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What's a good Ride Height

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Old Sep 20, 2017, 10:49 AM
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What's a good Ride Height

Sorry, I've tried searching and couldn't really find good information on what a decent ride height to have the car set at. I recently got Fortune Auto 510's with 10k/11k springs. This is the first time I've ever used coilovers so just trying to figure out a good front/rear height to have the car set up around. I plan to install the coilovers and then get the car corner balanced/aligned. This will be mainly used for daily driving and autocross(which I do once or twice a month).

Evo 9
The car just has whiteline front coll center adjustment kit.
Whiteline rear trailing arm bushings.
Front/Rear swaybar endlinks.
24mm whiteline rear sway bar.
The rest stock.

If you need more info please ask. If you have a link on this subject that could help me, please let me know.

Thanks
Old Sep 20, 2017, 10:55 AM
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Not an easy answer to note a specific ride height

You really need your car aligned & adjusted at a shop that understands the EvO rake requirements

And your car needs to be properly fitted for the wheel /tires youre running. Ride height negatively affects those who are not properly cleared

This thread delved into the topic but its not well formatted
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...bout-rake.html
Old Sep 20, 2017, 11:29 AM
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I read that one a couple of times. A lot of a good info if you can make sense of it. I'm in the early stages of trying to understand different suspension components and how they affect each other so a lot of stuff is still kinda confusing to me(but slowly understanding more and more). I'm pretty much just trying to find a nice ride height to set it at and forget it and leave it as is for a long time until I'm more versed in other suspension related things.
Old Sep 20, 2017, 12:43 PM
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I would start at 25.5" front, ground to fender lip edge measured at front wheels centerline.
Than, I would measure the distance between rocker panel sill lip- the welded vertical lip: from ground to lip, front (just behind front wheels), and rear.
I would adjust rear to be 1/4" to 3/8" higher then front sill lip ground clearance.

Than test drive, perhaps ensure alignment is spot on, and rear sway bar adjusted to your liking.

From here you can play with Rake, and overall height
But 25.5" to 26.0" is sweet spot for normal Evo front ride height.

Race cars do get down to 24.0" - 25.0", but that is track only and has tno be optimized with lots of work.
Old Sep 20, 2017, 12:55 PM
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My car, with 265/35r18 tires, is 26" ground to fender in the front, and 25.5" in the rear.
Old Sep 21, 2017, 05:41 AM
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So after reading that thread again from what I saw it would be best to have a lower rake.***Sorry, meant higher rake.***

Post #22 said low rake(nose down) said it's
- More "binary" handling - wants to understeer OR oversteer, especially when pushing hard
- More unstable mid corner, especially in high speed corners
- More power oversteer on corner exit
- More abrupt breakaway characteristics

Then Higher rake
- Generally more settled in higher speed corners
- More neutral/controllable on high power corner exits
- Better mid corner balance
- More progressive breakaway characteristics

So from a couple of your ride heights you guys mentioned I'll try out 25.5" to 26" in the front and down -1/2" in the rear. You guys think that sounds good?

Last edited by CaptainSquirts; Sep 22, 2017 at 05:23 AM.
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Old Sep 21, 2017, 06:05 AM
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Its good to be aware of frame rake. For instance, having the frame higher in the rear than front will induce oversteer.

I forgot to measure my ride height last night, but will measure it after work & post the dimensions for you (im sure its close to the other guys)
Old Sep 21, 2017, 03:41 PM
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FYI

Only very low (24-24.5") Evo's I've examined had near zero rake:
You can only measure Rake by measuring to sill lip- the double sheet metal lip below rocker panels, edge distance to ground.

Rake is good for aero,
Rake helps tame understeer.

Set front height
Measure sill height
Adjust - 1/4" Rake is very minimum, 3/8" is for sure good middle ground, even 1/2" is often used: measured at the sill, not fenders!!!
Old Sep 21, 2017, 04:33 PM
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Never measured fender to ground. Always did fender to C/L of hub

Fender to ground = Front 25.375" & Rear 25.000"
Old Sep 22, 2017, 05:38 AM
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Originally Posted by MinusPrevious
Its good to be aware of frame rake. For instance, having the frame higher in the rear than front will induce oversteer.
Hmmmmm, wouldn't a tad higher frame in the rear be better for autocross then? I guess it's preference but would having characteristics to have a tad more oversteer when at the limits better than understeer?
Old Sep 22, 2017, 05:49 AM
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Originally Posted by CaptainSquirts
Hmmmmm, wouldn't a tad higher frame in the rear be better for autocross then? I guess it's preference but would having characteristics to have a tad more oversteer when at the limits better than understeer?
Couldnt argue that. A higher rear frame rake may be beneficial for AX. I was a full track guy so I preferred a more neutral handling car, so my rake is lower in the rear.

Ill have to measure my frame to ground again. Its been a long time
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