Too Low -

[xxxc]

why are the police so concerned about cars being to low ,whats so unsafe about that ,they say your car has to be 100mm off the ground, yet your car has to be 30mm or higher to be insured -covered ,i hate pointless rules .So why do you think this stupid rule has been put in?????

[XAGSV8]

Sorry I have to respectfully disagree with you on that one.

[xxxc]

thats ok ,but if a cars low its no danger to anybody

[EL_futuraistic]

This rule has been put in becuase if your vehicle is lower than 100mm you risk hitting the road going over bumps. This can cause a number of things.

Your vehicle to bounce around, possibly ending in you losing control and crashing

Can create sparks, which could cause ur car to catch fire or the surrounding grass or trees.

May cause your tyres to rub on your guard, and at 100km/h if you get a blow out it could cause an accident


These are only a few, but it is far from a stupid rule. That is a fairly naive asumption.

[MITCHAY]

Just like too high, too low comprimises the handling of the car. Wait till you see a WRX with its diff scraping the ground SPARKING!!! More often than not the cars are not lowered properly (ie cut springs) as most after market springs willslower between 30-40mm tops before special mods are required to the car. This is just what i know but i stand to be corrected.

[Mal]

For numerous reasons. Some more obvious than others. And the rule is actually that "Ground clearance must be at least 100mm at any point within 1 metre of an axle, and at any other point must be at least one thirtieth of the distance between the centres of the axles (wheel base), in accordance with Rule 73 of the Australian Vehicle Standards Rules 1999. Where the wheelbase is less than 3000mm, 100mm minimum ground clearance under the full length of the vehicle is recommended."

Road obstacles, keeping the car off the ground if a tyre blows/wheel comes off, protection of underbody components etc etc. A car that had 30mm clearance wouldn't be drivable at all.

[XAGSV8]

Not to mention damage to the roads, fuel tanks, sumps, fully sick zorsts and getting stuck on speed humps. Rules are there for a reason because people tend to take things to far.

[xxxc]

Road obstacles, keeping the car off the ground if a tyre blows/wheel comes off, protection of underbody components etc etc. A car that had 30mm clearance wouldn't be drivable at all.



damm it i agree lol

[Mal]

Sorry I shouldn't have said if a wheel comes off. Just if a tyre blows. If it comes off then it's most likely going to hit the deck anyway.

[Matto_84]

Why would you want to lower you car that much anyways, I lowered my XF by 2.5 inches the probper way with king springs and new shocks and ened up smashing my sump on a dirt road. Speed humps become problems, you cant get up some driveways and even parking can become difficult as you have to watch your front end as to not hit the kerb.. Lower it but dont go fully sick is what I say for any road car.

[xxxc]

i agree 90mm off the ground is enough for me ,but i had to raise the issue i guess ,but ive heard of people taking their rear springs out of their VLs etc and driving around which is stupid and is dangerous ,those people make the situation worse for getting canaried i.e more police on the roads to pick anyone 4 anything i reckon

[XA-Coupe]

All your suspension geometry changes as you lower a car and you start to run into bump steer issues. Wait until you hit a bump mid corner and get thrown off or hit the bump stops.
Being full sik has it's draw backs.

[klawsterfobik]

It alters your steering geometry, and especially in FWD cars it puts a massive load onto the wheel bearings which can cause them to prematurely fail and weld themselves solid. And im sure you know what that means, no bearing rotation = no wheel rotation.

Cut springs can lead to your chopped spring bouncing out of the spring seat and giving you no damping, and a very sore *** and if you leave it long enough, an altered chassis.

Just do it by the book, that way your not going to get pulled over by the police, and if you do they've got nothign to pick on you about.

[Kapn_Kiwi]

Originally Posted by XA Coupe

Being full sik has it's draw backs.

Does it have any advantages?

[pauljh74]

Originally Posted by Skinny_Puppy

Does it have any advantages?

Bragging rights over the fully sik wannabes.


But in the event you hit things like speed humps and damage your underbody for having it too low, this could result in losing fluids - mainly oil - and this makes the roads alot more slippery. For the same reason cars that leak lots of oil are unroadworthy - this is bad, especially on wet days when you get all the pretty rainbow colours on the road and then wonder why you lose control on that corner, or can't pull up at the lights because of all the dropped oil.

I have a STOCK EL XR6 and the number of times I've scraped the underside of the front spoiler when parking it or pulling into some driveways makes me think I wouldn't want it any lower.

[XAGSV8]

I had an EA when I was younger and I had it lowered by a machanic. One thing I noticed was my breaking ability suffered because the car would not lean on the front wheels. I got that problem fixed very quickly problem is some people don't.

[T_Terror]

While the reasons are valid i think there is a lot more room for a car to be lower than 100mm before you start getting catastrophic handling effects from it.

