The reality of a slammed daily

[kapri]

Back when I worked at Vauxhall main agent and the Chevette was a brand new model (!!) I remember one of the sale guys writing off a brand new unregistered one in our carpark .

He came storming up the yard, up the exit ramp and ,as someone was coming in ,hard to brake hard ...exactly where theer was a manhole cover stuck up at a strange angle to the ramp. He hit the subframe and tore the fixing mounts, twisted the crossmember and buckled the front chassis legs.

When I hit the raised ironworks I had a '63 Cal with 3 inches of ground clearance, no match for the 4 inch raised ironworks. Luckily it 'only' tore the front 20mm thick arb off ...after putting a 30 degree dogleg in it.

[popuptoaster]

My cousin decided his sierra XR4x4 was ideal for offroading (3" ground clearance) turns out it wasn't, he hit a tree stump that stopped the substantial (its massive on a 4x4 sierra) front cross-member dead in its tracks while the car carried on for a couple of feet, he had a lovely bruise on his chest for weeks where the steering wheel punched him in the chest and the car was seriously broken.

[bodge830]

Mar 3, 2010 13:53:21 GMT will said:

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

when i had my mk3 golf i did some thing very simlar my was decked 120mm .i didnt realise how many speed humps there were in my area till i got that golf lol

[Dez]

if the bit you ripped off the golf is a flat plate about 6" long and an inch wide with a slot/hole on each end, then its fine, i did the same on the passat- you don't need it

[61stu]

No problems other than the occasional scrape, 12,000 miles last year driven in all weathers.

[bodgeit]

I lived with a slammed mini for years. IMO, it all depends on your daily routine to weather a slammed daily is plausable.

I live in an area with very few speed bumps and the speed bumps i do come across are usuall easily avoided

basically, if your route involves many 'obstacles' then give it serious thought. if not, slam the he'll out of it!!!

[RobinJI]

My commute tends to be fine with a few choice bits of dodging, but the road is getting steadily worse as the council continue to spend all their money on a park and ride that they positioned AFTER the worst part of the congestion!

However, that said, I live in farmer land, and just because one week you'll get away with 0.000001mm ground clearance on road x, it doesn't mean a nice chap with a tractor wont have left some rubble there the next time just in case your sumps hungry. Not to mention that there's a lot of places around here that you just cant get to other than down potholed dodgy cambered lanes, including my dads house and my work experience placement.

I'd advise anyone wanting to do this to get coilovers, I loved having my car slammed on the floor, but to be honest, when I wound them back up I loved it even more. It's still really rather low, but now I can put my foot down on the back roads, I can cruise along in a straight line without having to dodge things, I can pick up a mate/lady friend without being embarrassed about them arriving at there destination with an obliterated spine and white knuckles from holding on while I dodge potholes. Just that little change in ride height has made a fair old difference, and thanks to the Sciroccos silly low roof line, I still feel like I'm in a go kart all the time

Awesome looking but pothole dodging back braking scaryness:


Still rather low but can now get everywhere a modern car with silly huge bumpers car, and some places they cant, rides comfortably and can hit a bump mid corner and shrug it off:



That said, if you live somewhere less rural, and are purely after looks, then keep the tyres to a decent size (nout under 50 profiles or you'll have no spine after a week!) and make sure you've not got dodgy scrublines and alls good, my old golf was on the floor (coilovers all the way down) but thanks to come chunky 60 profiles on standard sized wheels, and a tiny engine and exhaust, could still get anywhere with nothing more than a few scratch's on the subframe, and was pretty reasonable on dodgy roads.

The golf:

[surprisingskoda]

Mar 3, 2010 23:26:37 GMT Dez said:

Mar 3, 2010 23:14:01 GMT surprisingskoda said:

The reality of having massively lowered suspension is that you will drive badly, veering around potholes, manholes, and crisp packets. You will fear at least, if not be completely unable, to drive on a road that has undulations or speedhumps. You will need to guard the underside of your car (if front engined ) and you will feel worried constantly with scraping noises.
Chances are you may also have occasional violent steering feedback, and you may experience back pains if the ride is particularly harsh.
You may also find that you need more than usual sump, exhaust, tyre and bearing renewals.
In all likelihood you will also be unable to be free to drive up whatever road you choose, as it may become undriveable. You will have to drive slower on roads you don't know in case there is a hidden hazard (like a raised or lowered manhole for instance).

I've done it as a daily - after a while, I had difficulty standing straight because every shock went up my back, my arms ached from the vibrations of every road imperfection, and I was a nervous wreck from constantly having to scan the road for ANYTHING that might hurt.
Then I tried it again in a different car, and had to drive a 200hp car at 40mph everywhere except the motorway, smashed the sump off everything and turned a very comfortable car into something with the ride comfort of a soap box.

but it looked cool, yeah?

Of course, it peaked at high levels of awesome, but not when you were driving them...

Still gonna slam another car, but just wont be able to drive it to work. Or into town. Or out of my drive.

[usedabused]

Three exhausts two sumps one brake pipe and a ripped off front bumper but hey looking good costs does it not??

[mrnice23]

My only really slammed ride was the old benz-

sump a mere 2' off the deck, used to ground out not only on speedbums etc but actually on undulations in the road. Various exhaust bodges needed as req to repair broken mounts/tighten it up to the floor etc...

finally popped the sump open on a small stone (yes, really)...

