hi, I dont own a 355 yet.. but have been keeping my eye open for a while.. I come more from the tuner scene.. currently drive a Vortech Supercharged 2005 350Z. 420whp and 350wtq. but the 355 is my all time favorite car and model. my 350Z is a beast with the SC on.. well more power then a 355. but would take a 355 over my 350Z any day. sometimes regret SC the 350Z. should have saved the cash etc.. if/when I get my hands on a 355.. I would look into lowering it for sure. I find the stock ride height is abit high. a minor drop would change the look of car completely. ive been reading alot.. all I could find was a set of H&R springs. but at the same time, I read a post.. that the stock suspension can actually be adjusted like a coilover setup. to my understanding you need a special wrench to turn the rings on the shock towers. any feedback, Pictures and anything to do with lowering a 355 would be appreciated thanks Tony.
two things: 1) at 4.2 inches of ground clearance the car is already rediculously low 2) the suspension is fully adjustible with a spanner wrench.
hi.. thanks for the feedback.. my 350Z currently has even less ground clearence then that.. so im used to driving low cars.. its just I would want to close up the wheel gap on the 355. at least with stock rims its acceptable.. again I dont own a 355.. and look forward to the day I do.. so no disrespect to 355 owners, but those who just install a set of aftermarkets rims with the same wheel gap looks ridiculous.. its like a rule even on any car.. as soon as you put aftermarket rims, car has to be dropped. so it seems adjusting the stock suspension is the best option.. but then how come ive read people who say they are buying set of aftermarket springs to lower car, if it can be done without it..?
Most don't lower because the handling of the car stock, with the stock ride height, will blow away 99.99% of everything else on the road. When you change the ride height you need to also align and corner balance the car. Once done the car will not handle the same. You will also need to get the correct "rake" of the car from front to back. This is the reason the wheel gap in the front is greater than the rear. The rake of the car is set up like this because of the rear weight bias of the car. Function over form. Lower the car and then you have to do alot of "testing" to get the handleing back to as good as stock. Lots of small adjustments and more testing. If the rake isn't right you will get understeer or dangerous/unpredictable high speed cornering. One of the other problems is scraping. The nose and full underbody areo kit. The areo kit is not cheap to say the least.
Aren't the Challenge and Fiorano cars lower than stock? Presumably then to maintain / improve the handling you have to install ALL the Fiorano parts, not just buy a set of lower springs.
I've installed H&R springs and my ground clearance is 3 1/8 inches at the lowest point. Not much room to clear objects but I think it looks good and handles great from what little I've driven since the install.
hi, if you have pictures.. please post.. and if possible before and after.. if you happen to have a before pic from the past.. but again.. why did you buy springs.. if the 355 ride height can be adjusted on stock suspension..? the only advantage I can think to install aftermarket springs.. is to assume H&R factored in balancing of each corner and the "rake" as someone mentioned above. then you dont have to do it, just install the springs and thats it.
Here is mine with H&R springs, front set at max ride height and rear set to match (~ 1/2 way through the adjustment range). It is at the absolute lowest it can be to make it in and out of my neighborhood and in and out of my garage. Suspension is almost exclusively run in comfort mode with those springs and is comfortable with the factory wheels and Continental DW's. Sport mode is a little too harsh unless on very smooth roads. The challenge rims and Direzza z1* are rough in either mode so I generally only run them at autox or track, but the car is significantly faster with them on at autox (~2-3 sec faster). As to why, I didn't do it, the previous owner did. However, I think with the advance of tire technology since 1995 that the stock suspension needs to be stiffened up a bit to match, which the H&R springs will do so I have no plans to swap the stock springs back on - the car works really well as it sits. I had thoughts of running A6's on the challenge wheels but I don't think the suspension will be up to it as it already struggles a bit in slaloms or other very quick transitions. It might be able to handle them on a track where you don't have those violent direction changes, so it's still a possibility but I think it will need more roll control. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A) The challenge cars are significantly lower than stock. But they have different tires (racing slicks), different springs 2.5XR 4X front, and shocks to match. Oh, and different anti-roll bars. This just proves that one can successfully lower the car--if you are willing to change almost everything other than the hubs and a-arms. B) The high speed stability (i.e. aerodynamic oversteer/understeer) is set by the front ride height. Raise the front moves the aerodynamic center of pressure rearward causing understeer. The low speed oversteer/understeer, is then controlled by the rear ride height. lower the rear to induce understeer. C) due to the geometry of the front and rear suspensions, raising or lowering the rear will perform 1.6 times more change in the oversteer/understeer relationship than the same movement at the front. Thus, the rake of the car is dependent on the ride height! D) With the stock anti-roll bar, the factory ride height makes for a quick but not overly quick car (balalnced oversteer/understeer.) If you lower the ride height and use the factory rake, you will want a different front anti-roll bar (i.e. stiffer.) E) none of this maters if you stay under 120 MPH anyways.
