How low can I go?

[ztarum]

I know this has been beaten to death, but here's what I have. Superformance MkIII w/ Goodyear Eagle GTII's all around. The rears are 295/50/15 and the front are 255/60/15. As it sits now the rear fender lip is at 26". The front fender lip is at 27.5". The back looks great, so I will leave that alone. The front looks a bit high and I would like to drop it down. Most of what I have read says I'm definitely safe going to 27" on the front, with a few reports of satisfactory performance at 26.5" or even 26".

Has anyone with these particular front tires safely run less the 27" at the front fender lip?

[ou812545]

ztarum,
It would be great to see some pics of your SPF.

[xlr8or]

Forget how the gap looks and set ride hieght by the frame. Better to drive right than look right.

[RedBarchetta]

I'm presently between 26.5" and 26.75" on all four corners. Oil pan clearance and scattershield clearance (cut down to pan depth) is around 4.5" at the lowest point. Upgraded to Bilsteins. No issues running this way (knock on wood). Pics in my gallery of the current set-up (focus on the '07 ones with MT drag radials). If you have any questions, send me an e-mail as I'm international this week and don't get much 'fun' time on the business road (well, sometimes... ).

-Dean #747

[JCoop]

I set mine to 26" all around when I installed progressive rate springs and I've been lightly scraping the bottom of the scattershield on even the slightest hump. The car rides great but the softer initial inch or so dictates raising the ride height to the factory-recommended 27"; which I really should get my old arse out of this chair and do...

[SPF1061]

I am presently at 26 rear 26.5 front. Olthoff Bilsteins. Dennis set the car up for me like this for Run n Gun. It handles great at the track, but feels like the rear suspension bottoms out going over railroad tracks and such. It is a bit too low for me for comfortable street use.

[ztarum]

I've added a picture to my gallery that shows the nose high attitude. I guess I'll start by dropping the front to 27" or a hair under and see how it looks. If it still doesn't seem balanced I'll raise the back a little.

[CHANMADD]

Ideally you should set the ride hieght so that at rest the suspension is at the middle of its travel. IE: the control arms are as near level as possible. Just make sure that if you do lower it you do not move into "bumpsteer" territory.

[Got the Bug]

I don't have my car right now, so I can't measure. Here's a side pic though.

[wtm442]

26.5 to 26.75 from ground to top edge of wheel arch on mine. One of these days I'll even her out, but 14K miles makes everything sag just a little!

I have 255/60R-15 front
275/60R-15 rear

Never hit anything underneath.

I've seen quite a few people say they have 26.0 on other threads, but that might be a little low. Thankfully I do not have many big bumps or railroad tracks in my area. Although I did hit a set of railroad tracks about 30 years ago in my 442 at about 100 MPH, and I reduced the 3 inch round header collectors to a 1 inch tall pancake! OUCH. I can still remember the noise.

[Bill Wells]

I have 255s on front and 275s on rear and have all 4 corners at 26-1/2 inches at center of wheel lip to the ground .

my scatter shield is only 3-1/2 inch clearance . low enough to dodge road kill and take speed bumps and steep inclines at a 45 degree angle vs head on .

i take many long distance trips and with full tank of gas and full trunk i am pushing my limits relative to going any lower . Bill

[greg schroeder]

My car with 255/60 15 and 275/60 15 sits between 26 1/8 and 26 5/8 at the top of wheel lip. It rides nice.

[JCoop]

This is 26.5" with 17"s. I hit the scattershield lip occasionally over speed bumps.