...the front shocks? Will this take the shocks far enough out of their "normal" range of travel to damage them? Also, how much cornering performance am I giving up through bumpy curves?

Thanks in advance!!

 

You may not damage the stock shocks, but yes, you are giving up cornering performance with running the car that low. Same for the rear.

Anything lower than about 8/10th lower than the stock adjustments allow (w/o cutting bushings, etc.) is a compromise between looks and performance.

IMHO, these cars need to perform first, look cool while doing so is a close second, but never at the expense of performance.

To have the car that low w/o any penalties, go with a coil-over conversion. And if you haven't already done so, come on over and join the "Posse". www.peachstateposse.com

 

Thanks for the info...I'll have to check out the posse!

 

I see no need to lower my car...its low enough for me right now

 

I did bust one of my RTD shocks, but not necessarily 'cuz it's lowered. Probably due to the great roads in Illinois. I fear road kill more than anything! : Yuck!

I myself disagree with the "performance first" theory. Although probably correct, I don't drive my car at LeMans and believe "stock" Vettes look like 4x4's with all that space between the tire and fender. So I go the route first. Personal preference...

I'm no expert, but my car's been slammed a long time now and haven't had any other real problems. It's all worth it to me when I have to look up to see kids in their rice burner's. I like low.

 

Get A Vet --- How low is yours? Cut bushings in the front? Any problem high centering on speed bumps?
Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

You can never be too low. Slam it and get Bilstein Sports to restore your ride and handling

 

If you lower enough to bottom a shock you can ruin it. I've done it with a stocker.

I've got Bilsteins now. I also track the car, so have not slammed it to maintain as optimal as possible (based on my limited knowledge) suspension performance. You can see in the sig there's not much clearance in corners as is. That was starting with 2+ fingers in front and 3+ fingers in back. I've sinced raised it a touch.

 

I've got the coupe. I just bought used Z06 shocks. Will they help AT ALL, if I lower the car? How much can I lower, without sacrificing ANY performance. I don't wanna sacrifice ANY performance in handling at all. In fact, due to lowering a little, shouldn't it get better handling? (theoratically)

 

England Green--- You give slammed a new meaning! Do you ever drive in areas with speed bumps or do you avoid?

Yellow01--Your sig didn't come through?

 

Compared to a stock Vette (eyeball/tape measure), mine measured 2-3/8 lower in front, about 2-5/8, 2-3/4 in rear. Front bushings are cut (well , gone!), but adjusters are still in.

Not sure what that means...I take all speed bumps, sharply angled drives, etc. on angles or I don't go there.

 

On most cars, lowering means putting in aftermarket shorter springs which are usually stiffer... and that puts more load on the shock and it can/will wear out faster. But thats not the case here.
Hmmm... how does it ruin it? Is it because you cut the stock bushings so its able to exceed its fully compressed travel inside the shock?
Well you can actually gain performance by lowering on most cars. You'll notice that on two identical cars with identical supsension geometry, that different trims often have different ride heights. HOWEVER, it requires some retuning for the most part, and often the shorter suspensions are stiffer so their geometry in a turn has not actually changed (to elaborate: while the static height is now lower, when compressed in a turn the higher rate dampening and stiffer springs cause less compression... generally). Stock ride height is also often also a legal/crash-safety and practicality compromise rather than for optimal performance.

Lowering your suspension does lower your CG (woohoo) but it can lower your roll-center much more (doh!). The greater the distance of the roll center to the center of gravity, the more tipsy the car feels.

This may sound stupid, but I actually have a big expensive RC car with an F1-like suspension (inboard shocks and all) with more adjustments than most cars... so I learned some of this from that... and GT4... so take anything I say with a grain of salt! Where are the race pros!?

Oh btw, one thing I am curious though is if anything on a mag-ride setup can be confused/messed-up by lowering.

 

Ducman69---You almost made my head hurt So, lowering the car about 1.5 inches all the way around (as I have)...

...Have I increased my roll-center to an undesirable point?

Also,
I'm hearing you say that shock issues are not a real possibility...

Thanks for all the feedback...time to

 

Yep, that was my point. If you lower enough, to a point that you can actually bottom a shock, the act of bottoming can ruin it.

 

Ouch... that sucks. I assume that if the bushings aren't cut that the shock cannot bottom out? And how much did you lower your suspension? On most cars at least, you can do 1.5" up or down w/o topping/bottoming out internally.
No clue. I've never measured a C5... sorry, 1.5" is a decent amount... but if you've already done it and it feels fine, I wouldn't worry about it. You got an alignment again right? I screwed up on my guesstimation of rollcenter btw... I was kinda close!
http://www.stockcarproducts.com/pstech3.htm
I gave the instant roll center. So as you see you draw lines through the control arms to an intersecting point, then to the opposite middle tire, then where it crosses is the roll center height. I think this is more of a major concern on cars with a lot more suspension travel to start with than a Corvette... where people are lowering 2" or more.
Well... it should work the same anywhere in its stroke range, but would be jacked if the piston/rod crashes into the bottom of the shock as yellow reported. Ow!

BTW, so anyone figure out if the computer controlled mag-rid active shocks mind being lowered say 3/4 to an inch? I have no clue what sensors it uses to adjust the current in there. I have to get an alignment anyway, so wouldn't mind doing this first.

 

 

Hopefully you purchased the 04' Z06 shocks; different valving from previous years.

I'd say you could come down about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, w/o any negative side effects. Any lower and you start trading performance for looks.

 

My car is very low - but ALLKAR and Vettethret are lower

The body is 3inches off the ground and the front air dam is 3/4 inch. I need it lower.

I have owned this car for 11 months and I've driven over 20,000 miles in it. I drive it everywhere - and there are speed humps at work - I go over them sideways. I have frame savers and rocker rails.

You learn to drive your car differently when it's slammed but I still drive it everywhere (as evidenced by my mileage).

I live in CT and I've been to KY for CF Cruise In 6 (2500 mile round trip) and to Canada. I drive it to work in RI almost every day.

EG