Best solution: Put in height adjustable coilovers

[Matto_84]

Originally Posted by pauljh74

I have a STOCK EL XR6 and the number of times I've scraped the underside of the front spoiler when parking it or pulling into some driveways makes me think I wouldn't want it any lower.

I ful;ly agree with this. I have a stock suspension setup EL Futura and it scrapes the front end bumper on anything up a steep driveway and I still have to lookout for high kerbs when parking.. Dirt roads are also a pain when you have to take a sharp turn on a odd angled road.

he lowered XF never hit anything on driveways or the dirt roads I took it on unless there was something on the road, like a rock if a wheel got into a small rut... I got no idea why the EL is such a pain!!.. I definately will never lower the EL. They handle nicely with the stock suspension anyways.

[MAD]

I dont know if I've read the first post right, but the 30mm from the insurance thing is 30mm LOWER than it came from the factory, not 30mm off the ground.

If you can get a car to look good at 110mm then I would highly recommend it, 100mm is just the starting point of a lot of pains in the ar$e. I've almost ripped my centre muffler off a few times at shopping centres, almost sent my knees into my skull when I've hit a decent bump in the road, I've caught my front bar on more butters than I care to count, or remember, but it looks good and handles way better than it did on a smooth to mildly bumpy road.

And the biggest plus of having your car at 100+mm...... NO CANARIES

[SVR73]

My AU1 Forte (RIP) was 3 inches lower than standard and I did have trouble with some driveways and speed humps but never damaged any part of the car bar the paint on the underside of the bumper and chrome tip

Drove extremely well and I have seen lower.

My 98AUXR6 Tickford VCT is at standard height from the tickford factory but I will be lowering it by no more than an inch sometime in the future when I can afford new wheels.
That should be an ok height.
Still looks great though at standard height, just need to replace the 16 inch wheels that came off the forte.

[Psycho Chicken]

Originally Posted by DUMPT

why are the police so concerned about cars being to low ,whats so unsafe about that

Originally Posted by DUMPT

but ive heard of people taking their rear springs out of their VLs etc and driving around which is stupid and is dangerous

What the hell are you on? Make up your mind champ!

[bluovl]

I think in a world where I was allowed only one modification that it would definately be a decent lowering job, before any other mods.
Look at most preproduction sketches by car designers and they sit a lot lower than what comes out of the factory. I like to think that I am fulfilling the designers original intentions.

Dale

[LTDHO]

Originally Posted by DUMPT

why are the police so concerned about cars being to low ,whats so unsafe about that ,they say your car has to be 100mm off the ground, yet your car has to be 30mm or higher to be insured -covered ,i hate pointless rules .So why do you think this stupid rule has been put in?????

They are dagerous for the reasons listed above. There is no practical reason to have your car lower than 100mm.
As MadXF said, 30mm is from factory not from ground.
Also the car is not designed to be that low!

just so you know the 100mm hight is measured with 4 adult passengers and full petrol tank, not empty. Therefore, you static high(empty) would be 110mm!

[luke]

What everyone needs to do is get it done properly. If you have proper lowered springs & shocks I see no safety issue at all (provided its not TOO low). It's the people before mentioned, with cut springs etc. that have made it hard on the rest of us!!

Haha I just laugh at half of the cars with cut springs I see around my area that look ok lowered, until they hit a bump... Half of the time the wheels actually leave the road... now that IS unsafe

[TheSneakiness]

Mate, I've got mine lowered a inch and I absolutely crunched the proverbial out of it yesterday coming in and out of a driveway in Nambour. No damage I could see, however, I bet my chassis is scratched no end.

[Ryan]

They say low cars are a danger? what about those extremley high 4WDs that are higher then some people? how is that safe? too me its more dangerous then low cars.What happens if you come flying around in one of those high *** 4WDs?

Not only are they a danger for being high but it would be very hard to see pedestrians walking across the road in one of those 4WDs.

Lower cars have a better centre of gravity high cars dont.

[aimzes]

mines down 2 inches. still looks goofy.

ill be airbagging my next car.

[jspec_sti]

Originally Posted by VY18s

They say low cars are a danger? what about those extremley high 4WDs that are higher then some people? how is that safe? too me its more dangerous then low cars.What happens if you come flying around in one of those high *** 4WDs?

Drive a 4WD responsibly perhaps and NOT fly around corners? :

And what have 4WD's got to do with lowered cars???

[EL_futuraistic]

I dont think 4wd's are driven the same way as lowered cars. However, a very high 4wd is probably a safety risk also.

[Ryan]

Originally Posted by bladexr8

Drive a 4WD responsibly perhaps and NOT fly around corners? :

And what have 4WD's got to do with lowered cars???

Well the cops talk about how dangerous low cars are but they bypass the fact that very high 4WDs are equally as dangerous yet very high 4WDs get away scot free whereas low cars cop the crap.The very high 4WDs should be a defect aswell.

Actually what is the point of driving a 7 foot 4WD in surburban areas? unless you want to go run over cars like a monster tuck.