Lowered vs standard

[John-In-Japan]

I really like the look of a lowered 911.

I often wonder, why didnt they do it like this in the first place?

Is it easy to do? how much does it cost?

Do you guys prefer the lowerd look or standard?

Is there any advantage to either?

[JeffreyNMemphis]

Porsche was forced to raise the height to meet USA bumper height standards. The Euro spec is lower. It is easy to do, detailed in Wayne's 101 projects book. It doesn't anything, but you may want to install a bump steer kit because the steering wheel jerks more when you hit a bump without it. The turbo tie rods is another upgrade that helps the steering on a lowered 911. What year car are you driving?

The advantage is better handling through a lower center of gravity. But you have to be careful going up curbs and speed bumps that may cause damage to the chin spoiler.

[stlrj]

The advantage is better handling through a lower center of gravity.

That's the universal assumption but don't be too surprised if the handling actually deteriorates as many have noted since center of gravity is only one piece of the puzzle which might explain how a stock height Cayenne could out handle a lowered 911.

Also, beware, there is an entire industry (money pit) built around restoring the handling characteristics of lowered 911's.



Welcome to the dark side...


Joe

[rfn026]

When you lower the car you change the angle of the front lower control arms. That's not a good thing. That's why Porsche (and Donohue) developed the raised spindles. If you only lower the car you may create some handling issues.

One of the more interesting things I see a lot here is how people lower their 911 and then add really stiff springs/torsion bars. The stiff springs cover up the handling issues. The end of all this is they think they have a really great car.

We never see tire temperature readings here which would tell us whether or not the handling is really better. People don't even describe what handling is.

I'm going to offer something here that should get people to think a little more about handling.

Five Basic Concepts
1. Response – The time between input to output
2. Precision – The consistency of output from a fixed input.
3. Gain – The amount of output from a given input
4. Progression – The consistency of the gain
5. Balance – Bias toward oversteer and understeer.

Now let's ask the question again about lowering. What part of handling is improved by lowering a 911?

Richard

[JeffreyNMemphis]

I should have left this one alone... I just repeated what I read in Wayne's book. My 911 is not lowered and I do not have any personal experience. Such is the case with a lot of information on the Internet.

I think I should sit back down and maybe take a chair in the back of the classroom. My understanding of suspension geometry is admittingly weak. I am really a student trying to respond to the question, and thought I knew the answer as it appeared in the text. After reading Richard and Joe's response, I don't feel so smart.

[stlrj]

We never see tire temperature readings here which would tell us whether or not the handling is really better. People don't even describe what handling is.

How can anyone describe the handling after spending so much to get it lowered and being blinded by the aesthetics?

All kidding aside, there are bump steer issues to contend with, additional swaying, tramlineing, increased understeer, ride discomfort...need I go on?


Cheers,

Joe

[livi]

Personally I prefer the stock euro ride hight on the models from the torsion bar era. Suits the overall look better. Significantly lower makes it look a bit 'rice-teenage-fiddling at home in the garage'. With a generally more purposeful race car like the 964 RS or the GT3 it΄s a whole different thing.

But that is probably just me (Mr. Paris-Dakar).

[Facey]

well, i believe some of the above staters have over looked a key concept.

the 911's where supposed to be at euro ride height, so had to raise them for US specs..... this means that lowering the 911 to euro height would give them the designed ride height where the balance is met.


having said that, i've switched to blisten sports (4), with 29mm (rear) and 22mm (front) and carrera sway bars, and my car went from soft and a little spongy to smooth in general with a little jitter over abrupt surface changes.



- first i had the car on stock suspension, at stock (U.S.) height... nothing to talk about other then the rear engine feel.
-then i lowered it to 24.5" at all corners, alot better.
then i tried for a day @ 24.25" and it was worse.

then i all of the above suspension mods other then the front bars, and had it as low as the wheels wouldn't rub... and it was great. however i couldn't get into my drive way, so back up, all the way to 25".

now i have done my front t-bars, and the car sits at 24.5" rear with 24.4" front, and its great.

in fact if feel that my suspension and engine are so well sorted that my breaks are (finally) not enough. locking them up i don't think is a possiblity anymore, though i'm sure if i stoppe like an idiot it might be possible...

note: for those that don't know i run negative chamber at all corners with pretty neutral toe, the car was corner balanced before the front bars went in, and i've set the hieght at each corner the same so it should be pretty close. The engine is a torque beast making 278 @rear wheels, tires are 245+265/35/18's.....aside from bigger brakes i would also like a stiffer front end as i think i can feel some twist between the towers so a 3 pt strut tower brace is in order....



sorry that i got so far off topic, my own car interest me quiet a bit, and aside from the forums is pretty much where any of my claimed knownledge comes from.

if there were no handling advantages to lowering your car it would still be worth while IMO, the looks change enough to justify it. however there is a gain up to a certain point from my experience.