|
If you kept your normal shocks an lowered by 40mm then I can imagine it feels a bit weird.
They are not able to work properly anymore now.
To lower a car properly and enhance the handling you need 2 things:
- lower, stiffer springs
- matched shock absorbers for the increased spring rate
The reason you need to fit stiffer springs is as follows..
If a normal spring has a 10Nm/mm spring rate and an 80 mm working-length until the upper bump stops then you would need to apply 800Nm to compress them
Now, if you lower the car by 40mm then you should still need 800Nm to fully compress the spring. To do this you would need to install 20Nm/mm springs (double the original rate) to get the same spring behaviour.
The problem now is that the original shock absorbers are set up to provide rebound damping for the original spring force. When higher spring rates are installed then the dampers will not be stiff enough and the car will start to feel bouncy or mushy.
Another issue is that the fully extended lenght of the standard shock absorbers is fine for the normal springs, but shorter lowering springs may get 'loose' in their seats as the suspension extends.
The normal shock absorber is also set up for a certain 'working range' in normal suspension travel. When used with stiffer springs you reduce this movement, which may cause the shocks not to function properly.
To combat both problems you need to get shocks that are:
- stiffer and matched to the spring rates you are using
- shorter extended lenght to properly contain the springs under the correct pre-load
- have the correct valving for the shorter compression and rebound strokes
If you want to go really low then you should go to a set of coil-overs. Just be keep an eye on the axle shafts at the front and the angle they are making with the gearbox. At a certain moment you may need to get shorter shafts made up.
Bye, Arno.
|
