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how low can you go vs performance


racingbrett
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How low can you go?

This question isn't asked in the usual sense though, I'm not after "crazy mad lows" and who cares about the consequences, been there and done that with an old style beetle that scraped its belly over every speed bump. My question is how low can you go before speed bumps require you to crawl over them? I'm looking to lower with one goal in mind, performance, less body role and tighter cornering, to hold more speed through a corner.

Speed bumps round here are plentiful and the square type, General traffic speed over them is 20mph if you line it up right, I'm not looking to crawl over them, so just how low can I go without having to slow below say 10-15 mph.

The car is currently on stock 13" steels, knowing what I know I don't plan to go huge or for massive wides, nowadays suspension geometry and tyres sizes are set up for best results from factory while keeping comfort (harshness) in mind, going wider can actually mean less rubber in contact with the ground due to the scrub radius, larger diameters will also have an effect similar to reducing power (the weight of the wheel is pushed further out from the centre so takes more effort to spin up) with that in mind my intention is to compromise with some 14" mk3 golf steels, these will allow me to run a lower profile for less side wall flex while running a standard design size tyre but wider than I currently am.

Now it's been a while since I modded cars, coil overs used to cost a fortune and were for track cars allowing you to fine tune for each circuit, if I understand it right this is still really the case with one exception, there are cheaper kits around for those that care about style over performance and there are mid priced kits which are still directed at style but utilise better materials. My personal thought here is that for a road car where the aim is to improve handling regardless of whether I fill the arches or not that a decent shock such as bilsteins and a pre set spring will give the best results, am I wrong?

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Not sure how low my GTI is, but I can go over our square speed ramps at a steady speed. It's pretty close though as if I chicken out and touch the brakes at the last minute the front spoiler touches.

I can get on my drive without touching, but it acts as a warning when I have low tyre pressures or my tyres need replacing as my exhaust starts touching when one up.

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If you are looking for performance, surely you'd be better getting some lightweight 15" and running proper tyres and pressures.

KW V1 are a good coilover set up. Adjustable height only, but the return and damp settings etc have been pre configured by KW engineers to suit the weight and size of the vehicle.

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