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I am looking to end up at a ride height of 25inches all around. Does anyone have or Remeber how many mm they set their front and rear too? For example. Out of the box they are set to 513 with lowers the car approximately 25mm. Or…does anyone know the stock ride height.
The Ohlins install manual for FD says +/- 15mm from specified standard height for lower mount height is OK.
So, I installed my Ohlins at 15mm lower than standard height because of that.
If you go lower than that using just the bottom shock mount I think you will start bottoming the front tire into the top of the fenderliner before you engage the bumpstop. I had to move my wire harness up out of the way as it is.
So, if lower than 15mm from standard height do the extra lowering at the lower spring perch instead of the lower shock mount and put up with the no preload/loose spring when jacked up- so you still have a bumpstop working.
15mm lower than standard height got me at ~25.5" front and ~25.5" rear with a full tank of gas (front has ~100lbs weight reduction over stock R1 and rear only has ~20lbs weight reduction).
The Ohlins install manual for FD says +/- 15mm from specified standard height for lower mount height is OK.
So, I installed my Ohlins at 15mm lower than standard height because of that.
If you go lower than that using just the bottom shock mount I think you will start bottoming the front tire into the top of the fenderliner before you engage the bumpstop. I had to move my wire harness up out of the way as it is.
So, if lower than 15mm from standard height do the extra lowering at the lower spring perch instead of the lower shock mount and put up with the no preload/loose spring when jacked up- so you still have a bumpstop working.
15mm lower than standard height got me at ~25.5" front and ~25.5" rear with a full tank of gas (front has ~100lbs weight reduction over stock R1 and rear only has ~20lbs weight reduction).
Just like any coilover, you can go way lower than 25.5" to the fender arch on the Ohlins.
However, Ohlins supplies the set-up guide to let you know what will actually work best for performance.
You are free to be low and slow, not have a working bumpstop and not use all the piston travel by lowering the car only using the lower shock mount- just like any coilover.
Or you can lower the car by moving the lower spring perch down and having a loose spring or buying tender springs and still have a functioning bumpstop and use all the piston travel- just like any coilover.
For 25" from ground to top of fender arch I would try this as a baseline.
Set-up coilovers as per Ohlins. Lower the shock bodies down into the lower mounts the 15mm maximum Ohlins recommends. Lower the lower spring perch 15mm from the bottom of the spring.
Take a look at ride height (dont forget to roll car back and forrh to settle suspension).
To lower the car further if needed move the lower spring perch down more.
just surprised 25 is aggressive number to get to. I have 18 inch rims and I can still fit two finger in the back. To me this ride height is very gentlemanly.
Originally Posted by BLUE TII
For 25" from ground to top of fender arch I would try this as a baseline.
Set-up coilovers as per Ohlins. Lower the shock bodies down into the lower mounts the 15mm maximum Ohlins recommends. Lower the lower spring perch 15mm from the bottom of the spring.
Take a look at ride height (dont forget to roll car back and forrh to settle suspension).
To lower the car further if needed move the lower spring perch down more.
*shrug*
The conservative ride height is likely a performance consideration since Ohlins is a performance based company.
You might be surprised to learn that lowering your car beyond a certain point creates more body roll instead of less. That increased body roll would have to be compensated for with even higher spring or swaybar rates.
As double wishbone suspension is lowered, the suspension roll center lowers below ground level while the center of gravity lowers just the distance the vehicle body is lowered.
The distance between roll center and center of gravity is called the roll couple. The roll couple acts as a lever multiplying roll forces along the axis of the roll center.
Correction is through revised suspension mounting points to the chassis or by not lowering the suspension, but instead raising the axle higher on the spindle (drop spindles).
Neither is solution is available as an off the shelf solution for FD RX-7.
Your gentlemanly ride height looks pretty good to me.
Here is the Mazda factory RX-7 SP built in 1995 to maintain Mazdas dominance in the Australian 12hr endurance racing against Porsche 911 RS CS and BMW M3R (which it did).
Springs, shocks and swaybars were all completely free to modify and this is the factory production race cars stance on its 17" wheels.
