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,713
Club RR Member Number: 34
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air ride isnt the best of both worlds, at all. in fact id go as far as saying its the worst of both. a properly slammed car done well with a little forethought is way, way better than a car on air. i know, ive had both. if you get it right, theres no problems- this had a max of 1" to the front crossmember., and would drag the back end of the sills on the floor if i put too much in the boot all the allignment was corrected so it didnt scrub tyres. they just touched the outer wings on full lock(they were rolled and the arch lines binned)- barely enough to take the paint off after 6 months of it like that. it rode better than any other car ive had, and it was on 170quid coilvers (slightly modded). it had to have the chassis rails notched for the driveshafts and trackrods, the handbrake cables re-routed to go over the top of the rear suspension instead of under it, and the front brake pipe re-routed to clear the wheel and driveshaft. the only reason i had to replace tyres is cos you could throw it into a r-b at 50 and come out the other side at 45, it handled so flat that it was literally pulling the tyres off the rims! and its not like i didnt drive it anywhere either, i did approx 10k in 8 months, including a holiday to cornwall, 3 trips to doncaster, and regular trips to south london. a low car is perfectly livable daily if youve savvy. you become a different kind of driver, constantly scanning the road for bumps, lumps and potholes, and taking evasive action! as long as you don't drop a wheel into a hole, youre fine. the trick is to keep the wheels on the high spots. id recommend some form of sump guard though, vws are better than most for lowness as the sump sits above the crossmember, so it takes all the big hits. in fact, i loved that car so much ive just bought it back
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The reality of a slammed dailyHARDCORE
@hardcore
Club Retro Rides Member 190
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My current daily is very low, but has been done well so you can still fill up with passengers & luggage and it drives the same. Helped a friend move house recently so had the boot & back seats literally piled up with books & it still sat fine. That said, laden or not you can't go in multi-story car parks, speed bumps have to be taken at 5mph & I can't get it up my own drive also if you park too near the pump at the gas station you can't get out cos the door hits the curb ;D I live with it no trouble at all & it looks bad-ass I say go for it! You'll never go back.. HC.
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my metro was so low it used to scrape on 90% of speed bumps. ended up wearing away the sump which i had welded up about 3 times!
had to drive onto a ramp/bricks/wood in order to fit a jack underneath
turning circle was DISMAL.
a gym membership was needed to parallel park with no PAS and a big 1.5 diesel.
personally i wouldnt lower a daily driver that much again. a 40mm drop is enough to improve looks and handling without comprimising the ride.
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1994 Mazda 323f 1.6i 16v GLX
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I didn't find many problems running the Benz daily. Like Cobblers said, you learn to scan the road ahead for any potential hazards. Slowing right down for speed humps is a bit of a pain, and a few times when driving in unfamiliar territory I've come up against Himalayan speed humps and had to clench my buttocks as I felt the whole underside scraping along the hump. ;D
The sump would be my biggest concern - if you're blasting along a nice smooth A-road and there's half a housebrick lying there and no room / time to avoid it, it could be quite disasterous, but if your sump is one of the lowest points it might be an idea to make a sump guard. Mine is protected by the crossmember and I've only dented it slightly once dropping down a kerb.
I used to hit cat's eyes too, but I knew it was just the exhaust so didn't really concern me much - once you know what's hitting things you know how much to worry!
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Dez
Club Retro Rides Member
And I won't sit down. And I won't shut up. And most of all I will not grow up.
Posts: 11,713
Club RR Member Number: 34
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in addition to that, the one thing that always used to annoy me was cambered roads. there one particular road in southend that cuts through from the a12 to london road that is one car wide, one way and sees a lot of traffic, and has 2 sunken 'strips' up it where everybody drives on the same bit. the centre of the road is over 1" higher than the bit where your wheels run- not good when you have 1" clearance! i used to have to drive proper on the p1ss up it nearly clipping the wing mirrors of the parked cars to stop me grounding out. as for scrapes and clunks, yeah you get em, but if youve been underneath it and either protected or relocated any fragile bits, you know theres nothing there to damage other than taking some paint off the floor, so its not an issue. speedbumps can be an issue. a striaght speedbump striaght across the road is fine, as you can crab over it, its those f-king red speed cushions i hate- you put one wheel on each cushion, leaving the sump safe, then you end up dragging both sills straight over em! i have been known to drive on the path to avoid them........
