Finally lowered my California! I think this is what the car needs to get that more aggressive Ferrari look. I purchased H&R sport spring from Vivid Racing. Thanks to Rob at Vivid for answering my questions and pointing me in the right direction. The H&R springs lower the car about 1". I felt it needed a just a bit more drop which was done with adjusting the coilovers. Over all the car was lowered about 1.25". I also added the Ferrari front bumper skid plates for the expected driveway rubs. I have only driven the car for about an hour since it's been lowered. I'll be driving it to Napa this weekend and will be able to give additional feedback for a long highway and city driving. So far the car appears to only be slightly stiffer. My wife didn't notice the difference from stock. I've taken the car into a driveway with a fairly steep entrance. The car just barely scraped the front skid plates. No problem for me. It's better than my old F355. Here's a break down of the cost to lower the car: H&R sport springs $545 (Vivid Racing) Ferrari California front skid plates $225 (Steve Harris Imports) 12 hours labor (included alignment) Each dealer or shop may charge a different hourly rate. You can plug your calculate your cost. I was quoted only 6 hours labor if we lowered the car with just the coilovers. I chose not to go this route as I was warned that I could bottom out the shocks and damage them if we lowered the car to much with the coilovers. A few pictures of the transformation of my California. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It does look good...do you have magneride suspension? For what it's worth I think your original pentagram wheels would now look great with some 15-20mm spacers behind them.
No magneride suspension on my car. I never liked the original wheels. I'm going to sell them. I've considered the spacers. May add those in the future.
Big thumbs up from me. You can really tell the difference between the second and third photos. Looks great Mike; well done. -G.B.
I hear you...those are definitely a polarizing style, but you may want to keep them for trade in time.
Very nice!!! How is the handling now? I find the cali's suspension setup a bit soft. I plan to lower my car with factory coil overs.
The ride with the H&R springs is only slightly stiffer. I haven't had a chance to take the car out on some twisty roads as of yet to see if the handling has improved. Once the mountain road clear up, I'll let you know.
Looks way better Mike, you had a huge gap before the drop, it looks flush and cleaner with it lowered. Seems weird, but I didn't like the wheels before the drop, but it's better with the drop.
A comparison image of Cali lowered roughly 20mm in front with OEM coilovers. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thankfully the cars have adjustable coilovers! Stance and wheels are perfect in this photo! Well done.
No problems in handling whatsoever. In fact I think its more planted through the corners with the lower center of gravity.
I don't know why it is. It's not that much different, lowered and Ferrari center caps, hell of a change though. +1. I really like the looks of the 20s.
Most recent photo of the car. Mike, I hope you don't mind me posting this. -G.B. Hi-resolution panorama: http://www.flickr.com/photos/24673238@N07/5663586768/ Image Unavailable, Please Login
Finally re-sized the panorama so I could fit it on here. The car looks pretty damn good. -G.B. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Thank you both very much! I was actually thinking about having a print of this made. 4 feet long. Don't know where I'd find that big of a frame though! -G.B.
