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So I bought this Z back in the Spring and it has the Pfadt stage 1 johnny O shocks and sways and I believe it's lowered slightly from stock. It is corner balanced etc... It handles beautifully...but from an appearance standpoint I feel there is too much gap in the wheel wells especially in the rear. I only see 3 threads showing on the stock bolts so I'm assuming if I want to bring it down, I'll need extended bolts. Question is, how low can you go before you are on the stops? I don't want to jack the handling up but I want the "look". I'd hate to have to go to coil overs at this point. Suggestions? Here's how it sits now:
Unfortunately, you can't go too low on these cars without negatively affecting handling and making it very troublesome on public roads with driveways and speedbumps.
Back in the C5 era, having that little fender gap EURO look was not a priority.
The corvette engineers did a great job with handling (san the 01-03 shocks), but didn't provide the proper look.
I just don't think you are going to get the look you want without affecting public road streetability and handling. You lower too much on these cars and you negatively affect the geometry too much.
For a C5, you have a pretty good look there compared to stock already.
zdeckich and old C5, that is the stance I'm looking for. I don't want to jack up the suspension geometry. It handles incredibly and the PO set it up for high speed HPDEs and said that there needed to be some rake. So I'm torn. My old C4 was dropped and I loved the look:
BTW, that's my neighbor's house across the street. He's a woodworker and did all the work himself. Yes, it's haunted
Nice Vette , and it is already low enough. My Z16 is stock, and it's low enough. I dislike the fender-tire gaps, but that's something I have to deal with because I'm not going to mess with it.
Your car is likely too low for the best handling already but it is hard to tell from pics. I bought a 2004 Z06 that was lowered on stock bolts 1 year ago and, with the help of the many posts on this subject and with a few less than spectacular track days, I raised the car up so the front control arms are level to the ground and 1/8 to 1/4 inch rake at the tie down holes. It is a completely different car that handles the way I expected it to. 4x4 status on stock springs is a better handling car in this case. Stiff coil overs that compensate for the change in roll center is the only other way to lower and maintain/improve handling.
Don't eff with it... The PO set it up properly, lowered it the right amount, corner weighted it and it works. If you lower it more you will just screw it up. You're lucky that the guy who had it before you did it right. If you start messing with the screws you'll mess up the corner weights and have to do it all over again.
Thanks for everyone's input. Based on that and the fact that I got to drive it (half speed) at Summit Point this weekend and it performed awesome, I'm going to leave it where it is!!
I was at the ride height below on stock equipment. I actually removed the front adjusters entirely so the spring sat directly on the lower arm. After 1.5 yrs, and removing the entire suspension to coilovers, there was no negative impact from the adjusters removed.
I will say, that from stock, I did see a drop in capability at the limit, though it wasn't as significant as made out to be. In the end, people talk about race standards, when we are discussing a street car. I still outhandled or stayed with anything I cruised with on saturdays. Yes it was a reduction, yes going to Pfadt Featherlights was a great improvement, but would I change reducing the ride height on a street car if it cost me .1g or 3 seconds at the track...nope. How much do you track it versus how much do you look at it and admire it. For me...stance is everything...
How low is too low??
, and it is already low enough. My Z16 is stock, and it's low enough. I dislike the fender-tire gaps, but that's something I have to deal with because I'm not going to mess with it.
