Measured ground clearance?
07-10-2008, 07:15 PM
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Measured ground clearance? I measured the lowest point on my car, which was approx. 3.75 inches (y-pipe). My car is lowered approx. 3/4 inch (lower perch/heater hose mod.) I was curious if anyone else has taken measurements and what they were. The reason I am asking is I will be installing Strano springs and was wondering if my car is pretty close to other lowered cars in reference to ground clearance. I figure my ground clearance with the Strano springs should be around 3.25 inches, which sounds close to me. I am aware that a lowered car has to be driven with care (speed bumps, road imperfections), but I just want to see if my car is comparable to other lowered cars. Thanks for any help.
07-10-2008, 09:57 PM
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Mines at 3.5 inches--also at the Y-pipe. My car is already lowered with Strano springs. For example, it's 26 inches from the floor to the front fender lip above the center of the wheel. I don't scrape on anything unless I try a speedbump going too fast.
07-11-2008, 08:44 PM
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I can't remember off the top of my head since I'm at work but I have up to 3.5" of ground clearance with my Strano springs. Lowest point being the cats on my y pipe.
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07-13-2008, 02:42 PM
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its actually not that bad. i've driven my car for 3 years like this, and i know where i can and cant go. i dont push my luck. i changed my driving habits to accommodate the exhaust...some roads i have to creep slowly down, others i dont go down, and i avoid speed bumps like the plague.
Like you stated, as long as you know what your limitations are, you will be fine.
07-13-2008, 06:06 PM
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its actually not that bad. i've driven my car for 3 years like this, and i know where i can and cant go. i dont push my luck. i changed my driving habits to accommodate the exhaust...some roads i have to creep slowly down, others i dont go down, and i avoid speed bumps like the plague.
My buddy put true duals on his. When he got finished the first time they were touching the pavement. I think he got about an inch and a half the second try. Then he got a noise ticket and went back to the Y-pipe.
10-10-2008, 01:29 PM
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Holy crap I thought mine was bad!! hahaha I am currently trying to get 4.5 inches of ground clearance to pass the dumbass inspection they have here. Can anyone measure how much ground clearance there is with a set of stock springs to a point on the car that is not any part of the exhaust? It would be much appreciated.
10-11-2008, 08:53 AM
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I have more clearance than most.
Here is the lowest part on my car. the collectors are a close 2nd to the ground after the turndowns.
Car is stock height. I made my own TD setup with 2.5" piping, H, and sweet thunder mufflers. Headers are Kooks 1 7/8". I made it to tuck up really tight because I wanted to lower the car but since then... ehhh.. I'm happy with the Koni's on the lower front perch and stock springs. regardless.. clearance can be had if you work it right.
Here is the lowest part on my car. the collectors are a close 2nd to the ground after the turndowns.
Car is stock height. I made my own TD setup with 2.5" piping, H, and sweet thunder mufflers. Headers are Kooks 1 7/8". I made it to tuck up really tight because I wanted to lower the car but since then... ehhh.. I'm happy with the Koni's on the lower front perch and stock springs. regardless.. clearance can be had if you work it right.
10-11-2008, 06:48 PM
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Old pictures, but you get the idea. Hotchkis springs with Pacesetter longtube headers and a TSP catted y-pipe.
I was able to get a lot of clearance back since those pictures, though. I took it to a muffler shop with the hopes of them fabbing me a y-pipe that tucks a little closer to the floorboard. They didn't (guy was being lazy), but what they did helped. On the catback (Magnaflow, in my case), where it goes up over the rear axle, he heated up the pipe then jammed it together further. What this did was raise the back end of the catback, which tucked everything in nicely.
Problem was, this caused the y-pipe to bang on the floorboard under acceleration. So I took it to G-Force (sponsor who has done a lot of work on my car) and they were able to stuff some flame-retardant padding between the y-pipe and floorboard. No more banging, and lots more ground clearance.
Then I got a 12-bolt, which raised the rear up about 0.5", so that helped too.
I still scrape every now and then, if I'm not careful, but it's much better than it was.
Bear in mind, if you get Strano springs (or any lowering springs), you should replace the rear isolator and you definitely should not mount any lowered springs on the Koni lower perch. That limits shock travel too much.
-Mike
