Thinking about lowering my GTS...

[SoCal Craig]

mostly because it looks like it needs it with all the space between the top of the wheel well and the tires. Is this a dumb idea? The car is already very low and it's hard to not scrape the front air dam on driveways. I lowered my Boxster S with H&R springs and like it a lot. But I think it was higher than the Viper to begin with. Any of you out there lower your Snake?

 

[Maverick The Electrician]

You might want to check into getting some Eibach Pro Springs if you are interested in lowering your snake. I have sold many sets to local customers and haven't heard one complaint. Cost on them is around 225.00. You should be able to get them for around 300.00 in your area. If not send me an email.

 

[JonB]

I agree 100% w/Albert.

PartsRack has recommended amd sold quite a few Eibach spring kits to fellow owners....esp those that add wings/spoilers.

--Lower center of gravity = better handling
--Better aerodynamics a bonus....especially Gen-1 !
--Great mod for usually under $320
--Much Better appearance is just a bonus!
--Downsides: Needs to be realigned afterwards (always)
--If you druuuug the front before, you will drag 1/2 inch more.

 

[cstegall]

Hey Jon,

I have found that by adding some extra weight around my waist it has allowed me to lower my Viper naturally...do I still need the kit!!!

C Stegall

 

[Paul Fischer]

Lowering is the most cost effective mod I made to improve the handling of the car. After bringing mine down a couple of inches and then some I saw a remarkable difference at the track. No doubt the car looked much better but the difference in body roll and composure in high load corners was what made it worth it. Don't do it if you are going to lose sleep worrying about scraping the underside of your fascia, sills or rails or if quarter mile is your thing.

 

[Russ M]

Guys why is it that many other people claim that by doing just the springs the handling of the car get worse rather than better? In several posts of the past on this subject many people came forward and said that their cars did not perform as well on the track with just springs over stock.

This is a mod that I wanted to do as well however all previous posts on this leave me believing that for this to really be done properly the shock and springs need to be changed. Which means lots more $$$$.

And if this is really a good way to go then how much lower is the car with the eibach springs?

PS, Paul Fisher what did you do to your car to lower it several inches??? Can you still clear road bumps? Driveways? etc?

Thanks

 

[JonB]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Russ M:
.....why is it that many other people claim that by doing just the springs the handling of the car get worse rather than better? In several posts of the past on this subject many people came forward and said that their cars did not perform as well on the track with just springs over stock.......all previous posts on this leave me believing that for this to really be done properly the shock and springs need to be changed. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have not seen any negative posts, except for a couple who FAILED TO RE-ALIGN their Vipers afterwards!

Your statements "many people claim" and "many came forward" and "all previous posts" is somewhat misleading in my opinion ..... Can you point to any of these negative posts please ? They escape my recall and searching ability. This is a very good value-bang-for-buck as both Albert and paul point out....

 

[JonB]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by cstegall:
Hey Jon, I have found that by adding some extra weight around my waist it has allowed me to lower my Viper naturally...do I still need the kit!!!

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


As long as you toss a couple bags of cement in the RIGHT seat you should be OK !

 

[GaryA]

I lowered mine about an inch and really like it. The looks of the lowered car is an improvement over stock. More importantly, I also feel like the car handles much better than before. I don't notice a big difference in scraping the front fascia. I would definitely do it again!

 

[PhilC]

I lowered my 99ACR 1" front and back. Although it looks great, it's too low and not only do I find it very difficult not to scrape the front, but I've scraped the under side on occassion when going at moderate speed and hitting small dips in the road. I believe that if you search previous posts on this topic you'll find most suggest no more than 3/4". I'm bringing mine back up just a little.

 

[Serious Eric]

Agree. Don't lower it unless you've got a real competitive need at the track for doing so. If mostly what you do is street driving you'll find that those few improved moments at the track are not worth it.

My '99 was lowered over an inch and it was absolutely UNDRIVEABLE!! Scraped every countour of the ground and bottomed hard at speed on even moderate dips. I had to carry around sheets of cardboard to place on the transition into my parking garage just to keep from badly scraping the underside. I don't think I could have run it at the track either. TWS has a wicked downhill transition at the end of the front straight and I'm sure the thing would have bottomed viciously there. I really hated it.

Had it raised to split the difference (to about 3/4") and although I could now ditch the cardboard, it was still a pain in the a$$. Frequently bottomed at speed on the highway. Sucked.

Now that I've got my new stock '01 I can't imagine why anyone wants to screw around with lowering them (unless you're spending majority time at the track). They're such great handling cars already and you should be able to outdrive anyone on the street in a stock one ... dunno why you'd want to turn it into an impractical scraping bottoming thing.

PS-

Almost forgot, I had a 3" HMS exhaust which became the low-point on the car and made sparks on every dip. Remember that if you lower it, you'll compromise you're future ability to make exhaust mods ... Those big 3" pipes don't tuck away quite as snugly as the factory stuff.

 

[FikseGTS]

I also remember quite a few posts a while ago about the negative handling effects that just adding eibach springs have...

I would like to lower mine because it looks jacked up, but also to help out at speed trial/autox events....


Brooks

 

[SAM Team]

I lowered my 99 ACR quite a bit, had it track aligned by J. Archer(Russ), did the spring thing with Bobby Archer, put the Delrin bushings from Sean Roe and the car handled beautifully.

