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I've been thinking about lowering my 93, but I have a few concerns about it. I live in the "great" state of California where the roads are not exactly the best. I occasionally scrape when entering/exiting driveways and whatnot, and while lowering would obviously make it scrape more, how much more. Essentially what I'm asking is if lowering a c4 is practical as a daily driver in California.
Your comments are greatly appreciated.
Take it from me, we have great roads compared to other states.
Detroit has the worse roads in the country.
It can be lowered, ensure you dont slam it. My C4s are both lowered. My 95 was lowered, and I raised it a bit because the tires were rubbing the hood.
On my 96 Im planning on raised it to have 1" to 1.25" of shock travel. My 96 is a different story. 😁 lol
I dont want to lower it too much, just get rid of some of the wheel-fender gap. I'm assuming the shock travel is the same with the 93 and 96. I would imagine 1" is plenty enough for me.
I have a 2002 Z06 that is lowered quite a bit. I have 1 1/2 inches of clearance at the front air dam, 3 1/2 inches at the cats and 4 inches at the rocker panels. I scrape the cats at speed bumps and parking lots with entrances that go up and then down. You soon learn where you can go and can't go. I do not raise the car as it looks so much better lowered.
My 1991 is stock height and I can go anywhere in it without worrying about scraping anything. It would look better lowered, but then I would be limited like I am with the Z06.
At the most my car is lowered 3/8" in the rear because it has an aftermarket spring and adjustable bolts, but the front is oem 100%. If you need or want to lower it for competition or even just for looks, do the front with coil overs or the VB&P lowering spring that is stiffer. If you just take the shims out and cut the bushings, the spring relaxes and un-arches basically making it softer. This just makes the bottoming out even worse.
I find my car infinitely more driveable at stock height and it even feels stiffer and more performance oriented at stock ride height.
I have a 2002 Z06 that is lowered quite a bit. I have 1 1/2 inches of clearance at the front air dam, 3 1/2 inches at the cats and 4 inches at the rocker panels. I scrape the cats at speed bumps and parking lots with entrances that go up and then down. You soon learn where you can go and can't go. I do not raise the car as it looks so much better lowered.
My 1991 is stock height and I can go anywhere in it without worrying about scraping anything. It would look better lowered, but then I would be limited like I am with the Z06.
Very Nice Cars KM. Attention to details show even in an internet photo.
Coming from an similar position I get what you mean. We owned a C5 Roadster I lowered and now we have a C4 Roadster I plan on lowering as I replace old bushings and update brakes.
Something worth mentioning here has been overlooked. Shocks.
So our C4 has the oem Bilstein shocks. For most they work well. Bilstein has a B6 or HD (Heavy Duty) But in actuality this means lowest level or standard grade. It also means if you lower your car(+/- 1") the eventuality of bottoming out the shocks under full compression and blow out the seals.
Bilstein has an answer. B8 Sport shocks that have even a higher rate of compression and better yet designed for lowered ride heights.
Done correctly I love the look and ride of a lowered Corvette.
Hope this has been some help.
Last edited by Hary Gahtoe; 02-25-2015 at 04:24 PM.
My LT4 has all stock Z51 Suspension but always looked lower in the front. The rear always looked too high for me, making the car look to nose-down, so I lowered it with longer spring hanger bolts till it the car was more level. It seemed to make the whole car look lower though. Did nothing to the front, but lowering the rear seemed to lever the nose up off the ground a little so It doesn't drag the spoiler in the driveway like it used to.
Its not clear what you have, coupe or 'vert but, with either if you drive it for transportation DD I would recommend against lowering. The 'vert already has the X brace hanging below the frame and a gutter or speed bump will cause a scrape fairly easily. The air dams drag on almost anything also. There is also the issue of trash on the road from blown tire tread to scrap metal... an inch can make a difference. The stock C4 is the newest model I can get into my driveway due to the HOA mandated "California curb" we are afflicted with. Leave the ride height stock unless its a show car or a full time racer.
I lived in San Diego for years and have a lowered '88 vert, a slammed vw karmann ghia and a 997tt that is super low and you just have to learn how to drive a little differently, like crawling in and out of steep drivesways going around speed bumps , you get use too if you like the look!
About all you will accomplish is tearing up your under carriage.
Originally Posted by MyOtherCar
How is this even close to being a true statement?
Actually Fred's statement is a reality in some states where the roads are in fairly bad shape..I was thinking of lowering my 89, but with the roads where I live needing repair quite often, I decided to leave the suspension alone...Lowering looks good, but it can be a problem if you don't continually watch for things that can hit your undercarrage once you get the car lower........WW
Actually Fred's statement is a reality in some states where the roads are in fairly bad shape..I was thinking of lowering my 89, but with the roads where I live needing repair quite often, I decided to leave the suspension alone...Lowering looks good, but it can be a problem if you don't continually watch for things that can hit your undercarrage once you get the car lower........WW
02-24-2015, 11:40 PM
practicality of lowering
...WW
