FF - suspension lifter mandatory?

Welcome to the forum and potential FF ownership.

The FF lift operates both axles.

It will only engage below 40kph and if you drive above that speed, it will automatically drop.

From memory, it adds 40mm to the ride height which is handy if you use the car as its maker intended.

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It’s also handy if you expect to encounter awkward ramp angles and has saved our bacon on more occasions than I care to remember. The issue is not so much the front or rear overhangs but the breakover angle in the middle as the car has a long wheelbase.

More information on where you live and how you plan to use the car would be helpful in advising you if you’re likely to need the lift or not.

Also, photos of the cars you’re considering and detailed spec comparisons would help us help you better.

 

Mine doesn’t have the lifter and I thought it might be a problem, we have many speed bumps, some big ones. It’s never scraped one of them and it is actually better than my Quattroporte. So I wouldn’t worry too much about it, as long as it’s got the standard suspension and is not lowered.

 

In my experience, I've never needed it for speed bumps or other typical road circumstances.

But exactly to the point made by ANOpax, the only time I've ever scraped the underside was caused by a driveway with a significant drop/downwards angle. I was going minimal speed, just to move forwards gently, and it suddenly caught the middle of the underside. It was a driveway at an Airbnb that I had entered for 2 weeks already and always engaged lifter, but that once I had forgotten! The sound of it catching quickly reminded me, I stopped moving forwards, engaged the lifter, and then continued without issue. I was going slow enough, and stopped quickly enough, that I couldn't see any damage. But I don't know how I could have gone further without the lifter.

I think it takes 5 seconds, maybe 10 seconds at max, to lift. At the Airbnb, I would turn off the car with the lifter engaged, and it automatically drops, but then also automatically engaged when I turned the car on again, which was useful for exiting the driveway again.

 

I REALLY wanted one on my Lusso. I live in Manhattan, and some roads are brutal, and speed bumps are literally on every drive home. I have never needed one and never scraped. I actually got out of the car and had a friend drive it over speed bumps. It is not pretty (1 inch or so at the closest), but they are clear. That said, the car I got had a pretty beaten-up underside on the front lip. You really can't see it. Rather than spend a b unch, and drilling into the car for a complete protection device, I did get two boxes of these installed. Not the same as a lift, but so far so good. https://sliplo.shop/?srsltid=AfmBOoqU3sZrqdZX4k_P45YvDuEbdDDqgC-1OKWCpkOfzcaMAPAZ45vZ

 

What is the clearance on that car? How high above the ground? FF is 5 inches

 

The view is so quick, but from what I can see that should be no problem. I have to go to a friends house with a steeper pitched driveway than that. As long as I take it at an angle, and slowly, it is no problem. I do have the lifter and the only time I've used it is just to see if it worked!