Lowering my Z with these mods...?

[IndyDave]

I have a 2001 Z06. I am currently installing the full set of VB&P bushings, T1 swaybars with adj. end links, and the 2004 spec shocks.

Now that I have everything pulled apart it seems like a good time to lower if I'm gonna do it.

Anyone see any problems with lowering the car along with these mods? I'm guessing not, outside of scraping more on the street.

I noticed that VB&P (and others) have lowering bolts. I take it these let you lower the car more than the stock bolts?

The car will be dual use (street & track), with a bit more emphasis on track, without being a dedicated track car. What makes the most sense from a lowering standpoint in your opinions?

[Olitho]

Hi Dave:

I would suggest you read some of the recent threads on this racing forum by doing a search on the word "lowering."

You will find quite a bit of information. Most of it will say not to lower the car or to not do it by much.

[Olitho]

Here is a good example of one of the recent lowering discussions.
Z06 suspension upgrades and lowering advice* ??

[BQuicksilver]

Dave, I think we're on about the same direction with mods right now. I have the exact same question.

[Subdriver]

Dave,
As discussed in the video that came with the car, I do think the car will benefit from some lowering. I think the tape said something on the order of 15mm which is about what I lowered mine before going T1.

In T1, we have different leaf springs which makes direct comparision a little difficult. But, my car was just aligned with ride heights and corner weights set and I will say my car is definitely lower than when it came off the showroom floor.

I think the take away from those threads is that you don't want to slam the car down. The suspension needs to have some travel.

There are some issues you may want to consider. If you lower it yourself, how are you going to verify ride heights? I think you can get it close by measuring ground to frame rail behind the front wheel and in front of the rear wheel. Goal is to have fronts match each other and rears match each other, and to have the rear higher than the front, say about 1/4-3/8" or so. Another issue is corner weighting. As soon as you touch ride height, you have changed corner weighting which really impacts handling more than most realize. If you don't have a level platform and scales, you should really take your car to a professional shop to have it corner weighted.

Here is a good article on corner weighting:
http://autocrossracer.com/corner_weights.htm

When my car came back from Phoenix Performance last weekend, it had cross weight at 50.0% with just over half tank of fuel and driver's weight in the car (cross weight set for 1st half of race).