Lower the rear?

[bonsaiwino]

I love our '79 Spider, but a couple people have told me that I should think about lowering the rear, in their opinion. One field of thought seems to be that the factory made the rear of Spiders sit up too high. Should I even consider it? Is it a matter of aesthetics or is there a good engineering reason to consider lowering?

[v6spider]

Post a pic. Let's see what everyone's talking about.


Rob

[Daniel]

Hey Matthew

I Lowered 3 Fiats 2 131s and my 79 Spider all of them handled the turns better after doing this, one of the Brava
131s was level when parked lowered the front some the rear a little more to give it that balanced look. I copied
this when lowering the 79 Spider both cars gained a tighter ride and lower center of gravity feel , the rear end
was more planted with less lift during hard cornering. Only Down side was the travel has less movement
I bottomed out a couple times going over a really hard dip or speed bump other then that I was very pleased with
the modified ride height. Doing this will transformed the car into a good handling sporty Italian Stalion, the stock
height and shocks are smooth and nice but..... you know your not looking for nice!

[pottsthomas]

I've taken 2 coils out of the rear for a height that looks right, but I'm wondering if the shocks need changing at this different length. What are people doing? Haven't done the fronts yet. I'm guessing 1 1/2 coils out of those to get the right look. Next, I guess I'll have to worry about what I've done to the handling, but hey who cares if I'm slow if I'm looking good!

[v6spider]

I actually prefer the rear slightly higher than the front..I am using p225/r15/50's on the rear and p205/r15/50's on the front to achieve it..spring height is close to same front to rear


Rob

[Daniel]

I actually prefer the rear slightly higher than the front..I am using p225/r15/50's on the rear and p205/r15/50's on the front to achieve it..spring height is close to same front to rear


Rob

Ya but your car isnt really a fiat even it's more like a Chiat with an attitude and chip on it's shoulder.

[v6spider]

Ya but your car isnt really a fiat even it's more like a Chiat with an attitude and chip on it's shoulder.

Something like that.


Rob

[wmausbach]

Actually If you buy the aftermarket springs, they will return your car to the original design (It is about an inch up front and 1 1/2" in the rear). Sometime in the 70's the USA changed the headlight height. Almost all the european manufacturers just raised the height of the springs. Even Porsche did this and almost every one returned them back to the original height. It really transforms the car. The springs I have also have different windings so as the car bottoms out the spring becomes stiffer. This is the best way to go but cutting the springs are a cheap but inferior alternative.
Wayne