Discussion
Need some advice.
My scimitar has a set of spax coilovers fitted, now I want to lower the ride height- if at all possible.
The spring adjuster is pretty much at the bottom of the thread on the upright- If I compress the spring using the threaded collar, will this make the car sit a little lower or will it just stiffen up the rear end & sit at the same height?
I will get a pic up soon, if my description is too confusing
(Im not too fussed if it tightens it up as it was very, very soggy at the rear when I drove it)
Thanks in advance
My scimitar has a set of spax coilovers fitted, now I want to lower the ride height- if at all possible.
The spring adjuster is pretty much at the bottom of the thread on the upright- If I compress the spring using the threaded collar, will this make the car sit a little lower or will it just stiffen up the rear end & sit at the same height?
I will get a pic up soon, if my description is too confusing
(Im not too fussed if it tightens it up as it was very, very soggy at the rear when I drove it)
Thanks in advance
If you compress the spring with the threaded collar, it will raise the ride height (assuming you have any extension left in the damper, that is).
If the adjustable spring seat is already at the bottom of the thread and you want to lower the ride height still further, you'll need shorter springs.
You can do this by simply cutting down the existing springs, but it's a half-arsed way of doing it and will almost certainly f
k up the handling, since it effectively increases the spring rate (ie. makes them stiffer). Notwithstanding what you said about the rear end feeling a little soggy, increasing the rear stiffness in isolation will tend to make the car more prone to oversteer, which is not generally a good thing. The proper way of doing it would be to buy shorter springs; if you want to increase the spring rates, then do it front and rear, in the same proportion, by buying stiffer springs all round.
In fact, what you are trying to achieve (unless you want to alter the handling characteristics) is to increase the wheel rate (ie the effective stiffness of the springs at the wheel) all round in the same proportion, so you also need to be conscious of the suspension leverages, too.
Don't forget that lowering the car will upset the geometry, too, so you'll need a full geo when you've finished.
The potential for turning the car into a death-trap, in handling terms, is quite high, so if you're not confident that you understand the effects of what you're doing, you'd be better paying a specialist to sort it for you.
If the adjustable spring seat is already at the bottom of the thread and you want to lower the ride height still further, you'll need shorter springs.
You can do this by simply cutting down the existing springs, but it's a half-arsed way of doing it and will almost certainly f
k up the handling, since it effectively increases the spring rate (ie. makes them stiffer). Notwithstanding what you said about the rear end feeling a little soggy, increasing the rear stiffness in isolation will tend to make the car more prone to oversteer, which is not generally a good thing. The proper way of doing it would be to buy shorter springs; if you want to increase the spring rates, then do it front and rear, in the same proportion, by buying stiffer springs all round.In fact, what you are trying to achieve (unless you want to alter the handling characteristics) is to increase the wheel rate (ie the effective stiffness of the springs at the wheel) all round in the same proportion, so you also need to be conscious of the suspension leverages, too.
Don't forget that lowering the car will upset the geometry, too, so you'll need a full geo when you've finished.
The potential for turning the car into a death-trap, in handling terms, is quite high, so if you're not confident that you understand the effects of what you're doing, you'd be better paying a specialist to sort it for you.
Edited by Sam_68 on Wednesday 20th February 08:30
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