Lowering a mk2 more

[steve bain]

So the Rocco is back on all fours. It's just not as low as I want it. The coilovers are wound all the way to the bottom. What's the next step for more lows? Remove helper spring? Or will that cause problems?

[steve bain]

Hot tuning or raceland coilovers. can't remember which

[scrappy1382]

think monzajake removed the smaller springs fella, his car is pretty low,,, that said, how low you want to actually go ???

1546224_10152830558002251_7537978315286153499_n.jpg

this is how low mine was, and found i couldnt even get my jack underneith, so raised it up

[steve bain]

Cool. I may try it. It will be a toy car only so doesn't matter how low it is really from a practical viewpoint. My daily has an inch under the wishbone! And doesn't catch too often. The Rocco just looks a bit high at the moment. It's empty at the moment, no fuel etc so guess it will go down a bit. I can't get a Jack under any of my cars and I have the special jacks for low cars. Have to drive on a bit of wood first! I will have a play when I get some time.

[steve bain]

I'm wondering if it's Sat on the bump stops as a quick Google shows loads much lower than mine. Next sunny day the missus is working I'll check it out. Thanks for your input.

[bengould]

Removing the helper springs is fine, BUT, your MOT man might not like it. All they really do is keep the spring located when you raise the car off the ground which I'm pretty sure is a fail if they don't.

I had mine at the bottom of my spax RSX coilovers, with helper springs still in place. I had about an inch between the lower anti roll bar and the ground. It would catch on quite a lot, Most speedbumps were a Big NO.

A few things to bear in mind,

Exhaust centre box hit first, on things I wouldn't consider to be particularly high, followed by the sump, sills, the front wishbone mount seam, ripped an anti roll bar clamp off in a small pothole, Lower front strut brace, front "splitter" part of bodykit etc etc. It killed CV joints pretty quick, and got through a pair of wheel bearings in about 18 months.

The ride on the road was also terrible, any bumps in the road would launch me up out of the seat if I hit it at a decent speed, Great on a nice smooth track but not fun for everyday use, although I'd put this down to being sat JUST above the bump stops so any suspension movement meant it was hitting them. Shorter ones would definitely have helped though.

Ended up going a bit higher for my current set up, mainly due to the alloy sump on my engine, Don't really want it cracking. At the moment it sits with the top of the tyre Just level with the arches. 15" wheels and a 55 profile tyre.

Don't think I'm trying to put you off, A LOW rocco looks awesome, but can get expensive.

All that being said, I am seriously considering getting the C-Spanners out and bringing mine down a touch more. .

See winstons build thread if you want some ideas about going mega low.

Ben.

[steve bain]

Ha. Sound advice buddy. On my daily I had to change arb, notch a 3inch hole in the chassis etc etc. I have 195/45 and the tyre is currently flush with the arch and ideally I would like another 15mm or so. Not loads. I am Hoping wheel spacers will make a big difference. I don't have a centre silencer as when long life made it I asked for it to be deleted as it used to catch. My 4 branch manifold and sump used to take the beating instead and the body pan just behind the arb mounts. Maybe much lower is a bad plan! I think removing the helpers would cause more grief than good really. I think further investigation is required as on the back the beam is arms are about 10mm from the shell!

[james butler]

if i were you i would just invest in air ride if you want LOW LOW cars that way u get your scene height and realistic drivable height in one package.
cheapest i found it was £1800 fitted. the DIY kits start about £1100.
thats the route i will be going down next funds permiting
plus if ever you sell the car you can put standard back on and sell the kit ready set up for pretty much anything mk1 and 2.