how low is too low

[coroner]

I have been back and forth with what to do with the suspension on my 97.. it began with wanting simple H&R springs then progressed to concidering the club kit... after attending a rather large car show in West Palm Beach recently where almost everything was on bags, I got the itch. i like the lowered look, but with bags i can get full control of ride level at anytime. i have seen at least one bag setup on a 202 and it looked pretty clean. hell, theres even a bagged white benz on the excentrix auto front page.. so go with 235.00 springs, spend 600 on a club kit or just blow 869.00 on a basic bag kit.. What should i do? Anyone have bags on their car? help me make up my mind lol...


www.excentrixauto.com

[JAY4]

I was trying to decide what to do as well, untill today. I like a car that handles like it's on rails, and actually never considered bags. I ended up buying a set of H&R springs--right after I bought them I came across a pretty good deal on an H&R cup kit, so I bought that as well. I guess I need to sell the H&R springs. Do you get really good handleing with bags?

[Luwin1026]

Low is good . . .

[IMG]http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0QgANA!4TUJ7HSq6DVvZE9iZb!tzywCDJAVODNVZiousghlCdp PwFlOWm*ape3xZQFbUwNicYV3yfH*BPpvXOOw7za*rNZfiw61W id1Qgq2M/LuRolling.jpg[/IMG]

Sorry for the old pic - that was when my car was dumped

I hear that bags will kill your ride and handling abilities - if you are good w/ driving over bumps, driveways, etc., you can cut a coil off your springs without affecting ride/handling too much.

[C280 JR]

damn luwin, that is hella low....that cannot be the same set up as your last, if its not tell me what you did to get it that low

ELvir

[sanf]

if you can afford new tires constantly. .it will never be too low..

[ryhi]

damn luwin that is low!!! how did u drive around?? i had my front 2 cut half a coil and it didnt clear after i got my 18s!! i had to go from #1 pads to #3. everytime i would go over uneven road the wheel would rub againts the fenderwell!!

[Scotty-C190E]

Bags are for people who only care how their car Looks, and only while it's parked. Just get a cup kit or chop up your current springs...less expensive and easier to correct when you are tired of that look.

[shoebox]

"Bags are for people who only care how their car Looks"

What?

You have to be kidding me, right? You can tune the suspension by the amount of air in it. Think of it as a fully tuneable suspension without getting out of you car.

[Scotty-C190E]

Yes your right...if it's like the mega $$$ and advanced airmatic setup on the new Mercedes, which we aren't talking about. Believe me, most of the aftermarket ones are a waste of time unless you only show your car. There is room for tons of error in the cheaper designs. ie airbag leaks or the need for constant raising of the car while in motion because when it hits a bump it drops. I've heard tons of horror stories and the only people who are happy with them never drive their car unless it's to "cruise" around the hot import nights parking lot.

[coroner]

if you werent concerned with what your car looks like you would all be driving a 79 granada.. cmon.. we all know the 202 is not fast by any means... it sure as hell is not the best handling car in the world either.. i wouldnt waste my time asking you all to contribute your thoughts if i was gonna cheap out and cut the factory springs... if i was to go with the air bag system.. i would invest time to find the best one out there in my budget... a direct bolt in that will work well and last. i have no problem in spending the cash if its well worth getting what i want although the club kit looks awesome, i feel that a well designed air suspension is just one step better if its done right

[livin503]

just to answer your question "how low is too low"?

its not low enough till its layin door

cut that shit up!

the end.

[OCKlasse]

Originally posted by coroner
if you werent concerned with what your car looks like you would all be driving a 79 granada.. cmon.. we all know the 202 is not fast by any means... it sure as hell is not the best handling car in the world either.. i wouldnt waste my time asking you all to contribute your thoughts if i was gonna cheap out and cut the factory springs... if i was to go with the air bag system.. i would invest time to find the best one out there in my budget... a direct bolt in that will work well and last. i have no problem in spending the cash if its well worth getting what i want although the club kit looks awesome, i feel that a well designed air suspension is just one step better if its done right

Thank you. When will people realize they are not driving a Ferrari? If I had an AMG, yes I would not have put hydraulics on my car. But come on, this is a Mercedes C Class (and I have a C230 N/A for god's sake)! I want my car to drive like a Mercedes should, and it does! It also lays on the ground when I want it to People sometimes forget that these are LUXURY cars.

[Green Lantern]

ur hydros rule, love it when its slammed on the ground and raised all the way up. try to 3 wheel motion the 230 yet?

[Denlasoul]

Originally posted by coroner
cmon.. we all know the 202 is not fast by any means... it sure as hell is not the best handling car in the world either..

I'm sure there a few Member's who would beg to differ.

[rman]

argh i get so sick of people saying that bags ride like shit, can't handle, etc.

and no it doesn't have to be a million dollar MB airmatic setup either.

it's all about the install. bottom line. You can adjust your ride height, adjust your pressure.
Springs are mostly about ride height, shocks are mostly about dampening. Sure, the two components share functions to a degree, but ultimately that's what they do.

