how low can ya go?

3rd September 2006, 20:03

just wonderin how low can ya lower a saxo wit just springs to get that phat look?

6th September 2006, 15:13

u can go about 50 mm i think before being on the bumpstops, really tho any more and you will knacker the standard shocks up proper quick, best to get a full kit for anything below 40 mm id say as the ride will be a bit harsh, if it aint handling you want though and more looks u mite be ok.

8th September 2006, 01:38

i went 40mm

8th September 2006, 06:19

60mm baby!

8th September 2006, 07:11

any lower than 40mm on just springs and your asking for trouble, get the full kit and save yourself time and money in the long run!!

8th September 2006, 08:12

60 on front and right to the bump stops on rear- like mine

8th September 2006, 08:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosey

60 on front and right to the bump stops on rear- like mine

on just springs, with no dampers!?!?

8th September 2006, 08:37

Seen 70mm, it looks wank and destroys the suspension in no time. But if you want that "phat" look.

Or buy some coilovers

8th September 2006, 09:07

I was down 60mm for over 2 years and has no problems. If I get another saxo 50mm would be the lowest Id go now.

8th September 2006, 12:09

Im down 100mm rear and bout 60mm front speed bumps are a bitch but the car looks and handles great, passangers moan about there spines though ;-) Getting me coilovers 2mz so gonna go down another 20mm

8th September 2006, 12:13

Dropping a car that much doesn't make it handle well, honestly, it really doesn't

8th September 2006, 13:10

how can you go 100mm on the rear mines down to bump stops and thats abot 85-90mm??

8th September 2006, 13:14

100mm is way too much. cars handle good when they are low but if you lower them too much they handle just the same as standard

8th September 2006, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by mark_saxo

100mm is way too much. cars handle good when they are low but if you lower them too much they handle just the same as standard

i agree mate mines right down on the floor at the back and does handle well-better than standard.

but i done it for looks. if i was doing it for handling i would have gone 45

8th September 2006, 13:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosey

i agree mate mines right down on the floor at the back and does handle well-better than standard.

I wish I'd know that I just had to drop it right down at the back instead of wasting my time working out spring and damper configurations to create a saxo that handles. What a fool I've been. I could have just slammed it right to the ground and it would have handled well-better. Silly old me eh

10th September 2006, 11:37

Well next meet you can see how low me car is, and ill take you one at a time if you like and show you the handling, but I had my VTR lowered 40mm all round and me VTS is well low and it handles better than the VTR did, especially the back end which used to be more twitchy on the VTR, but I have my Coilovers now, so when there fitted Ill play with different heights and give you all my honest opinion.

10th September 2006, 15:09

mines 60 mm at the front and 80mm rear and its not to bad lol
just dont hit a bump on the road or you will feel it bad

10th September 2006, 15:27

I agree with that me gf and mates do nothin but moan i think im immune now tho

10th September 2006, 18:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by bloz

I agree with that me gf and mates do nothin but moan i think im immune now tho

here here lol

and i didnt say that mine handled amazing, just said its better than standard.
obviously if you spend stupid amouts of money and work everything out than

1) you need a girlfriend ( joke for those of you who dont think it is)

2) it will handle amazing

but im just going for looks

10th September 2006, 18:51

campdavid - agreed, i wasted all this time figuring out what roll-centre / centre of gravity / damper bound & rebound / spring rates / camber angles / toe in-out angles! should have just slammed it to the tarmac. not taking the piss people and im sure to a certain degree it handles better because you dont feel any body-roll, however take it on track against someone whose done their homework and you will know the difference.

10th September 2006, 19:17

at what point in this thread does it say if you slam it to the floor it will handle the best????

no didnt think so..........

it does say 'mines is slammed to the floor and handles better than standard'

10th September 2006, 19:22

i agree mate mines right down on the floor at the back and does handle well-better than standard.

well better than standard? wanna prove it on track?

10th September 2006, 20:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by rosey

'mines is slammed to the floor and handles better than standard'

bull, for so many reasons. firsty, you might want to consider an email to pug/citroen, telling them that their research and development on their chassis was a complete waste of time, seeing as you've miraculously discovered that by slamming it onto the bumpstops the car now handles far better (seeing as the 106 chassis was voted one of the best handling then i'd like to hear their response).
from your lowering thread i seem to remember you didnt have any suspension realignment done, nor did you have 4 wheel tracking done, nor have you have adjustable top mounts fitted to correct the hideous negative camber your car now has. so..... every part of your suspension is now either on or very close to it's limits ie shocks, bearings, bushes, tyres. standard car would rape yours round a track, you'd be too busy trying to correct the oversteer/understeer caused by your car bottoming out and bumping all over the place. i suggest you try driving a car which actually does handle well then maybe you'll see the difference.

