Will lowering car effect my rear wheel traction

[BlackCalaisVVE]

Hi Guys,

I will be lowering my Calais this weekend going to be lowering it with peddars springs F2954 R2955 which should lower the car 20mm lower than stock (FE2).
I wanted to know if anyone experienced more noticeable loss of traction after there car had been lowered? Also wanting to know if there where any other negatives they had once car had been lowered? The car has 240+rwkw and already spins a fair bit of line regardless of traction control on or off. I still have the original Bridgestone’s on the car and the car has done 30000km. They will eventually be replaced by wider rears but won’t need to be replaced for at least a few more months.

I decided to only do the springs as I couldn’t justify the extra amount for coil overs. As i'm on a budget as will also be purchasing a house sometime soon.

Also if anyone has pictures of there Calais lowered with these springs on 20's would be great. As I have seen some SS's with these springs but no Calais.

Any feedback on ride quality with these springs would also be great as well.

Thanks,

[crtx]

it sure will effect traction well on my car it did anyways
i work on the theory below

less squat more wheel spin
more squat better traction

[boyley]

I'd suggest the stiffer the spring the more chance youve got of breaking traction. I have had lowered kings and coilovers and neither seemed to give me an advantage at the drag strip. Let me say though if you can afford to wait go the coilovers mate.
Pick below kings and coilovers

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh166/boylero/LUXO6L02.jpg

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh166/boylero/IMG_0176.jpg

[Dillzio]

Theoretically speaking, if you're on a flat surface your traction should be the same. With that being said though, if the back end is lower, it will shift a tiny bit of the weight from the front wheels to the back, thus improving traction to the rear wheels, but the effect might be so minimal it's not noticeable.

On a bumpy surface, I would expect lowered springs to reduce your traction, since without as much vertical travel, it's easier for your wheels to break contact with the road. Again however, I don't think this is absolute, as i think really good quality (expensive) lowered suspension would out-perform standard height stock suspension anyway.

So, in short, I would say that yes, lowering the car will effect your rear wheel traction, but if you're upgrading your suspension anyway it proberbly won't be an issue.


...if you're into sci-fi, you could also consider the fact that if your car is lower, it will be closer to the earth's core, so will experience a greater pull of gravity, and therefore have more traction. :jester:
:rofl:

[sszkid]

Just had my SSZ ute lowered with Pedders springs about 3weeks ago. The first day after getting it done the ute broke traction all the way up to 60kmh (stock engine) and off the line would just sit and smoke up (original Bridgestone's).

But 3 weeks on now and I must say it almost feels like the stock springs are back in. Off the line it just chirps for a bit and I am off, so much better now. So either I am going crazy or the springs have really loosen up??

But in saying that you will nodoubt lose abit of traction, but the reward in handling is worth it.

[BlackCalaisVVE]

Thanks for the replys guys, hopefully the car wont lose to much more traction when i lower it sounds like it wont though.

[Excellent]

Thanks for the replys guys, hopefully the car wont lose to much more traction when i lower it sounds like it wont though.

It will if you have to ride bumps. The stiffer the car the less traction over bumpy roads.

[gmeup]

I've lowered my car from fe2 to eibach springs 30mm lower than stock and traction has improved off the mark. Would sping off the mark quite easily before but now its much better off the mark. Very happy with them.

[Souljah]

It will if you have to ride bumps. The stiffer the car the less traction over bumpy roads.
This is why one invests in a decent set of shock absorbers when you lower your car.

[Wonky]

Just had my SSZ ute lowered with Pedders springs about 3weeks ago. The first day after getting it done the ute broke traction all the way up to 60kmh (stock engine) and off the line would just sit and smoke up (original Bridgestone's).

But 3 weeks on now and I must say it almost feels like the stock springs are back in. Off the line it just chirps for a bit and I am off, so much better now. So either I am going crazy or the springs have really loosen up??

But in saying that you will nodoubt lose abit of traction, but the reward in handling is worth it.

Or your ECM has slowly relearnt to account for the difference? :confused:

[CHL]

Dont muck around with just springs, you will regret it. Go for the pedders, best recommended adjustable coilover package for you car.

Good Luck..


CHL. :)

[Excellent]

This is why one invests in a decent set of shock absorbers when you lower your car.

As an aside, would traction be significantly improved if the superior shocks were fitted without lowering the car?

[Ron SS]

You may have Fe1.5 shocks and they are a bit softer than Fe2. If you lower the car with shorter and stiffer springs, then the std shockers (either Fe1.5 or Fe2) will have no hope of properly controlling the extra forces. You will also be reducing the bump travel by the same amount as the lowering. A lowered VE, even 20 mm lower, will have more chance of thumping the bump stops. Bump travel is marginal anyway on VEs, lowering it makes that situation worse unless you do something about the shocker length and bump rubber length. Rough ride bouncing off the bump rubbers = dump, not sporty.

Your shockers will have less chance of controlling the increases rebound forces. I suggest you buy some Monroe short shockers. So far only Monroe have produced a shocker tube that is shorter than std, about 19mm shorter. Hence Monroe shocks with the lowerred springs would be great. This is a cheaper option than the $2000 coil overs. Coil overs are a big overkill ....how many owners actually change the ride height once fitted ...not many I bet.

I suggest you either do nothing, or if you lower it, then get Monroes with their recomended Kings SL springs. One day, Pedders will finally realize that they should also make shorter shockers to suit their lowered springs!