I wasn't too bothered as the car was just a summer cruiser (not used for work) that I knew was too far gone to keep for long.

Wouldn't want to super-slam another car that was a keeper/used for work.

Depends on how far you're willing to go in the name of slammedness!

Here's the beast after raising it 1' -

[usedabused]

This was bad enough before the air.

This was also before air. ( a daily for three month)

And after air two year later............(was a sad day )



Edit to fix pics

[Rusted Pistons]

My Mazda is a fair bit lower than standard, I think its just on the border of practicality, i could lower it a tiny bit more at the front visually but reckon it would then be past the border of practicality! I don't really get any scrapage unless I go over a big speed hump too fast, but I do have to avoid every single pot hole and imperfection. Goes round corners like its on rails though

[Hirst]

I weighed it up in my head a while ago and came to the conclusion that a slammed car isn't ideal for my purposes.

My life requires a fair bit of flexibility and I can end up driving all over the place. It's all well and good if I was never expected to do anything out of the ordinary, but say (for example) I had to get rid of a body - that would weigh the back end of the car down for a start, then there'd probably be a long drive down some deep rutted track with potholes and the likes. It'd be a nightmare. I'd feel like a right fool if I had to make alternative arrangements just because I'd decided I wanted my car to sit down really low. Not a fan of having a sensible daily either, not much point having a daft car if you can't drive to work in it.

I think a few people feel pressured into slamming their car - I would say to have a think about it first as you might just end up with some car you can't be bothered driving anymore. There's a bit more to it than just having to slow down for bumps. But it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing either, nothing wrong with a subtle drop. Just have a think about it!

[arrocuda]

Mar 19, 2010 20:20:13 GMT Hirst said:

But it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing either, nothing wrong with a subtle drop. Just have a think about it!

Hirst...... you are so right! IMHO if your car looks like a POS with a subtle lowering job it's still gonna look like a POS when it's on the floor. Might as well save your money and all the aggro and buy something that looks cool BEFORE you take the stick to it.

[Team Blitz]

Hirst, does your GF refer to herself as Miss Hirst Shifter?

Because she ought to!

You are the Guru Who Do That VooDoo so well. Homage. Paid.

Curveball right over the plate, Norm

[Hirst]

Mar 19, 2010 21:10:36 GMT Team Blitz said:

Hirst, does your GF refer to herself as Miss Hirst Shifter?

Because she ought to!

I've sent a memo to the harem. Cheers!

[Jowey]

having daily driven something rare on air.
and something cheap and modern static.

I have to say If I had anything precious. old I wouldn't want to daily drive it low at all.
Once came around a sharpish bend on a B road on my daily route in my Golf to find
a brick in the middle of the road. Now the car was on airride but you try and find the stealth installed switches before you hit something.
Clunk.... new sump pls.

It depends a lot on the car in question. The sump on the Mk1 sat very low to the road.. as did the wishbones and exhaust flexi.
This is the case with a lot of older cars.
They never look low enough but you cant get a jack under them at all.

I am however currently daily driving a modern car.
Seat Arosa.
Sump is tucked up nicely, Nice thick plate under the gearbox.
Very short overhangs... perfect for the static drop.


Daily drove it at this height with absolutely no problems or scraping at all.

However Realising that wishbones and subframes for this car cost about the same as filling the tank with petrol I decided to crank it down much more.



Okay so my drive isn't flat. but considering just how low the car is. I find it very easy to live with
on a daily basis and its draws plenty of attention to itself.
It does scrape plastic bits on most bumps. Pot holes are no no.
The flexi from the manifold scrapes on larger bumps and the wishbones hit cats eyes quite hard.

but once you discover what hits where on your daily route it becomes easy.

Just hope you never have a badger run out in the road in front of you.


Consider your daily route..
how much hassle is it going to cause you everyday?
Have a look at the underside of the car you are dropping..
what is actually close to the road ?
Is it cheap to replace if needs be? (and it will need be :lol: )

Then just remember how cool you will look and how many bitches you will get
and decide whether its all worthwhile.

form doesn't come after function.. form is a function. ahmen

[Team Blitz]

Mar 19, 2010 21:42:16 GMT Hirst said:

Mar 19, 2010 21:10:36 GMT Team Blitz said:

Hirst, does your GF refer to herself as Miss Hirst Shifter?

Because she ought to!

I've sent a memo to the harem. Cheers!

Ask her to dress the part, please! ;D

[streetvw]

worst thing that ever happened to me was hitting the front o/s of the beam on the road on the M1 just after junction 17 or 18 south bound doing about 60 almost stopped me dead really rung my bell that one!! and my car wasn't stupid low

[rod]

Ive lowered and driven daily several cars over many years. The worst 'accidents 'were a completely peeled open sump on a raised manhole cover,and a ripped open sump while exiting Avon Park Raceway many yrs ago.I used to regard the sump scraping as a occupational hazard when I had my A40. I became a dab hand at early morning migging up holes almost on a daily basis before I drove it to work each day! It is true it is a case of dodging potholes and bricks in the road plus plastic bags sticking to the exhaust which STINK the vehicle out.!It becomes a way of life to dodge stuff in the road. Having said all that ,you wanna try driving a seriously roof chopped car that is slammed on the deck..now thats an art!Having fitted bags to my Merc Ive got the best of both worlds,and it rides better on the bags than springs.