Lowered the suspension

the car looks great....

i've read others who have said the ride softens, which is a 180 to what lowering usually does...

what is your feeling on the handling?



If the car rides less stiff, and more bouncy, then as much as I want to do it, it would not accomplish my intentions...

I currently have a lowered MBZ c43 and a Lotus Elan, lowered which are both outhandling the Maserati. I am attributing this to the elevated ride height of the Maserati.....I am hoping that by lowering i can kill 2 birds with better looks, and better (tighter, better cornering) handing. .....if it is better looks, with cushier ride, Im out.....

thanks~!

Thanks for your reply!!!

The part of the suspension becoming much softer is what worries me a bit, our roads are nowhere near as good as yours and the "pediatrician" tells me that I could be rubbing my belly from time to time and very sensitive parts like the control for the Cambiocorsa could be in grave danger.

Factory specs for model year 2004 - 2005 are:


Front 177 mm within +/- 4mm


Rear 188 mm within +/- 5mm

meassurements must be taken with a full tank of gas and 160 lbs. on each of the two front seats

I wonder what would be the result if I cut one or two loop on the springs... have you heard of anybody giving that a try...???

Same result here.
My ride became much softer after lowering the car (Skyhook).
Generally, not a problem.
However, I drive over a concrete bridge about 2 miles long when I drive the car to work.
If I'm in normal mode, the front end of the car will bounce excessively across the bridge, where in sport, it's to a minimum.
I drive it in sport 100% of the time now.
To get it riding better, it seems like it needs stiffer valving on the rebound (droop) setting of the shocks.
Lowering the car an inch and a half should not affect the springs rate (vs travel), unless the springs are progressive.
I'll look into it.
Regards,
Sean

Does anyone know if the Skyhook suspension system is adaptive to individual drivers? Reason being here are some observations since the Maser. was lowered. Initially I was quite dissapointed with the softness of the suspension as the car leaned considerably in sharp turns until it reached an equalibrium, almost as if the computer was trying to figure out the correct level of stiffness throughout the corner. As mentioned, high speed corners were always pretty scary as the car leaned and then corrected itself and back.
Since then, the suspension seems to have stiffened up and cornering has become ALOT more stable, if in fact even better than before (I attribute it to the lower center of gravity). Not sure if its that I've become better at handling the car or that the SKYHOOK is adapting to the conditions.
Any thoughts out there would be appreciated.

STARDOC said:

Kevin,
What kinds of Maserati aftermarket products do you sell? Also, did you notice any handeling drawbacks after lowering your car?

Click to expand...

Right now we offer most of the name brand stuff. Unfortunantely there isn't much out there. I am in the process of beginning a sponsorship on this website and will be planning a few products to put out. Some of these will include exhaust manifolds (we made some for the f355 and got a very nice hp gain 15whp peak and 25whp throughout some parts), exhaust, some sort of carbon fiber intake, and some ecu tuning done by a third party but adjusted for our needs. I think basically some extensive bolt ons to get the Maser up to around 380-390whp which would be plenty enough in my opinion. We will probably do something extreme for the few out there who want insane amounts of power such as a twin supercharger or turbocharger kit. Everything is all in the brainstorming process right now but exhaust manifolds and exhaust are a definantely going to be a first.

As far as my car, I'll be honest it was lowered when I bought it so I really can't tell you how it would be compared to stock. But compared to other Spyders I've seen, lowered the car looks so much nicer.

Regards,
Kevin