[floot_roops]

Hi everyone,
This may be an odd question, so let me preface:
I have an e92 xi. I've been considering an upgraded suspension. It's not for tracking, but just to give a little more visceral feel to cornering. (I'm looking into the coilovers vs springs vs whatever discussion separately; I'll probably just do the thing right and get coilovers, even if it's overkill for a non-track driver like me)

If I'm going to change the suspension, I figure the car will be lower with most all the different setups, and that's a good thing since we all know the xi looks like it's on stilts sometimes.

However, I realize that this is my daily driver and I don't completely baby it in terms of driving. The entrance to my high-rises garage is a long, semi-steep ramp, as is the entrance to the parking garage at work (actually, significantly more steep). Living in Chicago, the roads are crappy, and there are plenty of areas where the entry/turn-off into a parking lot or such has a steep grade, be it going to Dominick's or Trader Joe's or whatever.

My concern is that, while I've never had any problem with the front end touching the pavement, I also have no idea how close it gets, or if it gets close at all. Sometimes I watch other cars exiting/entering a grade (usually coming down a ramp to a flatter area) and I'm surprised at how close the front end gets to the ground in a variety of different cars.

I worry that with a suspension drop, or even if I got a different lip, I might scrape it up or cause worse if I'm not super-vigilant.

As such, I was trying to figure out a way to "test" out the clearance. I was thinking that if there were some sort of plastic piece (like a small square of black plastic or hard rubber) I could stick (with double sided tape or something?) to the front corners/center of the lip, I could drive the car like I normally do to all then regular places and see if they contact the ground or get scuffed/beat up. Whatever I used would represent the proposed ground clearance. I know it'll look ugly, but it's for the sake of the experimental method.

Mind you, I'm not planning on being completely careless if I mod the car with suspension or a front lip, but I was just thinking it'd be nice to know in advance what it'll be like in different situations.

Has anyone heard of anyone trying to experiment like this, and do any of you think it's a viable exercise? If so, any suggestions on what could be used to test it out? (This is such a vague, nebulous idea in my head, just trying to bounce it off other people to figure something out)

[Gavin@MMW]

Why dont you just get some coilovers, they are height adjustable. a general rule of 1.5" drop up front or less will clear most things - our rears dont scrape. Some KW v1's would set you up right, we have them in stock

[floot_roops]

Yeah, I know I could just buy it and try it, and it should be okay, and also that there are height adjustable options, but I just thought I'd consider the experiment before deciding which parts I'll go with and what drop to use with my particular driving routes. Like I said, just idle thoughts from a person who tends to obsessively analyze before doing anything to his car.

Thanks for the input, though. I'll certainly consider you if that's the route I go.

[GaryS]

Maybe you can google around and fight out the stock ground clearance for your car and work from there.

Stock ground clearance on my 135i is 5.5". My previous car had 4.7" (RX-8). Based on that, I knew I didn't want lower my car more than 1" maximum.

I'm wondering though, with Chicago blizzards, how much ground clearance is ever enough?

[Drakos]

That is the beauty of having adjustable coilovers. I would just raise the suspension back to stock levels when you put on your winter tires

[mikeokimster]

This is not 100% fool proof, but if you look under the front bumper there are air splitters on each side in front of the tires. See how scuffed up those are since they are the lowest point in the front of the car. Unfortunately these are the best indicators because they are so close to the tires.

Perhaps you can find some spots around chicago that have low traffic and harsh entrances? Have either yourself or someone drive your car and have the person outside determine hoe much clearance you have with the stock setup as you go over.

A benefit of these cars is that the front over hang is not that bad. Around 1.5' so it is harder to bottom out than say a trans am that is at the same lowered height.

[mike-y]

you just need to learn to approach driveways at an angle, which will help a lot. My old integra had a much longer nose than the E90 (plus a front lip), and would scrape up almost every driveway if you took it head on. I got into the habit of going in at an angle, and didn't scrape 95% of the time doing that.

[Gavin@MMW]

Originally Posted by mike-y

you just need to learn to approach driveways at an angle, which will help a lot. My old integra had a much longer nose than the E90 (plus a front lip), and would scrape up almost every driveway if you took it head on. I got into the habit of going in at an angle, and didn't scrape 95% of the time doing that.

I have 1.2 inches of clearance to the driveway from the bottom of my car - but I slide in sideways and i dont scrape lol - ill take a picture tonight when i get home