Daily Slideshow: How to Properly Lower Your Car
Look good and handle great. This is your guide to lowering your Lexus.
Why Lower In the First Place?
Beginning from a performance standpoint the idea of lowering a car stems from the concept that lower mass leads to better handling. There is virtually no other physical reason to lower a car. There is an aesthetic one, however. Low cars look good. Something about wheels filling up fender arches gets us going. There are do’s and don’ts like anything in life. Let’s look at some of the basics.
Too Low is a Real Thing
You can absolutely slam a car too low causing a number of detrimental effects to a road car. Firstly, you will scrape the living hell out of your underbody and have to navigate even the smallest speed bump like it’s Everest. Airbags can allow adjustment, but now you’re compromising. If you want to lower your car for performance skip the bags and do it right.
How Low is Right?
Generally speaking, if you drive on the street you want to have enough ground clearance to not worry about whatever obstacles may come your way. Speed is synonymous with safe when it comes to street tuning so adequate room between you and obstacles is a must. If your car sees track time an adjustable set of coilovers will work wonders.
Travel is Important
Suspension travel, wheel travel, and shock travel are all things you do not want to start throwing down the garbage can by lowering your car too much. Front shocks that don’t have ample travel can cause dangerously sudden understeer when they lose the ability to move freely. Tire to fender rub can blow tires out. Not something you want on your favorite mountain road.
A Note On Bags
For certain builds, airbag suspension is the perfect setup. Lexus is a luxury brand that knows how to build ride quality that feels like you’re driving on clouds. Well made airbag suspension can allow the car to be slammed to the floor while retaining better than stock ride characteristics. It should be noted that those serious about track days should avoid airbags. This is especially true if you compete in anything beyond local club racing.
Alignment
Lower your car enough and you can compromise suspension geometry to the point of no return. This is why it’s important to align a vehicle if you have lowered it, but it goes beyond simply making sure the wheels are pointed the right direction. Lowering a car can alter critical angles that your vehicle relies on to keep the tires in check. Looking cool at car shows is great if everything still functions. More often than not this isn’t the case.
In Summary
Dropping your ride can be pleasing to the eyes as well as your lap times, but only if you take the time to do it right and not fall into the traps and trends. Almost every set of coilovers can lower a vehicle so the budget will be the deciding factor more than anything. Always be aware of what is going on with your alignment as you raise or lower a vehicle. There is no magic bullet ride height or suspension setup to guarantee success, but slamming a car to the floor is never a good idea if you want to go faster. Hope you enjoyed reading.
For help with your maintenance and repair projects, please visit our how-to section in the forum.