How LOW is your Z... and how driveable is it

[jjslade]

Just seeing how much i can reasonably lower mine, is 2 inches between the chassis rails and floor too low?

[Roggaman]

I don´t know the conditions on the road were you live, but I would say that below 4" you are limiting the streets you can drive it on!

My 280ZX has had around 90mm of ground clearence at its lowest setting, and it got stuck now and then... 

I ended up raising my frame rails, and now have around 105mm (4 1/4")

[jhm]

Yeah...like every modification, the answer depends on what you're planning to use your car for and what types of driving conditions it will be used in.  2" of total clearance sounds like a real LIMFAC to me, but that may suffice for how you plan to drive the car.  (I've seen show cars with much less than that....not very useful for driveability, but has that "stance" look that their owners strive for.)  If extreme lowering is your thing, air suspension would probably be worth looking into.  I've seen a couple companies that offer air kits for the S30.

 

John Coffey posted these suspension settings several years ago, and they provide a very useful guide as a starting point for anyone:  

 

[alex44]

My z is still on stock springs, though they are a bit worn out and are lower then what factory ride height would be, I scrape coming out of some driveways and on all the ridiculous speed bumps they throw in parking lots around here. Also in and out of my apartment underground I need to go slow at an angle to not rub the frame rails. This has stopped me from wanting lowering springs as it's my daily driver. The roads here are terrible.

[rturbo 930]

My car (not Z) sits about 4" off the ground, I wouldn't want to go any lower than that. Additionally, these cars are meant to be driven, lowering them such that they can barely be driven is just stupid. They're sports cars, not show cars. 

[tube80z]

As others have stated it's probably too low but it also somewhat depends.  What are the diameter of your tires?  And if your suspension arms point up towards the wheels then you are too low and will be in the nether regions  of the suspension geometry.  

[jjslade]

At the moment i'd say the lowest part is about 3.5" from the floor, i'm not into that stanced look whatsoever, but do like fairly low cars. I'm currently restoring it so I have never driven it, so was just wondering where abouts people had their ride height set.

[G-Tech]

if your saying 3-1/2" is from the lowest part of the car to the ground. id say your at the limit of going low and still driving most places. im 4" and i clear most things. you just have to know when you pull in somewhere to pull in on an angle to help clear the front end if thats low too.  

[jhm]

And regardless of ground clearance, if your car is lowered so much that the LCAs are angled "up" (from inboard to outboard), your suspension geometry will suffer.  @tube80z mentioned this, but you may not have caught it.

[seattlejester]

I had mine with a 1 finger gap between the tire and the fender and had to be picky with my passengers. Arms were parallel to the road, but tires would catch on dips etc. Not really cool when you get stuck on a lip or a speed bump and have to ask your passenger to get out and help you push the car. Not worth it. Raised up an inch in the back and a bit in the front and that let me take most things at speed straight on.