Problem went to load up my Viper with Hoosier slicks and could not get it in the trailer anymore. I have one of the custom Viper trailers from C&C with 3 sets of extension ramps... Put street tires back on a little better but still would not load. Wound up jacking the car up and running all the shock nuts up so we could just load it on the trailer...got it realigned when we got to the track. Note it did have the HMS front fascia and splitter which was hitting...

Do not get surprised by this one...my 2 cents only lower it if you are going to the track with it not worth it on the streets. I only saw any differences at very high speeds.

Ever driven a Viper on the street that has been track aligned it will test your driving skills and it is no fun...the car will find groves in the road and just take off in all directions..

 

[Russ M]

Jon B,

Just do a search on lowering vipers and you will see many people comment on the negative effects this has on the car. That is unless shocks and springs are used together!

Dont get me wrong I will be the first to buy the springs if there is enough positive feed back from people who actualy compared track times with and without them.

 

[TOOOFST]

Lowered mine with eibach threw John B.Handles as good to better than stock.The 4X4
Stock look was driving me nuts.I've scraped a few times,You can usually see low spots in road,driveway, and hit the angle.
Might not buy the all mighty snake again if I couldn't lower it.Image is everything

 

[Jim Hodel]

I am dubiuos of lowering my Viper unless I wish to start a transition to a predominantly track vehicle. Every other car I have lowered, from older Alfa Romeos to a 95 Z28 (and with my brother's 3000 GTVR4), have suffered from a decrease in ride comfort, and especially from a decrease in stability at speed over undulating road surfaces. Oh, and anything over an inch has led to problems with bottoming out, and not just on driveway lips.

The lowered cars have all become bouncy and difficult to handle at 75 or 80 mph plus when driving on any kind of semi-rough secondary road (Try highway 1 North of San Francisco). Race track and smooth road performance feels more responsive, but at the expense of over all street performance.

Also, if the Viper Eibach springs are variable rate, like they are for other cars, they can help the ride over rough pavement at slower speeds, but as speeds build up and loads the suspension, the spring rates stiffen dramatically.

I would be concerned about differential stiffening between the four corners compromising handling balance for driving at the limit. Variable rate springs are designed to reduce the loss in street ride comfort, so may be an OK choice for a combination street and track spring, but I do not know of any pure track springs that are variable rate.

I would seriously consider changing shocks as well as springs at the same time. I do not know specifically about the Viper, but the coil over system I put on my Z28 was unacceptable with the too soft stock shocks. I installed some stiffer Konis to control the springs, and it was a dramatic improvement.

I honestly do not think that looks alone is a good reason to lower a car, but that is just my opinion. If I get to the point where I have enough track days under my belt in the Viper that I think suspension is limiting my performance, I'll look into a set of single rate coil overs (similar to the ACR setup) and start with a modest lowereing of 1/2 inch. I'll set the corner weights and experiment with shock settings until I find a good street/track compromise.

Jim

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

I wouldn't do it unless you are doing more track than street. I know guys who did it and regret it, becasue they are bottoming out with every crack in the street.

My car is stock, and I have to go diagonal through some streets with dips, even my driveway, which if you were to look at appears level.

Andrew

 

[MikeDGTS]

I lowered mine about six months ago, and I wouldnt think of putting it back to stock. Mine is an everyday driver, and the lowered stance doesnt bother me a bit. Sure, it takes me 3 minutes to get out of my driveway every morning, but that is a small price to pay. I havent done any track driving yet and I dont notice a huge difference in the feel of the car. However, the stock stance is too high for me, especially parked next to a Ferrari, Porsche, or the local ricer. Trust me, the car looks great with the springs, and its a cheap mod.

 

[GTS Dean]

I went to new Penskes with *much stiffer* springs all around and lowered it about 3/4". The car actually bottoms _much less_ than it did before. I have 4 sets of standard valving positions that I dial on the shocks depending on intended usage - street, highway trips, strip and road course. I've had several older people (retirement age) ride with me and nearly all remark about how wonderful the ride is even with stiff springs and racing shocks. The biggest gripe they have is getting out of the car when the ride's over.

I gave up worrying too much about driveway approaches years ago. (I bought a spare fascia.)

 

[Jim Hodel]

Dean, that sounds like a good setup. I assume those are single rate springs. Do you have the spring rates?

Jim

 

[GTS Dean]

600f/800r

All REAL springs are blue and start with "H"

 

[SoCal Craig]

Thanks for the all responses

. I think I'll leave it stock for awhile.

 

[David Jenkins]

Socal, let's do it. dj

 

[Backdoc7]

First.. Happy New Year to all!!

Craig,
My car has Eibach Pro's (bought from Jon B along with a ton of other stuff).. I would be more than happy to meet with you and we can compair.. I've hooked up with Newport Viper a few times and he loves the way my car looks. He's lowering his when it's time for a re-align. Once you see the difference it makes in the looks and the feel. I don't think you will even consider going back to stock. If you want some pic's.. let me know..

I will say your going to scrap more, but.. as with all the other sports cars i've owned.. it's a small price to pay.

As far as bottoming out.. I've hit the front spoiler a few times (always at slow speed driveway type stuff).. but have never once bottomed out the car suspension wise.

Once again.. just my 2 cents.

Bill