Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

[nitetime_pr]

Hey all, I'm getting ready to burn up some cash and get Kuhmo tires, KYB GR2 shocks and maybe Eibach springs.

My question today is this, are "dropped" springs good for a daily driver? I have a 'vert and the springs I'm looking at will drop my ride height by 1.7", Is this too much? Are 'dropped' springs purely cosmetic or will they still give me a good ride on a daily driver?

What I don't want is to scrape every time I enter/exit my driveway nor do I want a harsh ride as the roads around here are poorly maintained. Also, this car is not raced, just driven hard on occasion.

So, anyone who has dropped their ride, please let me know your thoughts...Thanks!

[heavychevy383]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

i have a '71 monte carlo with serious engine/tranny/rearend mods, she's cranking out 450hp, only gets around 5-7mpg, no radio, no a/c, & is still daily drivable...to me...it all depends on what you are willing to live with? i recently purchased a '98 camaro for a fun, sporty, daily driver-dropped it about 1.5" (give or take a little) with eibach springs (then added bilstien shocks & hotckhis swaybars & a set of wide nittos tires that would make a corvette blush) & i think it's very daily driver friendly, but there is 1 thing ya really gotta watch-the lip spoiler that hangs down under the car & directs air up into the radiator, because i was told if you damage it/break it/tear it off you're gonna overheat! but other than that i say do it, drive it, & enjoy it! ...just watch out for pot holes cause they'll knock the fillings outta your teeth & put your cd player's anti-skip function to the test-lol! good luck with it bud

[cam98aro]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

depends on where you live

it is hard enough to drive around here with a stock height camaro, i would never lower mine

[Fondle]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

i mine feels alot smoother and eliminated body roll on hard turns , you just have to watch out for bad parts of the road or you could bottom out, and take steep inclines and speed bumps slow and at an angle

mine is lowered about 1.4" and i dont have any problems daily driving it as long as im carefull

[chris greene]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

mine handles much better and i have the same setup you are talking about. except i just put on 17 inch corvette rims. just watch out for potholes and go SLOW over the speed bumps and youll be fine

[fatcat]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

I lowered mine 1.5in with eibach springs and I had to put in air shocks on the back because my pasenger rear tire rubbed when I hit a bump. I was told that lowering it changes the geometry slightly and I should get an adjustable panhard rod to compensate for it.

[heavychevy383]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

just wondering...i'm down 1.5, should i get an adjustable panhard bar? not sure what size rims came on it origionaly but it now has 17" Budnick's with 285/40's all the way around & the sidewall is tall enough that i don't fear to many roads, but like the fella said sbove, you do need to use your head & approach certain obstacles at angles-but it's well worth it when you follow a porsche into a big sweeper & take him over thru the apex! now that's fun!

[Fondle]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

285/40 all the way around? are you crazy why do you have tires that big in the front?

edit- i have my stock panhard bar on still and it works fine

[sceneiskeen]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

mines dropped a 1.5" with pipes and a profab k member. i have about 2 or 3 inches clearence on my pips and k member.

i scrape going up parking decks horribly. even going across them.
but other then that i love it, it handles amazing. just gonna have to slow down over speed bumps and a few other places. but i wouldnt take it back.

[savagecamaro96]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

i scrape my air damn on everytihng! and my car is sock height.
i learned that it is pretty hard to damage.
i occasionally scrape my exhaust tips too, now that is not a good sound.

but like they said it all depends on where you live.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

I honestly scraped much much more with stock springs than i do now lowered about an inch on Hotchkis springs. The car honestly rides smoother, and feels more sturdy and feels like the frame flexes less. (also due to the stb and sfcs). I really do wish I had done springs earlier, I think it was one of the best things I've done. I was skeptical about lowering it because I scraped so much, but the car is nicer to drive now. I say progressive rate springs are very daily drivable.

That said, my buick is still a much much better dd.

[heavychevy383]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

thanks for the heads up on the "panhard bar" & to answer your question as to why i'm running 285/40/17's on all 4 corners...why not, they fit, look cool, & the nitto's stick like glue in the bends! (well, that & the fact that's what was already on the car when i bought it from my best friend-lol!) i do have to say thou, back on subject, there is only one big problem i can see with having a car like this as your daily driver: it used to take me 5 minutes to drive home from work, now it could take an hour, or longer, because i just DO NOT want to get out of this car, i just want to keep driving!

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

i just recently stopped DD'ing mine, but i have it lowered 1.7" with eibachs, aluminum double adjustable lca's, adj panhard, sfc's, kyb shocks, a few more suspension goodies, and 275/40/17 nittos wrapped on my z06's---and man does she handle well on the backroads, but the ride is stiff and harsh for daily elements. my problem was between the lower and stiffer ride, she scraped EVERYTHING --- especially with my full 3" exhaust and cutout. when i was still DD her i would have to learn every dip and bump in the roads or i'd scrape something, i couldnt go in a lot of my friends driveways (scraped off my front license plate more than once when it was tied to the grille), and even normally easy entrances and small imperfections in the road were enough to make life hell.

i absolutely love taking her out of the garage now on nice days and ripping @ss through the twisties, but i'm glad i dont have to DD her anymore bc IMO she stopped being a car i wanted to commute and get groceries in---too many things to worry about all the time.

dont get me wrong, i absolutely love my results, i can drift turns and stick hairpins like an AWD and the car handles and performs like a champ with everything together, but i would save the extensive suspension work for a track or auto-x car or something you don't DD.

[heavychevy383]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

i just recently stopped DD'ing mine, but i have it lowered 1.7" with eibachs, aluminum double adjustable lca's, adj panhard, sfc's, kyb shocks, a few more suspension goodies, and 275/40/17 nittos wrapped on my z06's---and man does she handle well on the backroads, but the ride is stiff and harsh for daily elements. my problem was between the lower and stiffer ride, she scraped EVERYTHING --- especially with my full 3" exhaust and cutout. when i was still DD her i would have to learn every dip and bump in the roads or i'd scrape something, i couldnt go in a lot of my friends driveways (scraped off my front license plate more than once when it was tied to the grille), and even normally easy entrances and small imperfections in the road were enough to make life hell.

i absolutely love taking her out of the garage now on nice days and ripping @ss through the twisties, but i'm glad i dont have to DD her anymore bc IMO she stopped being a car i wanted to commute and get groceries in---too many things to worry about all the time.

dont get me wrong, i absolutely love my results, i can drift turns and stick hairpins like an AWD and the car handles and performs like a champ with everything together, but i would save the extensive suspension work for a track or auto-x car or something you don't DD.

...question for ya-what would you recomend then, as far as subframe connectors go, on a daily driver? was wondering wouldn't it be a good ideal to connect the front & back? ...i'm used to old full frame muscle cars & it seems wierd to me for the subframes to only be connected to the floor pans? -thanks

[BallerMaro13]

Re: Do "dropped" camaros make good daily drivers?

check out lmperformance.com---got my sfc's and many other mods through them. the connectors are without a doubt worth it even on a DD, they make one hell of a difference.