To lower or not to lower?

[75Carrera]

After installing my 3.2 into the 75 Carrera the car sits almost 2" LOWER in the rear. My choices seem to be to change to SC adjustables in the rear or lower the front.

I've had it lowered (years ago in Calif) and raised back up when I moved to AZ. I liked the lowered look and the ground-hugging ride albeit more buckboardish than I would have preferred.

My car is not a daily driver but I want it to be all it can be when I do take it out. What's your take on lowering early 911's?

[75Carrera]

SC911SC,

2) I'm leaning that way, just looking for comments about lowered characteristics... any major plus or minus?

1) What constitutes "early 911" ? I figured 30 years placed it as an early. Straighten me out.

[Bill Verburg]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
1) That's not an early 911.

2) Just lower the front and you're set.

Agreed!

I am also curious(and so should you) as to why it sits 2" lower. The 3.2 isn't that much heavier

[IROC]

FWIW, when I installed the 3.2 in my car, it caused the rear to sit noticeably lower also. And this is with 29mm torsion bars. The 3.2 I installed was alot heavier than the 2.7 that came out, for sure. I could pick up the 2.7 without a tremendous amount of effort, but trying to get the 3.2 out of the back of my pickup truck was a whole different experience.

Mike

[Paulporsche]

Donny,

What size wheels and tires are you running?

[75Carrera]

Paul,

I'm running 15's 7&8's and currently on Yokohama HP4 (P215/60/R on the rear and P215/60/R fronts). These things wear like iron but don't hold on like the Pirelli P-7's did. I've been looking at Michelin's for next time if these tires have too much slip under this hot 3.2. I want both grip and wear. The gain in power is more than noticable (understatement) over my "old" 2.7.
I doubt the car feels any better about being called "old" than I do!

Thanks to Bill too.

[Paulporsche]

Your tires are 25" diameter. When Bruce Anderson wrote about Euro Height in his book, he was using 25" tires as a reference. He suggested 25 1/2" F and 25" rear to the top of the wheel arch for a height that looked good, gave a lower CG, and did not bottom or give that buckboard feeling to the ride.

[Elu]

Wait!.....

I actually had to raise mine. Two reasons, it was really low...by the looks of it way lower than yours....even the backend of yours.

The first is I live in Albuquerque, NM. In an older part of town that has gone under some major revitalization but most of the commercial drives and even my house driveway was a steep entry and the front spoiler scraped on every drive in and out of a parking lot and or my driveway. Not a good thing to replace costing at almost $1000.00.

The second was that the receiver dryer for the air conditioner mounted in the front wheel well was constantly rubbed by the tire every time I had to make a tight turn, the hoses and clamps were getting ruined.

So, If you are good with both of these issues....Lower it to the ground!

[75Carrera]

Elu to you in Albeturkey!

I am aware of the restrictions lowering brings on. I lived in Solana Beach, Calif for years and had her lowered about 2" all around back then. I really loved the ride and the bad feel of low riding. The clearence caused me to take bumps more tenderly, watch the road for minor objects and generally be more alert. "A good thing" I thought.
In this (once) little mountain town the roads became too much for me as a (then) daily driver. So I got Vern Covert to raise her up and re-alein the toe. Now as a recreational club or cruze car and after dropping in this new 3.2 LTR (making her 2" lower in the back) I'm lowering it again. Not to the ground but going that way. One thing I learned was that when it was lowered the first time we hadn't cut down the shock stops to allow more travel: hence the buckboard ride. Thanks for your concerned comments.

I bought a 76 911S Champagne Anniversary Edition from the guy who owns Luna Mansion and The Owl (I think it's called). He had a hot 930 Turbo and drove the wheels off it regularly back in the day.

[Elu]

Whew! I feel so much better now....dogh!