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I have massive issues with sump clearance on my golf. It wouldnt be so bad, but i wound the coilovers down when it had 1.3 lump in, and now its running a 2.9 VR6 so as you can imagine its a fair bit lower, and its stayed that way, and obviously I had to wind the rears down to match! It looks awesome, and the only thing that regularly happens is the front bumper touching the floor going up and down speedbumps. However, I have hit the subframe/wishbones/sump on stuff like slightly raised manhole covers and its a hassle getting beached if theres a slightly sunken grate at the side of the road. You just become a more cautious, aware driver!
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Dom
Part of things
Limey
Posts: 617
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Thanks for all the great replies and details! Was as general interest. It's not planned for my car any time. Maybe now I can stop cringing a little with worry for the car when I see a proper low one and just appreciate the look.
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It was quite amusing driving up to the Ace in convoy with some of the Essex lads, i was in my (stock height) Jag and both in front and behind me the other cars were weaving to avoid the potholes and drain covers, lowered does look good, but you do have to be awake all the time, not such a bad thing i guess if your in control of a motor vehicle.
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Volvo back as my main squeeze, more boost and some interior goodies on the way.
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alexg
Part of things
Posts: 550
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My old metro gti was proper slammed and there are some harsh speed ramps round my way. I remember having 3 mates in the car and holding up the traffic. Stopped at each ramp, mates jump out, drive over at 3mph, mates jump back in, then repeat all over again 100 yards down the road!
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1979 'V' Austin Allegro Estate
1990 'G' Rover Metro GTI 1.8 VVC
1985 Sinclair C5
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the wifes polo scrapes its exhaust along cambered roads but other than that its fine and has been like it for at least 2 years now with no real damage or problems my golf somtimes leaves its front slitter behind and i've run it over a couple of times but its easy to live with and i'd rather it low than high
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Last Edit: Mar 3, 2010 12:52:39 GMT by Deleted
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Seth
South East
MorrisOxford TriumphMirald HillmanMinx BorgwardIsabellaCombi
Posts: 15,514
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What everyone else said /\ I wound the front of the Hillman right down on the way to the Santa Pod Retro show last year. It stayed that low for a couple of months, in fact until we were going on holiday and I'd be towing and fully loaded. "Normal" position is about 3/4" up from full drop but it does make a difference to comfort and hence day to day practicality for a family car. I remember once getting totally grounded on a massive hump on the way in to a cinema car park in the Oxford. Mrs_Seth had to get out and ask about 3 cars behind to all reverse so I could get off it. ;D
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Follow your dreams or you might as well be a vegetable.
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10mpg
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,253
Club RR Member Number: 204
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The reality of a slammed daily10mpg
@10mpg
Club Retro Rides Member 204
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a bit lower and stiffer is good slammed is horrid inmho, it may look cool but if you like to drive quick like me it's a pain in the behind, I'd never own another slammed car unless i decided i wanted to drive like an old giffer everywhere..
Plus i live out in the sticks where even stock height cars can ground out easy if you drive them hard enough... i guess i just rate substance ahead of style a bit, don't get me wrong I like my cars to look good just i like them to drive well first and foremost. plus i like to be able to throw what i like in the boot..
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The Internet, like all tools, if used improperly, can make a complete bo**cks of even the simplest jobs...
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will
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,023
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Ripped a bit of the family golf3 the other day, looked like some inconsequential cross brace thing. Been fine since that has gone so has self modded to suit our needs ;D
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I have been experimenting with ride height for a while. I am going higher now after experiencing a few issues. It just seems odd to be compromised, so you have to drive slower, just for a few inches in the stance. Lowered for show, not for go.
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