Lowering your C5
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 740
Likes: 88
From: Brighton Tennessee
Lowering your C5
I hear all the time on here about Lowering your C5 on the Stock Bolts....other then the Looks ...what are the Pro's and Con's...???
How does it effect the ride...do you have to have the front realigned ..
How does it effect the ride...do you have to have the front realigned ..
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,671
Likes: 4
From: MI
Pro: Looks
Cons: Rough Ride, Scrapes everywhere (You would be surprised. Any slightly steep change will cause it to scrape), Limit only yourself to driving the car (anyone else will really scrape the crap out of the car)
Will need to be realigned
I have had 3 C5's. The one I owned for five years, I lowered and loved the looks. The two I have had since have been stock height. Tho it doesn't look nearly as good as being lowered its just easier driving and a better ride.
Cons: Rough Ride, Scrapes everywhere (You would be surprised. Any slightly steep change will cause it to scrape), Limit only yourself to driving the car (anyone else will really scrape the crap out of the car)
Will need to be realigned
I have had 3 C5's. The one I owned for five years, I lowered and loved the looks. The two I have had since have been stock height. Tho it doesn't look nearly as good as being lowered its just easier driving and a better ride.
Last edited by e6bailey; Feb 21, 2016 at 10:48 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 1,249
Likes: 142
From: Lynn MA
Since I lowered my car I think I've improved the looks greatly. The stance is so much more sinister looking. The ride is more harsh but completely bearable, go over speed bumps on an slight angle and enter driveways the same way and it isn't a problem. JMHO
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Instructor
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 120
Likes: 12
From: Brevard NC
Mine was lowered about 4 years ago on stock bolts and had no complaints. Makes the car look great, but does make it rider harder (Depending how far you lower it), it is a sports car. I just pulled the plug and installed a set of coil overs that took care of both keeping my car lowered and gives a much better ride. After all done you will need to get a four wheel alignment.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 2,222
Likes: 798
From: Fort Myers Beach Florida
Harder to enter and exit the car plus they may change your name to Sparkey
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 3,473
Likes: 691
From: West Virginia
After I changed to 18/19's, I lowered it enough to center the wheels in the opening. It probably went down an inch, tops. I think the looks are improved, just enough to make it look right, IMO.
No difference in ride, rubbing or anything else - and no need to re-align. As an ex-suspension engineer, I can tell you that we worked very hard to make sure the "toe" did not change in the normal suspension operating range. Let's face it, if the toe changes during suspension travel, going over a bump would cause the car to try to steer left or right - so-called "bump steer". A fail in design terms.
Now, if you decide to really lower it, you end up with the suspension hitting the stops regularly and the car will "bob" a lot. Have a good look next time you see a "slammed" Civic or whatever driving along, and you will see what I mean. Plus, it looks silly.
No difference in ride, rubbing or anything else - and no need to re-align. As an ex-suspension engineer, I can tell you that we worked very hard to make sure the "toe" did not change in the normal suspension operating range. Let's face it, if the toe changes during suspension travel, going over a bump would cause the car to try to steer left or right - so-called "bump steer". A fail in design terms.
Now, if you decide to really lower it, you end up with the suspension hitting the stops regularly and the car will "bob" a lot. Have a good look next time you see a "slammed" Civic or whatever driving along, and you will see what I mean. Plus, it looks silly.
Last edited by jackthelad; Feb 21, 2016 at 10:09 AM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 886
Likes: 87
From: Largo FL
Pro: Looks
Cons: Rough Ride, Scrapes everywhere (You would be surprised. Any slightly steep change with cause it to scrap), Limit only yourself to driving the car (anyone else will really scrap the crap out of the car.
Will need to be realigned
I have had 3 C5's. The one I owned for five years, I lowered and loved the looks. The two I have had since have been stock height. Tho it doesn't look nearly as good as being lowered its just easier driving and a better ride.
Cons: Rough Ride, Scrapes everywhere (You would be surprised. Any slightly steep change with cause it to scrap), Limit only yourself to driving the car (anyone else will really scrap the crap out of the car.
