bhs@siemens.UUCP (07/01/85)
peoplethinkthatthislineiseatenbutitisnot,isit?youcanseeitafterall,canyounot? Lowering of a car will, typically, evoke a harsher, bumpier ride. It can improve handling, but actually makes the car harder to live with. Lowering a car with Macphearson strut suspension will affect the camber, giving the car a slightly more negative camber. There is typically not much you can do to change this without resorting to special bushings or alternative strut mounts. One car I saw replaced the top strut bushing with a steel plate, with the strut mounted off center. This plate gave the owner the option of setting his camber within the limits set by the steel plate. If you are serious about improving handling/cornering, the slight decrease of camber will actually work in your favor. As for the springs: The better way by far is to buy a new, stiffer set of springs. If you merely cut off your current springs, you will notice that your car will bottom out much more frequently than before, while your roll stiffness will remain unchanged. You need the stiffer springs to compensate for the decreased suspension travel. It will be these stiffer springs which will give you the harsher ride, but, alas, if you really want the full benefit from your proposed conversion you will need them. On shocks, why not investigate Koni struts/shocks, which as far as I can tell are adjustable. My personal opinion on your project: unless you are really interested in the looks of a lower car, there are probably more advisable steps to take. So, for example, I would begin with making sure that the tires on the car are really the best for your driving style. Then, a stiffer set of shocks/ struts are in order ( Konis? ). After that, if the desire is for more handling than this, I would install a stiffer anti-roll bar (also called sway bar). This step will improve handling substantially by reducing body roll without sacrificing very much of your highway ride. Another step that I would take is that of installing harder bushings, which will reduce the amount of squish/ squirm in you suspension, giving you more precision and less flab. Last, but not least, it really is quite amazing how much handling is affected by air pressure. Have you ever really played around with the air pressure in your tires? Bernard H. Schwab Siemens RTL, Princeton, NJ