will lowering improve handling?

[gt-83]

im not clued up on this sort of stuff, but will lowereing my coupe improve the handling, or will it simply make it lower!!!
i posted before about my handling, the car feels as though it is equipped with bed springs!, so will a new set of springs help?

 

[jaymanek]

decent lowering springs should make the ride firmer and cause less body roll, so yes should be much better..

 

[gt-83]

could you recommend?

 

[jaymanek]

Im not an expert on these things but Eibach are always good.. AMG also do them for the W124

 

[jaymanek]

Good deals usually on here


http://www.motorsportworld.co.uk/frame-detail.asp?PAGE=/eibach/eibach-anti-roll-bars.htm

 

[wheels-inmotion]

Main benefits are a lower centre of gravity and less dynamic gains Geometrically.

Down sides are the static Geometry would need correcting and the chassis dynamic index would be higher so the car is just a little bit harder to drive.

 

[gt-83]

thats my problem, its hard to drive now, i used to throw my old 300e around (sls and lowered at the front) but the coupe is like a jelly!!

 

[glojo]

Don't forget we are talking about driving on our British roads. Most lowering will usually go hand in glove with a slightly firmer ride which in turn will exaggerate every defect in the road's surface. If your car is wallowly, bouncy, or perhaps unstable, then perhaps the suspension might need looking at.

Any modern car will be capable of a performance far exceeding the driving abilities of its owner. (I'm talking about myself )

A firm ride will always be very subjective, but no car should wallow, or appear unstable.

Regards
John

 

[Number_Cruncher]

>>chassis dynamic index would be higher

Sounds interesting, what does that mean?

 

[gt-83]

perhaps ive been spoilt, 300e was rigid and tight cornering, (sporty) coupe feels like an american car,,,,,good in a straight line!

 

[Frank O' Phile]

A firm ride will always be very subjective, but no car should wallow, or appear unstable.

Regards
John

Unless it is American.

edit:- GT-83 beat me to american reference.

 

[stevesey]

Will lowering improve handling? Not necessarily!

Rather counter intuatively lowering a car using the same spring rates would increase body roll. Whilst the c.of.g will lower by X the roll centre will typically be lowered by more than X (often closer to 2X), so the leverage of the c.of.g over the roll centre increases. Here's a diagram to show how the distance between the c.of.g and roll centre increases as the car is lowered (read the whole of the related article if you want to know more).

Lowering does reduce weight transfer, but then some of this is cancelled out by the stiffer springs, needed becuase of the shorter suspension travel and to keep the body roll under control.

 

[gt-83]

thanks steve.........it all seems very technical to me, i just want the car to sit still on corners, rather than behaving like zebedee.....(oh dear showing my age there )

 

[bolide]

will lowereing my coupe improve the handling, or will it simply make it lower!!!

Define "improve"

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[gt-83]

ok.. good one...my old 300e (sorry to harp on about it) could be thrown around without movement a fantastic drive....the coupe feels like its going to tip over!, theres nothing broken or wrong with it, its just "springy".....i want to get it hard and "sporty"..........is it me?

 

[jpskiller]

my 300e used to be like your coupe, so got fitted with bilstein sports shocks & H&R lowering springs, now its 100% improvement, not too hard and a lot less wallowing.

have you had your shocks & springs tested to see if they just need replacing?

 

[c240yaz]

You will need to do something in addition to offset the camber angle or your tyres will all go boldy on the inside ?

 

[bolide]

I suggest you either

* sort the existing problems by replacing worn parts with MB original parts
* take it up to Sports Chassis spec with MB original parts
* try and find a non-MB compromise that works well

Don't neglect to replace things like ARB bushes, balljoints, rear subframe bushes & etc before you start. Once they're done you may be surprised how good it is

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[kth286]

gt-83

There must be something wrong with your particular car as the 320 coupes are superb drivers.

What miles on the car ?

Is it standard or has it already been modified with different springs etc.

Has a spring broken ?

Is any damper leaking ?

Is it something basic like tyre pressures.

Do you have the same tyres on each corner.

Can you actually bounce both front corners of the car several times in succession - I ask this because there is a tendancy for the N/side wishbone bush to seize and make that corner solid/ish.

 

[Uberwagon]

Your car seems to have issues, damping being the biggest i'd guess at.

I am a big believer that the SLS system gives a brilliant feel to how the car handles, I would certainly never imagine mine would be as good if it wasn't fitted.

As for lowering, bodyroll, dynamics etc etc. I went from No3 bump pads on the front to No1 bump pads. This is the cup that holds the spring, the no 1 cup is shorter so it lowers the car without altering spring rates etc.

It made a surprising difference handling wise, less bodyroll on turn in, a more pointy back end and imo, better looks. Nothing else on the car was changed, it might be something to think of instead of just lower, firmer springs. Mine were 9 pounds for the pair I believe.

First job though, get the car in the air and look at your shocks, bushes etc. My shocks felt fine but I changed them due to the mileage ,200,000km, and the difference was again very noticeable.

Dave!