Is lowering really a good idea?
 

Well, we all know that lowering a 911 improves its looks, but in the absence of other mods, does lowering improve the handling or does it just mess up the geometry that Porsche took such care in developing?

Here's my experience for what it's worth....Lowering improved the handling of my 911. However, my car was nose high to start with so the difference was probably more than if the car had been the correct hight to start with. I also changed the torsion bars to 22/28 mm. The larger torsion bars probably improved the handling more than the ride hight. The shop (in my opinion) lowered the car too much. I wanted it at Euro. hight but it's about .5" lower. I wouldn't go any lower than euro hight. My front tires are now hitting my fender in some situations. I will have to have the fenders rolled if I keep it at this hight.
The cars I've seen at autocrosses that are U.S. hight handle fine. My opinion...if you're happy with the look of your car, and you're not autocrossing and tracking, don't bother with the ride hight. For me, I spent a lot of $$ on the suspension without much gain. I would be faster on the track if I put the $$ into more driving instruction and less car constuction.

Phil,

I think you are correct to question the value of lowering 'in the abscence of other mods!' Whether a moderate 1" drop messes anything up is doubtful, but damage from scraping or hitting speed bumps, or other objects is always a risk, and the benefit of lowering without a good four-wheel alignment and corner-balance is highly doubtful. As you say, visual appeal and bragging rights are the major attraction!

To be sure, heavier anti-roll bars and torsion bars, adjusted correctly and corner-balanced, combined with moderate lowering, does improve the 911's cornering capability, but the tradeoffs in ride discomfort and risks of low obstruction damage are real for a street-driven car!

Many people have reported a deterioration in handling with lowering, but I suspect those results were obtained without a four-wheel alignment afterwards.

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Warren Hall
1973 911S Targa

Lowing the front end is very straightforward, and you will improve the high speed handling of the car, but, and this is a big BUT, you will wear your front tires out badly on an inner band that runs about 2 - 2 1/2" from the inside of each tire.
At high speeds on a windy road, my grip improved as the mass of the car is driven down under cornering, and then you get full mating of the tires to the road; but for daily driving, you're concentrating all of the wear on that inner 3" or so. I wound up raising mine back up a bit to get it more even...
And yes, I guess adjusting the camber/toe in would have been the right way, but that's stuff for a shop; it's easy to just raise your car back up, but if you screw up the toe in, camber, and ride height, you'll end up at some wrench with your tail between your legs unable to fix the mess you've made!

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Kurt B
'84 Carrera Cab.
carrera_cabriolet@yahoo.com

[This message has been edited by Kurt B (edited 05-15-2001).]

Warren,

I suspect the reason for the deterioration in handling in some cars after lowering is because what you are left with is a car that can no longer be aligned to factory specs.

After a 911 has been lowered no amount of adjusment can be made to eliminate the excessive amount of negative camber that results in a harsh ride and twichy handling.

Joe Garcia

When I purchased my Porsche it already had been lowered to "European Specs". The ride was very harsh and I had to be real careful pulling in and out of driveways. I have raised the car, not completely back up to U.S. ride height, but definately higher than it was. It rides much better and no driveway problems. Maybe it handled slightly better lowered but not enough of a difference that I would consider lowering it again......

Bill Carcot
1979 911SC
Diablo Region, P.C.A.

[This message has been edited by N11Porsche (edited 05-15-2001).]

To lower your car correctly you must get a proper 4 wheel alignment and corner balance. If you do this, your car will handle better. Remember the cars where originally designed at Euro height. The US spec was a compromise to meet bumper restrictions.

All else being held equal, lowering results in reduced roll, squat, and dive. And the ride will be no harsher (assuming you haven't changed tbars or something).

The downside is reduced ground clearence and reduced suspension travel, plus some compromise on safety in an accident.

The choice to lower (and how much) depends on your intended use of the vehicle. Dedicated track cars should obviously be lowered a lot. Street cars maybe to Euro height. Offroad cars should be raised.

Chuck

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'86 Cab, '77 Targa, Family Truckster

Lowering improves the handling by lowering the center of gravity of the vehicle and thus reducing the weight transfer. This is physics and it is one of the most important things you can do to improve the handling assuming that you take care to make sure your suspension still operates properly (as the others have pointed out in one way or another).

For proof, look at any race car.

I agree with Chuck, lowering to Euro spec (and properly aligning the car) is good, because that is the height the car was designed to run at. The US height is artificially high for bumper law reasons.

Problems arise because most people can't resist lowering the cars too low.

I've considered this question myself and, after thoughtful deliberation I have to again agree with Warren. A lowered 911 looks better and since its center of gravity is lower, it should handle slightly better.

The reason I did not lower my car further during a recent 4-wheel alignment is because I believe this change should be accompanied by other suspension changes. I believe the suspension should be stiffened to do this.

Finally, I do not personally consider the negative camber issue to be relevent for me. I like negative camber and I do not mind the resultant twitchiness.

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'83 SC

I had my completely stock, US-height '80 SC lowered to the ROW specs, followed by a good alignment. Roughly a 1" drop all around. I do a fair amount of track/autocross stuff, and the car is significantly better now. I didn't expect it to be so noticeable, but the difference in weight transfer due to the lower CG really is quite obvious.

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Greg Slater
1980 SC
gslater@qwest.net

Greg,

Do you have pics and measurements on your fender-lips?

TIA
Nick

LOWERING CARS ALMOST ALWAYS LOOKS GREAT BUT SEEMS TO MESS WITH THE ORIGINAL DESIGNERS INTENT FOR HOW ALL THE PARTS SHOULD WORK TOGETHER. AFTER STEVE @ JOHNSON'S ALIGNMENT FIXED MY INCORRECTLY "LOWERED 89-911" I THINK THE ONLY RIGHT WAY TO GET IT LOWERED TO THE MAX CORRECTLY IS THROUGH SOMEONE LIKE STEVE WHO UNDERSTANDS HOW THE PORSCHE SUSPENSION IS SUPPOSED TO WORK ALONG WITH THE CORRECT HEIGHT, ALIGNMENT SETTINGS AND PROPER WHEEL TIRE CLEARANCES. THIS STUFF IS NORMALLY NOT DIY WORK NOR CAN IT BE LEFT TO ANY GOOD MECHANIC BUT SHOULD ONLY BE DONE BY SOMEONE WHO REALLY KNOWS HIS STUFF.

Nick -

I don't have any pics. Sorry.

The fender lips are within about a quarter inch of the values usually quoted by Bruce Anderson and everyone else around here. Perhaps tomorrow I'll go out and measure them again. Seems like it was roughly 24 inches on one end, and maybe 24.5 on the other, but I'll check. The guy who did it for me (my local hero of a mechanic who was the winner back in '90 or '91 of Porsche's Premier U.S. Service Technician award or whatever they call it) said that was as close as he could set everything to the values I requested. He then followed it up with a nice digital alignment (no corner balancing attempted, at least not yet anyway), and magically the car felt much better.

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Greg Slater
1980 SC
gslater@qwest.net

Just for my own personal curiousity, what are the ride height specs for Euro and U.S. versions?