http://www.separationofcontrols.com/posts/lowering-your-car-with-threaded-shocks-or-spring-collars/ Best, Rob
Here are a couple pictures the first one with the stock springs then the H&R springs. The rear dropped about .5" and the front 1" ... I now only have 3 1/8" clearance under the front body panels. I can't imagine going any lower, I wouldn't be able to drive it. I believe the H&R springs are a bit stiffer than the stock springs. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
In general 'no' assuming proper engineering. Where some get in trouble is with increased tire wear if the wheels are not aligned after lowering. Best, Rob Sent from my ADR6350 using Tapatalk 2
I had thought the Euro factory ride height was a little lower int he front that USA due to bumper height regulations. I could (easily) be wrong. I am getting ready to drop about 1/2 inch, but that is about as far as I want to, again for drivability. I also hate the "slammed" look and rebel against it a bit.
When you say slammed I are your talking about the wheels tucked up inside the fender look? Or is mine considered slammed? I am thinking of painting my wheels flat black. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yours is not "slammed". Yours is perfect by todays production super car standards. I may tackle this project next winter with a set of aftermarket wheels at the same time. I have modified many cars in the past but the 355 is different. You are already starting with something that is near perfection, as not the case with most vehicles, so modifying it and actually improving it requires much more care and attention.
all great points.. feel free to add more pics of anything you find.. again.. the idea about this thread was to learn about the best/most common ways to close the wheel gap on the 355. with the stock 18's.. obvioulsy the lower you go.. to close the gap.. the less road clearence you have. so would have to go up to 19's... or enve 20's. to even it our abit. obviously putting on 20's will kill most performance advantages.. but not every is necesarily at the track everyday. surely people must have seen this 355..? I spoke to the seller back in the summer 2012, was so tempted to buy it..! below were his videos when he was selling. everytime I look at it.. i kick myself for not going for it lol..! by the way.. doesnt seem like I can post pics..? [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEUFNUjTXXw[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FE7fxxgGvGA[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMbGbjNqqcE[/ame]
You might have to be subscribed to post pics. not sure... The 355 in the videos used to belong to a forum member here, not sure who has it now. I believe it would qualify as "slammed."
Mine is lowered about 1" using the adjustable stock suspension Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Nice..! thats amazing..! just perfect.. whats your rim/tire setup. did you keep reference how much you turned the rings in each corner. did you do all those steps mentioned above.. to make sure all four corners were balanced and to keep the rake at the same ratio as stock height..? those things were a little teachnical.. but did seem to be important things to consider when lowering the 355.
The wheels are 19" Modular Competitions, but are unfortunately NLA. Tires are 225F and 285R. The suspension was lowered by the Ferrari dealership so I don't know all the specifics there, but I assume they followed the proper procedures. Handles great! Here's another pic Image Unavailable, Please Login
nice.. thats a great shot too.. rims are nice too.. the drop makes all the different.! whats the profile of tires, width of the rims and offset if you know.. did you upgrade the brakes too..? discs look a little larger..? I saw a pic in another thread.. guy swamped complete Fiorano brake set on to his 95 Berlinetta.. looked great..! thanks Tony..
That's my car now, I bought it without the black rims (20's) as they were just too much for me. It's got H&R springs and has adjustable rear control arms to get the camber correct slammed that low. I had it raised up to maximum height with the H&R springs and then had it aligned when I brought it home which would be doable without the adjustable arms. As you can imagine, the underside is pretty scraped up from it being that low. You should have bought it, it was a killer deal . I'm very glad you didn't, though.
