How low is to low to drop a festiva?

[Advancedynamix]

Notice the toe in on the excellent picture, of the rear slammed, posted by BUSTIVA. You'll need alignment shims to correct this. I made precision ground alignment stub axle spacers for Tweak. I run -1.5 degrees camber and zero toe ,in the rear, on the street and on the track.

[hotfordcat]

Wes cut his springs in half, and talk about low!!!

[Advancedynamix]

You can go much lower than the fender line on that size and still retain drivability.

This set-up will tuck all the way to the rim on a 165/60 and drive.

That is a good look! Funny thing is I have those same wheels in the back yard, Rosie could be a clone of your car. Lol.

[DriverOne]

AD, I'm considering running 165/45 15 on a set of Drag 15x6.5 rims, on a stock Miata spring set and Aspire struts. Sound good for what I'm after?

[Prafeston]

You can go much lower than the fender line on that size and still retain drivability.

This set-up will tuck all the way to the rim on a 165/60 and drive.

I'd like to know more about this setup! It doesn't look like you could turn the front wheels without rubbing...

[Bert]

I plan on dropping my festiva as low as it can go. It will not be a daily, more of a show piece / weekend cruiser. Does anybody know the actual drop in inches that is TOO far as to where the car will rub the tires? For instance, if it can go down 6"s, then I'll drop it 6". Or 8" or 4" or whatever it is. I'll custome fit pieces of whatever suspension pieces will work. Just Lookin to see if anyone knows already. If not, trial and error will be my new best friend.

By my thinking just measure down from the floor to the ground and then decide how true/flat the roads you're planning to creep along on might be. Festy wheel wells have lots of room as long as the tires are small and thin.

Here's an idea. Put a decorative Dodge V10 or big block Chev engine full of pipes and blowers in place of the back seat so you can make an even more impressive entrance.

[MrFishah]

We've got 15x7 Wheels and 205/50/15 tires, on a car lowered 4-5 inches.

As you can see though, our Fenders clearly stick out a little farther than stock...

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t226/white93ltz/2012-08-05_19-16-51_547.jpg

[Advancedynamix]

Dustin, you'll have a little stretch with the 6.5" rims, but not enough to be concerned, it should look very nice. The 165/45-15 tires clear all spring perches easily, so you should have no interference with the Miata springs. As far as how it will ride, I'm not sure. I can give you this though. 200lb front springs are very firm but not uncomfortable on decent roads with the added weight of a b6t and g series box. 150lb springs in the rear balance with the 200lb fronts nicely, but again are very firm. 180 lb rears are not street friendly, 120lb are very comfortable, but you can't load much weight in a lowered car without riding on the bump stops.
Dampening is crucial, read my suspension thread for that info. It's all about slow rebound in the front and slow compression in the rear.

Hope that helps.

[BUSTIVA]

We've got 15x7 Wheels and 205/50/15 tires, on a car lowered 4-5 inches.

As you can see though, our Fenders clearly stick out a little farther than stock...

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t...-16-51_547.jpg

You sir have surpassed me with flying colors in the ghetto fender flair department! I APPROVE LOL!!! :p

[DriverOne]

Hope that helps.

As always, it does. Thanks. I've read some of your thread, and set it to *Favorite - Important ff.com info*. I'm putting together a database of Festy knowledge.

[DriverOne]

http://i161.photobucket.com/albums/t226/white93ltz/2012-08-05_19-16-51_547.jpg

BATTLE READY!

[BUSTIVA]

BATTLE READY!

[Festiva_Fred]

Festivas always look so much better lowered IMO, makes them look less short and tall I think... Heres mine on FMS springs.

[JPT]

Don't know how low is too low, but I do know that McPherson strut suspensions do weird things when lowered too far. Once your control arms go past level, you start gaining positive camber.

Something to think about.

Not on a Festiva, The camber arc extends past where the wheels will contact the body. I DD my car with my control arms pointed upwards about 5 degrees and zero camber with no abnormal tire wear at all. It tracks nicely and isn't "grabby" even with 2.5" wider than stock wheels. My toe is also zero on the street.

Very interesting info. Thanks for posting this.

[JPT]

Festivas always look so much better lowered IMO, makes them look less short and tall I think... Heres mine on FMS springs.

That looks so much like my car. I need to lower mine.