ugh. ground clearance.

[kberkel]

My last car scraped everywhere, destroyed and rebuilt the fiberglass lip 3 times, sideskirts used to pop off on awkward angles.

This car is 4x4 as far as I'm concerned

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ashtray

3/4 of an inch barely qualifies as "lowered". Four people in the car probably give you almost that much drop.

[Talus1]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

3/4 of an inch barely qualifies as "lowered". Four people in the car probably give you almost that much drop.

For sure. I feel my rear suspension hitting the bump stops much more frequently in the winter when I carry a 40lb bag of sand in the trunk, right over the rear axle line (stock suspension).

PS, I'm sure the weight of the sand doesn't do that much for ice traction but it makes me feel better and, if I really got stuck, I could spread sand on the ice.

[D_Thissen]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

With all the big chunks of wheel well ice on the highway right now I probably look like I am doing AutoX on the highway every day!

No need to go to the track!

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Talus1

For sure. I feel my rear suspension hitting the bump stops much more frequently in the winter when I carry a 40lb bag of sand in the trunk, right over the rear axle line (stock suspension).

PS, I'm sure the weight of the sand doesn't do that much for ice traction but it makes me feel better and, if I really got stuck, I could spread sand on the ice.

Had to run out the Wellington Rd Canadian Tire today. None of the back road have been plowed yet around here and they were a mess. Come to a 4 way stop and a young dude in an older WRX pull up Justas I do. Can see them point at me and laugh. He then pulls out and proceeds to put a show on for me with his all mighty AWD. Normally I would just ignore him but they laughed at me damn it so I kept up to him at safe(ish) distance and matched him manoeuver for maneuver and corner for corner. Well we get to Canadian Tire (where else is anybody gong in this shit) and he comes over and says "Shit Dude (I thought that was just an internet term) that was sick. I thought you would get stuck for sure".
The point of this story is that if I had sandbags in the back I would probably still be spinning in circles down the middle of Millbank. I like the balance as it is in the snow. (Sure was fun tough)

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by D_Thissen

No need to go to the track!

In the spring and fall it is dead racoons and skunks so I get to slalom most of the year. Believe me you DO NOT want to scoop a squashed skunk up with a lowered car. It takes days to clean up.

[perryair]

Originally Posted by ashtray

yeah its most definitely that very last 3/4 of an inch that brings out all those difficulties.

[ed_423]

i really want to lower the car, but i love driving stock height, the clearance is pretty good for what it is. kinda tired of driving my last car lowered.

with that said, im kinda disappointed at how low the car sits and feels, but yet the wheel gap is so big

the wheel gap makes me want to lower the car, but i probably shouldn't for daily driving sake...

[why?]

wheel gap is kind of important for a car to function. Switching to 16" tires and wheels for winter actually made my car able to never scrape. I might never go back, or go crazy and find some lightweight 15's that fit.

[ed_423]

true, but for a sports car can't they decrease the gap just a little bit?

bunch of people mentioned this, but bmw/porsche do a great job of wheel size and wheel gap

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by why?

wheel gap is kind of important for a car to function. Switching to 16" tires and wheels for winter actually made my car able to never scrape. I might never go back, or go crazy and find some lightweight 15's that fit.

How did switching to 16" rims raise the car? My 16" rims and snows are the exact same outer diameter as my17" summers. Did you put bigger tires on?

[ashtray]

Originally Posted by perryair

yeah its most definitely that very last 3/4 of an inch that brings out all those difficulties.

But it also changed spring rates, suspension travel, and suspension geometry. So yeah, pot holes are ZERO problem with a stock suspension. You can hit a pot hole mid turn and not be thrown off your line. My modded Miata would jump all over the road if it wasn't smooth. The BRZ drives right through turns without issue on non-perfect pavement. And yes, that 3/4" - I clear parking curbs by the thickness of a few sheets of paper. Dropping down almost an inch would make my bumper hit if parking too close to a curb/stop or even opening the door when parked next to a curb.

So yes - your complaints are due to you lowering your car and changing the spring rates. The suspension can no longer perform like it was designed. Might work better on a smooth track now though. Track suspension =/= street suspension.

[Stang70Fastback]

I came to this car from an Outback, expecting to scrap all over the place even at stock height (and this being a Series.Blue I have the front lip as well.) So far in a year of ownership, I've minorly scraped a handful of times. It's way more practical than I thought it would be (basically a non-issue.)

Having said that, coilovers are going on come spring, and I intend to lower the car 1". I suspect that quite a few times when I didn't scrape something that I thought I might scrape, I only barely cleared it. It'll be interesting to see how big of a difference the 1" drop makes. This is Chicago, too. Not the best roads, lol.

[HeadBanger]

Eibach Sportlines and DD in a snowy climate checking in!