lowered F430 suspension

I've been with my F430 almost 2 years now and it's lowered to Scuderia height (maybe even a little lower) on the original coilovers and it runs great! Also drove a F430 with complete custom INTRAX suspension kit and it drove almost the same. It depends also on if you'd want to track the car: in that case, aftermarket springs would have an advantage, but you'd want to combine it with matching shocks then.

 

You can easily lower the vehicle with no issues but too low and you could have a tire rub issue.

There are options for springs but some get ridiculous in cost

Nothing wrong with the factory shocks

 

Mine was lowered with original factory parts almost 10 years ago. No issues at all. It looks great.

 

Keeping the original springs with keep the original ride quality. Lowering the 430 has nothing to do with "compressing the factory springs" You simply adjusting the perch. Its literally designed to be adjustable, the only change needed is an alignment.

 

400# springs in the front make it a completely different car

Handling is greatly improved as is the lateral stability

 

I am not sure, and I'm certainly no expert but lowering the car with the stock set up will give you more bounce, as to lower the car you are actually extending the spring and not compressing it. Most reports I have heard is that it does make the ride softer and more bouncy because there is more travel in the spring (which makes it more subject to grounding out as well) which tends to spoil the ride and is exactly what you don't want with a lowered car. Aftermarket springs sort this by having less travel in the spring.

 

you are compressing the spring by lowering

there is not more bounce

 

But to lower the car you are relieving the tension in the spring, so there is more tension from the cars weight rather than the spring compressed by the clamps??

 

absolutely not.

 

you are compressing the spring

If you raise the car you are relieving pressure on the spring

try it yourselves to find out

you can't find out until you do it

The pressure needed on the wrench continues to increase considerably as you compress the spring

 

So you think to lower the car you need to compress / tighten the spring more with the C Spanners??

 

Wouldn’t you want new firmer springs so that the car won’t bottom out or scrape in the front so much going over bumps? The springs on my stock 430 are pretty soft compared to for example my GT3 and the GT3 sits lower but never really had an issue. Won’t the 430 being a softer suspension move more and being lower have more of a tendency to hit?



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Corey, according to Google, the GT3 sits between 50-51 inches in height compared to the F430 which is 47-48 inches high. Maybe this explains why the GT3 doesn't have as many problems with bumps?

 

My GT3 is lower than my F430 to the ground by a lot. I'm effectively at stock suspension height on the GT3, don't count the roof height for the 911, it has a much higher roofline even though the car sits lower.

The GT3 suspension is very very firm. For example, when you go over a speed bump it moves with the bump. The F430 tries to absorb the bump while going over the bump which can cause it to scrape. Luckily, I have the Fabspeed scrape guards on the 430 with the machined metal stops which replace some of the bolts. The metal stops scrape and not the actual bumper.

As I understand the Scuderia, which is lower, doesn't scrape as much as the regular F430, this could be a combination of the firmer front suspension and the Scuderia bumper's overhang being slightly different in angle and size.

 

attached is the chart that gives the amount lowered for the # of turns

you turn the nut more and you drop more

you are compressing the spring

also attached is a more complete statement of the lowering procedure

 

. My F430 sits 4 inches from the ground. How can anyone drive a public road if it's not only lower but lower by "a lot"? Not doubting what you wrote, just of the usefulness of a car on a street if by a lot it's say half the distance? For instance, a speed bump rises higher than 2 inches.

Edit: I just looked it up. A GT3 has an 88mm ground clearance. A stock F430 has 100mm. So 12mm separates the two. That's not a lot, that's probably barely perceptible to someone standing next to both cars. My understanding is the Scud is somewhere around 15mm lower than the F430 stock. That's still 3.5 inch ground clearance.

 

slight lowering is Ok but dramatic makes navigating very difficult especially with speed bumps

it can get a bit ridiculous

 

Where I drive my car, in the Appalachians, I have to be very careful with how fast I go or I will bottom out the car pretty easily due to dips in the road where washout has occurred or the road has settled in one section etc. Any stiffer than the car currently is, would not be a good street driving experience in my opinion. I can understand the need for it on a track, but on a street car?

 

My GT3 has 75mm of clearance. Now I do have a GT3 RS front splitter installed, but the suspension is stock GT3 set to ROW specs, not US specs. The RS splitter doesn't hit because the GT3 suspension is very stiff. There are places I would take the GT3 where the F430 could not make it even with the higher ground clearance because the suspension moves too much. If you lowered my US-spec height 430, it would be even worse unless you put on stiffer springs which is my point. I like the softer suspension on the 430 since it's my weekend cruiser. I love the suspension in the GT3 for curvy roads where the cup seats are needed to keep you from sliding out of your seat. It was my daily driver for a while, but my dental work was being shaken loose on public roads.

 

sounds like your lowered suspension was taking a "bite" out of your driving experiences!!

 

Do you drive primarily in NJ? If so those roads aren't very challenging. I'd love to see the GT3 in action because I don't think it would operate the same where I am at that height. When a dip in the road is less than a full car length, I think you'd bottom out pretty bad because of the lower angle in the front. Suspension travel in the F430 is not as exaggerated as I think you believe it is.

 

the lower you go the more observant you have to be of road conditions.

A friend was stopped recently by a CHP as he was swerving to avoid ruts.

CHP thought he was driving under the influence!!!

 

I drive in NJ, NY, PA and CT. I have recently driven through manhattan and Brooklyn without a problem in the Porsche. The rolling slowly over a buckling road in NYC would cause an issue with the F430 unless you are in "race" and even then might be an issue.

 

Yeah, none of that terrain is very challenging, except maybe parts of Western PA.