Lowering

[ross1991]

Hey, I'm considering lowering my 6n2 Polo by 60mm. However, I'm not entirely sure about this. Will I be scraping speed bumps at this height? If so, what height should I be ideally looking at to make sure I don't scrape the flippin things. How much would I be looking to spend on some decent coilovers? I need to match the shocks... right?

Looking forward to the help :cheesy:

Thanks

EDIT: Looking at the other post about lowering.... what is the difference between coilovers and actually changing the springs? :S sorry if it's a silly question haha

 

[MasterAuron]

£450 minimum for decent coilovers. You'll be fine with 60mm as long as you have nothing that hangs too low, and go over speed bumps slow and diagonally over big ones. I know cars that are lower Just do it properly and get coilovers otherwise a spring and shock set. Lowering springs on OE shocks suck big time.

 

[old-git]

Road Hump regulations state (the last time I read them) that the maximum height of any hump is 100mm. This is straightforward on a level and flat road, but on uneven surfaces or the crest of a hill the effective height could be more. When checking the ground clearance when lowering allow for a car full of your heaviest mates and a boot full of party booze!

60mm is quite a drop if you have no plans to alter other parts of the suspension to compensate. Lowering a car usually increases the negative camber angle resulting in handling changes as well as increased tyre edge wear. You will also need the check that the suspension or dampers don't bottom out on the bump stops, not good.

Lowering on its own also changes other parts of the suspension geometry which can affect the handling, although if only used on the highway at legal speeds I doubt that you will notice as the lower centre of gravity will have a compensating effect.

As you and I live in the UK, the springs do the shock absorbing and the dampers control the springs by 'dampening' the oscillating motion (run a car without springs and see how much shock absorbing the dampers do) . Americans call dampers shocks but, as we are not yet the 51st State, I prefer to use the 'proper' terms

Coilovers are (as I understand them) simply dampers with the spring wrapped around them. The main advantages are they are a compact unit and allow for easy ride height and corner weight adjustment.

 

[pgarner]

cheap coilovers can be bought for under £200 but remember you get what you pay for.

think old-git covered everything else

 

[ross1991]

Thanks everyone