Suspension tips

thexav

Pro Tuner
Staff member
Points
407
Car
2002 Clio 172
Is it better to go stiffer or lower? Is there an easy way to avoid doing both? Can I lower a car and avoid the hard ride you usually get from lowered springs?
 
If you want that ghetto look of down 60mm+ you might have issues.. Lowered springs often have a soft ride.. Soft ride is unstable and provides too much movement in the damping effect of the suspension.. Therefore the handling goes out the window and the car will roll around corners as well as struggling over bumps.. Also it alters the angle at which the driveshafts sit at, and can cause them to give up very quickly!

When lowering say 30mm, often the springs are more sports orientated, with harder springs which compress less.. These improve the handling around the bends, but will leave a harsh ride which will have you seeking new denchers every so often ;)

For performance, ideally you need a balance between low centre of gravity, and stiffness of springs (the compression rates of springs are measured in lbs - ie. 180lbs).

I hope this helps as a general guide, but I'm only going on my experience with Saxo's.
 
Coilovers are the way to go, you can adjust them to suit your style.

Stiffer helps but too stiff and the wheels just bounce over every bump, bound and rebound settings are just as important as spring stiffness.

Drops of around 30mm improve cornering thanks to the lower center of gravity but going lower than this and you'll hit every kerb and speed bump with your bumpers and wreck the ride in most cars.

Tracks are smooth and flat so they can get away with very stiff and very low suspension, but this does not equate to the roads.
 
Is it better to go stiffer or lower? Is there an easy way to avoid doing both? Can I lower a car and avoid the hard ride you usually get from lowered springs?

IMO hard ride from low springs comes from 2 things
1 the stock spring rate bottoming out on the bump stops
2 much stiffer / stronger springs designed ? to reduce bottoming out

NOTE excessive lowering will alter the roll centre of a Macpherson strut front end in a negative way and will require the installation of RC adjuster spacers to return the lower control arm inner mounting point to at least level with but preferably higher than the outer joint.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads


Please watch this on my YouTube channel & Subscribe.


Back
Top