Ground clearance ....or S clearance??
Discussion
After visiting our new house last night the S hits all 4 speed ramps on the way in and again on the way out, it's going to knacker the exhaust even at a snails pace .....terrific! 
Does anyone know whether Chims have the same problem, or is the ground clearance any greater, looks to be more to me on the average Chim?
This may be my push to go for one instead. There could be an S2 for sale soon (with new TP)!
Does anyone know whether Chims have the same problem, or is the ground clearance any greater, looks to be more to me on the average Chim?
This may be my push to go for one instead. There could be an S2 for sale soon (with new TP)!
page3 said:
Try one wheel on the hump and the other on the pavement - works for me
I agree it does work with some but these buggers have dropped kerbs each side of them, so it makes it even worse. There are also cars parked each side of the road at most times when I'll leave and return home so I can't use the kerb anyway and I can't approach on a diagonal cos of the cars each side of me and road is too narrow.
They are nasty speed ramps, long tarmac ones are fine at the supermarkets but these are a steep short brick ramp up then on to a plateau and off the same again.
Hoover33 said:
Had my car MOT'd about 2 weeks ago, and with in three hours I had ripped the exhaust off the down pipes on a speed bump which I carefully rolled upto and over then Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.... clonk 
I'm annoyed about it because I love the S and don't want to sell it and have spent a packet on it recently.
I've fitted 17" alloys so it rides a smidge higher than most anyway yet it still hits each ramp. Need to have the crack in the silencer box welded now and possibly sell in the next 4 weeks prior to us moving in.
Kevin, you mean to say that you are buying a house without thinking of the car ?
Why doesn't anyone think of the car !!
On a serious note, our office is in area where speed humps pop up like mushrooms after a night's rain. My S has about 3"-3.5" clearance between pipes and road and I have to bob and weave around the backroads to avoid the bloody things.
If I'm 2's up in the S then she will ground on very slightly undulating sections of road. On coming exposed manhole covers and cattle grids scare the cr@p out of me as I drive over them.
Still, AVOs coming end of August and these should sort it out (nice to have Wildfire's confirmation on this).
Why doesn't anyone think of the car !!
On a serious note, our office is in area where speed humps pop up like mushrooms after a night's rain. My S has about 3"-3.5" clearance between pipes and road and I have to bob and weave around the backroads to avoid the bloody things.
If I'm 2's up in the S then she will ground on very slightly undulating sections of road. On coming exposed manhole covers and cattle grids scare the cr@p out of me as I drive over them.
Still, AVOs coming end of August and these should sort it out (nice to have Wildfire's confirmation on this).
My ground clearance is good for an S and my bonnet opens easily without hitting the ground. If you look on my profile at the photo you'll see it has good clearance for an S, so I can't really go higher with different shocks and if I change my new tyres for more new tyres I'll mess up the ratio of the gearing and the speedo too and degrade the handling. It corners superbly with the 40 profile tyres fitted and they are the same rolling circumference as the original 15" wheel tyre combo.
kentishS2 said:
My ground clearance is good for an S and my bonnet opens easily without hitting the ground. If you look on my profile at the photo you'll see it has good clearance for an S, so I can't really go higher with different shocks and if I change my new tyres for more new tyres I'll mess up the ratio of the gearing and the speedo too and degrade the handling. It corners superbly with the 40 profile tyres fitted and they are the same rolling circumference as the original 15" wheel tyre combo.
yep, see what you are saying. Not a lot I can suggest - the usual test of how much clearance the bonnet has when opened suggests yours is running "higher" than most S's so if thats no good its either Chim time or 4x4
Having said that, if your S is running a fair bit higher than most, you may also want to "test" a chim down the road before you buy one as they arent THAT much taller.
kentishS2 said:
My ground clearance is good for an S and my bonnet opens easily without hitting the ground. If you look on my profile at the photo you'll see it has good clearance for an S, so I can't really go higher with different shocks and if I change my new tyres for more new tyres I'll mess up the ratio of the gearing and the speedo too and degrade the handling. It corners superbly with the 40 profile tyres fitted and they are the same rolling circumference as the original 15" wheel tyre combo.
Sounds to me like you are trying to convince yourself to buy a Chimaera.
kentishS2 said:
This time next year I could be in an MX5
Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How does your exhaust bolt to the chassis? Do you have the rubber/metal bar/rubber mount or does it bolt straight to the chassis with 1 bolt or rubber cotton reel?
The JP system I have jsut put on took the clearance on the silencer up by 1 - 1.5".
kentishS2 said:Do you know what part of the exhaust is grounding?
After visiting our new house last night the S hits all 4 speed ramps on the way in and again on the way out, it's going to knacker the exhaust even at a snails pace .....terrific!
Does anyone know whether Chims have the same problem, or is the ground clearance any greater, looks to be more to me on the average Chim?
If it's the leading edge of the downpipes, you could always switch to a V8S as the exhaust is routed differently.
If it's the clamps at the trailing end of the downpipes, you should try switching to Mikalor clamps (see previous threads).
If it's the main silencer, there was a thread on here a while back IIRC why someone mentioned that they'd got a custom system made up with an oval shaped main box which provided more clearance.
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