Lowering our rides..

I think it all depends on who does the work and what components are used and/or changed when lowering the car.

Whenever you lower a car you want to make sure that you keep the suspension geometry the same as it was when it left the factory. This is not always a simple task.

I would do some research and look at the results of other people that have done it already and ask them what issues they have encountered (if any). That way you know what you might be getting into.

I can't understand why Ferrari gave the 458 so much space between the tire sidewall and the edge of the fender. The car looks like it's ready to go off road or something. Look at a BMW M3 the way it sits from the factory. The thing looks like it's going to scrape the fenders at every little bump (but it doesn't). That's the look I want in a sports car in my opinion.

 

I lowered mine and love it.
Cost a fortune for only a small drop but it's worth it.
Noticed zero handling differences and in fact it's been a beast.

 

Dearler did mine for around $1200. Looks great and never hits. Highly recommend it!

 

Depends whether you are happy with something which looks like a 4x4 SUV or not I guess

 

Can I ask you what they did? And could you post some before and after pics if it's not too much trouble?

Thank you in advance.

 

Arnie had his car done after mine at the same location. They simply turn the spring retainers and re-align. Mine were maxed out. Roughly 1.5" drop in front and 1" in back.

My car was selected by Fiat to be in a advertisement. The last shot was one from the shoot. If they think it looks good then it should silence the critics... Rb
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Proper look

 

I really like the lowered looks but there is no way I can drive that on the crumby streets in America!

 

I really like the look too but i'd be scraping everything with the road condition and speed humps here in Brunei

 

Depends on where you live and where you drive. I put 22,000 miles on a C6 Corvette with coil overs that was slammed, and I never had any problems. I even drove from Dallas to Miami and it was fine.

 

It seems that's not really a ride height issue as much as a disliking for the amount real estate between the tire and wheelwell.

Instead of lowering, would moving up to a 20" rim / tire configuration fill the gap better? Clearly it's much more costly but wouldn't a slightly larger rolling diameter would do the same thing... visually speaking.

 

I had my 458 lowered by the dealer. As stated previously, they just "screw" the shocks in. My dealer was very careful to measure the car post lowering to make sure chassis height to pavement was equal side to side. It required some fine tuning but worth it. Handling marginally better. Look vastly better. No ride compromise occurs as no change to actual spring/shock function (no compression/rebound change).
In regards to scraping, we put delrin on front of car. This way any scraping spared bodywork and took worry out of it. Delrin apparently known for years to track day guys to protect cars from curbing.
I did not maximally lower car. About 3/4 inch or so made a huge difference in appearance. Plus, no change to caster/camber settings needed. Just alignment.
When I get spider same will be done.

 

Perhaps the factory prefers that the wheels not hit the fenders?

 

If you do lower it and want more aggressive springs, we have the KW/Novitec lowering spring kits instock for the 458.

This really would just help for people that want the car lowered and plan to track it every once in a while.

 

Yup. Looks better. I, too would be fearful of scraping. I am amazed that I do not scrape the Cali at all. Heck, I scrape the Panamera sometime. Nice Pick, btw.

 

The workshop manual usually says +/- 5mm.

What Ive found is the car is set up high out of the factory. After 1000 miles it settles but its still higher than what workshop manual says it should be. After 1000 miles I take it to the dealer and they put it as close to -5mm as possible. Any more than -5mm ruins the ride and usability which ruins the enjoyment of the car.

 

Actually the streets in Florida aren't bad at all....

 

I have a lift so keen to do this once my suspension is broken in.

What's the informed consensus -- if I am not doing an extreme drop, can my dealer handle this or do you need to take it to a tuner that is set up to do corner balancing, adjust the alignment to compensate, etc?

 

I think lowering improves the looks marginally but I just don't see it being worth it unless you never encounter anything but perfectly flat and even roads.

I tend to think Ferrari knows a proper ride height better than some guy at a shop.

 

You can't be serious? Dozens of different sports cars have been made over the years that come from the factory much lower than the 458 does.

This is what an M3 and a GT2 RS look like from the factory. You can't tell me that BMW and Porsche drivers are banging their wheels into the fenders all day.
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You can't simply put on a larger wheel and tire without wreaking havoc with the traction control, speedometer, stability control, etc...

When cars come from the factory with larger wheels as options, the tires have shorter sidewalls so that no matter what combination they offer, they all have the same overall diameter.

That's why lowering is the only way to go, unless you can re-program the car's ECU for the new overall tire diameters.

 

The 458 comes with 20" wheels. Also, upgrading from 19's to 20' doesn't impact a car in any serious way unless you intend on tracking it. I've done wheels size upgrades on almost every car I've owned without a single issue. And yes, the tire profile needs to change so the the overall diameter is very close to OEM.

 

Just to complicate this issue, the chief mechanic at our dealership has found that 458's stock from the factory can vary in ride height quite a bit - some are a little high, others more so. Perhaps this observation is consistent with the spec of +/- 5 mm, which means some 458's are 10 mm lower than others, as delivered new. In my mind, that is quite a bit of difference. It's important to remember that with lowering or setting ride height that alignment has to be set to factory specs in order to preserve handling characteristics. Preserving factory rake settings likely also important.

 

Robert, as I have said before, I absolutely love your 458! Nice work.