10th September 2006, 20:31

well i have lowered my saxo 80mm rear and 60mm front and the only few things i notice are

1) less body roll

2) its bumpier

3) it handles even worse than before( but i like my looks so i dont mind)

11th September 2006, 12:52

If you go too low you will fuck the driveshafts up! honest!

11th September 2006, 13:04

I will raise and lower my car until its handling is at its best and let you all know when I eventually get round to fitting the Coilovers.

Fitted me new arch last night, only prob is me mate dented the wing bein to ruff oh well . we fixed the flashing battery light on the dash as well but now 1 day later a new light appears, I now have a pretty orange ABS light showing, pgghh like I need ABS anyway, VTR never had it

11th September 2006, 13:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Connor_scotland

well i have lowered my saxo 80mm rear and 60mm front and the only few things i notice are

1) less body roll

2) its bumpier

3) it handles even worse than before( but i like my looks so i dont mind)

same lowering as mine mate, well bumpy down some of the country roads, i also did mine for looks but if i did it for handling i would go 40mm all round on a full kit

11th September 2006, 13:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanvtr81

bull, for so many reasons. firsty, you might want to consider an email to pug/citroen, telling them that their research and development on their chassis was a complete waste of time, seeing as you've miraculously discovered that by slamming it onto the bumpstops the car now handles far better (seeing as the 106 chassis was voted one of the best handling then i'd like to hear their response).
from your lowering thread i seem to remember you didnt have any suspension realignment done, nor did you have 4 wheel tracking done, nor have you have adjustable top mounts fitted to correct the hideous negative camber your car now has. so..... every part of your suspension is now either on or very close to it's limits ie shocks, bearings, bushes, tyres. standard car would rape yours round a track, you'd be too busy trying to correct the oversteer/understeer caused by your car bottoming out and bumping all over the place. i suggest you try driving a car which actually does handle well then maybe you'll see the difference.

calm down mate, only said my car handles better as it is now then when i bought it standard.

i have had my wheels aligned, tracked etc etc....

didnt say it was great but i feel that it does handle better than it used to.

yes its bumpy but

11th September 2006, 13:15

also i did say for best handeling go around 40 - 45

11th September 2006, 15:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanvtr81

bull, for so many reasons. firsty, you might want to consider an email to pug/citroen, telling them that their research and development on their chassis was a complete waste of time, seeing as you've miraculously discovered that by slamming it onto the bumpstops the car now handles far better (seeing as the 106 chassis was voted one of the best handling then i'd like to hear their response).
from your lowering thread i seem to remember you didnt have any suspension realignment done, nor did you have 4 wheel tracking done, nor have you have adjustable top mounts fitted to correct the hideous negative camber your car now has. so..... every part of your suspension is now either on or very close to it's limits ie shocks, bearings, bushes, tyres. standard car would rape yours round a track, you'd be too busy trying to correct the oversteer/understeer caused by your car bottoming out and bumping all over the place. i suggest you try driving a car which actually does handle well then maybe you'll see the difference.

Have you tried slamming your car to see how it handles, I dont want to get too much into a heated debate, but my VTR had 40mm springs and me VTS is on 60mm with the back down bout 100mm and it def handles better than VTR, but I have not fitted me Coilovers yet to test the 40mm theory and get the corners etc balanced.

Also just wondering do you recemend std bushes or up-rated?

11th September 2006, 16:08

Yes i have tried slamming my car it handled like an absolute bucket. Im now down 40mm on a decent suspension kit and even now 40mm is to low.

Maybe in your head it handles better because it physically cant roll but it has virtually no suspension travel and will skip and tram line etc...

11th September 2006, 16:17

Well Ill let you know, I had my Coilovers made by Gaz to go as low as me car tho, I had smaller dampers and higher poundage springs so that I still have travel so Ill let you know how it handles when its fitted, did not come cheap tho ill tell ya

11th September 2006, 17:08

its not just suspension travel, your whole geometry will be completely off

11th September 2006, 17:12

what would u guys suggest for a mk1 1.1i saxo how much shud i lower front and back if i have standard 15" alloys low profiles

11th September 2006, 17:23

35-40mm for handling, but I know a lad lives by me who has 15s and he is catching with people in the back although im not sure of his profile.

11th September 2006, 17:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott

its not just suspension travel, your whole geometry will be completely off

After its all fitted shes going to Northants Motorsport to be tracked and wighted thought , surely it wont be out then.

11th September 2006, 17:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brooksy

what would u guys suggest for a mk1 1.1i saxo how much shud i lower front and back if i have standard 15" alloys low profiles

If your not catching though 35-40mm ish I would not just get springs though go for a spring/shocks kit like a spax ride adjustable kit, because then you can set the ride to wat you want,

11th September 2006, 17:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by bloz

After its all fitted shes going to Northants Motorsport to be tracked and wighted thought , surely it wont be out then.

are they physically going to alter the camber and move your wishbones up etc.... Tracking just means the wheels are pointing in the smae direction

11th September 2006, 22:16

i shud hope they are for the money that the charge , u pay fair bit for the camber and corner weighting so im pretty sure they do it yeh

12th September 2006, 10:15

Mine was 60mm down when I bought it. It was shit. 2 months later EVERYTHING was in the bin or sold to people who wanted looks.

You can only change the tracking, the VTS is not blessed with adjustable wishbones or camber adjusters as standard.

It does not handle "better" than standard for two reasons. 1. Handling is objective, its not grip, which I think you may be confusing it with and secondly, in my opionion it handles aufully, understeering in with piss soft springs, then running out of travel and hitting mega snap oversteer. Not good.

12th September 2006, 10:31

What suspension was it running on 60mm tho? Also I am objective on the matter as my vtr which was 40mm handled well so does me vts, but like I sed as everyone on here seems to think 35 40 is best i will adjust my coilovers and do track days until its perfect and let you know if you were all right , im not saying your not,

I will say tho that Matt Westys car handled pretty well last two times I saw it so you could be right

12th September 2006, 12:55

I do see how you can say that Matt's car handles well unless you driven it. I'll admit, it does grip well and the setup seems to suit Matt given his times at Kames, but it doesn't mean it handles well,it just grips well. Grip and handling are two totally different things.

You are also making the mistake of thinking that ride hight is massively important, it isn't. You need to focus more on the balance of the car, front to back, you have to stiffen up the rear if you are stiffening up the front, you need to match the dampers to the springs and, to a lesser extent, the bushes to the rest of the setup.

Lastly, you seem to thinkthat to make the car handle well you need ot make it ride badly, you don't. Ride and handling come as a package to a certain extent. If the suspension is overly harsh and bouncing around all over the place that isn't good, thats the suspension hitting the bumpstops. When you hit the bumpstops it stops gripping.Thats a bad thing. Mine sure as hell isn't the best riding car in the world but there is some level of pliance there.

Lastly, if this is your daily driver, try and make it handle on the road. A car thats setup for track work won't work on the B5423 and it'll snap on you everywhere. A good road setup however works well everywhere

12th September 2006, 13:21

CampDavid, When me coilovers fitted I may get you to come set it up as you seem to know wat ur talking about, as for driving on the road my ride cant get any bumpier, i could not believe how bad it was until my mate drove on sat and i was a passanger.

12th September 2006, 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by bloz

CampDavid, When me coilovers fitted I may get you to come set it up as you seem to know wat ur talking about, as for driving on the road my ride cant get any bumpier, i could not believe how bad it was until my mate drove on sat and i was a passanger.

I have never setup coilovers in my life so I wouldn't be the ideal choice. I'm pretty sure its a case of choosing springs then damper rates, bosching them on and then sorting the tracking. Hundreds of people have used coilovers on track, it may be worth seeing what they've found to work. I'd look into a normal springs and damper combo too as that can yield top results. Whatever you do, don't forget the back end!

12th September 2006, 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by harp

same lowering as mine mate, well bumpy down some of the country roads, i also did mine for looks but if i did it for handling i would go 40mm all round on a full kit

yep i agree i did mine for looks aswell

14th September 2006, 18:48

power steering feed pipe relocation????? wats this about??? when you drop the saxo on the front the pipe is in the way of the steering rack????