Ride height

Well are you riding on original wheel and tire size? If this is just for looks than do whatever looks good to you. When I made my Gallardo RWD we had to rebalance the suspension, it took a few hours, but I wanted the car to have a certain feel to it. If you drive the way I do, you should be more worried about how the car feels vs how it looks.

 

lowering and raising the car by very small increments wont change how the car handles too much but it would be a good idea to get the car corner balanced. if you are within 10% of each corner you are good for the average driver.

 

Are you sure this advice is correct? I was speaking to a team running LM cars at Silverstone 2 weeks ago, some of the guys used to maintain 355 and 360 challenge cars and when discussing suspension settings they warned against changing the 'rake' of the car, the outcome being a huge difference in the handling characteristics of the car even noticeable on the road.

 

Yeah, when you track the car!
For street use is not a big difference.

 

The original conversation with them was regarding my 355 road car which is never used on the track, they then mentioned their previous road and track findings, they emphasised the 'on road' difference caused by adjusting the rake.
Surely someone on here has done this previously and noted the changes if any should become apparent ? I admit that my information was passed onto me from what I believe is a quality source, it's not from my own findings.

 

I spent many years racing, and drive cars very differently than most people do, never ever use traction controls, and so for me at least it makes a difference on the street as well. I have spent over 35 years under, inside, on top off, and designing changes in cars. Anyone who tells you changing something in the suspension does not change the car, is not someone I'd ever let touch my car.

 

If you lowered the car all 4 corners equally and by just a few mm, it wouldn't make that much impact. The camber will change a bit, but the toe angle will move just slightly unless it's over 1-2 inches drop. If you lowered the front and back differently, you are shifting the weight around a bit. IMO, I don't see any harm in small variations for road use. Just make sure the car tracks straight during hard braking. I raced my M3 for years, and I have played around with the ride height w/ coilovers. If you are set on the perfect ride height, it would still be ideal to do an alignment and corner balance.

 

be careful not to lower too much. Even though it looks good, you could have a problem with the tires catching your fenders, like I do!

 

keeping the rake is a good idea if you want to lower the car without changing the handling characteristics by a lot. Unless you are a professional driver by having the corner weights within 10% of each other side to side will not make a difference to a driver on the street. if you change the front to rear weight ratio you will notice a difference.

Of course changing the ride height will change how the car handles but if you weigh the car before hand and after you lower it you can set the car up to handle close to the same as it did before you lowered it. Again most people change ride height based on how they want the car to handle; not how it looks.

 

430 OEM RH is aprox 3 fingers.
430 SCUD is 2
My scud 1 finger

Yo have to use harder springs,front 450 lb rear 600lb with these you will, not hit the road with the facia and it is comfortable.
If your roads are super good with front 425 lb and rear 575lb you will be happy.
Use AFCO or Hypercoil springs 10".

Always realign after lowering and corner balance.