My slammed A3 vs Speed Bumps... How low to go?

[amangill1984]

Now then!

I bought an A3 1.9 TDi a couple of weeks back... It's been dropped 80mm "on coilovers". I asked a friend to adjust the coilovers this weekend so I can tackle the horrid little speed bumps that litter my usual route to work... I get a real horrid scrape but it sounds more like the tray underneath and not the wheels in the arches. It turned out it had coilovers on the front and springs that have been chopped on the back! I've bought some coilovers which are getting fitted on Saturday... Question is what is a decent height in order to able to negotiate speed bumps at a reasonable speed?

I can take the big speed bumps at a crawl with no issue and also the smaller single speed bumps when crawling. I'm thinking a 40mm drop should be ok as again it seems to be the tray and not the arches thats the issue.. I've added a couple of pictures so you can a) see how low it is and b) so I can share it with everyone!

Any experiences would be useful... Cheers in advance!

 

[willowsdad]

Damn that's low! A lot of people seem to do 50mm without too many problems. Depends on the wheel and tire combo.

 

[Boydie]

Can you see this photo of my old A3 on FK Silverline's?

The wheels are genuine BBS CH 8x19" ET50 and was down to the tyre on the coilovers - I had zero issues with ramps however, my turning circle was reduced quite a bit due to the drop links hitting the drive shafts!!

 

[FranA3]

oh dear reverse rake city , mine is lowered about 60-65 ish mm on my coilovers and I've set it up so its got no reverse rake because i hate how it looks nose down ftw

and i don't really have troubles with speed bumps the only thing that catches is the leon cupra R splitter I've got on there otherwise its all good

 

[Ads]

It really depends on the speedbumps you need to go over. My car is lowered 50mm at the front and 40mm at the back, some speedbumps I can go over with no problems at all, other I get quite bad scraping.
Basically no can answer this question for you unless they drive the same routes as you. You're getting coilovers so you're just gonna have to drop your car and see how you get on with clearance.

 

[*Müllërz]

My car is dropped by 50-60mm on collies and you always have to drive like a pensioner depending on the drop and also if you have a lip fitted, below is an example of what can happen when you are in a rush

 

[amangill1984]

Yikes! I think i'm gonna take it up 40mm and then see how I get on... I've realised that it's the single speed bumps near primary schools that are the nightmare ones... the ones like these:

 

[Ads]

Yikes! I think i'm gonna take it up 40mm and then see how I get on... I've realised that it's the single speed bumps near primary schools that are the nightmare ones... the ones like these:

Those kinda speedbumps are no problem. Its the narrower/higher ones that are a nightmare, usually made out of tarmac or something, not the pre-made ones like those.

The trick of avoiding scrapage is driving over speedbumps with only two wheels (both driver's side OR both passenger side) going over it. Don't try the usual one wheel either side with the bump passing directly under your car, or you may look in your rear view mirror and see your sump and exhaust balancing on top of the speedbump you've just driven over.

 

[audigex]

Speaking of speed bumps - how about these gems near me? Whoever installed them didn't think to measure the distance between them: if you go up the middle of the road, a normal width car will miss both humps. A lovely waste of tens of thousands of pounds of taxpayer money on a road that really didn't need traffic calming.

 

[Paul-S3]

Loving the car mate, whats the spec on the wheels? Are they lm reps, whats the rear dish size? offset? Thanx