Will need to be realigned
I have had 3 C5's. The one I owned for five years, I lowered and loved the looks. The two I have had since have been stock height. Tho it doesn't look nearly as good as being lowered its just easier driving and a better ride.
I bought my most recent C5 (97) about a year ago. Whoever owned it before me had lowered mainly the front almost all the way down. What a PITA. As mentioned above, it scraped on everything, rode harsh, lost a lot of (fun) drivability. Most the time you are on constant lookout for any upcoming problems, and everything is taken at an angle. If you live somewhere that all the roads are perfect, no potholes, cracks, speedbumps, parking stops or any up/down driveways, you might be ok.
Had a friend of mine with a lift put it back up to stock height and felt like I had bought a new car, what a pleasure to drive without having to worry about every bump in the road.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 1,359
Likes: 263
So back on topic. Those of you with coilovers, would you consider getting them again or would you maybe think about drop spindles? As someone who has no plans to track my car, I'm seriously considering drop spindles because my main concern is the actual ride quality.
Now I know the concerns of a static drop over the infinite adjustability with coilovers but again I don't want my ride quality to suffer. From what I've read the typical review of coilovers really only consist of "tighter," "better around corners," etc but not whether it's better or worse in comfort. If they improve comfort then by all means I'll go with CO's but I would like to keep the same ride quality or better.
Now I know the concerns of a static drop over the infinite adjustability with coilovers but again I don't want my ride quality to suffer. From what I've read the typical review of coilovers really only consist of "tighter," "better around corners," etc but not whether it's better or worse in comfort. If they improve comfort then by all means I'll go with CO's but I would like to keep the same ride quality or better.
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 136
Likes: 10
From: Oregon
I have noticed little to no ride quality difference since lowering my vette. It's lowered all the way on stock bolts. Maybe a little harder ride by I'm driving a sports car so so let it be a harder ride? I'd say it's equal to my. 350z stock in ride quality. I took off the side air dams and it does still scrape but it's worth it for the looks.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 3,311
Likes: 386
From: Toronto Ontario
I first lowered the car on stock bolts and it wont really do much of anything
The ride , at least for me was exactly the same, but you wont get that much lower on the stock bolts so I went further and removed the front bolts completely, and then installed lowering bolts in the rear
The pros are obvious, it looks amazing
The cons are the ride at first is really REALLY bad on stock suspension, but it wears itself in after a while, im assuming it breaks the bump stops and creates some more travel room on the shocks after a while.
Yes you scrape a lot too, something you will have to be mindful of always.
The ride , at least for me was exactly the same, but you wont get that much lower on the stock bolts so I went further and removed the front bolts completely, and then installed lowering bolts in the rear
The pros are obvious, it looks amazing
The cons are the ride at first is really REALLY bad on stock suspension, but it wears itself in after a while, im assuming it breaks the bump stops and creates some more travel room on the shocks after a while.
Yes you scrape a lot too, something you will have to be mindful of always.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,962
Likes: 254
From: Richmond, Ky
I really wish I was prepared to answer the coil-over question as I have a set of LG GT2's waiting for me to install. I have so much that needs to be done to my car I'm trying to find a time when I can get it all done at once, headers, cutouts, plugs, wires, 02 sensors, swaybar endlinks, and I know I want to do a bleeder extension for the clutch which means considering a new clutch and of course a tune the list just goes on.
While I have no objection to lowering on stock equipment, I just couldn't make myself do it since I know it is too much of a compromise for me. I do think that the dropped spindles are a great option for anyone who can swallow the $3k price tag. I have yet to see a used set of spindles come up for sale. I guess you would still have some adjust-ability to fine tune the drop spindles with the screws and bolts setup.
Even moving to 18" at all four corners and running 305 M/T's out back didn't close up my gaps much.
While I have no objection to lowering on stock equipment, I just couldn't make myself do it since I know it is too much of a compromise for me. I do think that the dropped spindles are a great option for anyone who can swallow the $3k price tag. I have yet to see a used set of spindles come up for sale. I guess you would still have some adjust-ability to fine tune the drop spindles with the screws and bolts setup.
Even moving to 18" at all four corners and running 305 M/T's out back didn't close up my gaps much.
