whitenblue65

I am getting my 04 VIII corner weighted soon and have K-sport coilovers with 9K and 12K springs F/B respectively and a 27mm rear sway bar. I was wondering if anyone had suggestions about what front and rear ride height they have seen work well for more of a track set up while keeping in mind that it also has to clear speed bumbs on the road. With my 12K springs in the back, i have the ride height adjustment turned as low as it will go and almost no pre-load in the spring and the lowest I can get it is 26'' from the ground to the bottom of the fender. My front end is currently at 24 3/4'' from the ground to the fender. Please let me know what you have seen work or not work!

EVOlutionary

iTrader: (38)

You should measure from the wheel hub center to the fender. The "from the ground" measurements will vary depending on tire size and wear. . .

EVOlutionary

Balrok

iTrader: (15)

Did you get the kontrol pro's or the gt pro's?

19psi

iTrader: (6)

I think that might be too low.
I have mine set up as the following set up:
measured from center of hub to bottom lip of front and rear fenders...
front 14.5 inches
rear 13.5 inches

The car is not corner balanced but it handles very good.
I am sure it will be even better once I get it corner balanced.
BTW, I have zeals with 10k spring rates all around.

I think I can go about an inch lower but since I daily drive my car I didnt want to go too low.

Having a car slammed is not a good idea especially for our car.
If it's too low you're gonna throw off suspension geometry and not have a optimum set-up.

whitenblue65

I just measured mine from the hub to the fender and it's 14'' all around and I cant make it any lower in the rear so I think i might leave it where its at now and maybe raise the rear up some if i need to for getting the corner weights right.

19psi

iTrader: (6)

I think 14 should be a good height for the front but the rear should be around 13 or 13.25 inches.
BTW, try to have a difference of the front and rear about 1nch.
Front should be about 1 inch higher and the rear (measured from center hub
to fender lip).

Having the front too low will have give a lot more weight to held on the front suspension; which isn't really good for handling and balance.
You gotta remember,our car's weight distribution is already @ 60/40 so you really don't want more weight on the front.
It's about having balance, not just for looks if you have coilovers.

Roldy

Get the car corner balanced. You'll be very happy that you did.

19psi

iTrader: (6)

ultimately this is how a car with coilovers should be set up but some of
us don't have access to a shop that does "good" corner balance.

Just make sure you set the height as equally as possible by measuring
each corner and get an alignment..but I am sure you already knew that.

whitenblue65

We have a pretty good shop (3R Automotive) here in Denver that builds world challange cars and can dial in corner weights as good as anyone. I am trying to get the ride height close to where I want it before I go in for the corner weight so they can just dial it in using spring pre load. The only thing is that I have almost no pre load on the rear springs and have the height adjustment as low as it will go but the rear is not going lower than 14'' from the hub to fender. Does anyone know if running almost no pre load will affect handeling or have any ideas for getting the rear down more? they are only 12K springs so they arent so stiff to make me think it would raise the car up too much.

EVOlutionary

iTrader: (38)

^ have you thought about using a shorter spring??

whitenblue65

good call, i'll call GSC tomorrow and see if there is a shorter 12k spring than the one the gave me.

scorke

iTrader: (18)

Find some pictures of some time attack cars standing still

Scorke

anjapower

iTrader: (18)

Is this advisable on a car that primary sees street duty? Or is it overkill?

I want to have a well handling street car that might see a couple track days.

Anybody else have input on lowering levels?

adx

iTrader: (3)

Highly advisable for anyone that is running coilovers. It properly sets the suspension even from side to side and the proper preload. Always, always corner balance on any major changes.

I agree with the others stating the front should be measure a titch higher than the rears (besides the rear fender is lower anyways). Personally, I wouldnt lower more than 1.25" front and 1" in the back on any vehicle. Especially for DD, and weekend track days.

Noob4life

Corner balancing is not required for a street car. You won't see the handling benefits on the street. Keep in mind that weight is not equally distributed in the car, so 50/50 crossweights will result in different ride heights at all 4 corners, so those looking for "equal" heights will end up disappointed. Then again, you shouldn't be worrying about aesthetics if you are looking to get corner-balanced.

That's not entirely correct. More rake (having the fronts lower than the rears) will allow any car to rotate more easily, because shifting the CG front and down will cause the front end of the car to take more of the roll couple, reducing rear roll resistance at the same time. It is a cheap and easy way to help a car to rotate.

The strut suspension up front limits how far you can lower the car before handling begins to suffer.