Raising car - options and issues

[breame]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about raising the ride height of one of my cars slightly. It is for vaguely practical reasons that the design of the exhaust means it is quite low and occasionally catches on speed bumps and I take it to car shows on uneven fields. It's fine as it is really as it's not too low but I thought it might make it stand out a little as something a bit different at shows too.

I had the idea that maybe I could try it out by putting some of those spring assister (rubber parts to raise rear for towing) on each coil and maybe fit some taller profile tyres, which might give me maybe an extra 20-30mm or so. Then if I like it and the handling isn't too bad I could look for a long term solution with different springs and dampers.

So I guess my question is - is this a bad idea? Does anyone have experience with this they can share? I don't drive this car that often and it's mostly to car shows so I'm not too worried about handling or wear on parts as long as it isn't too extreme. But obviously if it's a really dumb idea for some reason I won't do it.

[worsy]

Raising the profile of the tyre to increase the height will affect the rolling circumference of your wheel, and thus affect the speedometer reading.

[breame]

As far as the speedo goes I'm not too worried - I use a GPS speedo most of the time as the original speedo is fairly inaccurate anyway. Of course as I understand that's a bit of a legal grey area to rely on a GPS speedo if you get pulled over. I suppose the original speedo could be recalibrated too if needed.

[J4CKO]

What car is it, I would be looking at other, similar models and if there was a version with suspension that was higher, and then put those springs in, but obviously you need to declare it on your insurance.

Oh, or get it on air ride !

[silentbrown]

I don't think spring assisters will do the job for you. They probably won't lift the vehicle enough in normal load conditions, and fitting them to the front really isn't recommended.

Higher profile tyres have the potential to foul wheelarches and suspension components - check very carefully! What's the current tyre size?

[silentbrown]

worsy said:

Raising the profile of the tyre to increase the height will affect the rolling circumference of your wheel, and thus affect the speedometer reading.

... and the gearing.

To get an extra 25mm of ground clearance you need an extra 50mm of tyre diameter....

[MustangGT]

Any car where the exhaust is a problem on speed bumps is either a Lambo (or similar) or has been modified in some way. All mainstream cars are designed with sufficient ground clearance for speed bumps. In the UK the height of a speed bump is subject to legislation and is I believe a maximum 75mm/3".

What is the car involved?