[BlackCalaisVVE]

You may have Fe1.5 shocks and they are a bit softer than Fe2. If you lower the car with shorter and stiffer springs, then the std shockers (either Fe1.5 or Fe2) will have no hope of properly controlling the extra forces. You will also be reducing the bump travel by the same amount as the lowering. A lowered VE, even 20 mm lower, will have more chance of thumping the bump stops. Bump travel is marginal anyway on VEs, lowering it makes that situation worse unless you do something about the shocker length and bump rubber length. Rough ride bouncing off the bump rubbers = dump, not sporty.

Your shockers will have less chance of controlling the increases rebound forces. I suggest you buy some Monroe short shockers. So far only Monroe have produced a shocker tube that is shorter than std, about 19mm shorter. Hence Monroe shocks with the lowerred springs would be great. This is a cheaper option than the $2000 coil overs. Coil overs are a big overkill ....how many owners actually change the ride height once fitted ...not many I bet.

I suggest you either do nothing, or if you lower it, then get Monroes with their recomended Kings SL springs. One day, Pedders will finally realize that they should also make shorter shockers to suit their lowered springs!

Car definitely has FE2 as I bought it a few months before the FE 1.5 came out in the Calais.

Its interesting what you say about the shocks as I had read previously that the standard shocks where pretty good and there was no need to replace them.

When I spoke to Peddars about this I was advised that nothing else would need to be replaced and there springs should run fine with all the stock gear.

As for going over large bumps I try to avoid them anyway as I have the 20 inch wheels so don’t won’t to put them out of shape. As long as there is no problem over speed humps I m not to worried about large bumps.

In regards to going king springs I have read a lot of different things about them positive and negative. The consensus seems to be that the Peddars are slightly softer and apparently give a better ride quality than the kings which is enough to sway me to the Peddars. I also like the height the peddars springs sit but have to admit haven’t done much research into King springs. I have also heard that the Lovell’s springs give you the best ride quality but are near impossible to find them here in Sydney.
So I am pretty much set on the peddars springs

But its great to get every ones feedback keep the comments coming.

[sszkid]

Or your ECM has slowly relearnt to account for the difference? :confused:

Sorry most likly a noob question lol

But I Kind of get what your saying here Wonky but could you or someone kindly elaborate on this? Is it even possible for this to happen, I mean what would it be doing to account for the difference in stiffer springs?

[BlackCalaisVVE]

Guys,

Just been told when i was speaking to a tyre shop that Peddars do have a shorter shock, maybe the Peddars guys can confirm if that is right.
I asked the guy at the tyre shop you sure there not Monroes your talking about and he said no there Peddars branded but may be Monroes rebranded.

Interesting.

[Ron SS]

Traction control and "Electronic Stability Control" will activate when the rear wheels go faster than the front ...also when the left side wheels go at a different rate than the right side. It dabs the brakes on the wheel that needs it. Combined with LSD, it limits wheelspin off the line and around a corner. If the brakes cannot stop the "problem", the electronic throttle is used to limit throttle opening. If that still doesn't cure the problem, the fuel flow is reduced. This all happens in milliseconds. It makes a mug driver look like an expert. Click off the traction control button and you will see how it goes without all this electronic control ... and hold on if its wet!!

Re Pedders response to the problem of reduced bump travel .... did you really expect them to say they should have done a better job and produced a shorter shocker tube? Ask Kings in Qld to get a more balanced response. Kings actually did the research and setup for the Monroe shockers because they were worried about cars running around with their springs and bouncing off the bump stops too often. If you insist on using the std shockers with lowered springs, make sure you use softer and shorter bump rubbers.

[Holden Nut]

Hi Guys,

I will be lowering my Calais this weekend going to be lowering it with peddars springs F2954 R2955 which should lower the car 20mm lower than stock (FE2).
I wanted to know if anyone experienced more noticeable loss of traction after there car had been lowered? Also wanting to know if there where any other negatives they had once car had been lowered? The car has 240+rwkw and already spins a fair bit of line regardless of traction control on or off. I still have the original Bridgestone’s on the car and the car has done 30000km. They will eventually be replaced by wider rears but won’t need to be replaced for at least a few more months.

I decided to only do the springs as I couldn’t justify the extra amount for coil overs. As i'm on a budget as will also be purchasing a house sometime soon.

Also if anyone has pictures of there Calais lowered with these springs on 20's would be great. As I have seen some SS's with these springs but no Calais.

Any feedback on ride quality with these springs would also be great as well.

Thanks,I'm a bit confused here on whether ride quality concerns you or not. On one hand you're proposing quite low suspension on 20" wheels whilst retaining standard shocks which is a reciepe for a rough ride, which doesn't seem to bother you but on the other hand you are choosing the spring according to what supposedly gives the best ride quality?

I've been down this road before. To put it simply there is no way known I would ever lower a car of mine ever again to anything lower than about FE2 ride height. The ride was absolutely terrible, traction was reduced, axle tramp was increased combined with speedbumps/driveways etc.

[BlackCalaisVVE]

The car has no been lowered for over a week now. I am pretty happy with the results other than a strange noise I was getting from the rear which I mentioned in another post, but this noise has now disappeared.

In regards to ride quality I can barely notice any difference if any at all over the FE2 springs. Handling has defiantly improved with the car sitting a lot more flatter around corners.
I don’t seem to have lost any more traction of the line but haven’t tested this that much so my opinion on this may change over time