Lowered VE: pain in the arse or OK?

[commodore665]

I hate FE2. As high as stock suspension almost, and enormous amount of body roll.

Still better than stock

 

[HERONVY]

F $&k lowered cars if they are dailies, if its a weekend car then its all good because you wont have to put up with it every day of the week.
My vy and my supra used to be fairly low and it was a huuuuge pain in the arse to get around.
Plus not being able to even get into certain places due to steep angles etc... not worth it.
Im not missing either car atm as far as practicality for them goes, my current car isnt lowered at all and its great. I can go places, not worry about scraping and its much easier to drive on the street.

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

 

[ducker85]

A lowered car doesn't have to be SSSSL low.

Buying the correct spring n shock will improve your ride. Do your research and look into spring rates. Don't buy heavy duty (HD) and complain there too hard. Don't buy soft springs n use stock shocks n complain it's too bouncey. Buy the right spring (different brands have different rates) but a good shock that will control your springs.

Pick a ride height to suit the way you drive. If you drive over bump n humps daily maybe get an SL spring (around FE2 height)

If your worried about body roll buy sway bars. Changing your spring n shock won't fix any body roll as well as a good set of sway bars will.

 

[cruelass]

On my 07 SS I put KYB shocks to suit 50mm drop and H&R springs which lowered the car about 30mm on 18" stock wheels. The ride and handling is great and are no harsher than stock fe2. But it will scrub the front bar on kerbs and have scraped a couple speed humps. I went away over chrissy and managed to scrape the exhaust on some crappy tar roads. But nothing to serious and wouldnt go back to 4X4 spec ride height. For around town its not a problem but wouldnt go any lower as you start having trouble more often.

 

[ducker85]

Also I remember when the VE first came out there was talk of lowering interfering with the ESP system, can I take it seven and a half years later that this didn't turn out to be a problem?

Thanks
Marco

I don't think anyone mentioned this but your mechanic will clear the fault and it resets. The error has never came up apart from the first time I started the car after lowering and the ESC still works like its designed too. I've pushed my car hard enough for it to kick in several times now

 

[Marco_VESS]

So on this - I drove my SS down the exit ramp in the work carpark yesterday. The ramp is pretty steep, with a sharp angle at the bottom where it hits street level. Got out to have a look with the car at the very bottom of the ramp and there's less than an inch of clearance between the front bar and the pavement at this point. Take an inch out of the ride height and I'd say it will scrape its nose every time I leave work.

So I guess that's not going to happen...

 

[HamaTime™]

So on this - I drove my SS down the exit ramp in the work carpark yesterday. The ramp is pretty steep, with a sharp angle at the bottom where it hits street level. Got out to have a look with the car at the very bottom of the ramp and there's less than an inch of clearance between the front bar and the pavement at this point. Take an inch out of the ride height and I'd say it will scrape its nose every time I leave work.

So I guess that's not going to happen...

It's called 'crab walking', it's how we all get over speedbumps and steep ramps

 

[mr calais 5.0]

I can't get into the factoy I work at because I chose to lower my car so I park in the street.. My 3 kids don't complain about the ride and never been picked up for being low..

 

[bosmonaut]

Mines lowered 30 mill and scrapes occasionally but nothing big. the only thing to be mindful of is that the early VE's came out with only a CAM based rear toe adjustment and it does not always adjust enough to compensate for the lowering. Mine ended up just over half a degrees out on the maxed out setting and used to chew back tyres like there was no tomorrow. If yours has the threaded tie rod style toe arms though it should be fine. That's what I've got now and no camber or toe issued and better ride with minimal scrapage

 

[Marco_VESS]

How do I tell which type I have - mine is probably 'early' given it's a Feb 07.