Low Cars / Modded car thread.

CT_Biker said:
If you do decide to lower your car, do it properly.

You may need the build schematic of your car, which BMW will not give you.

If you lower the car more than X(I do not know how much lower you can go before you ***** up the OEM suspension geometry completely), but you need to consider the following:

- You are going to be changing the angle of the front CV shafts and rear drive shafts, and BMW do not use solid rear drive shafts, they have CV type joints which forms part of the rear control arm units.
- Changing the angle of the drive shafts CAN cause increased wear on your rear hub bearings.
- Endless alignment issues.
- If your front drive shafts are parallel to the road(if it is an even drop your rear shafts will be too), you will end up with a hard ride and unresponsive steering. The hard ride will be caused by the decreased amount of shock travel.
- Lowering your car decreases the amount of shock travel, thus increasing the preload of the shock absorbers, this affects their ability to absorb shock.
- BEARINGS AND BUSHINGS, you will experience increased wear.

Another thing to note, good ground clearance is important in any country, as the roads we drive on were not meant for the amount of vehicles using them today. This means that road conditions are generally unfavorable and inconsistent. In areas where there is high HGV traffic there will be undulations/ripples in the road surface which cause standing water in the road way. I have seen many people disregard this fact and have ended up aquaplaning off the road.

Also, you car has an open differential, if you could that to an unforgiving chassis dynamics, a little bit drizzle and a dab too much throttle, you are going to spin.

If you do decide to do it, and I am not kidding now, have an engineer redesign your suspension(you can do it yourself, if you like physics and trig)
Click to expand...

Sounds like a **** lot of coin needed + lots of possible headaches.

/Pass
 
FiestaST said:
Sounds like a **** lot of coin needed + lots of possible headaches.

/Pass
Click to expand...


It was the most expensive parts of my car, other than the Side Draft jets that I bought(I bought a full set and the shanks to drill out jets)

I managed to retain about 90% of the original ride quality with a simple...ish modification.

Progressive rate springs, re-valved Bilstein Shocks, modified bump stops, modified tie rods(More negative camber), 40% Poly bushes, I made my own front strut brace, new shock mounts....and I only dropped the car 35mm.

Then again, its easy to make a Mk1 Golf lower and handle a lot better. Im not trying to out handle a Fiesta St....I haven't driven anything that handles as good as that little hatch.
 
CT_Biker said:
If you do decide to lower your car, do it properly.

You may need the build schematic of your car, which BMW will not give you.

If you lower the car more than X(I do not know how much lower you can go before you ***** up the OEM suspension geometry completely), but you need to consider the following:

- You are going to be changing the angle of the front CV shafts and rear drive shafts, and BMW do not use solid rear drive shafts, they have CV type joints which forms part of the rear control arm units.
- Changing the angle of the drive shafts CAN cause increased wear on your rear hub bearings.
- Endless alignment issues.
- If your front drive shafts are parallel to the road(if it is an even drop your rear shafts will be too), you will end up with a hard ride and unresponsive steering. The hard ride will be caused by the decreased amount of shock travel.
- Lowering your car decreases the amount of shock travel, thus increasing the preload of the shock absorbers, this affects their ability to absorb shock.
- BEARINGS AND BUSHINGS, you will experience increased wear.

Another thing to note, good ground clearance is important in any country, as the roads we drive on were not meant for the amount of vehicles using them today. This means that road conditions are generally unfavorable and inconsistent. In areas where there is high HGV traffic there will be undulations/ripples in the road surface which cause standing water in the road way. I have seen many people disregard this fact and have ended up aquaplaning off the road.

Also, you car has an open differential, if you could that to an unforgiving chassis dynamics, a little bit drizzle and a dab too much throttle, you are going to spin.

If you do decide to do it, and I am not kidding now, have an engineer redesign your suspension(you can do it yourself, if you like physics and trig)
Click to expand...


A 30 mm drop will not have any issues. I have done 160 000 km in a dropped car and 200 000 km in a previous car with a much bigger drop.
Never had to replace a cv a bearing or any suspension part. Also never had wheel alignment issues. I thing you confusing lowered suspension with slammed and stance cars.
 
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qscwbt said:
A 30 mm drop will not have any issues. I have done 160 000 km in a dropped car and 200 000 km in a previous car with a much bigger drop.
Never had to replace a cv a bearing or any suspension part. Also never had wheel alignment issues. I thing you confusing lowered suspension with slammed and stance cars.
Click to expand...
It seems the ignorance (which leads to total [pit]bullshyte bursting out of their mouths) just gets stronger in this thread bud.

Some even call (static) slammed cars bagged, little do they know guys with air ride suspension don't drive with their cars in "slammed" mode.

Back in the 90's I had a VR6 with cut springs to give me a 60mm drop front and 40mm rear, done with Van Zyls in JHB city, changed my shocks to Bilstein Sports, and did around 120k km's with that setup. Then (around 200k km on clock) went to SAC for a 3.1L conversion and 6 speed gearbox, did about 20k km more and then sold the car. No issues with anything , just did regular services ...
 
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The_Traveller said:
It seems the ignorance (which leads to total [pit]bullshyte bursting out of their mouths) just gets stronger in this thread bud.

Some even call (static) slammed cars bagged, little do they know guys with air ride suspension don't drive with their cars in "slammed" mode.

Back in the 90's I had a VR6 with cut springs to give me a 60mm drop front and 40mm rear, done with Van Zyls in JHB city, changed my shocks to Bilstein Sports, and did around 120k km's with that setup. Then (around 200k km on clock) went to SAC for a 3.1L conversion and 6 speed gearbox, did about 20k km more and then sold the car. No issues with anything , just did regular services ...
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with the car modding scene. A bagged/slammed cars look the same to me. What's the difference?
 
qscwbt said:
A 30 mm drop will not have any issues. I have done 160 000 km in a dropped car and 200 000 km in a previous car with a much bigger drop.
Never had to replace a cv a bearing or any suspension part. Also never had wheel alignment issues. I thing you confusing lowered suspension with slammed and stance cars.
Click to expand...


The car the OP mentioned is BMW 135i. I was referring to his case. That car is already fairly low.
 
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