A properly setup air suspension can handle just as well as a static suspension. You still have your choice of shocks and sway bars.

[OCKlasse]

Originally posted by Green Lantern
ur hydros rule, love it when its slammed on the ground and raised all the way up. try to 3 wheel motion the 230 yet?

I don't want to risk it, my wheels are too wide (especially in the rear)

[Green Lantern]

oh well, still hot no matter what.

[c55m8o]

Originally posted by Denlasoul
I'm sure there a few Member's who would beg to differ.

Where's Jeff?

I'll speak from experience here. Ride height has an incredible amount to do with how well the W202 handles; and it doesn't take too much to be "too low" and be beyond the point where the suspension's operation is effective and sharp. There's proper terminology that isn't really in my vernacular at this time so sorry I can't use proper wordsmithiness to explain it. Perhaps others can.

Being the only other person to run one of the most 'tunable' suspensions ever put on the W202, I will only say using the stock AMG tire size's outer diameter as a frame of reference, you want about 1 tight finger gap from tire to fender. If you click the left most link in my sig, that was too low for good handling. I could run the Penske shocks on 5 or 6 clicks (out of 6) compression dampening and it wasn't firm enough. I went from 800 lb./in springs to 950 lb/in springs and it wasn't firm enough. I was experiencing understeer on turn-in, and instability mid-turn with a easy ability to oversteer in the turn.

When I had the car raised with the turn of a bolt to give a 1 finger gap, having the shocks set on even just 1 or 2 clicks was providing a tight firm ride, with crisp handling, but still some mild understeer on initial turn-in in tight fast turns (I use this in winter to be compliant to pot-holes actually). Set the shocks on 4 or higher and turn-in was lightning fast ; no fight at all on the turn, quite the opposite actually. (I'm not mentioning rebound dampening which matters a great deal of course too)

I wish I remember the proper terminology and componentry to cite, but in lay-terms that even I can handle, just realize your suspension and steering geometry wasn't made to operate at maximum or even reasonable effectiveness beyond a certain level of 'lowness'.

I say this without basis of having ridden in a car equipped with bags, but I have great skepticism imagining that bags are ever going to compare to race springs and race shocks with proper tuning and a good alignment setup when the turns get tiiight.

[c55m8o]

Originally posted by coroner
i wouldnt waste my time asking you all to contribute your thoughts if i was gonna cheap out and cut the factory springs...

Also, re this statement. It's not that bad of a thing to do. Click me and have a read. And read down a few more messages to here as to why and what effect. My apologies if you are well aware of this effect and disagree with doing it for another philosophical reason.

edit: fixed the 2nd URL

[!!!!!NJ Drive]

i honestly dont see the fasination of the slammed look...lowered some to get rid of the wheel gap is alright, but that scraping every incline shit gets old quick IMO

[undercover]

i agree with Denlasoul,

my 202 handles corners better than my mates c200 on bags, im on compressed springs with stock shocks, and before was riding on vogtlands, and lowering springs gave me hell of a body roll!
but, fair enough our cars arnt that fast but theres plenty of potential and space for performance. i kept up with a honda integra B18C which was modded out nicely, and im just in a c180 with a custom intake..?? im still happy, no need to drive fast all the times, dont wana die now do we?

[c280nz]

i dont mean to shoot a fello nz member in the foot, but im just even against a ek civic sir with the b16a. and thats in a manual c280, so either ur 180 is hella fast or the integ isnt a good driver

but yea when you get to low and take corners to fast and its a bit of a rough road the back starts floating around a bit :-)
in my view my car needs to come up a bit to handle a bit better, but hey handling isnt everything.... i like to go low and slow :-)

[undercover]

Originally posted by c280nz
i dont mean to shoot a fello nz member in the foot, but im just even against a ek civic sir with the b16a. and thats in a manual c280, so either ur 180 is hella fast or the integ isnt a good driver

but yea when you get to low and take corners to fast and its a bit of a rough road the back starts floating around a bit :-)
in my view my car needs to come up a bit to handle a bit better, but hey handling isnt everything.... i like to go low and slow :-)

ouchh lol, burning down in flames.... lol
nah its allgood logan..
just between you and me it was actually grandma driving the DC2.. white white rims :P haha jokes...
and i agree with you there, go low and slow :P hardoutt :P

[c280nz]

haha its all gud brother!
u dont even needa go fast in ur slamed out c, ud get hella respect in it just crusin
keep it real up in auks,
p.s u shud pester 23k and go round and see his car haha

[undercover]

Originally posted by c280nz
haha its all gud brother!
u dont even needa go fast in ur slamed out c, ud get hella respect in it just crusin
keep it real up in auks,
p.s u shud pester 23k and go round and see his car haha

yeah hardout! mad respect when im just cruisn along lol..
yeah pauls busy with work! lol he's organising a time sometime later on when hes not so busy with work for me to come down and have a look see, ill remember to bring the digital camera and ill post it up :P
just got my adjustable camber arms 2day yippyyyy !!!! :bunny: