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ride height on stock CSVT

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DocStruthers

Veteran CEG'er
Joined
Dec 11, 2008
Messages
864
I have about 5" from the ground to the bottom of my side skirts at each end.

NOW

isn't it supposed to be like 6"

does anyone know what the measurement was when the cars came off the showroom.

because i want to see if I buy lowering springs that lower 1.5" all around is that 1.5" lower then i have (meaning my car is stock height right now)


or 1.5" lower then stock which might be the same IF my springs and struts have sagged over the years.

PLEASE :help:

this has to make sense to someone!

doesn't make sense to me when i read it hahahaha but someone has to get it! :shrug:

Thanks guys!
 
I think I know what your mean. Pretty much once you lower it, it will suck up the wheel gap. I'm not too sure about how much the whole car will lower itself but it should have a better stance/ handling and the wheel gap should vanish.
 
SVt suspension was tuned for handling. Lowering may just take you in the wrong direction, not to mention possibly throwing camber out of spec, and risking refusal from an alignment shop.
 
The stock ride height...


















ispi036083.jpg



is that high...
 
Kevinm said:
SVt suspension was tuned for handling. Lowering may just take you in the wrong direction, not to mention possibly throwing camber out of spec, and risking refusal from an alignment shop.
Click to expand...

Woah woah woah lets not be silly here. If you mean they "tuned" it by using the same springs, slightly stiffer shocks and a barely smaller front roll bar than the regular model then you're taking yourself too seriously. Extreme lowering on some cars will affect camber in a negative way but the normal lowering springs should gain a little negative camber which is a good thing while being stiffer which is also a good thing.
 
Kevinm said:
SVt suspension was tuned for handling. Lowering may just take you in the wrong direction, not to mention possibly throwing camber out of spec, and risking refusal from an alignment shop.
Click to expand...

if that where really true why do so many end up with a suspension kit?
 
Kevinm said:
SVt suspension was tuned for handling. Lowering may just take you in the wrong direction, not to mention possibly throwing camber out of spec, and risking refusal from an alignment shop.
Click to expand...

I do think you are partially on the right track here. Lowering will probably wear out suspension components more quickly, however, lowering the center of gravity along with stiffer struts and springs will not take you in the wrong direction. This improves handling.
 
Extreme lowering is when you get in trouble, both with too much negative camber and when the suspension angle is messed up to where it doesnt flex right.
 
beyondloadedSE said:
...lowering the center of gravity along with stiffer struts and springs will not take you in the wrong direction. This improves handling.
Click to expand...

Lowering the center of gravity will improve handling but there are a lot of other parts to the equation.

As I understand it, adjustable shocks are only adjustable for rebound. At least that is the way it used to be. Correct me if I'm wrong. With the stuts cranked all the way up to the stiffest setting on bumpy pavement, the spring may not fully rebound between bumps. You will be hitting bumps with the spring partially compressed and it gets worse the bumpier it is.

I had a 77 Monza with adjustables back in the day. There was a bumpy sweeping right hander on the way home from work and with the shocks at the stiffest setting, the spring would never fully rebound between bumps. Each successive bump would be hit with the spring compressed a little more until the car was hitting bumps with the springs almost fully compressed. bump, BUMP, BAM. In this case, softening the shock allowed the suspension to do what it was designed to do; keep the tires in contact with the road.

I dunno...? can you just cut the springs in a Contour? If you wear your hat backwards, say "Yo" before each sentance and all you want is a look then just do that. Real world roads are not as smooth as racetracks though and it is possible to set a car up too stiff (IMO).


-Tim-
 
Wow a lot of replys but not even one attempt to answer OP's question.

I recently did aftermarket stock components all around, now car sits a hair short of 6" in front and 6-1/4" in rear. Measurements floor to underside of side skirts at each end.

I had the same question he did before. My car had original worn out slammed suspension so I had no idea were I would end up if I lowered. In hindsight lowering springs would have raised my car slightly from worn stock.
 
All those replies without answering may have been because there weren't any answers to be given from the people who replied. I'd rather not have an answer than to have one just for the sake of having one and it being wrong.
:)
 
Just lowering a car improves handling, could not be more wrong! There are other components to be considered. SVT did tune the suspension for better handling on the city street. So don't get caught up on just lowering inmproves the overall handling. You need to take in the whole equation.

After SVT tuning the SVT was able to do dry skidpad of .9G, pretty much up there.
 
Kevinm said:
Just lowering a car improves handling, could not be more wrong! There are other components to be considered. SVT did tune the suspension for better handling on the city street. So don't get caught up on just lowering inmproves the overall handling. You need to take in the whole equation.
Click to expand...
lowering does improve handling, as long as you dont go too low. 1.5-2" drop is about the most i recommend going as anything farther really screws with the suspension geometery. most aftermarket springs for the contour give about 1.5" drop (some a little more, others slightly less) which still leaves the geometery within tolerable limits.

IMO, the best setup i have had was GCs set to stock height. yes it looked kinda ugly, but i had the decent stock suspension geometery and the stiffer springs.
 
Kevinm said:
There are other components to be considered. SVT did tune the suspension for better handling on the city street. So don't get caught up on just lowering inmproves the overall handling. You need to take in the whole equation.
Click to expand...

There are always other components to be considered and I wish SVT had gone farther with some of them (like giving us performance springs while they were at it). Lowering springs generally help because they increase the spring rate for a sportier feel but thats only if you match them with a strut that can handle those higher spring rates. Otherwise you kill the strut and then complain about the bumpy ride.
 
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